Cross-functional, Multi-organizational STEM Camp Partnership: Teaching Technology and Human-Centered Design in a Project-Based Curriculum (Other, Diversity)

Joshua D. Carl; Amii LaPointe; Cindy Miller; Cory J. Prust; Elizabeth Taylor

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: June 26, 2024
Conference Session: Duff's Dynamic Duo: Harnessing the Power of Teamwork for STEM Excellence!
Tagged Division: Pre-College Engineering Education Division (PCEE)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 18
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--47092
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47092
Download Count: 75

Paper Authors

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Joshua D. Carl Milwaukee School of Engineering

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Joshua Carl is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He received a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2005, and attended graduate school at Vanderbilt University where he earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering in 2016. He primarily teaches courses in embedded systems, programming, and digital systems.

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Amii LaPointe Milwaukee School of Engineering

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Amii LaPointe is an adjunct Associate Professor of User Experience (UX) and is also the co-chair of the UX Industrial Advisory Board at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). She received her B.S. degree in Technical Communications from the University of Washington and attended graduate school at Mercer University where she earned her M.S. in Technical Communication Management with a focus on User Experience. She teaches courses in UX design, research, emerging technologies, and professional development. Before joining MSOE, Amii worked as a UX leader at a Fortune 500 financial company.

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Cindy Miller Milwaukee School of Engineering

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Cory J. Prust Milwaukee School of Engineering

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Dr. Cory J. Prust is a Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). He earned his BSEE degree from MSOE in 2001 and his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 2006. Prior to joining MSOE in 2009, he was a Technical Staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He teaches courses in the signal processing, communication systems, and embedded systems areas.

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Elizabeth Taylor Milwaukee School of Engineering

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Elizabeth Taylor is the director of the STEM Center at Milwaukee School of Engineering where she directs institutional strategy for K-12 STEM programming and outreach and oversees the operations of the Center. She advocates for the alignment of programming efforts with the needs of the Milwaukee community and ensures program options are available to students of all backgrounds. Under her leadership, STEM outreach at the University has grown from serving roughly 1,000 students annually to nearly 6,000. Her leadership was instrumental in the founding of and fundraising for the STEM Center, which opened its doors in 2020. Elizabeth earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University in 2014 and her M.S. in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in 2022.

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Abstract

This paper describes a summer STEM camp that was designed and delivered through a strong partnership between an African American vocational program, an engineering university, a professional basketball organization, and a major technology company. The camp was free of charge and provided students with a learning experience that exposed them to cutting edge technology, design thinking, and app development.

To develop this camp, the university’s STEM center worked cross-functionally with faculty from the Electrical Engineering and the User Experience (UX) programs. The faculty were tasked with creating the camp’s curriculum and delivering the instruction. The community and industry partners provided mentors, the student participants (middle and high school students), funding, and camp goals and outcomes. Students were invited from both inner-city and suburban middle and high schools and arrived with a wide range of STEM knowledge, experience, and interest and no prerequisite knowledge was expected or required to participate.

The camp’s framework was scaffolded by two distinct, but related paths, 1. Engineering and programming and 2. Design thinking and UX. The first path was dedicated to teaching students basic programming, engineering concepts, and exposing them to emerging technologies. The second path led students through a Design Sprint to learn a human-centered approach to designing technology with the outcome being an interactive prototype of a solution to a real-world problem provided by the basketball team.

In addition to learning, students were provided a behind the scenes tour of the basketball arena and traveled to the technology company’s research and development facility. During these visits, students learned more about project stakeholders, were exposed to career opportunities within a large organization, the company’s newest technology, and learned and applied industry design methods.

The culmination of the camp was a professional presentation delivered by students to stakeholders from the basketball organization and technology company. In this presentation students share their final, interactive, prototype based on everything they learned and experienced during the camp.

To date, the camp has run two times and has been refined and iterated based on after-action reviews (AAR) to identify and implement improvement opportunities. The most recent camp was run in July 2023 which touted a solid framework that aligned with the vocational program’s mission to “Empower passionate people to pursue their purpose” and the industry partners’ goal to engage the basketball community through technology. The camp is slated to run for a third year during the summer of 2024.

The STEM camp’s lessons learned, evolving framework, and encountered challenges are shared in this paper along with the unique, cross-functional, cross-organizational partnership that was the impetus for the camp’s creation.

Citation
Format

Carl, J. D., & LaPointe, A., & Miller, C., & Prust, C. J., & Taylor, E. (2024, June), Cross-functional, Multi-organizational STEM Camp Partnership: Teaching Technology and Human-Centered Design in a Project-Based Curriculum (Other, Diversity) Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--47092

TY - CPAPER
AB - This paper describes a summer STEM camp that was designed and delivered through a strong partnership between an African American vocational program, an engineering university, a professional basketball organization, and a major technology company. The camp was free of charge and provided students with a learning experience that exposed them to cutting edge technology, design thinking, and app development.

To develop this camp, the university’s STEM center worked cross-functionally with faculty from the Electrical Engineering and the User Experience (UX) programs. The faculty were tasked with creating the camp’s curriculum and delivering the instruction. The community and industry partners provided mentors, the student participants (middle and high school students), funding, and camp goals and outcomes. Students were invited from both inner-city and suburban middle and high schools and arrived with a wide range of STEM knowledge, experience, and interest and no prerequisite knowledge was expected or required to participate.

The camp’s framework was scaffolded by two distinct, but related paths, 1. Engineering and programming and 2. Design thinking and UX. The first path was dedicated to teaching students basic programming, engineering concepts, and exposing them to emerging technologies. The second path led students through a Design Sprint to learn a human-centered approach to designing technology with the outcome being an interactive prototype of a solution to a real-world problem provided by the basketball team.

In addition to learning, students were provided a behind the scenes tour of the basketball arena and traveled to the technology company’s research and development facility. During these visits, students learned more about project stakeholders, were exposed to career opportunities within a large organization, the company’s newest technology, and learned and applied industry design methods.

The culmination of the camp was a professional presentation delivered by students to stakeholders from the basketball organization and technology company. In this presentation students share their final, interactive, prototype based on everything they learned and experienced during the camp.

To date, the camp has run two times and has been refined and iterated based on after-action reviews (AAR) to identify and implement improvement opportunities. The most recent camp was run in July 2023 which touted a solid framework that aligned with the vocational program’s mission to “Empower passionate people to pursue their purpose” and the industry partners’ goal to engage the basketball community through technology. The camp is slated to run for a third year during the summer of 2024.

The STEM camp’s lessons learned, evolving framework, and encountered challenges are shared in this paper along with the unique, cross-functional, cross-organizational partnership that was the impetus for the camp’s creation.
AU - Joshua D. Carl
AU - Amii LaPointe
AU - Cindy Miller
AU - Cory J. Prust
AU - Elizabeth Taylor
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Cross-functional, Multi-organizational STEM Camp Partnership: Teaching Technology and Human-Centered Design in a Project-Based Curriculum (Other, Diversity)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47092
DO - 10.18260/1-2--47092
ER -