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Session # 1170

Middle School Students get Introduced to Fundamentals of Engineering at the UMES-NOAA Summer Camp

Abhijit Nagchaudhuri, Gurbax Singh University of Maryland Eastern Shore Princess Anne, MD 21853

Abstract National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have funded an outreach program at University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) to promote mathematics, science, engineering and technology (MSET) education among minority middle school students. The first and second autho r of this paper direct the program with support and assistance from graduate students in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at UMES. Twenty middle school students identified from selected schools in Accomack County, VA, in the Eastern Shore of Delmarva peninsula participate in this two-week summer activity. Two school teachers accompany, chaperone, design and direct some of the student activities during the camp. They also try to include some of the scientific and engineering related projects that they get exposed to during the camp to the students during the regular school year. The overall objective of the program is to generate interest among participants and other school students to pursue MSET careers.

I. Introduction It is imperative to inspire more students to pursue MSET careers to sustain the nation's economic growth and vitality from all cross-sections of the society and in particular, from among the women and minorities1 . NOAA summer camp is a two-week program held at UMES to initiate early intervention at middle school level for a group of students to broaden their perspective with regard to career choices. The program is directed by Physics and Engineering faculty at UMES and is designed to provide hand s-on project based learning experience to twenty middle school students from Accomack County schools in the lower eastern shore region of the Delmarva Peninsula every year. Accomack County is in an economically depressed area with a significant minority population. The students for the summer camp are recruited with the help of school administration from the low performing schools of the region. The students are chosen so that there is a mix of both high and low performing students and racial diversity in the group. The program endeavors to provide a positive experience for the participants so as to inspire them to prepare for MSET related fields in college. Also, it is hoped that the participants themselves will act as messengers and advocates of the program and program objectives among their siblings and peers.

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Nagchaudhuri, A. (2003, June), Middle School Students Get Introduced To Fundamentals Of Engineering At The Umes Noaa Summer Camp Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12567