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Work in Progress: Development and Implementation of an After-school STEM Curriculum for Kindergarten to 4th Grade Students at Girls Inc. through the “Cummins Powers Women“ Initiative

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Conference

2022 ASEE Illinois-Indiana Section Conference

Location

Anderson, Indiana

Publication Date

April 9, 2022

Start Date

April 9, 2022

End Date

April 9, 2022

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

10

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42142

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/42142

Download Count

268

Paper Authors

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Anand Nageswaran Bharath Cummins Engine Company

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Anand Nageswaran Bharath obtained his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and his Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. His research area focuses on optimizing internal combustion engines through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to improve fuel economy and emissions. He is currently a senior engineer in Combustion Research at Cummins Inc., where in addition to his primary role in developing future engine systems, he leads a planning team of Cummins engineers in organizing an after-school STEM Outreach Program at Girls Inc. to encourage girls to pursue STEM Careers.

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Archana V Kulkarni

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Dinesh Balaji Ramaraj

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Jennifer M. Thomasson Cummins Inc

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Alexa Davis

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Alexa Davis graduated with her Bachelors of Science in Psychology from the University of Indianapolis in 2020. She has served at Girls Inc. of Johnson County for 4 years, and has begun her role as Program Director within this affiliate as of August 2021. Along with her experience at Girls Inc. of Johnson County, Alexa has worked with children and teenagers on the Autism spectrum, as well as children with learning disabilities. Alexa enjoys and takes pride in having the opportunity to serve the next generation of women leaders through her work with Girls Inc.

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Demario Robinson

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Malavika Panicker

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Elizabeth A. Spratt

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Tina Henselmeier

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Nora Guzman

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Arul Antony

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Sonya Ware-Meguiar

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Sonya Ware Meguiar is a licensed clinical social worker with over 34 years of experience in the non-profit arena. She has been in her “dream job” serving as the CEO of Girls Inc. of Johnson County for nearly 15 years. She considers it a privilege to have an opportunity to mentor the next generation of female leaders while inspiring them to be strong, smart, and bold women. She received her undergraduate degree from University of Indianapolis majoring in social work and youth agency administration, and graduate degree from IUPUI in social work. She is a graduate of Leadership Johnson County and was inducted into the Beech Grove High School Hall of Fame in 2009. She serves the community in several initiatives including Drug Free Johnson County, EMPOWER Johnson County, Johnson County Exchange Club, ASSIST Indiana, 100 Women Who Care of Johnson County, Aspire Economic Development + Chamber Alliance, and Franklin Chamber of Commerce.

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Danielle Fawbush Cummins Inc.

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Daniel J. O’Connor Cummins

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Kenneth Francis

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Jennifer G. Warrenburg

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Abstract

As part of our commitment to achieve gender equality and eliminate the barriers that hinder the advancement of girls and women in the communities we serve, Cummins Inc. developed the “Cummins Powers Women” initiative in 2018. Through this initiative, Cummins has partnered with non-profits from around the world such as Girls Inc. in North America and RISE UP in South America, Africa and Asia to establish programs focused on teaching and mentoring young women and girls, encouraging entrepreneurship and providing leadership training. One such program is the “A World in Motion” (AWIM) after-school STEM Curriculum that Cummins employees have developed for Kindergarteners to 4th Graders in collaboration with the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and our community partner Girls Inc. of Johnson County. Through this after-school Project-based Learning (PBL) program, we aim to inspire young female students in kindergarten and elementary school to pursue a career in the STEM fields by exposing them to simple, age-appropriate engineering projects such as building a jet-toy cart and designing and testing a skimmer. This work-in-progress paper will describe in detail the specific objectives of the AWIM program, the curriculum development strategy, and outlines our future plans to assess the effectiveness of the pedagogies employed in achieving the program outcome of encouraging young women to continue developing their science and engineering skills and eventually gravitate towards STEM careers.

Bharath, A. N., & Kulkarni, A. V., & Ramaraj, D. B., & Thomasson, J. M., & Davis, A., & Robinson, D., & Panicker, M., & Spratt, E. A., & Henselmeier, T., & Guzman, N., & Antony, A., & Ware-Meguiar, S., & Fawbush, D., & O’Connor, D. J., & Francis, K., & Warrenburg, J. G. (2022, April), Work in Progress: Development and Implementation of an After-school STEM Curriculum for Kindergarten to 4th Grade Students at Girls Inc. through the “Cummins Powers Women“ Initiative Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Illinois-Indiana Section Conference , Anderson, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--42142

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