Femineer™ Program: A Model for Engaging K-12 Girls in STEM
Dr. Kristina Rigden Nicole Gutzke
LEARN BY DOING MAKING IMAGINATION REAL Cal Poly Pomona
• Part of the 23-campus CSU system • Learn by Doing philosophy • Eight academic colleges • More than 100 degree programs offered • Ranked 4th best public university (U.S. News & World Report) Cal Poly Pomona Student Demographics (Spring 2017)
60.00% 54.33%
50.00% 45.66% 41.47% 40.00%
30.00% 22.35% 18.37% 20.00%
10.00% 6.46% 3.34% 3.94% 3.70% 0.21% 0.15% 0.00%
Female Male American Indian/Alaskan Native Asian Black/African American Hispanic/Latino Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander Non-Resident Alien Two or More Races Unknown White Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering
• Large – 5,300 students • Diverse- ranked 1st in CA in Hispanic engineering enrollment and degrees • Engineering Nationally Ranked – 11th among masters granting institutions (U.S. News & World Report) • 1 out of every 14 engineers in California is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona (U.S. News & World Report) College of Engineering Demographics (Spring 2017)
90.00%
78.54% 80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00% 36.07%
30.00% 24.00% 21.45% 22.41% 20.00%
10.00% 2.60% 4.62% 3.18% 0.18% 0.20% 0.00%
Female Male American Indian/Alaskan Native Asian Black/African American Hispanic/Latino Native Hawaiian Two or More Races Unknown White Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering Partners with PLTW
CPP Engineering First Time Freshmen from PLTW PLTW Schools
45% • Over 1,700 K-12 39% 40%
teachers trained in 35% 32% 28% PLTW curricula 30% 26% 23% 25% 19% 20% • 50,000+ K-12 students 20% 13% 15% 9% per year in CPP’s service 10% area being taught by 5% 0% PLTW courses F 2009 F 2010 F 2011 F 2012 F 2013 F 2014 F 2015 F 2016 F 2017 Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering Partners with CPP WE
CPP Engineering First Time Freshmen Enrollment % Female
CPP WE 30.00% 25.80% 24.40% • Over 500 females 25.00% 21.50% 21.60% 20.70% serving as WE 20.00% 17.80% 15.40% 14.70% Ambassadors since 15.00% 2012 10.60% 10.00%
• Over 6,000 attendees 5.00%
at events aimed at 0.00% F 2009 F 2010 F 2011 F 2012 F 2013 F 2014 F 2015 F 2016 F 2017 recruiting, retaining and graduating female students Affiliates
• SDSU • Since 2016 • University of Iowa • Since 2016 • STEM Premier • Since 2016 • Femineer™ Digital Badge Femineers™
• Curriculum created by Cal Poly Pomona College of Engineering and funded by a Kellogg Grant in 2013 • Project-based learning • Pilot group- 24 female PLTW students at Fremont Academy of Engineering and Design in Pomona Unified School District • Recognized by White House • Publicized by US News and World Report • Logo copyrighted in 2016 • Pilot to expand curriculum supported by Motorola Solution Foundation Mission of Femineers™
• To inspire and empower K-12 female students to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) in their education and future careers. Femineers ™ • History of Femineers ™ • Successful with parents, teachers and students • Different than other programs: not only exposure but engineering practice and skill development. • Partner with a female college student as a role model Need for Femineers ™ • Women are not represented in STEM
Women awarded a Bachelor's degree in Engineering according to NSF.
1995
2004
2014
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Goals of Femineer ™ Program
• Provide K-12 female students with project-based learning opportunities. • Provide professional development workshops to K-12 teachers who will facilitate the Femineer ™ Program at their schools. • Provide assistance from Cal Poly Pomona professors and students in implementing the Femineer ™ Program at K-12 partner schools. • Provide K-12 students and their families with opportunities to participate in engineering outreach events at Cal Poly Pomona. Skill Development
• The program is designed for girls to develop and use skills that will be directly useful in college – not just exposure to an engineering program. • Computer programming • Teamwork • Public speaking • Creativity • This ties directly to CPP’s Learn By Doing philosophy. 9 Schools Implemented the Femineer™ Program 2015-2016 Academic Year
School Name Location Doty Middle School Downey, CA Fremont Academy of Engineering & Design Pomona, CA Griffiths Middle School Downey, CA South El Monte High School South El Monte, CA Stauffer Middle School Downey, CA Sussman Middle School Downey, CA Warren High School Downey, CA Washington Middle School La Habra, CA Whittier Christian Schools Whittier, CA 14 Additional Schools and 2 Affiliates Joined the Femineer™ Program in 2016-2017 Academic Year
Azusa High School- Azusa, CA Pioneer Middle School- Tustin, CA
Blue Valley Northwest High School- Overland, San Diego State University- San Diego, CA KS C.E. Utt Middle School- Tustin, CA Schurr High School- Montebello, CA
Carlsbad High School- Carlsbad, CA Segerstrom High School- Santa Ana, CA
Corona High School- Corona, CA South Pasadena High School- South Pasadena, CA Daisy Gibson Elementary School- Palmdale, CA Traweek Middle School- West Covina, CA
Great Oaks High School- Temecula, CA Tustin High School- Tustin, CA
Mountain View High School- El Monte, CA University of Iowa- Iowa City, IA 18 New Schools Joining the Femineer™ Program 2017-2018 Academic Year
A. G. Currie Middle School-Tustin, CA John Rowland High School- Rowland Heights, CA
Alburnett Junior-Senior High School-Alburnett, Leona Jackson Middle School- Paramount, CA IA Buena Park Junior High School- Buena Park, CA Los Alisos Middle School- Norwalk, CA
Chino High School- Chino, CA McPherson Magnet School- Orange, CA Davenport West High School-Davenport, IA Montebello High School- Montebello, CA Downey High School- Downey, CA Ramona High School- Ramona, CA Dwyer Middle School- Huntington Beach, CA Spring Valley Academy- Spring Valley, CA Hawthorne High School- Hawthorne, CA STEAM Legacy High School-South Gate, CA
Jerry D. Holland Middle School- Baldwin Park, Zamboni Middle School- Paramount, CA CA Current Implementation Models
After School Program During School Day How are students selected?
• Some programs select students. • Idea is to make it an access program, and not an elitist program. • Students do not need to be excellent in school, but if they have a commitment to do the work they should excel at this program. How are students selected?
Example Recommended Selection Criteria at One Site • Minimum 3.0 GPA • Minimum B average in math classes • Outstanding behavior • Outstanding attendance • Recommendation from teacher Femineer™ Tool Kit
• Cost: ~$170/kit • Piloted Program: 1 kit per person • Could also consider having 1 kit per group Curriculum Summary
• 3 years (for now, but emerging) • Year 1- Creative Robotics (Kinetic Art) • Year 2- Wearable Technology (Bling) • Year 3- Pi Robotics (Self Propelling Robots) Creative Robotics: Year 1 • Cost: $125/student • Reusable materials • Programming and control platform is Hummingbird • Robot structure is open • Includes controller board, sensors, motors, and programming language interface (as in real engineering) • Visual block programming • Real wiring (it is not facilitated) • Craft materials: wood, cloth, paper, pipe cleaners, etc. (because of this creativity flourishes) Creative Robotics: Year 1
Pilot: • Met 4 Fridays during school day (all day) • Now about a 30 – 40 hour program depending on projects • Recommend minimum 2 hour blocks • Scheduling up to the school • In class • After school Creative Robotics Video Wearable Technology: Year 2
• Wearable electronics have become popular (i.e. fitness trackers) • Cost: ~$125/student, otherwise need to destroy projects to reuse some materials • Strongly suggest allowing the students to keep their creations Wearable Technology: Year 2 • Arduino programming and control platform (widely used in industry) • Uses C programming, more complex; but in a very approachable manner (modify existing programs to begin with) • Sensing, control, outputs, logic (computer language) • Try to make it personalized • Sewing with conductive thread (learn issues, short circuits, fire hazards, etc.) • Very creative crowns, hats, ties, etc. • Learn soldering • Multimeter usage Wearable Technology Video Pi Robotics: Year 3 • Raspberry Pi – it is an actual $30 computer (can connect with keyboard, monitor, etc.) • More capable than Arduino, but more challenging. • More intensive teaching, but the students can handle it. • Build a robot with a kit. • Given tasks for robot to perform, and they need to design and program Pi Robotics Video Pedagogical Results
• First and foremost: • Programming: Scratch, confidence and Python, C. ability to see • Teamwork themselves in STEM • Exposure to industry standard platforms (Arduino, • Solder Raspberry Pi) • Problem solving, finding • Public speaking creative solutions • Electrical wiring diagrams • Instrument use – i.e. multimeters • Tool use Pilot Program Results
• Starting Cohort: 24 students (9th and 10th graders at the time) • 2 moved out of area- can’t track • 22 went to 2 or 4 year colleges (mostly in STEM fields) • 6 are at Cal Poly Pomona-4 studying Engineering • Note: goal is to also help females develop skills and self-confidence for college success Expansion Program Results
• 173 participants across 8 schools in 2016-2017 school year • 92% agreed/strongly agreed that they “enjoyed participating in the Femineers™ program” • 81% agreed/strongly agreed that they “learned to solve engineering problems in the Femineer™ program” Expansion Program Results
Interested in Engineering 60
50
40
30
20
10
Percent of Respondents of Percent 0 Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree nor Disagree Agree Strongly Agree
Before Femineers After Femineers Expansion Program Results
Future Plans in Engineering
60
50
40
30
20
10
Percent of Respondents of Percent 0 Yes Maybe No
Study in College Pursue a Career Expansion Program Results
Specific Skills 60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Percent of Respondents of Percent multi-meter solder basic electronics wiring various tools (plier, wire cutter, etc.)
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree nor Disagree Agree Strongly Agree Implementation Timeline 2017 – 2018 Academic Year
Date/Time Frame Event September 2017 & Three-Day Teacher Training Workshop November 2017 (all 3 years of curriculum offered) January 2018 – Late March 2018 Implement Curriculum April 2018 & May 2018 Femineer™ Summit
*Teacher Training Workshop Fee: $500.00 (includes training supplies) Discussion Time!!!
• Groups of 3-4 • ~3 minutes to discuss each question • Total of 4 questions to discuss Discussion Questions
1. How could the Femineer™ Program be implemented in your school/district? 2. What is needed in regard to stakeholders? What are some ways to get the support needed? 3. What are some possible challenges, obstacles, and/or barriers to implementing the Femineer™ Program? What are some ways to possibly overcome these challenges, obstacles and/or barriers? 4. What funding sources could be utilized to implement the Femineer™ Program in your school/district? Discussion
• Program Implementation • Stakeholders and Key Support • Challenges/Obstacles/Barriers • Funding Sources How to Connect With Us
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.cpp.edu/~engineering/diversity/cppwe/femineers.shtml
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cppengineering
Instagram: https://Instagram.com/cppengineering
STEM Premier: http:www.pltwcalifornia.org/view-content/76/Stem-Premier.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cppengineering
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cppcoe Questions???
PLTW Femineer™ Video