Enriching an informal engineering education program with social relevance and history for middle school girls
Two educators collaborated to design and test a one-week summer course for middle school girls on sound, engineering, and invention as an exemplar integrated STEM program that draws upon rich historical and social contexts with the goal of attracting and retaining students in STEM. An engineering design project and an invention project formed the core of the course. Music and related technologies served as the unifying theme intended to tap into the interests of youth. Historical primary sources and writing about invention and innovation provided additional entry points into engineering as a human and creative endeavor. Exposure to female inventors, scientists and engineers was also planned as a way for the girls to become acquainted with positive role models. Included in this paper is a discussion of the underlying philosophies that influenced the design of the learning experiences for youth underrepresented in STEM.