Our work is situated in research on Computer Science (CS) learning in informal learning environments and literature on the factors that influence girls to enter CS. In this article, we outline design choices around the creation of a summer programming camp for middle school youth. In addition, we describe a near-peer mentoring model we used that was influenced by Bandura's self-efficacy theory. The purpose of this article, apart from promoting transparency of program design, was to evaluate the effectiveness of our camp design in terms of increasing youths’ interest, self-efficacy beliefs, and perceptions of parental support. We found significant gains for all three of these concepts. Additionally, we make connections between our design choices (e.g., videos, peer support, mentor support) and the affective gains by thematically analyzing interview data concerning the outcomes found in our camps.
Mexican‐origin youths’ language brokering for fathers and mothers: Daily experiences and youths’ diurnal cortisol slopes
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Supportive community contexts are critical to positive youth development. Out-of-school time (OST) programs serve as supportive community contexts, and participation in OST programs is associated with a host of positive outcomes for youth. Cultural centers, such as museums, have been identified as potentially supportive community contexts for youth. Still, museums have been mostly absent in the broader research discussion of the role of community-based OST programs in promoting positive youth development. The current article presents a qualitative, single-case study of 37 youth between the ages of 13 and 18, the majority of whom identified with racial/ethnic identity groups traditionally underrepresented in OST program participation, in which we examined youths’ perspectives of the features of a museum-based, science-focused, youth development program that they found to be particularly supportive. Five themes emerged, including (a) the program structure, (b) meaningful opportunities and experiences offered by the program, (c) relationships with staff, (d) a positive peer culture, and (e) sense of belonging. The results provide detailed insight into how cultural centers, such as museums, can serve as supportive community contexts for youth development.
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de Vries, E. ; Hod, Y. (Ed.)We facilitated a remote educational summer camp for teenage youth, with participants “sheltering in place” at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The summer camp was part of an initiative aimed at promoting STEM education for youth through learning about their pets’ senses and engaging in a co-design project to enrich aspects of their pets’ lives. We describe how situating scientific and design activities within the home and with pets engages participants in ethnomethodological practices such as field work, naturalistic observation, and in situ design that build upon their funds of knowledge. We discuss implications for the designs of learning environments that leverage the benefits of at-home science and design with pets.
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It is critical to focus on diversity and increasing participation of underrepresented groups in computing. To address this need, we must better understand minorities' access to role models and mentors, especially at a young age, as research and practice shows that these relationships can affect students' self-efficacy and motivation in the educational fields and careers they choose to pursue. We provided a 9-Saturday programming camp to middle school students in Newark, New Jersey with near-peer mentors (first year, college student instructors) to learn more about the younger students' initial access to role-models and mentors, and how an intervention might change this. Our camp served a total of 28 minority students (17 males and 11 females; grades 5-7) from a low-income, urban area. We found that when asked at the beginning of the camp, our middle students largely reported that they did not have any role-models or mentors in computing. However, at the conclusion of the camp, these same students indicated that they developed strong connections with their near-peer mentors and even saw them as role-models. These findings highlight the need for more mentorship opportunities for students of all ages, and the importance of providing resources and support to help developmore »
