C-STEM Girls Computing and Robotics Leadership Camp

In the summer of 2013, the UC Davis C-STEM Center hosted a one-week Girls Computing and Robotics Leadership Camp for 14 middle school girls from the greater Sacramento region. This camp set out to motivate girls to learn science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts through a fun and exciting robotics-based curriculum. Emerging as leaders, the participants inspire other young girls to gain interest in science and technology. Three college female students led the camp with the help of six high school female student assistant coaches. Through this experience the 14 girls learned the basics of robotics, principles of engineering, and essentials of C/C++ programming. In addition, they learned important life skills including teamwork, presentation skills, leadership skills, self-assurance, and breaking gender stereotypes. Women professionals in various science and engineering fields also met and discussed with the participants helping them visualize a future career in STEM and gain exposure to the variety of options available to them. As a culminating project the girls who participated in the camp created multi-media video presentations with robotics, similar to the RoboPlay Video Competition, and made presentations in front of parents and peers. The girls were given robotics kits to take back to their middle schools so they can start computing and robotics clubs of their own. Coaches and assistant coaches continue to mentor girls over the academic school year to facilitate the development of these clubs and their participation in RoboPlay Competition. In this paper, the curriculum and lessons learned through this camp will be presented.