2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The program, formerly known as The Mind Fitness Program, had to be renamed to avoid a registered trademark infringement. The new name is more explicit in describing the real goal of the program which is to prepare the participants for STEM careers by stimulating their spatial skills, 3D visualization, analytical abilities, pattern recognition skills, memory, attention to detail, and general mental performance of participants.
The various stages of the program have been presented in three previous ASEE papers. After successful testing in 2022, the program has been included as part of summer camps at the DoSeum here in San Antonio and in the Lunar Caves Analog Test Sites Program (LCATS) offered by the WEX Foundation. The program continued to be presented at the Alamo STEM Ecosystem Educator Conference and at several schools from our area to be implemented as an after-school optional program. One of the problems encountered was the lack of funding to support offering the program free of charge and as a result, a cost evaluation is in progress so the program may be offered for a basic fee to cover the expenses.
The number of exercises used in the program was maintained unchanged as they were designed to challenge specific areas of the brain, just as physical exercises affect various muscle groups. They are disguised as games since one of the most recent trends in education is “the edutainment” concept, which combines educational content with entertaining activities so, the participants learn while having fun.
The program proved its flexibility as it was adapted to various locations, number of participants, and time intervals. The paper will present the continuation of the program, the new results, and the plans for future expansion of the program to reach a broader range of participants.