2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

We present the design of a two-week summer camp that would introduce middle school girls and gender minority students to elements of computer science, electrical engineering, and bioengineering. Our hypothesis is that increased interest in electrical engineering and computer science will result by demonstrating the strong synergy between those disciplines and “helping” disciplines like bioengineering. Our research questions focus on two primary objectives: (1) to what degree does our summer camp impact middle-school girls and gender minority students’ self-efficacy and interest in computer programming, electrical engineering, and bioengineering? and (2) what are the supports and barriers that facilitate or hinder students’ ability and desire to acquire the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to increase their self-efficacy and STEM identity?

In this paper we present the instructional modules and implementation plan for the summer camp. The camp would follow a normal 9-5 schedule with significant community-building activities during the initial days, followed by more content-laden days in which course modules, comprised of a blend of passive and active learning activities, introduce the necessary knowledge and skills. In early modules, participants would learn fundamental elements of Python programming on Raspberry Pi 5 computers and would be introduced to computational thinking and structured code development. Later modules would focus on electronic hardware, medical devices and applications. Teams of 3-4 participants would be formed and the teams would design, build, test, and evaluate a medical device. We will present the design strategy, procedure and results for one example, which is a Pulse Oximeter that would continuously record oxygen levels and activate an audio alarm if the SPO2 level falls below 92%. The final phase of the summer camp would be dedicated to the product showcase of the participants’ creations followed by the program wrap-up, reflection, evaluation, and closing celebration. Finally, we present details of the mixed-methods approach that would utilize surveys and focus groups to obtain qualitative data on the participants’ experiences and their attitudes related to our research questions.

The ultimate goal of our research project is to inform on best practices to develop and deliver instructional materials on bioengineering project-driven design, computational thinking, and programming skills to middle-school girls and gender minority students. It should also inform on the bioengineering applications that are most effective for instilling enthusiasm and interest in electrical engineering and computer science and an appreciation for the value of computational thinking in middle-school girls and gender minority students.