2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Designing effective STEM outreach activities to inspire students to ultimately pursue careers in the Electrical and Computer Engineering fields

The primary goal of the K–12 education system is to equip students for success beyond high school. Early exposure to college-level opportunities, such as STEM outreach programs, can significantly impact students' academic and career paths. Participation in STEM activities enables students to make informed decisions about their educational and professional futures, potentially increasing enrollment in STEM fields and fostering a more skilled workforce. In line with this mission, our school offers a pre-college summer Engineering Exploration program, designed to expose high school students to various engineering disciplines over two weeks.
This paper outlines the design and implementation of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) modules within the program, followed by a detailed discussion of the objectives, including deepening students' understanding of fundamental ECE concepts, enhancing their interest in the field, and encouraging them to consider pursuing college degrees in ECE. To assess the effectiveness of these modules, we collected both quantitative and qualitative data through post-activity surveys. These surveys were crafted to address the following key questions: Were the STEM modules effectively designed? Did the modules inspire students to consider pursuing ECE majors in college? Did students’ interest in ECE increase? Did their understanding of the ECE-related topics improve? How did students’ earlier exposure to the ECE field (if any) help with their interests and engagements with the activities? What adjustments are needed if any of the mentioned objectives are not fully met?
The study presents an analysis of the survey data, examining students' prior exposure to the ECE field, changes in their confidence and interest after attending the module, and their likelihood of pursuing an ECE-related career. We explore the correlations between initial knowledge and increased interest, as well as between increased confidence and career aspirations in the ECE field. The paper concludes with recommendations for refining these outreach activities to enhance their educational impact and students’ engagement and interest in the areas of ECE. The objective of the study is to find a direct relationship between increasing interest levels and the training of more professionals who can contribute to the rapid advancement of ECE disciplines, ultimately having a significant impact on improving the world.

Authors

Dr. Federica Aveta Wentworth Institute of Technology [biography]

Federica Aveta received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electronic Engineering from La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy, in 2012 and 2016, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Oklahoma (OU), Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2020. Before joining Wentworth Institute of Technology, Federica has worked as an Optical Engineer where she designed, built, and tested optical fiber lasers for medical applications. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Her research interests include Optical Communications and Signal Processing.
Dr. Afsaneh Ghanavati http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-5262-6334 Wentworth Institute of Technology [biography]

Afsaneh Ghanavati received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Shiraz University, Iran in 1998, and the M.S. and the Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Northeastern University, Boston, MA in 2012 and 2018 respectively. She is
currently an assistant professor in the electrical and computer engineering program, school of engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Her present areas of interest include power systems, signal processing, dynamic phasors, dynamic power decomposition, power quality and microgrid. She has been a member of the Eta Kappa Nu, Engineering Honor Society and a member of IEEE and IEEE Power & Energy Society (IEEE PES).
Dr. Marisha Rawlins Wentworth Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Marisha Rawlins is an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Program at Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT). Her research interests include computer architecture optimizations, embedded systems and devices used in teaching and healthcare, and methods and systems for improving teaching and learning. Dr. Rawlins received her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from The University of Florida. Prior to working at WIT, she was an Assistant Professor in Computer Engineering, and the Discipline Coordinator for the BASc in Computer Engineering and the MSc in Information and Communication Technology Programmes, at The University of Trinidad and Tobago.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

For those interested in:

Broadening Participation in Engineering and Engineering Technology
engineering
Faculty
Pre-College