Exploratory learning with Alice: experiences leading a computer science workshop for girl scouts

When the authors prepared an hour long Alice workshop for a local chapter of the Society of Women in Engineering (SWE) STEM-based event for Girl Scouts, we started with the assumption that we would have to outline each step, demonstrate the array of available techniques and tools in Alice, and, in general, provide lots of direction (as we do for our lectures and labs with college students). As is often the case for adults not experienced with teaching K-12 students, we quickly realized that we weren't able to hold the girls' attention when we tried to provide "instruction". Fortunately, we also discovered that the girls didn't need much instruction; once they were shown Alice examples, they were off and running trying to create their own scenes. Thus, the process of "teaching" evolved into exploratory (active) self-directed, just-in-time learning. This did not mean that the girls did not, at times, need individual guidance from the workshop leaders; anticipating and being prepared to answer the complete array of possible questions was our primary challenge. This paper outlines our experience planning, presenting and evaluating the Alice workshop, hopefully providing insights that could be valuable for other STEM faculty looking to attract the next generation to their disciplines.