Implementing and Evaluating An E-Textile Curriculum In an Engineering Summer Program for Girls (Evaluation)

This paper addresses the implementation and assessment of an e-textiles curriculum in a summer STEM program for girls. The goal of this residential, five day camp is to help girls learn about STEM subjects and introduce them to careers involving STEM. Girls completing 6th grade or 8th grade can attend the program. Variations of this program has been offered for 15 years and have reached over 3,000 girls. The new curriculum, using e-textiles, was implemented in the summer 2014 program. The evaluation of the curriculum was done through observations of the e-textile sessions, feedback from the participants, and information gathered in participant's engineering notebooks. The evaluation offered is primarily anecdotal, though participant feedback and notebook analysis is compiled into quantitative data. While the overall feedback on the e-textile projects was positive, the girls exhibited some displeasure at having sewing be part of the project. We present the results of this evaluation, as well as a discussion of the lessons learned through the design, implementation, and assessment process of this program. STEPS Camp at the University of St. Thomas The STEPS (Science, Technology, and Engineering Preview Summer) program at the University of St. Thomas (UST) is a five day long residential camp for girls. The goal of STEPS is to get girls to learn about STEM subjects and introduce them to related careers. Two types of STEPS camps are offered: Basic and Advanced. Girls completing 6 grade attend Basic camp while girls entering 9 grade who previously attended Basic camp, attend the Advanced camp. The UST P ge 26911.2 STEPS camp is based on the STEPS camp developed at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, which began in 1997. Students participating in the camp explore various aspects of STEM through hands-on classes, attending discussions/panels on engineering, and working on projects. Campers also engage in recreational activities such as movies, athletics, and exploration of the university campus. For the past fourteen years of STEPS at UST the main project for the Basic camp has been the building of a remote-controlled airplanes that would be flown on their last night at camp. After panel interviews with past STEPS participants it was decided that a new project would be introduced for the 2014 camps. One goal for the new project was that it be functional once the girls brought it home, unlike the plane (for which the power source and controller were only lent to the girls for the duration of camp.) A second goal was that the project allow for unique solutions and personalization, such that the girls had multiple chances to make design decisions. Finally, we wanted a project that would allow for discussion of the ways engineering could make a positive impact on people’s lives. Incorporating E-textiles into STEPS As part of the curriculum redesign process, a literature review was done to see what sort of projects and topics have been shown to be effective in engaging girls with engineering and computer science. E-textiles, the incorporation of digital components and electronics into fabric, typically through sewing with conductive thread, has been used in numerous programs designed Page 26911.3 for girls, with favorable results. In comparison to classical methods of introducing circuits and their components, e-textiles allow for all of the pieces to be seen allowing for a clearer understanding of the components. The materials used in e-textile projects can inspire more questions among the participants as thread and fabric are familiar objects to. With wires, especially insulated wires, there are few things that are interacted with daily that are similar to these materials to inspire further exploration in the learner. Sullivan argues that solving functional design problems helps learners to continuously circle through the Engineering Design process when projects fail to work as intended by making observations and hypotheses and then testing these hypotheses and evaluating the outcomes. Based on the above findings, it was decided that an e-textile project would be introduced to the STEPS camp for the first time in the summer of 2014, and that it would replace the plane project as the signature project for that year’s camp. In addition to using this as a way to teach about circuits, it was also acknowledged that through a fabric project, topics such as geometry and 2D/3D forms could also be explored. There was to be a slight variation in the difficulty and scope between the project the Basic and Advanced campers encountered. However, both groups were to be given the same initial introduction to electronics and e-textiles. Introduction to E-Textiles (Basic and Advanced Camp) In both Basic and Advanced STEPS, the girls were given a short introduction to two different applications of e-textiles, the first being a pair of shoes that utilized GPS to help visually impaired walkers to find their way home by having the shoes vibrate to indicate the direction to take, and the second example being a fabric that was sewn in such a way that as someone Page 26911.4 interacted with the piece different parts of the fabric made different sounds when you touched it. The girls were then asked to share what they knew about electricity and circuits and were given guiding questions (such as: “Are there different kinds of circuits? If so, how many and what are they called?”, “What is needed in order for a circuit to be complete?” and “What are good conductors?”). Once these questions were answered the girls were then introduced to series circuits which would be used for their first project. They were told that in a series circuit the electricity only has one path to follow and were shown pictures of series circuits. The first an introduction to schematic diagrams was included in the hopes that if the girls drew their own circuit diagrams for their bracelets they would have a better understanding of a series circuit, however this part took too much time and did not seem to help the girls and was taken out of the curriculum for subsequent weeks. The girls were then taught about unique components to etextiles, such as conductivity of thread, and techniques that they would need to complete the project, such as testing the polarity of an LED. With this information in mind the girls were then asked to create a bracelet that when it was put on, would light up one LED. The girls initially drew a schematic of their circuit and checked it with their instructors. Once their schematic was determined to be correct they were given supplies and tools to sew the circuit. This activity was given one hour and was to be completed every week of camp.