Strategies: GUTS y Girls

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GUTS y Girls is a three-year ITEST Strategies project targeting middle school girls in Santa Fe, Las Cruces, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. This project builds on a previously funded NSF Academies for Young Scientist award (06-39637) and includes partnerships between the Santa Fe Institute and MIT, University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech, New Mexico State University, Santa Fe Complex, Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails, the Supercomputing Challenge, regional educational organizations, and local schools. GUTS y Girls is designed to build the STEM and ICT workforce by engaging girls in exciting cyber-enabled learning experiences that prepare them for future careers, create and study a network of support using social networking tools, and develop a replicable program model. Project deliverables include Monthly Saturday Workshops and two-week Summer Intensive Workshops. The 7-hour Saturday workshops expose girls to a wide variety of STEM/ICT jobs and professionals while engaging them in creative projects that build their confidence. During the two-week Summer Intensive Workshop, girls gain an understanding of complex systems concepts through hands-on activities and participatory simulations. Participants investigate topics of local relevance, view them through the lens of complex systems, and then apply agent-based modeling and network analysis tools. By fostering an understanding of complex systems and developing girls' computational thinking, computer programming, computational modeling, critical thinking, and spatial skills, GUTS y Girls prepares participants for a wide range of STEM and ICT fields including computer science, ecology, engineering, and mathematics. GUTS y Girls' secondary strategy is to develop and study a support system for girls by creating a virtual clubhouse using social networking to communicate with female STEM/ICT practitioners and student mentors. All project activities are designed to support the New Mexico state standards in science and math for grades 5-8. The target audience includes 300 low-income Hispanic and Native American youth. Project activities are hands-on, address real-world problems, and engage professionals from the field, all characteristics found in successful science and math programs that serve young women. A mixed-methods evaluation approach is planned which assesses changes in awareness of STEM and ICT fields; technical and thinking skills; understanding of complex systems and uses of computer modeling; and interest and attitudes towards STEM content and careers. This project provides insight into whether student engagement in cyber-enabled STEM learning experiences builds capacity for future endeavors in STEM and if the use of social networks and STEM mentors can sustain student interest and involvement.