Introducing Human Centered Design to K-12 public schools
I ran the Outreach program in the HCDE Department at University of Washington, including leading the program in 2017-2018, and being actively involved in 2015-2020. I created workshops that connect K-12 students, with college opportunities in Engineering and Human Centered Design. Through hands on activities, middle and high school students learn about engineering by working directly with college students. The program empowers undergraduate students develop workshops, teach and serve as role models in over workshops in Seattle public schools and beyond.
The program primarily targets public institutions that work with K-12 students from a diverse range of backgrounds. Teachers ask us to return to their classrooms year after year. The program has received interest from a variety of institutions in the Seattle area and nationally. I have expanded the program to many of the partnering organizations, and advised over 100 undergraduate students in developing curricula and teaching. The undergraduate students taught in schools or local events in over 20 local schools, over 15 University of Washington campus events, and with high school teachers from over 35 public schools in Washington, reaching over 2000 K-12 students.
Reach of workshops I advised
Classroom workshop in 20+ Washington state public schools
Teachers from 35+ Washington state public schools
Seattle Public Libraries (6 branches)
Women in Science and Engineering Conference
SEEEDS Program - Early Enrichment in Engineering for Dean's Scholars
Girls Who Code
Code.org
National Society of Black Engineers
Chicago public schools and library branches
Resources
Alternative Spring Break in Neah Bay, Washington
The HCDE department partners with the UW Alternative Spring Break to connect UW undergraduate students with K-12 students in rural areas of Washington state, to help students in remote areas of Washington to see themselves pursuing higher education, and to learn about studying engineering at UW.
I led the HCDE Alternative Spring Break team in 2018. Undergraduate students developed a one-week curriculum focused on digital storytelling and coding using the Scratch programming system. Over the course of the week, the Neah Bay students, guided by the UW team, designed and programmed their interactive stories, and learned the fundamentals of computer programming in the process. The workshop was structured as four daily hands-on sessions, and culminated in a showcase on the fifth day where students shared their digital story projects with the community.