Getting Girls EX.I.T.E.D about Project Management
by Bjorn Norstrom, Carol Smith, and Annika Haglund
by Bjorn Norstrom, Carol Smith, and Annika Haglund
"As opposed to traditional subjects such as math, science, reading and writing, project management is not a skill set schools typically teach and assess."
ORIGINS:
EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering (EX.I.T.E.) is a week-long summer camp that IBM sites around the world have offered to middle school girls. During the camp these girls have opportunities to work alongside female engineers on a specific project. The goal of the project is to get young girls interested in and exploring possible careers in the fields of technology and engineering. Norstrom, Smith and Haglund all participated in the program and decided to join forces to propose a new program that focused "on teaching the girls project management skills and teamwork through incorporating a variety of educational technologies."
VISION:
The four goals as established through a collaborative process between CMS and IBM:
PROGRAM & PROJECT:
The mentors are responsible for fulfilling a sort of dual role. Their first role is to provide support, guidance, and encouragement to the mentee. Their second role involves acting as a customer and investor of the project the girls managed by accepting, rejecting, or even asking for revisions of the work the girls submit.
Phases of the program for the female students involved:
RESULTS:
A greater sense of confidence was created within each young lady involved in the program. The article talks about how in the beginning sessions/meetings with the girls it was typical of a middle school group, but by the end of their time in the program the young ladies were more assertive self starters who eventually to charge in such meetings. Not only did each young lady gain a deeper understanding in the field of engineering and technology but they also gained a better sense of their roles as leaders.
Q1: How can such a program be used on a smaller level?
A1: I believe a program like this could be designed on a community-based level with prominent community members or even members of the school district. The program would allow for students to develop innovative programs they believe would be beneficial for themselves and their peers.
Q2: What is the effectiveness of mentor-mentee relationships?
A2: When students have someone they can look up to, they strive to achieve more. Also the level of accountability is greater than it was and thus the relationship builds more motivated students.
EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering (EX.I.T.E.) is a week-long summer camp that IBM sites around the world have offered to middle school girls. During the camp these girls have opportunities to work alongside female engineers on a specific project. The goal of the project is to get young girls interested in and exploring possible careers in the fields of technology and engineering. Norstrom, Smith and Haglund all participated in the program and decided to join forces to propose a new program that focused "on teaching the girls project management skills and teamwork through incorporating a variety of educational technologies."
VISION:
The four goals as established through a collaborative process between CMS and IBM:
- Establish a long-term mentor-mentee relationship between engineers and students
- Introduce students to the field of project management and connect it to educational technology
- Encourage girls to pursue further education and careers in science and technology
- Develop a replicable model that can be implemented in any K-12 setting on how education and corporations can collaborate around educational technology
PROGRAM & PROJECT:
The mentors are responsible for fulfilling a sort of dual role. Their first role is to provide support, guidance, and encouragement to the mentee. Their second role involves acting as a customer and investor of the project the girls managed by accepting, rejecting, or even asking for revisions of the work the girls submit.
Phases of the program for the female students involved:
- IDEA- the girls brainstorm ideas for fulfilling the needs of the project assigned.
- PLAN- the girls write a Statement of Work (SOW) and submit it to their customers. During this phase the girls would normally receive some sort of feedback and revise their SOW accordingly.
- CREATE- this is the phase in which the girls begin to implement their SOW.
- CHECK- the girls check their project against the original directions and discuss lessons learned.
RESULTS:
A greater sense of confidence was created within each young lady involved in the program. The article talks about how in the beginning sessions/meetings with the girls it was typical of a middle school group, but by the end of their time in the program the young ladies were more assertive self starters who eventually to charge in such meetings. Not only did each young lady gain a deeper understanding in the field of engineering and technology but they also gained a better sense of their roles as leaders.
Q1: How can such a program be used on a smaller level?
A1: I believe a program like this could be designed on a community-based level with prominent community members or even members of the school district. The program would allow for students to develop innovative programs they believe would be beneficial for themselves and their peers.
Q2: What is the effectiveness of mentor-mentee relationships?
A2: When students have someone they can look up to, they strive to achieve more. Also the level of accountability is greater than it was and thus the relationship builds more motivated students.
If I were to describe myself in three words they’d be genuine, loyal and teachable. These are all characteristics I believe will make me an affective teacher. I have always been a hard-working student who enjoys learning. My favorite subject is mathematics, which is why I decided to pursue an undergraduate degree in it. I find math to be a very intriguing subject. I love the fact that there is always one answer but multiple ways of getting there. I guess problem solving is something that attracts me not only academically but also in life.
"Math is like love-- a simple idea but it can get complicated." When we get down to the bottom line of things everyone wants love in their life, so if math is like love why wouldn't anyone want math in their life? While I'm using humor to talk about math in one's life, the truth is math cannot be escaped. Even if one went their whole life without stepping foot into a mathematics classroom they would need to know how to count, add, subtract, etc. In conducting everyday activities like purchasing food or clothing, cooking, and balancing your checkbook math is involved. These may seem like simple tasks at first, but there are times when it can get complicated. Math has always been a subject I've enjoyed, and I look forward to the opportunity to teach it. I would like to teach the high school level because it is at this point when students become disgruntled with the subject, feeling as though there is no need for it in life. I like to make connections from the classroom to real life and feel as though I will be able to do so in an effective way for my students.
schoolstudents are considered functionally illiterate. Even more staggering is that 42 million American adults are illiterate and 50 million cannot read at a level exceeding that of a fifth grader.
