Communications of the ACM
Compugirls: Young Women Have Role to Play in Technology Field
A humanoid robot appears to be following the work of two students in the CompuGirls project, along with Professor Andrew Williams of Marquette University.
Credit: John C. Williams / Marquette University
CompuGirls is a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded organization based at Arizona State University that provides girls aged eight to 12 from under-resourced schools in the Greater Phoenix area and Colorado with activities to develop technical skills and encourage computational thinking in a way that is culturally relevant. CompuGirls provides a one-week program during the fall or spring break, as well as an eighth-period class over a couple of semesters and a three-week summer class. The classes include digital storytelling, learning Scratch software, and exposure to coding through researching a topic and putting it together in a virtual world.
"CompuGirls instills a sense of discipline, and we do see gains in their technical knowledge and comfort," says CompuGirls founder Kimberly Scott.
CompuGirls also is working with the National Robotics Initiative to teach girls how to program robots and study the social aspects of human-to-robot interaction. "In this project we're communicating to the girls that we're going to teach you how to use these technology tools with robotics to advance your community, better understand yourself, and show that you do belong in technology and you have some valuable contributions you can make," says Marquette University researcher Andrew Williams.
From U.S. National Science Foundation
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