Communications of the ACM
Nmsu Las Cruces Program Helps Women Break Into Computer Science
Photo courtesy of New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University's (NMSU's) Young Women in Computing (YWiC) program is designed to cultivate interest in computer science among middle and high school girls. Over the past six years, NMSU's Department of Computer Science has offered a camp to teach young women about the different areas of the field and provide them with hands-on experience with animation, robotics, and Web programming.
"The camp is organized so girls can become confident in their computer science abilities and hopefully pursue careers in computer science, a field in which they are a minority," says YWiC program coordinator Rebecca Galves.
For one project, middle school girls are using a graphics-oriented animation program to make three-dimensional movies and create interactive stories. High school girls are using an advanced animation simulation and programming software to create interactive fashion pieces. NMSU uses grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation to fund the program, and advocates for computer science activities in the classroom as part of its outreach efforts.
From KRWG News (NM)
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