Enhancing computing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach.

A paper was recently presented at the 11th China-Europe International Symposium of Software Engineering Education, 29-30 April 2015, Zwickau, Germany http://whz-cms-10.zw.fh-zwickau.de/bo/index_CEISEE.html

Enhancing computing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach.

Scott Turner, Associate Professor, Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies, University of Northampton, Northampton, NN2 6JB, UK

Abstract

Student volunteering is growing in the UK and elsewhere, and there is an ongoing debate about whether it is really “self-evidently a ‘good thing’” or there is a greater need for reflection to determine whether this statement is true (Holdsworth and Quinn, 2010).  This paper presents a personal reflection of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) volunteering as a potential route to increasing Computing student’s employability.

This paper looks at an approach at the University of Northampton that involves:

• ·         Linking but not combining a local STEM volunteering scheme to the National STEM Volunteers (STEMNet 2015)
• ·         Creation of a STEM Steering Group that has representation across all parts of the university.

Enhancing computing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach. - CEISEE 2015 from Scott Turner

Three brief case studies of computing student volunteers at different stages will be presented and culminate with a personal reflection based on observations over a ten year period.

References

Brewis, G., Russell, J., & Holdsworth, C. (2010). Bursting the bubble: Students, volunteering and the community. Research Summary.

Holdsworth, C., & Quinn, J. (2010). Student volunteering in English higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 35(1), 113-127. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075070903019856

Junkbots (2015) Junkbots [online] Available at: http://junkbots.blogspot.co.uk/ Accessed on: 24th January 2015.

Sinclair J, Allen A, Davis L, Goodchild T, Messenger J, Turner S (2014) "Enhancing student employability skills through partnership working in STEM outreach; the University of Northampton approach " HEA STEM Annual Teaching and Learning Conference 2013: Enhancing the STEM Student Journey, University of Edinburgh, 30th April-1st May 2014

STEMNet (2015) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network [online] Available at: http://www.stemnet.org.uk/ Accessed on: 24th January 2015.

Scott is also on the International Programme committee (http://whz-cms-10.zw.fh-zwickau.de/bo/CEISEE_ProgComm.html)  and was a session chair for a paper session.

If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with

HEA STEM Conference: Junkbots Poster

ABSTRACT: The School of Science and Technology at the University of Northampton have been working with local schools to create robots made from junk and also to use robots programmed by the students to perform simple rubbish clearing exercises. This is an initiative by the University to introduce environmental sustainability, engineering and computing to students in schools.

dancing robots - outreach

For the last few months at lot of the outreach work from the Junkbots project was focused on the exercises based around turning cans into drawing bots or junk clearing bots. On 21st June 2012 the robot programming side of the project was trialled with primary schools.

The Northamptonshire based Nene Lakes Extended Services ran "Chemistry at Work Day" event hosted by Scott Bader, Wollaston and the robot programming was also included as well. The programming idea, an off-shoot of the junkbots project, was for the students to programming an NXT Lego robot to dance using only four commands that allowed the robot to:

• go forward for so many centimetres
• go back for so many centimetres
• go turn right for so many degrees
• go turn left for so many degrees

The structure of the activity was

1. up to 5 minutes introduction to the activity
2. up to 10 minutes as a group of usually up seven; design a dance routine of no more than four moves
3. up to 10 minutes putting the routine on to the robot using a template Java program 
4. up to 10 minutes testing the routine; redesign the routine with up to eight moves, repeat 3
5. remaining time involves forming a large circle putting the groups robot in the centre and watching them preform and saying which is the best and why.

When the instructions are being entered into the computer, the facilitator does the first one and then the students add the remaining instructions themselves and decide which instruction to use, and the first student tells then next student how to do it and so on. The facilitator does the compiling and uploading to the robot largely for speed.

Because of a limited access to the computer to program the robots an extra activity was incorporated - one person reading out the instructions one by one and then one or more members of the group acting out the actions.

Objectives aimed for

• they can write and design programs;
• STEM is fun;
• robots are fun;

Lessons learn by the facilitator - it would be much easier if there was two facilitators!

BeSwitched On evolves @UniNorthants

Recent presentation from the School of Science and Technology at the University of Northampton's Widening Participation Seminar.

Copy of BeSwitchedOn? on Prezi