Results from the Inaugural SSEC Equity Tech Camp: engaging underrepresented High School students in technology and computer programming
Abstract
This presentation will describe the debut Equity Technology Camp offered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) in August 2019 to underrepresented youth in STEM fields with an overall goal of increasing diversity in technology and computer programming careers. High School students who attended this Day Camp were given instruction on topics that have special resonance at the UW-Madison, the birthplace of Satellite Meteorology. Five High School teachers also attended the debut offering to help evaluate activities and content. Topics included Satellite Meteorology, with satellite data that were investigated using the Satellite Information Familiarization Tool (SIFT) (http://sift.ssec.wisc.edu) ; Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and RealEarth™ (http://re.ssec.wisc.edu ); SatPy (https://github.com/pytroll/satpy) and programming for satellite data using PyThon; Tornado modelling using supercomputers; and Virtual Reality demos employing Oculus Quest headsets to explore satellite data via WxSats (https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/datacenter/wxsats/). These hands-on activities were supplemented by trips to various Tech venues around the UW-Madison Campus. The Camp concluded with a Poster Session presented by the participants, further preparing underrepresented students for college or career tracks. This AGU presentation will share details and lessons learned via pre- post-test results and feedback garnered from participating students and teachers.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMED31C0976M
- Keywords:
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- 0855 Diversity;
- EDUCATION;
- 1974 Social networks;
- INFORMATICS;
- 6630 Workforce;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES;
- 6620 Science policy;
- PUBLIC ISSUES