The Design Focused Engineering Outreach to a Middle School Using Arduino Projects

Most engineering outreach programs are a part of STEM outreach efforts and they often fail to bring engineering-specific interests. We present a unique engineering outreach effort with the focus on “engineering design” with the use of Arduino UNO board. Arduino UNO board was used to achieve the design oriented learning and bring creativity through various projects targeting 7–8th graders. In order to achieve the design oriented outreach goal, several strategies were employed. The program was called “Science Art’ to provide familiar concept of design and challenge them with technology. College engineering students directly mentored 7–8th graders in a small group setting to teach technical details. In addition, the efforts were sustained for an entire quarter. It successfully drew the participants in all diverse ethnic and gender groups. The use of Arduino board project allowed development of design concepts and promoted creativity to the middle school students. Student mentees’ feedback was very positive, showing almost perfect approval. At the same time, college mentors equally benefited from the experiences by increasing interpersonal skills and gaining technical confidence. In conclusion, the close mentorship and sustained effort provided a great way to implement the Arduino based program to a middle school and thus achieve the design oriented outreach goal. This approach can be widely used for other design oriented outreach program.