Building Computational Thinking in K12 Outreach to Serve Latinas: Impact of Moving Summer Programming Online
Abstract: In the summers of 2020 and 2021, two online summer camps were organized and sponsored by the Rural Southwest State (a pseudonym) computer science department co-curricular staff and student development team. These two camps were built for middle school and high school youth who identify as female or non-binary. The undergraduate and graduate student staff, many of whom were campers as K12 students, were tasked with developing an online program for young women and girls that adhered to what they defined as the “culture” of the program, one that emphasized exploration, choice, building community, and inspiring a growth mindset towards computational thinking, all elements of high quality STEM outreach programs for youth. This paper utilizes survey, assessment, and interview data in a mixed method investigation of the K12 outreach effort that investigates from multiple perspectives whether and how a program maintained fidelity with a move online.