UNT Empowers New Generation of Female Scientists with STEM Camps at Fort Worth Museum of Science and

UNT Empowers New Generation of Female Scientists with STEM Camps at Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

The University of North Texas and the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History collaborated on STEM camps for middle and high school girls from underrepresented communities in North Texas.

Girls SURGE into STEM XR Camp is led by Aleshia Hayes, Assistant Professor in the College of Information Department of Learning Technologies, along with a group of undergraduate and graduate students at UNT. Hayes runs the Simulation User Research Game Experience Lab, or SURGE Lab at UNT, which focuses on researching ways extended realities and game technologies can help resolve key educational and social challenges, while improving entrepreneurship and STEM learning among diverse communities.

The June 2022 camps at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History introduced girls to emerging technology tools (like augmented and virtual realities) for STEM education. Students learned and applied transferable skills including design thinking, user experience testing and prototyping. They even had an opportunity to be published co-authors on an academic paper about user experience testing, increasing their self-efficacy in STEM.

Learn more at https://surge.ci.unt.edu/girls-surge-stem-xr-camp.