AC2012-4460: JUNIORCYBERDISCOVERY:CREATINGAVERTICALLY INTEGRATED MIDDLE SCHOOL CYBER CAMP

This paper describes an innovative partnership that was developed between high schools and their feeder middle schools in an effort to foster collaboration and mentoring among faculty while immersing rising 7 th grade students in a week-long, project-driven day camp to develop interest and skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The middle school teachers received professional development and mentoring from their high school peers in addition to hands-on training with their students throughout the program. The students participated in activities that explore artificial intelligence and virtual reality which in turn cultivated their interest in the science and engineering aspects of cyberspace through interactive hands-on robotics and 3-D modeling. Socratic discussions concerning the social implications of the concepts presented were explored in depth through the use of movies that directly related to artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Examples from the camp will be presented along with lessons learned. The United States faces an unprecedented challenge in foreign competition in math, science, and engineering. Locally, we face the challenge of preparing a workforce versed in cyber issues as well as math, science, and engineering to fulfill the needs of the region. The problem over the last decade is that there has been a 50% decline in the students’ interest in engineering and a 14% decrease in engineering degrees with only 2.1% of high school graduates likely to earn an engineering degree. This project cultivates an interest in cyber, computer programming, math, science, and engineering by exposing middle school teachers and their students to the new technology. The Cyber Discovery model was developed through a collaboration of mathematics, science, engineering, and liberal arts faculty from Louisiana Tech University and by staff from Cyber Innovation Center. The total immersive experience was aimed at high school teachers and their student teams. The culminating week-long residential camp exposed student participants to multiple topics of cyberspace including: history of cyberspace, ethical and social issues, applications, and the need for and use of security in cyberspace. Similar to Cyber Discovery, where the focus is on building relationships between university and high school faculty; Junior Cyber Discovery is a collaboration between teams of STEM and humanities teachers at the high school and middle school levels. Junior Cyber Discovery model engages middle school students.