Making Apps: A Near-Peer Mentoring Program for Girls

• In Event: Making at the Margins: Engaging Underserved Communities in Maker Technologies, Activities, and Spaces

Abstract

Research has identified four factors that influence women to go into Computer Science (CS): self-efficacy, exposure to the field, support, and opportunities for CS experiences (Wang et al, 2015). However, not all youth have access to all or even some of these factors. We have specifically designed programming camps around these factors as a way to provide access to CS experiences and opportunities for girls in the Intermountain West.

App Camp Near Peer Mentoring Model
To teach programming skills to young females we use a three-tier near-peer mentoring model which includes learners (campers), mentors, and lead mentors. In this model, we first train mentors, high school girls, how to program using MIT App Inventor. During the training, mentors spend a week (30 hours) designing apps and learning how to mentor middle school peers on App Inventor. Following the training, the high school girls assume their roles of mentor for a one week camp designed for middle school students (15 hours). During the summer of 2016, we added the third level of our model where we invited previous mentors back to be lead mentors and help train future mentors.

Study Context
We partnered with a GEAR UP project in the Intermountain West to conduct GEAR UP App Camp. GEAR UP is a department of Education funded program that focuses on gaining early awareness and readiness for undergraduate programs (GEAR UP). The purpose of GEAR UP projects is to prepare low-income students in high poverty schools to enter and succeed in postsecondary education (NCCEP, 2017).

High school girls and teachers from GEAR UP schools were invited to stay on a university campus for one week. They learned how to program apps and in addition, the girls learned how to be a mentor. After the training, they went back to their schools across the state. The teachers ran local camps and the girls mentored. It was during the training that we first introduced the third level of our three-tier model by inviting previous mentors from GEAR UP schools to serve as lead mentors for the mentor training.

In this poster, we present case studies at each level of the model to illustrate the affordances of the three-tier near-peer mentoring model.

Data Sources and Analysis
Our data comes from interviews, field notes, and daily reflections. We approach our case study data analysis in an explanation building manner (Yin, 2009). To explain the benefits of three-tier near-peer mentoring systems, we present a set of causal links illustrating these benefits in an iterative manner by presenting evidence found in three different cases: the case of one lead mentor, one mentor, and one learner (camper).

Our cases study results illustrate how we addressed tensions that arose such as a previous lack of exposure to what computer science and computer programming are, lack of resources to go to college and pursue CS as a major, and lack of opportunities beyond our camp to engage in CS experiences.

Authors

• Jody E. Clarke-Midura, Utah State University

• Katarina Pantic, Utah State University

• Frederick Poole

• Vicki Allan, Utah State University

• Jim Dorward, Utah State University

• Megan Marie Hamilton, Utah State University