inspiración + empatía
STEAM club curriculum
Background: STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Women around the world, including Costa Rica, are extremely underrepresented in STEAM industries. There are many organizations and initiatives in Costa Rica, such as TeachHer, Ideas en Accion, INTEL, INAMU, and MEP all working to combat this inequity. We determined clubs were the best way volunteers could make impact at the local level -- sparking interest and curiosity in these subjects with young girls!
As a member of the Gender and Development Committee, I led a volunteer taskforce team to create a STEAM club handbook. This curriculum is a one-stop shop for Peace Corps volunteers that want to implement a STEAM club in their communities. It includes 25+ STEAM lesson plans, as well as all the necessary supporting documents volunteers need in the field to lead a STEAM club.
In order to develop a club curriculum that was inclusive to volunteers in different communities (e.g. urban v rural, large v small, access to technology resources), Peace Corps Costa Rica hosted a week-long workshop and invited subject matter experts from Intel, the Ministry of Education, TeachHer and the National Institute for Women to participate. Each volunteer that was part of the taskforce team to create the club curriculum also invited a community member, so to include the perspectives of community participants and leaders.
In our three-month pilot program, we reached 160 students across Costa Rica. The initiative is currently being shared with all Spanish-speaking Peace Corps countries, including 1,235+ volunteers that can potentially execute this program in their communities.
Purpose: To enhance interest and participation in STEAM-related careers
Target Audience: Girls, ages 10 to 14
Documents:
Lesson Learned: In order to gain local buy-in for these clubs, it was important for leaders and community members to understand why we were specifically creating a safe learning space only for girls. Due to cultural norms, clubs that were able to articulate this point were more successful.
