Computer Science is about Problem Solving: Highlights from a 6th Grade Computing Camp
Bushra Anjum, Greg Wilcox · 2020
Dr. Bushra Anjum and Mr. Greg Wilcox organized a computing camp for 6th graders at the Los Osos Middle School in California during the summer of 2019. Though the school has a computer lab, it lacks a computing curriculum along with CS-trained faculty. Dr. Anjum led the camp--- consisting of 5 highly interactive training sessions--- to introduce various exciting computing concepts to the students. The sessions were conducted with the help of the school's STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) faculty and included videos, active discussion, and hands-on activities introducing new skills. This effort was aimed to inspire young people to step up and contribute to the future of technology. In this paper, the authors share some of the lessons and insights gained from this experience. They also discuss those strategies that worked and those that didn't while sharing some recommendations for students and faculty interested in conducting such outreach.