The Department of Computing Outreach Programme is growing!

In July we received 60 Y9 girls (ages 13-14) as part of the Imperial College Engineering Summer School for girls (ESSG) over 2 afternoons to learn about the world of Computer Science (CS). In August, we received 12 A-Level students who spent 2.5 days in the department as part of the Sutton Trust Summer School (STSS).

ESSG

The department has an ambition to increase the number of girls studying CS. When we ask school girls about why the number of girls interested in CS is so low, they often say they didn’t know CS was an option for them or what it is, they are not aware of its applications, and they often think that it is 'just about gaming' and 'for boys'. The goal of our outreach programme is to change these misconceptions and the initial data shows promising results: over 60% (out of 57 answers from the 2016 event) say they are more likely to study the subject. This is an improvement on the already excellent results of 53% in the 2015 cohort (30 girls).

 
The timetable for our ESSG included talks in 3D bio-imaging, software bugs and special effects, a tour and demonstration at the Dyson Robotics labs, and a short introduction to building your own web page.

Some comments:
“I didn’t know that technology and inventions existed for doctors to use for surgery and the brain.”

“I thought it was going to be boring. It was not!”

“[I enjoyed] learning about different aspects of computing [and] how it can be applied to everyday life.”

“[I enjoyed] THE WHOLE THING!”

STSS

The department received 12 A-level students who spent 2.5 days in the department. Again, the aim of the school is to raise aspirations of students to study STEM subjects and to give them a glimpse of what it is like being a university student (in this case in the Department of Computing).

Students attended several research lectures, had a go at trying some of the programming languages our students learn, had a chat with one of Imperial’s most active societies (DoCSoc), had a race with the Dyson Robotics labs’ robot arms, and played with a genuine WWII Enigma Machine as well as building their own Enigma using a Pringles tube! The activities were delivered by staff and students at several stages of their academic/professional life giving the attendants an opportunity to experience and find more about the department as a whole. At the end of the week the students designed an academic poster and one of the CS groups won second place with a great poster about the Enigma Machine!

Feedback was again very positive, although these students are already considering CS as an option for a degree and most are doing CS A-Level.