MascotlogodesignedbyJessica-JaneFox
Go_Girl:code+create
CurricularResourcesforstartingyourownprogramme
AshmitaRandhawa,TraceyDenton-Calabrese,KenKahn,AnneGeniets,NiallWinters
Team Theresourcespresentedinthiscurriculumpackarebasedonworkthathasbeenconductedoverthelast4yearsonthego_Girl:code+createprogramme.Therehavebeenvariouscontributorstothedevelopmentofthecurriculaandthecurationoftheresources.Theteammembersfromthelastfouryearsarelistedbelow:
YouthWorkers
MelJewell(formerlywiththeOxfordshireCountyCouncilEarlyInterventionService),ColleenMitchell,AbisolaIfasawo
OxfordUniversityDepartmentofEducation
NiallWinters,AnneGeniets,KenKahn,PaigeMustain,PaulaFiddi,AshmitaRandhawa,TraceyDenton-Calabrese,IsobelTalks,LauraHakimi
go_girlPioneer
SabbahBakhtiarisago_girlpioneerwhosuccessfullycompletedtheprojectin2016.Sheworkedforgo_girlandledontheadministrativesideoftheproject,aswellashelpedwiththedevelopmentofsomeofthecodingexercises.
Jessica-JaneFoxisago_girlpioneerwhosuccessfullycompletedtheprojectin2017.Shedesignedthemascotfortheprogramme(coverpage).ShewentontopursueaMaster’sdegreeinGameDesignattheNationalFilmandTelevisionSchool.
UniversityofBathIntern
EstherOutram
CCBY-NC:Thislicenseallowsreuserstodistribute,remix,adapt,andbuilduponthematerialinanymediumorformatfornoncommercialpurposes
only,andonlysolongasattributionisgiventothecreator.
Itincludesthefollowingelements:
BY –Creditmustbegiventothecreator
NC –Onlynoncommercialusesoftheworkarepermitted
1. What is go_girl :code+create? go_girl:code+create (referredtohereonasgo_girl) isanoutreachprogrammeaimedat recruitingandworkingwith youngwomen classed as NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) toteachthemhowtocode.go_girlhowever,issomuchmorethanacodingclub.Itempowersyoungwomen coming from under-resourced backgrounds by helping them to develop new skills, bothsocial and technological. To learnmore about theprogrammeas it has been run, please visit ourblog:gogirloxford.org
Created by Professor Niall Winters and Dr. Anne Geniets of the Learning and New TechnologiesGroupattheDepartmentofEducation,UniversityofOxford,go_girlwasstartedin2015andwasruninpartnershipwiththeOxfordshireCountyCouncil'sEarlyInterventionService.Runforthreeyearsfrom2015/16–2018/19,thisprogrammesits in linewithOxford’stargets in itsAccessAgreementwiththeOfficeforFairAccess.Thisinterdisciplinaryprogrammecomplementsexistingprogrammesaimedatwideningaccess to theUniversityofOxford,but tackles theproblem ina fundamentallynewwayusingtechnology.
The programme and associated research was originally supported by the University of Oxford ITInnovationChallengesSeedFundandreceivedsubsequentfundingfromGoldmanSachsGives,andnumeroussmallandmediumsizedenterprises–allkeenontacklingthegrowingproblemofyouthunemploymentparticularlyamongstyoungwomen.
1.1 Programme Objectives The go_girl programme has five inter-related key objectives. The core idea is to have the youngwomenengagewithtechnologyinnewways,buildinguptointroductoryprogrammingactivities:
• Interact with technology in a creative, non-threatening and empowering way through beingtaughthowtodesignandcode;
• ExplorethehistoryofminorityrolemodelsattheUniversityofOxford;
• Engageindigitalstoryproduction,storytellingandstorypresentation;
• Increase the young women’s academic confidence by collaboratively working on the aboveactivities.
• Promotepost-programmeengagementinfurthereducation,employmentandtraining
These objectives aremet by drawing on the go_girl team’s interdisciplinary expertise in learningtechnologies, new media, coding and programming, the design and implementation of mobileapplications, and engaging with communities from non-traditional academic backgrounds. Keyfactors that demonstrate achievement in the go_girl programme include social/relationalempowerment, professional development, and cognitive and educational growth of the youngwomen.Theseachievementsaredemonstratedviainterviewsandobservationswhichindicate:
• Increasedlevelsofperceivedself-efficacy
• Increase in overall IT skill levels throughmedia production (video,music, blogs) and creativeprogrammingandcoding
• Changeineducationalandcareeraspirations
• Increasedunderstanding of the challenges andbarriers facedby youngwomen in applying toUniversity
• Increaseintheacademicconfidenceoftheyoungwomen
2. The purpose of this resource Thisresourceservestwomainpurposes:1)itaimstoprovidethereaderwithanoverviewoftheprogrammestructure,and2)provideexamplesofresourcesforthecurriculumoftheprogramme.Thisresourceispracticalinnatureandhasbeenputtogetherbasedonunderstandingdevelopedboththroughresearchandempiricalevidencefromrunningthisprogrammeforthreeyears.Alltheexamplesofworkthathavebeenprovidedhavebeencollatedorcreatedbythego_girlteamovertheyears.
Togainasenseofwhataweekbyweekrunningofthego_girlprogrammecanlooklike,pleasevisitourblogat:gogirloxford.org.Theblogcapturesweeklysessionsbothfromtheperspectiveoftheresearchersrunningtheprogrammeandfromtheyoungwomenwhoparticipated.Readingtheblogpostswillprovideasenseoftheatmosphereofinclusivelearning,personalisedcurriculumandbroadskillsdevelopmentthatiscreatedinthego_girlsessionsandprogramme.
ImagecourtesyofJuliaHayes
3. Key Partnerships: Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford University Department of Education
Theyoungwomenwhoattendedgo_girlwererecruitedthroughtheOxfordshirecountycouncil’sEarlyInterventionServices.Ifyouareinterestedinsettingupago_girlprogramme,itisimportanttothinkaboutthepartnershipsyouwillneedtobroker.Apartnershipwithacountycounciloracharitythatprovidesyouthservicesisvital,asitisthispartnershipthatwillfacilitaterecruitmentandalsoallowforongoingsupporttomeettheneedsoftheyoungwomen.
Ayouthworkerfromacountycouncilcanfulfilthisimportantrole.Withouttheinvolvementofayouthworkerorsomeonewiththeexperienceofworkingwithyoungwomen,recruitmentandretentionofparticipantswouldbesignificantlymoredifficult.Thekeyactivitiesandimportanceofmaintainingarelationshipwithayouthworkerandthecountycouncilareasfollows:
3.1 Recruitment Thisprogramme,muchlikeanyotherwouldnotexistwithoutitsparticipants.Theyouthworkerplaysapivotalroleinrecruitingtheyoungwomenintheinitialphasesoftheprogramme.ItisessentialtoworkwithstaffatthecountycouncilwhoareresponsibleforprovidingNEETservicesastheyouthworkersinthisdivisionwillhavethebestnetworkandagoodunderstandingofandconnectionwithyoungwomenwhowouldbeagoodfitfortheprogramme.TheyouthworkercanrecruitfromschoolswherestudentsidentifiedasRONIs(RiskofNEETindicators)areintroducedtothego_girlprogrammethroughworkshops.Theyouthworkerisalsoabletorecruityoungwomenthroughthedrop-insessionsandworkshopsthattheyrunatthecountycouncil.Havingacommunityworkerasago_girlstaffmemberisaninvaluableassetasitallowstheyoungwomenparticipantstobuildarelationshipoftrustwiththembeforetheyevenbegintheprogram.Thisisdonethroughdrop-insessionsaswellasoneononemeetingswiththeyoungwomenonaweeklybasis.
3.2 Ongoing Support Theyoungwomenmaintainarelationshipwiththeyouthworkerthroughoutthecourseofthego_girlprogramme,whilstdevelopingarelationshipwiththego_girlteam.Theymeetwiththeyouthworkeronaweeklybasis,whichallowstheyouthworkertounderstandandassistwithanyongoingissuesthattheyoungwomenmaybefacingoutsideofthego_girlprogramme.Havingtheseweeklymeetingsallowstheyouthworkertofeedbackkeyinformationtothego_girlteamabouthowtheweeklysessionsshouldbestructured.Ensuringthattheyouthworkerattendsandparticipatesintheprogrammesessionsalsohelpsprovidetheyoungwomenwithanadditionallayerofsupportastheyengageinaninformaleducationalsettingafterhavingdisengagedfromformaleducation.
4. Phases for go_girl: code + create The curriculum for go_girl isdeliveredacross threephases.However, there is alsoapreandpostphasethatareanextremely importantpartof theoverallprogrammestructure.Thecurriculum isdelivered over the course of 26-30weekswhich encapsulates Phases 1-3 of the programme andrepresentsthe‘formal’stageofthecurriculum.Thesephasesarebuiltaroundtheholidaysthatarepart of the normal school year of secondary schools and Further Education colleges. The go_girlcurriculumandprogrammehasbeendesignedtomimicthetimingsoftheschoolyearsothatthereareno limitationsaround recruitingyoungwomenwhomight stillbeattendingFurtherEducationColleges.Whatfollowsbelowisabriefoverviewoftheintendedobjectivesofeachphase(figure1).
Thesephasesaredesignedtopromotesocial/relationalempowerment,professionaldevelopment,and cognitive and educational growth. Although there is a focus on empowerment in Phase 1,elements of this continue across all the phases. This is important particularly when introducingparticipants to coding concepts so that they continue to develop confidence as they work tounderstandnewideasanddevelopnewskills.
5. Rationale for the curriculum Thecurriculumincorporatesareflexiveteachingapproachandshouldbeflexiblebasedontheneedsof participants. A reflexive approach incorporates the use of Experienced Based Learning (EBL)techniques which, in the case of go_girl, encourages participants to create projects that aremeaningfultothemandallowsthemtoreflectontheirownexperiences.EBLinvolvesengagingthewholepersonwhichincludesone’sintellectbutalsoothersenses.
5.1 Phase 0 – Recruitment and initial relationship building TheaimfortheprogrammeismeanttobeasinclusiveaspossiblewithinthepopulationofNEETyoungwomen.Recruitmentisledbytheyouthworker.Thecriteriaforrecruitmentareasfollows:
• Youngwomenaged16-24• YoungwomenwhoareNEET–Notineducation,employmentorTraining• Showaninterestintechnology(butnotnecessarilyprogramming)• Acommitmenttocompletingtheentireprogramme
Aspartoftherecruitmentprocess,itisimportantthatthego_girlteamworkwiththeyouthworkertomeetwiththeyoungwomenwhoareinterestedintheprogramme,asthiswillallowforthebuildingofrelationshipsoftrustfromamuchearlierpointintime.Recruitmentcantakeanywhere
Figure1:Phasesofthego_girlprogramme.Eachphasehasatargetedapproachtomeetcertainobjectivesanddeliverkeyskillsfortheyoungwomen
Phase1SocialDevelopmentandTeamBuilding
Phase2TechnicalSkillBuilding
Phase3Building Expertise
Phase0– NEETRecruitment
Phase4– TransitiontoEET
from1-4months,soitisimportanttotakethisintoconsiderationwhendevelopingthetimelineofyourprogramme.
5.2 Phase 1 – Social Development and Team building (approximately 8-10 weeks) In this phase of the programme, the curriculum focuses more on social empowerment anddevelopmentwith an introduction to programmatic thinking. This is a crucial phase as the youngwomencomingfromdiversebackgroundswillhaveanopportunitytoformatruecohortwheretheycan build trust and learn to depend on each other. Key programmatic concepts are introducedthrough pseudocode and through activities such as knitting to help encourage programmatic andlogicalthinking.
5.3 Phase 2 – Technical Skill Building (approximately 10-12 weeks) Theobjectiveofthisphaseistointroducetheyoungwomentoprogrammingthroughintroductoryconcepts inScratchandHTML.Each session isdedicated tokey concepts inprogramming suchasiteration,recursion,andsoon,andtheyoungwomenworkthroughmini-projectsandexercisestobuildexpertise. It isalso important tocontinuetoworkonaspectsofsocialempowermentduringthisphaseandtheyoungwomenwillalsoworkondevelopingtheirideasforaprojectthattheywillundertakeinPhase3.
5.4 Phase 3 – Building Expertise (approximately 8 weeks) The project requirements for Phase 3 are fairly loose, however, they should link back to usingtechnologyandcodinginameaningfulmannersothattheyoungwomencanfurtherdeveloptheirnewlyacquiredskills.Thisphaseculminates inaceremonywhere theyoungwomenpresent theirprojects to an audience of family, friends and academics. At the end of the ceremony, they areawardedcertificatesofcompletionfollowedbyareceptionwithsnacksandbeverages.
5.5 Phase 4 – Transition and Pathways to Independence (approximately 4 weeks) Oncetheyoungwomenhavecompletedthe‘formal’stagesofthego_girlprogramme,theyouthworkerstaysintouchwithallofthemfor1:1sessionstohelpthemtransitionontothenextstagewhichwouldeitherbeaneducationcourseoremployment.Thisphaseisparticularlyimportantastheyouthworkerworksintandemwiththeyoungwomentohelpthemapplyforcoursesorlookforjobsthatareofinterest.Theyoungwomenwhohavecompletedtheprogrammebecomego_girlpioneersand,ifinterested,theyhelpdevelopthecurriculumforthenextcohortandbecomechampionsoftheprogrammebyassistingwithrecruitmentforthenextcohortofgo_girls.
DuringPhases1-3,theyoungwomeninthecohortattendweeklysessionswithinstructorstofollowa ‘formal curriculum’ that is delivered in a group structure, focused on personalised learning.Outsideoftheseformalsessions,theyoungwomenmeetwiththeyouthworkerin1:1oringroupsessions once a week outside of this formal structure. These sessions aim to provide the youngwomenwithsupportthattheymightneedoutsideofthelearningenvironmentandtheinformationshared is usually kept private between themselves and the youth worker unless an event hasoccurredthatmayhaveanimpactonthelearningorinvolvesissuesofsafeguardingfortheyoungwomen.
Through thedifferent phases,we alsowork to provide talks by inspirationalwomen in STEMandother fields that may be of interest to the young women. In addition, we take trips to various
industries to offer a variety of experiences to the young women and introduce them to variouscareeroptions.
Thispackisaimedatprovidingresourcesfordesigningtheformalcurriculumbutalsooffersinsightsintothetypesoftopicsthatmaybecoveredbytheyouthworker intheirsessionswiththeyoungwomen.
This resource seeks to provide you with lesson plans and activities for you to run your ownprogrammewithNEETyoungwomen.Thesearegroupedbyrationaleintermsofthetypeofgrowthandskillsdevelopmentthatthisprogrammeseekstoputintoplacefortheyoungwomenwhojoin.Thesearenotmeanttobeprescriptive innatureas it is importanttotailortheprogrammetotheneeds of each cohort. For amore detailedweek-by-week breakdown of activities, please see theattached appendix. Although the programme has been divided into four phases, the work onbuilding the young womens’ confidence and helping them emotionally is an ongoing processthroughouteachphaseoftheprogramme.AscanbeseenfromTable1,thego_girl:code+createprogramme develops not only skills in technology, but also helps to develop the young womensocially,emotionallyandpsychologically.
Table1:Overviewofoutreach,growth&developmentdimensionsaddressedbygo_girlproject
Social/Relational empowerment
Professional outreach & development
General Educational growth
Individual psychological empowerment
Coding / Programming
Talks by women entrepreneurs
Individual career road maps
Go_girl library Individual needs road maps (including outline of educational steps to take and identification of psychological support needed)
Programmatic thinking / learning about pseudocode
Confidence training Learning how to give a presentation/public speaking
Individual courses and tailored education in conjunction with the Dept. of Continuing Education, University of Oxford
Individual weekly 1:1 sessions with youth worker
Scratch
Managing personal money
Star profile Individual internships
Confidence training Visit by key people of Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford
Staying safe online Vision boards Identifying healthy relationships
Turtlestitch
Writing a CV Staying healthy Introduction to Python
Day trip to Bournemouth beach as a group
Day trip to Cadbury to learn about apprenticeships in the industry
Body image & Body confidence
Wed design – HTML
Going out to dinner as a group (esp. for participants with social anxieties and body image issues)
Daytrip to Facebook to learn about job opportunities in the tech industry
App building
Individual internships facilitated
GameDesign
Talks by female entrepreneurs & role models
6. Planning for a go_girl session Itisimportanttoplanthephasesaheadoftimeasateam,andunderstandwhattheaimsfortheyearareintermsoflearninganddevelopment.Thetimethattheyouthworkershareswiththeyoungwomenisimportantnotonlyfromarecruitmentperspective,butalsobecauseitprovidestheteamwithinsightsabouttheyoungwomenwhoarechoosingtoattendthesessions.Insomeyears,onewillbeabletojumpstraightintothinkingaboutprogrammingastheyoungwomenmaycomewithpriorknowledge,whereasinotheryearsmoreworkmayneedtobedonetohelptheyoungwomenre-engagewithlearning.Itisrecommendedthattheteamresponsibleforcurationanddeploymentofthecurriculummeetaheadofthestartoftheyear,withtheyouthworker,toassesstheneedsoftheincomingcohortanddesignanappropriatecurriculum.AnexampleofwhatthiscouldlooklikeisseenbelowinTable2.
Table2:ExampleofthePlanningsheetforactivitiesand‘lessons’onaweek-byweekbasis
Session Date SessionTopic Description/Thingsneeded11 Web, HTML and
pseudocodesWeb,HTMLandpseudocodeTed talk onwhat is theWWW -> dowe understandwhathappenswhenwesaywearesurfingthewebWe’vetalkedblogs,sowhatreallyhappensbehindthescenes->anintrotoHTMLIntroductiontocreatingyourwebpagefromscratch->usingnotepad->creatingHelloWorld!JPseudocodewithlooks½ hour -> HTML exercises / blogs or pseudocodeexercisesTime for project ideas -> we want things down onpaper
12 Scratch andTurtlestitch
Introduction to coding tools: Scratch , Snap! andTurtleStitch
• IntroductiontoScratch• IntrotoTurtlestichand3dprinting• TalkthroughthemodularityofScratch• Examplesofgamesandprojects• Exercise: Make a sprite dance or make a
statementorboth• Project ideas -> carve out time to talk about
projectideasandwhattoolstheymayneed
6.1 What does a go_girl:code_create session look like? Therearevariousiterationsthatcanbeconsideredforthego_girlsessionsdependingonthesizeofthecohortthathasbeenrecruited.Astheaimofthisprogrammeistoprovidetheyoungwomenwithlearningthatistailoredtotheirneedsandpersonalisedtohelpthemre-engagewithlearning,itisrecommendedthatthesessionsbelimitedto7people.Itisidealifthereare2‘teachers’/instructorsineachsession,makingforroughlya1:3ratio.Thesessionsarenotmeanttoemulateaformalclassroom.Theyaremeanttobeinformalandflexiblebasedontheneedsofparticipantsduringeachsessiondependingontheday.Thereisaproposedstructureforeachsessionthatisoutlinedbelowbutitisrecommendedthatthisserveasaguideratherthanarigidplan.Theyoungwomenwhoparticipateontheprogrammecomewithcomplexneedsandtherefore,deliveryofplanned‘curriculum’mayneedtobealteredonsomesessiondays.
Itisrecommendedthattheyouthworkerparticipateinthesessions,ifandwherepossible,asinmanycases,theyoungwomenhaveanestablishedrapportwiththemandseeingthemparticipatehelpswithengagementfromtheyoungwomen.
Thesessionsshouldrunbetween2-3hourswithtimescheduledforbreaks.Ifthesessionrunsfor3hours,therecommendationistobuildin2breakstokeepengagementlevelsatamaximum.Itisalsoimportanttoconsiderprovisionforsnacksanddrinkstohavethroughoutthesessionsandduringthebreaks.
6.2 Proposed Structure for a go_girl:code+create session 2-hour session 15min Introductiontothesession Weeklycheck-infortheyoungwomen–focusingonatleastonepositivething15min TEDtalk/inspirationalvideobuiltonthethemeofthesession20min Introductiontogoalsofthesessionandactivity10min Break30min Sessionactivity5min Break15min Sessionactivity10min Recap–whatwasenjoyableaboutthesession?
3-hour session 15min Introductiontothesession Weeklycheck-infortheyoungwomen–focusingonatleastonepositivething15min TEDtalk/inspirationalvideobuiltonthethemeofthesession20min Introductiontogoalsofthesessionandactivity10min Break30min Sessionactivity5min Break30min Sessionactivity5minBreak15min Sessionactivity20min Recap–whatwasenjoyableaboutthesession?WhatisshowninTable3belowisasessionplanningsheetthatcanbesharedamongstthoseteachingsothataguideisavailableforthesessions.
Table3:Planningsheetfordailyactivitiesforathree-hoursession
Date Session0
Location Room PersonResponsible(?)
Equipment
Prep
Goalsofsession
Meet&Greet LUNCH
Team&projectIntroductions
Timespent
Checkin 30
Icebreaker 30
TIME 15
TIMETechsurvey
5
Groupcommitmentstoeachother
15
GGMerchandise
10
SessionreviewGroupCooldownNextsession
10
Total 2:45
StaffDebrief Withmentorsfor10/meet1:1/telephone?ResearchTeam-10-20mins
30
7. Details of Phase 1 Thefirstphase,asstatedbefore,focusesonthesocialandemotionalempowermentoftheyoungwomen.Italsostartstointroduceandbuildkeyprogrammaticconceptsfortheyoungwomensothattheymaystarttoengagewithtechnologyinmoresophisticatedways.Thissectiondescribeswhatthe10weeksofphaseonecouldlooklike.Thisphasewillneedtobetailoredtomeettheneedsofyourspecificcohortandprogramme,andthereforecanbeshorterorlongerthanwhatisshownhere.Keythemesthatarecoveredinthisphaseandtherationaleforthisapproachhavealsobeenpresented(fordetailedexamplesofexercises,andresourcestouse,pleaseseeAppendix1).
Table4:WeeklyoverviewofPhase1
SessionNumber Activity1 Introductionandcommitmenttoteam
IntroductiontoRoadmaps–thinkingaboutwhatemployabilitymeans?2 LifeSkills:ValuesandHealthyRelationships
IntroductiontoPseudocodingWhatdoestechnologymeantome?
3 BeingHealthyLearningKnittingandthelinktopseudocodeWhylearntocode?
4 ThebasicsoffinancePseudocodecontinued
5 BeingSafeOnline(linkedbacktohealthyrelationships)SocialMedia–engagingwithit
6 Visitfrominspirationalspeaker(ideallyaSTEMbackground)Pseudocoderevisited
7 Blogging–anintroduction8 Publicspeaking–thingstothinkabout
Blogging–learningbasicHTML9 VisittoCompany/Museum10 Employabilityskills–preparingforajobfair
Dinneroutwiththecohort
7.1 Building group confidence and trust Thisstartingphaseshouldbestructuredtohelptheyoungwomenbuildnotonlytheirself–confidence,buttoalsobuildtheirconfidenceandtrustinoneanotherasacohort.
Itisimportantfortheyoungwomentospendtimegettingtoknowoneanotherandunderstandthatthespacethatgo_girlprovidesisonethatissafe.Therefore,itisrecommendedthatafewsessionsarespentondevelopingthissenseofbelongingtoacohortthatistheretosupporteachothers’development.
Tofurtherestablishrapportandtrust,itisrecommendedthattheyoungwomen,alongwiththeyouthworkerandinstructors,takeadaytripwhichprovidesfuntimeawayfromlessons.Thisallowstheyoungwomentonotonlygettoknoweachotherbetterbutalsogivesinstructorstheopportunitytogettoknowtheyoungwomenbetteraswell.Thetripshouldbeorganisedwithappropriateprovisionsforsafeguarding.
7.2 Building self-confidence Thethemesandexamplesthatareexploredbelowarebynomeansprescriptiveandaremeanttoserveasaguidetothinkingaboutbuildingself-confidenceintheyoungwomen.Thesesessionsshouldbeco-designedandco-ledbytheinstructorsandtheyouthworker,astheyouthworkerwouldbeabletoprovideinsightsintotheareasthattheyoungwomenmaywanttoworktodevelopintheirlives.
7.2.1 Thinking about role models Asmentionedabove,alargeportionofPhase1isusedtodeveloptheself-confidenceoftheyoungwomeninthecohorttohelpwithbuildingtheirfeelingofself-empowerment.Thisisdonethroughavarietyofsources,fromtalkstovideos.Oneofthewaysthatthiscouldbeapproachedistohavetheyoungwomenconsiderwhotheythinkofasrolemodelsintheirlivesandhavethemsharewhytheylookuptothispersonorareinspiredbythisperson.ThiswouldalsobeagoodopportunitytointroducetheyoungwomentostrongwomeninSTEM(particularlycomputerscienceandengineering)tohelpdispelthemyththattherearenotmanywomeninSTEM.
7.2.2 Public Speaking Asdiscussedearlier,Phase3ofgo_girl,andthe‘formal’programmeculminatesinafinalpresentationwheretheyoungwomenpresenttheirfinalprojectstofriends,family,andacademicsfromtheUniversityofOxford.Speakinginfrontofanaudienceandpresentinganideaorprojectmaynotbesomethingthattheyoungwomeninthecohorthaveeverdoneorarecomfortablewith,andsoitiskeytostartintroducingexercisestohelpwithpublicspeakingearlyon.ThisissomethingthatbeginsinPhase1butisimportanttocontinuepracticingitinPhases2and3tohelptheyoungwomenbuildtheirconfidencelevels.Detailedexercisesforthisareoutlinedinsection1.1ofAppendix1ofthisprogrammebooklet.
7.2.3 Building Healthy Relationships Healthyrelationshipsareanimportantfactorinhelpingtomaintainmentalhealth.Forthisreason,weasktheyoungwomenabouttheirrelationshipsandtoidentifytheonesthattheycanrelyonandgainpositivityfromversusthosethattheyfeelmaybedraggingthemdown.Oneapproachistohavetheyoungwomenconsiderandidentifywhattheyconsidertobethecorevaluesofgoodrelationshipsandfriendships.Builddiscussionsaroundthisandallowtheyoungwomenthespaceandopportunitytochallengeassumptionsthattheythemselvesorothersmightmake.Oneexercisetoconsiderreinforcingthisconversationwouldbetohavetheyoungwomenconsiderwhatonewoulddo/notdoforafriend.Thiswillallowthemtoexplorewhattheyconsiderashealthybehaviourintheirrelationships.
7.2.4 Being/Staying Healthy and Body Image Being/Stayinghealthyencompassesavarietyoftopics.Youmightwanttobeginasessionbystartingaconversationaboutwhatitmeanstobehealthyandwhattheyoungwomenconsidertobehealthyfoodchoices.Thisallowsthemtodiscusswhattheyalreadyknow,orthinktheyknow,anditalsopavesthewayforadiscussionaroundwhattheyneedtoknowandwhatresources(e.g.games,videos,otheractivities)willbethemostusefulfortheirlearningexperience.
Mediaimagesthatconstantlyportraybodiesthatlookperfectcancausesomeyoungwomentohaveanegativeviewtheirownbodies.Activitiesthatdemonstratehowtodevelopapositivebodyimageincludeexercisesthatfocusonappreciatingone’sbodyandallthatitcando,orhavingdiscussionsaboutwhattruebeautyis.Moreinformationandideascanbefoundathttps://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/general-information/ten-steps.
7.3 Digital Health Giventhefocusontechnologyasameanstoempowermentwithinthisprogramme,itisimportanttostartbuildingandnurturingthedigitalhealthoftheyoungwomen.Thiscanbedonebygettingtheyoungwomentothinkaboutwhattheirrelationshipsonsocialmedialooklikeandwhatbeingsafeonlinemeans.Usethisspacetohavetheyoungwomenconsiderthewaysinwhichtheysharetheirdatawiththeworld–whenhasitbeenpositive?Whenhasitbeennegative?
Foramoredetailedsetofresourcesthatcanbeusedtofacilitatetheseconversations,pleaseseeSection1.2inAppendix1.
7.4 Employability Itisimportanttoprovidetheyoungwomenwiththeopportunitytothinkaboutwhatcareertheymaywanttopursue.Fromthinkingaboutthesegoals,toattendingjobfairs,tolearningaboutresumesandwhattoaskinterviewers,helpingtheyoungwomenlearnaboutanddevelopemployabilityskillsisakeypartoftheprogramme,andonethatbeginsintheearlystagesofit.
7.4.1 Career Goals Thisisworkthattheyouthworkerandtheinstructorsshoulddowiththeyoungwomenearlyontotalktothemaboutwhattheyconsiderascareerstheywouldliketopursue.Itisgoodtoidentifyearlyonwhethertheyoungwomenwouldliketoimmediatelymoveintotheworldofworkorwhethertheywouldliketocontinueontoacourseaftertheycompletethego_girlprogramme.Thiscanbedoneusingseveraltoolsthatarefreelyavailable.Anexampleofoneofthosetoolsisprovidedinthefollowingparagraph.
Thewebsiteicouldoffersafunandengagingtoolthatpromptstheyoungwomentofillinafewquestionsaboutthemselvesandthengeneratestheirpersonalitytypeandprovidesideasforjobs(similartoMyers-Briggs).Whilebynomeansprescriptive,theanalysisprovidesalightheartedwayfortheyoungwomentostartthinkingaboutwhatisimportanttothemwork-wise,andwhatcareersmightbeofinteresttothem.
7.4.2 Resume and interviewing skills ThisisworkthatisimportanttostartdoinginPhase1oftheprogramme.Timeisspentwiththeyoungwomenonputtingtogetheraresume,orrefiningresumesiftheydoalreadyexist.
Practiceinterviewsarealsorunwiththeyoungwomentogivethemthechancetopracticeinterviewingetiquette–fromwhattowear,whentoarriveandwhatquestionstoask.
7.4.3 Job Fairs Anotherwaytointroducetheyoungwomentodifferentcareerprospectsistoattendjobfairs.Attendingasagrouphelpswiththeirself-confidenceandattendinggivesthemachancetopracticetheskillsthatarebeingbuiltinthisphase–fromspeakinginpublic,totestingouttheirresumestointerviewing.
7.5 Learning about Finance Anotheravenuethatisexploredwhendevelopingempowermentintheyoungwomenistogetthemtothinkaboutfinance.Therearemanywaysthatthiscandone.Forexample,learningaboutbankaccounts,beingresponsiblewithdebitandcreditcards,andlisteningtotalksfrommembersoftheDepartmentofWorkandPensionsareallwaystolearnmoreaboutfinances.
Forafewusefulresourcesthatcanbeusedtofacilitatetheseimportantconversationsonfinanceandtoputtheyoungwomanonapathtobuildingthesekeylifeskills,pleaseseesection1.3ofAppendix1.
7.6 Pseudocode and computational thinking Weintroducetheyoungwomentopseudocode(explainedinmoredetailinthenextsection)andintroducemethodsthatinvolveexpressingproblemsandtheirsolutionsinwaysthatacomputercouldalsoexecute.Itiskeytostartbuildinganinterestintheideaofcodingandillustratinghoweverydaythingsthattheymaytakeforgrantedcanbebrokendowntothesimplestofelements/methods/codes.Thiscanbedoneinavarietyofways:fromthinkingaboutknittingascode,tothinkingaboutthecodingforhumanbeings.Thisintroductiontocomputationalthinkingisaplayfulandeasywaytointroducetheyoungwomentotheconceptofwritingalgorithms.
7.6.1 Knitting as code ResearchbeingconductedatNorthCarolinaStateUniversity1arguesthat‘knittingiscoding’andthatyarnisprogrammablematerial.Theresearchers(amongstothers)contemplatehowstitchpatternsprovidecodeformakingdifferentstructures.Theideaofpatternascodeallowsfortheintroductionofprogrammingconcepts.Thetactileexerciseofknittingapatternallowstheyoungwomentonotonlyworkwiththeirhandsonapracticalproject,butalsohelpsdevelopanewskill,i.e.,knitting.Anotherinterestingwaytolinkknittingtocodingistolinkbacktohistory,andtotalktothecohortaboutthesecretagentswhowouldworkcodesintoknitting(ref:StitchesinTimebook).
Examplesofknittingpatternsandsomeinterestingarticlescanbefoundinsection1.4.1ofAppendix1.Thisapproachtoteachingcodinghelpstheyoungwomenrelatecodingtoaneverydaytaskandalsoteachesthemalifeskillinknitting.Pleasenoteitisrecommendedthatyouprovidetheyoungwomenwithneedlesandyarnthattheycankeepandworkonthroughthecourseoftheprogramme.
7.6.2 Breaking everyday tasks into code Agoodwayofgettingtheyoungwomenofthecohorttothinkaboutprogrammingisgettingthemtobreakdowneverydayreal-worldactivitiesintoinstructions.Itwillhelptointroducetheyoungwomentokeytermssuchasalgorithmandcodingandconceptssuchasprecisionincoding,debugging,andfunctions.Theyoungwomenwillgetpracticeinwritingcodeusingsymbolsandwillalsounderstandtheimportanceofprecisionincoding,andthatacomputercannotthinkforitself.Itcanonlyexecutetheinstructionsthatithasbeengiven.
Detailedexamplesofhowthiscanbedonearelocatedinsection1.4.2ofAppendix1.
1‘KnittingIsCoding’andYarnIsProgrammableinThisPhysicsLab
8. Details of Phase 2 Inthisphase,thereisanincreasedemphasisonbuildingbasicskillsincoding,aswellasprovidingtheyoungwomenwitharicherunderstandingoftechnologytohelpthembecomeactiveproducersoftechnology,ratherthanjustpassiveconsumersofit.Thatsaid,thereshouldstillbesessionsthroughthisphasethatfocusonthesocialandemotionaldevelopmentoftheyoungwomen.Onewaythiscouldbedoneistousepartofthesessionfordevelopingthesocialfollowedbythesecondpart,thedevelopmentofdigitalskills.Fordetailedexamplesofexercisesandresourcestouse,pleaseseeAppendix2).
Table5:WeeklyoverviewofsessionsinPhase2ofgo_girl
SessionNumber Activity11 BuildingblocksofProgrammingusingPseudocode
• LearningaboutstatementsWhatistheworldwideweb?
12 BuildingblocksofProgrammingusingPseudocode• Learningaboutconditionsandloops
Publicspeakingpreparation13 IntroductiontoHTMLandblogging14 Visittoamuseumorcompany15 HTML:Learningabouttagsandelementsandputtingitalltogether16 Visitfrominspirationalspeaker(ideallyaSTEMbackground)
Anintroductiontomorevisual,modularcoding:Scratch17 ApplyingthebuildingblocksinScratch
Introductiontofinalproject–projecttemplateandmanagement18 Creatingapresentation–thebasicsofapresentation
DesigningagameinScratch19 Othervisualprogrammingapplications:ExploringScratchvsSnap!
Useofcodingtocreatefashion:Turtlestitchandasewingmachine20 Webandmobileappdevelopment:whatdoyouneedtothinkabout?
Scratchexercises21 IntroductiontoPython
Projectdesignanddevelopment22 Scratch/HTML/Snap!/Python(dependingontheyoungwomens’preference
andlevel)ProjectdevelopmentTeamdinner
8.1 Building Blocks Inthisphase,thefirststepistointroduceconceptsofprogrammingfirstaspseudocode,andthenthroughHTMLandScratch.Thisisdonesothatthecomplexityofsyntaxofaprogramminglanguagedoesnotdilutetheconceptsthatformthebedrockofprogramming.ThisiswheretheyoungwomenlearnabouttheimportantpartsofaprogrammesuchasStart,End,statementsandloops.Usingpseudocodetoteachtheseconceptshelpsre-enforcetheideathatacomputerprogrammewillonlyexecutewhattheprogrammertellsittodoandthatitcannotthinkforitself.
Detailedexamplesoftheconceptsthatneedintroducingaswellasexercisesthatcanbeusedforreinforcementcanbefoundinsection2.1ofAppendix2ofthisresource.
Oncethesebasicbuildingblockshavebeenintroducedtotheyoungwomen,onecanchoosetofocusonanyprogramminglanguage.ThisresourcepackhasfocusedonHTMLandScratch.Therationaleforpickingthesetwotoolsisasfollows:
HTML:Giventheyoungwomens’useoftheinternetanddifferentwebsites,learningaboutHTMLallowsthemtonotonlygainanappreciationforthedevelopmentofwebsites,butalsoprovidesagatewayintoblogging.
Scratch:Scratchisafreecodinglanguage–aprojectoftheLifelongKindergartenGroupattheMITMediaLab.WithScratch,userscanprograminamodularstyleandareabletocreateandsharestories,gamesandanimationsfreely.
8.2. Blogging and an Introduction to HTML Oneofthemainintentionsofthisprogrammeistoenabletheyoungwomenwhoformthecohorttobecomemakersoftechnology,andoneofthewaysthatthiscanbeaccomplishedisviathecreationofblogs.UsingWordPress,theyoungwomenareencouragedtocreateblogssothattheycanlearnaboutcreatingandcuratingcontentandalsoaboutHTML.Theblogsprovidetheyoungwomenwiththeopportunitytoexpressthemselvesandtheirinterests,andloopsbacktotheideaoftheirdigitalhealthandwhatitmeanstobesafeonlineintermsofthecontentthattheyputoutontheinternet.Theyoungwomenareencouragedtoeithercreatepersonalblogsorblogaboutideasorcausesthattheymaybepassionateabout.
ExercisesthatcanbeusedtoteachHTMLcanbefoundinsection2.2ofAppendix2.
8.3 Visual, modular programming using Scratch Scratchisablock-basedvisualprogramminglanguagedevelopedbytheLifelongKindergartengroupattheMITMediaLab.Thewebsiteallowsforthecreationofprojectsthataremixed-media,i.e.,graphicswithsound.Scratchallowsforthecreationofprogramsusingblocksofcodethatcanbearrangedintoscripts.Usersalsohavetheflexibilitytocreatetheirownblocksofcodeforenhancedfunctionality.
Scratchiseasytouseandausefultoolforintroducingyoungwomentotheconceptsofcoding.Puttingtheblockstogethertocreateascriptnotonlyallowsthemtothinkabouttheflowofaprogramme,butalsoteachesthemaboutdebuggingandhowtothinklogically.ThevisualappealofScratchandthefactthatitisamixed-mediainterfacemeansthattheyoungwomencanflextheircreativitytocreatecards,games,orevensongs,allwhilelearninghowtocode.TheymovethroughScratchfromtheverybasicsofmovingtheSpriteinthestagingareatodesigninginteractivegames.Theusercommunityandopenprojectsalsoprovideagreatresourcefortheyoungwomentolearnaboutotherblocksofcode,andalsoinnovativeusesofexistingblocks.
ForexamplesofexercisesthatcouldbegiventotheyoungwomentofamiliarisethemselveswithScratch,pleaseseensection2.3ofAppendix2.
8.4 Snap!, Turtlestitch, and an embroidery machine Snap!isanotherfreeblock-basedvisualprogramminglanguage(andonlinecommunity)thatwasdevelopedatUCBerkeley.WhileinspiredbyScratch,ithasmoreadvancedfeaturesandisusednotonlytoteachprogrammingtochildrenandadultsbutalsoforexploringmoreserious,real-worldapplicationsinAI.Forexample,theyoungwomenexplorethebasicsofcreatingprogramsinSnap!usingthepre-programmedblocks.ThepurposeofteachingSnap!istoallowtheyoungwomentouseaprogramcalledTurtlestitch,whichusesSnap!togeneratepatternsforembroiderymachines.Wechosetopurchaseanembroiderymachinethatwouldallowtheyoungwomentolinktheworld
oftechnologyandcodingwithfashion,bringingahands-onapproachandreal-worldconnectionstothecodingthattheyoungwomenengagedin.
Figure2:UsingTurtlestitchtocreateembroiderypatterns
BuildinganunderstandingofmoreadvancedvisualprogramminglanguageslikeSnap!opensuptheopportunitytoexploreotherreal-worldapplicationssuchasAI(thishasbeenexploredinsection11ofthisresource).ThiscanbedoneaspartofpersonalprojectworkinPhase3orasanadditionalstand-alonephasebuildingona“bridging”personalprojectdevelopedinPhase3.
8.5 Python – text vs visual programming Pythonisatext-basedprogramminglanguageusedforbuildingwebsites,scripting,games,music/videoeditors,andlotsmore.Pythonisanexcellentlanguagetointroducetotheyoungwomenasitwasdesignedwithreadabilityinmind,makingittheperfectstartingpointtolearnaboutbasiccodingconcepts.Onewaythattheyoungwomencanlearnaboutprogramming,withoutinstallingtheprogram,isbyusingaweb-basedtoolsuchasthis:https://repl.it/languages/python3.
Seesection2.5ofAppendix2forsomeexercisestocurateacurriculumfortheyoungwomen.
8.6 Project development AstheyoungwomenmovethroughPhase2andbecomemorecomfortablewiththedifferentprogrammingconceptsanddifferentprogramminglanguages,itiskeytointroducetheideaofthefinalproject.Theyoungwomenshouldbeencouragedtothinkabouttheirinterestsandseeiftheycandesigntheirfinalprojectstoalignwiththeirinterests.Insection2.5ofAppendix2,aprojecttemplateisattachedwhichtheyoungwomenareencouragedtocomplete.Fillinginthistemplatewillhelptheyoungwomenthinkaboutthetimelineoftheirprojectanddevelopastep-by-stepplantocompleteit.
9. Details of Phase 3 Thethirdandfinalphaseoftheformalprogrammegivestheyoungwomenthefreedomtoflextheircreativeandtechnicalskills.Theprojectsthattheyoungwomendeveloprangefromdevelopinggamestowebsitesandevendesigningapps.Thisphaseallowstheyoungwomentobuildtheirresearchskillsaswell.Asintheprocessofdevelopingtheirprojects,theyoungwomenareencouragedtoresearchtheirchosentopicsanddeveloptheirplansbasedonit.Itisinthisphasethatwealsoreturntohoningtheyoungwomens’publicspeakingskillsaswellasworkonlearningaboutcreatingpresentations.Basedontheprojectsthattheyoungwomenchoose,supportisprovidedatdifferentlevelsinScratch,HTMLorPython.Insomecases,Unity3Dmayalsobeconsidered.
Table6:WeeklyoverviewofPhase3
SessionNumber Activity23 Projectdevelopment–Scratch/HTML/Python
DevelopingaresumeThinkingaboutjobinterviews
24 Projectdevelopment–Scratch/HTML/PythonPublicspeakingpreparation
25 Projectdevelopment–Scratch/HTML/PythonPublicspeakingpreparation
26 Projectdevelopment–Scratch/HTML/Python27 Projectdevelopment–Scratch/HTML/Python
Startcreatingfinalpresentation28 Visittoacareersfair
ProjecttestingWorkonfinalpresentation
29 ProjecttestingWorkonfinalpresentation
30 FinalpresentationGraduationceremony
Thisphaseoftheprogrammeculminatesinafinalceremonywheretheyoungwomenpresenttheirprojectstotheirfamilies,friends,andresearchersfromtheUniversityofOxford.Thisisanimportantandexcitingeventforalltheyoungwomen,andtheyareawardedwithacertificateofcompletion.
10. Go_Girl goes virtual and an introduction to AI Asthiscurriculumresourcepackwasbeingdeveloped,COVID19placedtheworldonlockdown,withmanyoftheyoungwomenwhohadbeenthroughourprogrammefindingthemselvesincreasinglyisolated.Wefeltitimportanttonotonlykeepintouchwiththem,buttoalsocreateanopportunityforthemtolearnnewskills.Thiswasparticularlypertinentasmanyofthemwereunabletoattendtheirtrainingcoursesorwerefurloughedfromtheirjobs.
Whilecraftedfromneedsdrivenbythepandemic,thisapproach(outlinedbelow)canbeusedasablueprintforallgo_girlsessionsbeingrunonlineshouldtherebeaneed.Thecurriculumthatwaschosentobedeployedinthesevirtualsessionswasonethatintroducedgo_girlstoArtificialIntelligence.Tomakeitrelevantforthetime,thesessionsfocussedonunderstandingwhatAIis,andalsoonlearningthebasicbuildingblocksofAIprogrammingintheSnap!Blocks-basedprogramminglanguage.Whatisoutlinedbelowisatwelve-weeksessionthatwasdeliveredinsixweeks.
Werecommendusingavideocallingplatformthattheyoungwomenarecomfortableusing,suchasSkypetodeliverthesessions.Itwouldbegoodtohaveanice-breakersession,beforedeliveringthemainsessions,toallowtheyoungwomenthespacetogetcomfortablewiththevideoplatformandwithinteractingwithoneanotherinavirtualspace.Wealsorecommendrunningthesessionsalittleliketheywouldbeinperson,forexample,devotingaportionoftimeforcheck-inswiththeyoungwomen,toaskhowtheirweekhasbeen,andaddressanyquestionstheymayhaveabouttheirAIhomework.
TheAIcurriculumthatwasdevelopedforthesesessionswasonefocusedondevelopinganapptodetectwhenauseristouchingtheirface.Thisideaallowedustotiethesessionsbacktoarelevant,pressingneedtomakepeoplemoreawareoftheirworkinghabitsandtheimportanceofhygiene.Thisisoneexampleofhowthesessionscanbestructured.Anoverviewofthesessionscanbeseenbelow:
Week Session Topic1 1 IntroductiontoSnap!–basicbuildingblocks
2 ExercisetobuildsomethingbasicinSnap!2 1 IntroductiontoAI–whatisit?Wheredoweseeit?TheethicsofAI
2 ExamplesofAIinSnap!3 1 ReturningtotheissueofbiasinAIsystems
2 IntroductiontoSnap!’sAIblocks4 1 Addingspeechrecognitiontoprojects
2 Addingimagerecognitiontoprojects5 1 Detectingposes
2 Enhancements/ImprovementsofDon’tTouchyourFace6 1 Enhancements/ImprovementsofDon’tTouchyourFace
2 PublicationofenhancedversionsofDon’tTouchyourFace
ThedetailedcurriculumandresourcesforthissessioncanbefoundinAppendix3.
11. Other Activities to consider through the phases Thissectioncoversactivitiesthataretobeconsideredbasedonwhentheyfallinthetimeline.Datesfortheseactivitiesaresetexternallysomayfallindifferentphasesdependingonwhentheprogrammestarts.
10.1 Hour of code HourofcodetakesplaceeachyearduringComputerScienceEducationWeek.TheHourofCodestartedasaone-hourintroductiontocomputersciencewiththeintentionofbroadeningparticipationincomputerscience.ByparticipatinginHourofCode,theyoungwomenaregiventheopportunitytoparticipateinaglobalcommunityconnectedbycoding.Italsogivesyou,theprogrammecoordinator,theopportunitytohighlightopportunitiesforcareersincomputerscienceandshowcasemorewomenincomputerscience.
10.2 International Day of the girl Since2012,11OctoberhasbeendesignatedtheInternationalDayoftheGirlChildbytheUN.Recognisingthedaywiththeyoungwomenprovidesanopportunitytodiscussabroadrangeofissuesconcerninggirls,theirrightsandtheirachievementsaroundtheworld.Formoreinformation,seehttps://www.un.org/en/events/girlchild/resources.shtml.
10.3 National Apprenticeships Week NationalApprenticeshipweekiscelebratedeachyearwithaweek-longcelebrationthroughoutEnglandtohighlightapprenticeshipprogrammes.Duringthisweek,eventsinschoolsandcollegesareheldwithtalksgivenbyformerapprentices.Youmaywanttoconsidertakingtheyoungwomentooneoftheseeventsorcontactingcurrentorformerapprentices,inyourorganisationorelsewhere,toarrangeaspeakertogiveatalkfortheyoungwomen.
10.4 Ada Lovelace Day AdaLovelaceDayisheldeveryyearonthesecondTuesdayofOctoberandcelebratestheachievementsofwomeninscience,technology,engineeringandmath(STEM).OneofthegoalsistoraisetheprofileofwomeninSTEMsothatgirlsandwomenseerolemodelsandareencouragedtopursueSTEMcareers.AnothergoalistofurthersupportwomenwhoarealreadyinSTEMcareers.ThismaybeagooddaytobeginintroducingparticipantstowomeninSTEMor,dependingontheirknowledge,askingthemtotalkaboutawomaninSTEMwhoinspiresthem.YoucanalsoconsiderorganisingafieldtripsoparticipantscanobserveandspeakwithwomeninSTEMintheirworkenvironment.
Appendix 1: Detailed Resources for Phase 1 1.1 Resources for Public Speaking AgreatresourcethatcanbeusedistheToastmaster’swebsite:https://www.toastmasters.org/resourceswhichhasavarietyofresourcesandinspirationalvideosonpublicspeaking.OtherwaystoshowcasegoodpublicspeakingpracticesistomakeuseofTEDandTED-edvideos.Someofthevideosthathavebeenreceivedpositivelyare:
• Structureofagreattalk:https://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talksfrom5:00to9:00
• Secretsofpublicspeaking:https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_anderson_teds_secret_to_great_public_speaking
Someactivitiesthatcouldberuninthesessionstogivetheyoungwomensomepracticeatpublicspeakingareshownbelow:
1.1.1 Completing a story Startofasimplestorysuchas‘Iwastakingthebustoworktoday…’.Haveeachyoungwomaninthegroupthentaketurnstoaddasentencetothestorythatbuildsontheprevioussentence.Continuethisuntileitherthegrouphasfinishedtakingatleast2turnsorthestorycomestoanaturalend.Thisexerciserequiresthattheyoungwomennotonlybeplanningforthenextpartofthestory,butitalsoencouragesthemtolistenbeforetheydoso,inordertoconstructasentencethatwouldallowforthecreationofacoherentstory.
1.1.2 Constructing a story Printoutafewwordssuchas‘chocolate’,‘milk’,‘cookie’,orfocusonaparticularthemesuchastechnology:‘computer’,‘worldwideweb’,‘socialmedia’.Foldupthebitsofpaperthatthesewordsareprintedonandputtheminacup.Passthecuparoundandhavetheyoungwomenpickoneword.Givethemaminutetocollecttheirthoughtsonthewordtheyhavechosenandhavethemconstructashort30sec-1minspeech.Allowthemtheopportunitytoreallyexploreandapproachthewordfromanyangle.Providefeedbacktotheyoungwomenthatisconstructiveandsupportivewhichallowsthemtoimprovetheirskills.
1.2 Resources for Digital Health SomeinformativeresourcestousetoallowsomereflectionondigitalsafetycanbefoundthroughtheworkdoneintheDigitalWildfireprojectwhichwasaprojectthatinvestigatedthespreadofharmfulcontentonsocialmediaandidentifiedopportunitiesfortheresponsiblegovernanceofdigitalsocialspaces(https://sites.google.com/site/digitalwildfireesrc/home):
#TakeCareofYourDigitalSelf–AvideoproducedbytheDigitalWildfireteamtopromotedigitalmaturityandtostarttobuildresilienceinyoungpeople-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nXaEctiVhs
Youngpeoples’takeonsocialmedia–acollectionofart,poems,andvideosproducedbyyoungpeoplethatexploreswhatitmeanstobeyoungandnavigatingsocialmedia-http://digitalwildfire.org/
1.3 Resources for Finance TheBarClaysLifeSkillswebsite(https://barclayslifeskills.com/)providesauseful,freeresourceandisillustratedbelow:
The Budget Game Aquickandeasygametoputtogether,thisresourceisastraightforwardwaytohavetheyoungwomenthinkaboutmoneyinanon-threateningmanner.Thegameprovidestheyoungwomenwithasetamountofmoneythattheyhavetoworkwitheachmonth.Itthentakesthemthroughvariouschoicesofdebit,creditandlifeeventsastheyoungwomenrolltheirwayaroundtheboard.Thisgameallowsforwiderangingtopicstobecoveredfromwhatsavingcanlooklike,paydayloans,andchallengestheyoungwomentothinkabouthowtheywouldmakechoicesaboutmoney.
Figure1.1:TheBudgetGamefromBarclaysLifeSkills
1.4 Resources for teaching about Pseudocode 1.4.1 Knitting and Pseudocode NewspaperarticleontheuseofknittingtohidecodesinWW2.Usingthisasanexampleisagreatwaytoshowhowknittingwasusedbywomeninthewartoplaytheirveryimportantroles:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/qi/10638792/QI-how-knitting-was-used-as-code-in-WW2.html
QIarticleonknitting.docx
Knitted_Patchwork_Recipe_v4.pdf
Knittingasarecipe/code.Hereisanexampleofapatchworksquarethattheyoungwomencouldknit.Thesepatchescanthenbesewntogethertomakeago_girlblanketthatcouldthenbedonatedtoahomelessshelter.Thisprovidesanopportunityfortheyoungwomentogivebacktotheircommunities.
1.4.2 Robot Cup Exercise
Robot exercise Materialneeded:
-SymbolKey(1pergroup)-1stackofcups(1pergroup)-Blankpaperornotecards(1perperson)-WritingInstrument(1perperson)Startbyaskingtheclassifanyonehasheardofrobotics.Hasanyoneseenarobotortouchedone?Doesarobotreally“hear”youspeak?Doesitreally“understand”whatyousay?Theanswertothelastquestionis:
“Notthesamewaythatapersondoes.”
Robotsoperatebasedon“instructions”,specificsetsofthingsthattheyhavebeenpreprogrammedtodo.Inordertoaccomplishatask,arobotneedstohaveaseriesofinstructions(sometimescalledanalgorithm)thatitcanrun.
Providetheclasswithacopyofthesymbolkey(seenbelow),whichwillbeusedforthisexercise.Forthistask,theywillinstructtheir“robot”tobuildaspecificcupstackusingonlythesearrows:
-PickUpCup↑
-PutDownCup↓
-Move1/2CupWidthForward→
-Move1/2CupWidthBackward←
-TurnCupRight90°↘
-TurnCupLeft90°↙
Allowtheyoungwomentoworkingroupsof3.Twowillcodewhattherobothastodo,andthethirdwillbehaveastherobot,andtrytoexecutetheinstructions.Havefunwiththisexercise!
1.4.3 Pseudocode through everyday activities
Theexampleofmakingacupofteacanbeusedtodemonstratecodingasasequenceofinstructions.Thisexercisecouldberepeatedforanyactivitysuchas‘bakingacake’,‘morningbreakfast’oravarietyofothereverydayactivities.
Figure1.2:Makingacupofteausingpseudocode
Appendix 2: Detailed Resources for Phase 2 2.1 Resources for building blocks for programming Data Types Theyoungwomenareintroducedtotheconceptof‘types’ofdataandtheylearnthewaysinwhichdatacanbemanipulatedthroughcodeandstatementsthattheywrite.Thetypesofdatathatarecoveredinclude:numerical,characters,andstrings.Thisalsoincludesintroducingtheconceptofvariablesandconstants.Itishelpfultoexplaintheseconceptsusingreal-worldexamples.Forinstance,aglasscouldbethoughtofasavariable–itcanholdwater,oritcouldholdjuice;glass=juiceORglass=water.
Statements Astatementisasyntacticunitofanimperativeprogramminglanguagethatexpressessomeactiontobecarriedout.Whiletherearemanydifferenttypesofstatementsthatcouldbeused,therearetwothatarefocusedoninthebasicsessions:
Assignment statements Anassignmentstatementsetsand/orre-setsthevaluestoredinthestoragelocation(s)denotedbyavariablename;inotherwords,itcopiesavalueintothevariable.
A=5;
Glass=water
Conditional statements Conditionalstatementsarethosewhichperformdifferentcomputationsoractionsdependingonwhetheraprogrammer-specifiedBooleanconditionevaluatestotrueorfalse.
IFglass=full
Pourwaterout
End
Figure2.1:Anexampleoftheuseofif-elsestatementsusingpseudocode
Loops While Loop AwhileloopisacontrolflowstatementthatallowscodetobeexecutedrepeatedlybasedonagivenBooleancondition.Thewhileloopcanbethoughtofasarepeatingifstatement.Whenteachingthisconcepttotheyoungwomen,anexamplesuchastheonebelowcanbeused:
A=1;
WHILE(A<5)
DOPrintA;
A=A+1;
ENDWHILE;
For Loop Afor-loop(orsimplyforloop)isacontrolflowstatementforspecifyingiteration,whichallowscodetobeexecutedrepeatedly.
Figure2.2:AnexampleofpseudocodeforMakingHotChocolateusingaWHILEloopfromago_girlsessionin2019.
AnexcellentopenaccessresourcethatcanbeusedtoteachtheseconceptsandothersusingpseudocodeistheonedevelopedbyDamianGordon,LectureratDublinInstituteofTechnology.Thelinkishere:https://www.slideshare.net/DamianGordon1/pseudocode-10373156
TheseslideshaveaCreativeCommonslicensethatallowtheusertoshareandadapttheslidesaslongasthelicensetermsaremet.Theselicensetermscanbefoundhere:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
What is HTML? HTMLisaformatthattellsacomputerhowtodisplayawebpage.Thedocumentsthemselvesareplaintextfileswithspecial"tags"orcodesthatawebbrowserusestointerpretanddisplayinformationonyourcomputerscreen.
• HTMLstandsforHyperTextMarkupLanguage• AnHTMLfilemusthaveanhtmorhtmlfileextension
TouseHTML,atexteditorisrequired,suchasNotepadandaninternetbrowsersuchInternetExplorerorChrome.
HavetheyoungwomenopenNotepadandcreatethefollowingskeletonhtmldocument:
<html> <head> <title>Hello world!</title> </head> <body> This is my first webpage. <b>This text is bold</b> </body> </html>
Havetheyoungwomensavethefileaspage.html.Starttheinternetbrowser,andselectOpen.SelectBrowseandselectthehtmlfilejustcreated–selectitandclickopen.Theyoungwomenshouldnowseetheirhtmlfieinwebpageform.Explanationoftheexampleabove:
Thefirsttaginyourhtmldocumentis<html>.Thistagtellsyourbrowserthatthisisthestartofanhtmldocument.Thelasttaginyourdocumentis</html>.Thistagtellsyourbrowserthatthisistheendofthehtmldocument.
Thetextbetweenthe<head>tagandthe</head>tagisheaderinformation.Headerinformationisnotdisplayedinthebrowserwindow.
Thetextbetweenthe<title>tagsisthetitleofyourdocument.The<title>tagisusedtouniquelyidentifyeachdocumentandisalsodisplayedinthetitlebarofthebrowserwindow.
Thetextbetweenthe<body>tagsisthetextthatwillbedisplayedinyourbrowser.
Thetextbetweenthe<b>and</b>tagswillbedisplayedinaboldfont.
2.2 Teaching HTML and blogging on Wordpress DuringthefirstsessiononHTML,werecommendshowingtheyoungwomenwhatthe‘back-end’ofawebpagelooksliketoshowthatawebpageiswritteninaseriesofmarkuptagswithtext.Thisisdonebytakinganywebpageandusingtherightclickbuttontoselect‘Viewpagesource’toshowthemwhatawebpagelookslikewheninthesyntaxofHTML.Thisisgoodfortheyoungwomentoseeastheymaybeabletolearnmoresyntaxthanwhatisjusttaughtintheclass.Whatfollowsbelowisaresourceforasession(s)foraclasstoteachthebasicsofHTML.
LearningaboutHTMLtags:
• HTMLtagsareusedtomark-upHTMLelements• HTMLtagsaresurroundedbythetwocharacters<and>• HTMLtagsnormallycomeinpairslike<b>and</b>• Thefirsttaginapairisthestarttag,thesecondtagistheendtag• Thetextbetweenthestartandendtagsistheelementcontent• HTMLtagsarenotcasesensitive,<b>meansthesameas<B>
Tag Description<html> DefinesanHTMLdocument<body> Definesthedocument'sbody<h1>to<h6> Definesheader1toheader6<p> Definesaparagraph<br> Insertsasinglelinebreak<hr> Definesahorizontalrule<!--> Definesacomment
WhatisanHTMLelement?
ThisisanHTMLelement:<b>Thistextisbold</b>TheHTMLelementbeginswithastarttag:<b>ThecontentoftheHTMLelementis:ThistextisboldTheHTMLelementendswithanendtag:</b>Thepurposeofthe<b>tagistodefineanHTMLelementthatshouldbedisplayedasbold.ThisisalsoanHTMLelement:<body>Thisismyfirsthomepage.<b>Thistextisbold</b></body>ThisHTMLelementstartswiththestarttag<body>,andendswiththeendtag</body>.Thepurposeofthe<body>tagistodefinetheHTMLelementthatcontainsthebodyoftheHTMLdocument.NestedTags
Youmayhavenoticedintheexampleabove,the<body>tagalsocontainsothertags,likethe<b>tab.Whenyouencloseanelementinwithmultipletags,thelasttagopenedshouldbethefirsttagclosed.Forexample:
<p><b><em>ThisisNOTtheproperwaytoclosenestedtags.</p></em></b>
<p><b><em>Thisistheproperwaytoclosenestedtags.</em></b></p>
Havetheyoungwomenplayaroundwiththesamepieceoftextusingdifferenttagssothattheygetcomfortablewiththesyntaxinabasichtmlfile.Someexamplesofexercisestheycoulddo:
1) Displayyournameingreen2) Displayyournamewitheveryletterbeingadifferentheadingsize3) Writeaparagraphwith3sentences.Eachsentenceshouldhaveadifferentfontand
colour.
AgreatresourceforHTMLexercisesiswww.landofcode.com.Afewexamplesarelistedhere:
1. Textformattingexercisesa. Printthesquaresofthenumbers1-20.Eachnumbershouldbeonaseparateline,
nexttoitthenumber2superscripted,anequalsignandtheresult.(Example:102=100)
b. Prints10nameswithalinebreakbetweeneachname.Thelistshouldbealphabetized,andtodothisplaceasubscriptednumbernexttoeachnamebasedonwhereitwillgointhealphabetizedlist.(Example:Alan1).Printfirst,theunalphabetisedlistwithasubscriptnumbernexttoeachname,thenthealphabetizedlist.Bothlistsshouldhavean<h1>levelheading.
2. Linkexercisesa. Createsomelinkstovarioussearchengines(Google,yahoo,etc.).b. Createapagewithalinkatthebottomofitthatwhenclickedwilljumpalltheway
tothetopofthepage3. Imageexercises
a. Displayfivedifferentimages.Skiptwolinesbetweeneachimage.Eachimageshouldhaveatitle.
b. Displayanimagethatwhenclickedwilllinktoasearchengineofyourchoice(shouldbeopenedinanewwindow).
Source:http://www.landofcode.com/html-exercises/
HTMLusingWordPress
1) Sign into yourWordPress account, switch to theHTML input screen.Write a short blogpost usingone font for yourheading andadifferent font for your short paragraph.Addsomecolourstoo.Saveandpublishyourwebpage.
2.3 Teaching Scratch TheyoungwomenareintroducedtotheconceptsofmodularprogrammingusingScratch.TheyfirstlearnhowtonavigateSpritesinScratchandlearnwhatthedifferentblocksofcodecando.AgreatvideotointroducetheyoungwomentothecapabilitiesofScratchcanbefoundhere:MITexplains:HowtomakeavideoGame:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex1ktxOxVgI
LearningaboutwhatScratchlookslike:
Gettingthespritetomove:
Challenges:Addasecondsprite,makethespritesmoveatdifferentspeeds
InteractiveHolidayCard:
Aninterestingproblemtosettheyoungwomentogetthemtoexplorethedifferentpre-programmedblocksofcodeistohavethemdesignaninteractiveholidaycardusingdifferentimagesandsounds.Afulltutorialtodothis(withvideos)canbefoundhere:
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/editor/?tutorial=all
ScratchExercises
OncetheyoungwomenarecomfortablewiththevariousblocksofcodeandthedifferentareasofScratch,thefollowingexercisescanbeassignedtochallengethem.
1. Drawingshapesa. Drawasquareusingcodeb. Drawahexagon,clearthescreenandchangepencolour
2. MakeanAquariuma. Changethespritetoafishb. Changethebackgroundtomakeitlooklikeanaquariumc. Programyourfishtomovearoundusingyourarrowkeysd. Addanotherfishofanothercolour,andhaveitsayhello
3. Drawageometricalpatternliketheonebelow
2.4 Python
GitHubhassomeexcellentresourcestoprovidepracticewithusingPython.OpenCourseWare(OCW)fromMITalsohasfreereferencematerialsthatcanprovidelecturenotes,exercisesandvideostosupplementyoursessions.Thesecanbefoundhere:
AGentleIntroductiontoProgrammingUsingPython
Hereareafewexamplesofsomeoftheexercisesthatcouldbesetinthebeginning:
• Createaprogramthataskstheyoungwomentoentertheirnameandtheirage.Printoutamessageaddressedtothemthattellsthemtheyearthattheywillturn100yearsold.
• Takealist,sayforexamplethisone:a=[1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89]andwriteaprogramthatprintsoutalltheelementsofthelistthatarelessthan5.
2.5 Designing a project
ProjectTemplate
RoadmapExerciseforplansafterGo_Girl
Appendix 3: AI curriculum – a 12 session hands-on course This short course introduces AI to beginners relying heavily on web-based interactivedemonstrations as well as exercises and projects using the Snap! Blocks-based programminglanguage.
Snap! was chosen because it is a more expressive relative of the familiar Scratch programmingsystem. This extra expressive power is required to implement a wide variety of new blocks thatprovideaccesstoavarietyofAIandmachinelearningservicesandcapabilities.Theseincludespeechsynthesis, speech recognition, image recognition, pose detection, style transfer, and machinelearning.
A typical session consisted of a fewminutes of socialising, demonstrations anddiscussions of thehomework assignment, a demonstration of new material, an exercise based upon thedemonstration,andaflexiblehomeworkassignmenttogofurtherwiththeirexercise.
• Week1Session1:IntroductiontoSnap!–basicbuildingblockso StudentsweregivenabriefdemonstrationofSnap!andwereaskedtojustexplore
andtinkeronthefirstday• Week1Session2:ExercisetobuildsomethingbasicinSnap!
o For this session we used a version of Snap! Called NetsBlox because it supportsmultiple simultaneoususers (abit likeGoogleDocs).Theexercise involvedmakingvariants of a program that drew a design by repeatedly going forward n steps,turning, changing thepen colour, and then repeatingwitha larger valueofn.Wethen included the idea of changing the angles and distances to randomnumbers.Hereisonesuchvariantwhichwastheproductofonestudent’shomework.
• Week2Session1:IntroductiontoAI–whatisit?Wheredoweseeit?TheethicsofAIo InpreparationforthissessionthestudentswatchedaTedTalkthatpresentsweird
thingsthatAIprogramsdo.Afterashortpresentationwiththeseslidesthestudentsexploredinteractivedemoslistedonslide3andexploredmoreastheirhomework.
• Week2Session2:ExamplesofAIinSnap!o WebeganwithademonstrationofafewofthesampleSnap!AIprojectsandvery
brief presentations of the underlying scripts, followed by the students exploringothersampleprojectsasbothanin-classexerciseandhomework.
• Week3Session1:ReturningtotheissueofbiasinAIsystemso BaseduponthepaperTheWomanWorkedasaBabysitter:OnBiases inLanguage
Generation we explored how differently GPT-2 finished the sentences “The manworkedas…”and“Thewomanworkedas…”andotherexamplesintroducingraceor sexual orientation. The students then used the Talk to Transformer tool to trytheir own variants. Good discussions followed and continued as the studentsdiscussedtheirhomeworkinthefollowingsession.
• Week3Session2:IntroductiontoSnap!’sAIblockso AfterabriefpresentationoftheAddingspeakingtoyourprograms,Addinglistening
to your programs, Adding pre-trainedmachine learningmodels to your programs,andWorkingwithwords and language guides the students explored these blocksandintheirhomework.
• Week4Session1:Addingspeechrecognitiontoprojects
o A focusupon theAdding listening toyourprogramsguideandsimpleexamplesofusingspeechrecognitioninprojects.
• Week4Session2:Addingimagerecognitiontoprojectso Thissessionlargelyfocussedonthestudentstrainingthecomputertoclassify2or3
different classes of images and then to experimentwith a pre-trainedmodel thatcan recognise1000differentkindsof things.Thiswasbaseduponexercises in theAddingimagerecognitiontoprogramsguide.
• Week5Session1:Detectingposeso Startingwiththisposedetectionexercisewemovedontohowthisabilityisusedin
theDon’tTouchyourFaceappwhichwasenhanced to thisversion to reporthowmanysecondsoneistouchingone’sface.
• Week5Session2:Enhancements/ImprovementsofDon’tTouchyourFaceo Studentsdemonstratedtheirmodifiedversionsfollowedbyademonstrationofhow
to enhance the app to counthowmany timesonehas touchedone’s face and tothenplayappropriatesounds.
• Week6Session1:Enhancements/ImprovementsofDon’tTouchyourFaceo The studentsaddednewartwork includingpartsof the face forwhichno location
informationisprovidedbytheposedetectionblocks.Theyneededtoworkouthowtoplacethosepartsrelativetothenoseandeyes.
• Week6Session2:PublicationofenhancedversionsofDon’tTouchyourFace
AfterpresentinghowonepublishesprojectstotheSnap!websitethestudentspublishedtheirprojects.ThecourseconcludedwithareflectionontheentirecourseandwhatwaslearnedaboutAIandmachinelearning.
