At PrimeSTEM, our mission has always been to bridge the gap in STEM education by bringing hands-on, high-quality learning to students in rural areas. This May, we had the incredible privilege of taking that mission to a new scale.
We were honored to design and lead a series of STEM activities for the virtual DesignSTEM program, hosted by Purdue University’s Catalyst Center. Over the course of two days and a total of four sessions, we worked with 625 students and 30 teachers from rural schools across Indiana. Some school corporations that we worked with were: Lewis Cass, South Montgomery, Eastern Howard, Pioneer, Benton, Maconaquah, North White, Clinton Central, Tipton, Victory Christian Academy, Delphi, and Tri-County.
Our goal was to ensure that every student felt the spark of “hands-on” discovery. Our curriculum focused on the following four core aspects:
- Electronic Circuits: Understanding the flow of energy.
- Microelectronics: Exploring the “brains” inside modern devices.
- Micro:bits: Transitioning from theory to tangible hardware.
- Block Coding: Empowering students to bring the Micro:bits to life through logic.
Beyond the technical aspects, we also focused heavily on the Engineering Design Process (EDP). We didn’t just want students to follow a tutorial; we wanted them to think like engineers.
Students moved from brainstorming to prototyping, navigating through the frustrations of loose connections in their circuits. We witnessed many amazing circuit designs, from jellyfish to keychains.
In addition, this program was the first time many of the students engaged in block coding. They were very excited to create name badges, write messages, and create random number generators on the micro:bits.
Seeing the students finally reach that “aha!” moment when their projects worked was truly amazing. This level of engagement from students in rural districts, areas that are often overlooked in the tech world, was the highlight of the program.
Overall, we are so proud of the work we did with Purdue’s Catalyst Center, but our mission doesn’t stop here. We have multiple new partnerships, camps, and activities planned out for the future. In the meantime, all of our lesson plans for the conference can be found in the Resources section of our website, along with many other useful resources.
Below are the presentation slides used at the event.
We received great feedback from post-surveys we administered to teachers and students. Here are some of the results from the student survey:
| 93% of students enjoyed the STEM program | “I really enjoyed the pipe-cleaner circuits. It was very fun.” |
| 88.2% of students learned new things during throughout the course of the STEM program | “I liked how we were able to make the micro bit say what we asked it to. I also liked how we were able to make the lights light up with the battery.” |
| 95.5% of students are now MORE interested in STEM after the program | “My favorite part of the DesignSTEM program was making a animation on the Microbit” |
Here are the results from the teacher survey:
| 90.9% of teachers noticed an increase in student interest or confidence in STEM during the program | “Both the circuit building and the microbit coding were effective for my students. Almost all of them were engaged the entire time. They loved learning how they can use this information in the future. They would have used the microbits all day if I would have let them.” |
| 100% teacher satisfaction rate with the program | “They truly enjoyed all of the program, but the circuits were a big hit!” |
| 91% of teachers indicated that the program supported student learning and engagement in STEM | “My students enjoyed the design and hands on aspects.” |