- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Girls learn tech skills at Windstream Girl: CODE Camp

Janea Snyder — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 18:30:58 +0000

Sixteen rising eighth- and ninth-grade girls just spent a week at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock learning coding skills that will come in handy for future STEM careers. The girls coding camp, made possible with a $10,000 sponsorship from , is a one-week annual residential camp that aims to motivate academically prepared females to enter the fields of computer science, information science or web design. The program is free to participants. During the camp, which ended July 26, girls stayed in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s on-campus housing so they also got a taste of what it’s like to be on a college campus. During the day, they worked with Thomas Wallace, senior instructor of information science and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s coordinator of the Web Design and Development program and information technology minor. “Our focus has been on the web stack of three core technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript,” Wallace said. “Each day we focused on a different layer. The afternoons were for lab, and that’s where they applied the skills they learned.” The girls also took a field trip to Windstream where they learned how to provision a phone system, participated in binary coding exercises, and toured a network lab. “Working directly with these girls, watching them work together to learn how to provision phones on Windstream’s network is truly an inspirational experience,” said Sara Lary, manager of the Law Enforcement Support Center. “Seeing their excitement when the equipment works and watching them call their parents to share their experience and enthusiasm is proof that we are doing good work and making a difference. Yesterday one of our campers said ‘This is awesome, I want to do this! What do I need to do so I can do something like this with Windstream?’ We need to keep that enthusiasm going for generations and continue to work to provide more opportunities for young girls to succeed at an early age.” Lary’s daughter is a former participant of the camp. “I got to witness firsthand how her experience attending this camp sparked a level of confidence, interest and motivation in her education and career path that she didn’t have previously,” Lary recalled. “Once she was given the opportunity to learn cool, relevant things with technology in a healthy environment, she became excited about her future. We can do this for all young girls. By fostering an interest in STEM (now STEAM) topics at a young age and working on the negative connotations and barriers that girls face today, educators, parents, and mentors can work together to help girls maintain confidence and curiosity in STEAM.” This year’s participants were selected from schools statewide based on essay, grades, test scores, and recommendations. Schools represented include Forest Heights Stem Academy, Lisa Academy West, Pinnacle View Middle School, Pulaski Academy, and Quest Academy, all in Little Rock; Fulbright Junior High School in Centerton; Ruth Doyle Middle School in Conway; and St. Joseph School in Russellville. Photo, top right: Girls gathered at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to participate in a week-long coding camp, sponsored by Windstream. Photos left and above right: Girls participate in technology-based challenge activities at Windstream’s networking lab on July 25, 2019. Photos by Benjamin Krain

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host Arkansas Science Olympiad April 6

Janea Snyder — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 15:49:19 +0000

This weekend nearly 300 middle and high school students from across Arkansas will convene at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Saturday, April 6, to show off their science skills in the 9th annual Arkansas Science Olympiad. The state competition, which is coordinated through ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s STEM Education Center, runs from 9 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. on campus. Students will compete for prizes and the chance to advance to the to be held May 31-June 1 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where Bill Nye the Science Guy will greet the teams. All of the teams participated in regional tournaments to advance to the state tournament. Regional tournaments were held at Northwest Arkansas Community College and Arkansas State University-Newport. This year’s state Science Olympiad features 44 events – 22 for middle school students (grades 6-8) and 22 events in the high school division (grades 9-12). Each event presents a challenge that students have to solve within a time limit. Medals will be awarded in each event, and trophies awarded to the highest-scoring teams. “Science Olympiad is all about problem solving and learning how to balance competing ideas,” said Eric Kaufmann, professor and director of undergraduate studies of mathematics and statistics and state director of the Arkansas Science Olympiad. “In Boomilever, students are asked to design a cantilever beam, which is as light as possible but holds as much weight as possible. They need to go beyond what they learn in the classroom.” Participating schools include Annie Camp Junior High, Cabot Junior High School South, Central Arkansas Christian School, County Line High School, County Line Junior High, Forest Heights STEM Academy, Haas Hall Academy in Bentonville, Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, LISA Academy Chenal, LISA Academy North, LISA Academy North Middle School, LISA Academy West, LISA Academy West High School, Little Rock Central High, Little Rock Christian Academy, Nettleton High School, Nettleton Junior High School, Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School in Little Rock, Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood, and The Academies at Jonesboro. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty assisted with this year’s events – from devising the competitions to running them. In addition, undergraduate and graduate students will assist. Here’s just a few of the creative challenges the students will have waiting for them when they get to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock:

Boomilever – Teams design and build a boomilever supporting a minimum load and to achieve the highest structural efficiency.
Circuit Lab – Participants complete tasks and answer questions about electricity and magnetism.
Codebusters – Teams will cryptanalyze (decode) encrypted messages using cryptanalysis techniques and show skill with advanced ciphers by encrypting or decrypting a message.
Density Lab – Participants compete in activities and answer questions about mass, density, number density, area density, concentration, pressure and buoyancy.
Designer Genes – Participants solve problems and analyze data or diagrams using their knowledge of the basic principles of genetics, molecular genetics and biotechnology.
Elastic Launched Glider – Prior to the tournament, teams design, construct, and test elastic launched gliders to achieve the maximum time aloft.
Fossils – Teams demonstrate their knowledge of ancient life by completing tasks related to fossil identification and classification.
Protein Modeling – Students use computer visualization and online resources to construct physical models of the CRISPR Cas9 protein that is being engineered to edit plant and animal cell genomes and answer questions about the chemistry of protein folding and the interaction of structure and function for model proteins.
Anatomy & Physiology – Students demonstrate understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human body systems: cardiovascular, lymphatic and excretory.
Chemistry Lab – Teams complete tasks and answer questions about the science processes of chemistry focused in the areas of physical properties and acids and bases.
Disease Detectives – Participants will use investigative skills in the scientific study of disease, injury, health and disability in populations or groups of people.
Meteorology – This event emphasizes understanding of basic meteorological principles with emphasis on analysis and interpretation of meteorological data, graphs, charts and images.
Mystery Architecture – Teams will be given a bag of building materials and instructions for designing and building a device that can be tested.

Girls Coding camp teaches foundations for STEM careers

Janea Snyder — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 16:04:29 +0000

Eighteen rising eighth- and ninth-grade girls in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Girls Coding Camp are learning skills that might come in handy for future STEM careers. The Girls Coding Camp, made possible with a $10,000 sponsorship from , is a one-week annual residential camp now in its third year that aims to motivate academically prepared females to enter the fields of computer science, information science, or web design. The camp concluded Friday, July 27, with an open house at 10 a.m. in the Engineering and Information Technology Student Services Lab on the first floor of the EIT building. This year’s participants were selected from schools statewide based on essay, grades, test scores, and recommendations. Schools represented include Forest Heights Stem Academy, Lisa Academy West, Lisa Academy Middle School, Episcopal Collegiate and Pulaski Academy, all in Little Rock; Benton Middle School; Haas Hall Rogers in Bentonville; Lincoln Junior High School in Centerton; Cotter Public Schools; Jacksonville Middle School; Perryville High School; Watson Chapel Junior High School in Pine Bluff; Sheridan Junior High School; Warren Middle School; and West Junior High School in West Memphis. For the past week, the girls have spent their mornings in the classroom with Thomas Wallace, senior instructor of information science and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s coordinator of the Web Design and Development program and information technology minor. “Our focus has been on the web stack of three core technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript,” Wallace said. “Each day we focus on a different layer. The afternoons are for lab, and that’s where they get to apply the skills they have learned.” The girls each chose a web project to work on this week. Lesleigh Sullivan, an eighth-grade student at Episcopal Collegiate School, has been creating a biography page for her project. She is co-captain of her school’s robotics team and will be involved with VEX Club this fall. She attend last year’s coding camp and wanted to return this summer to advance her skills. “This year, I learned about HTML, which I’ve never done before,” she said. “It was nice learning a new technology.” The girls stay in on-campus housing during the week, so they also get a taste of what it’s like to be on a college campus. Earlier this week, they took a field trip to Windstream, where they visited labs to see how networking equipment is tested. In addition to hands-on instruction, the girls attend “Girl Talk” seminars featuring female professionals to learn more about opportunities available for females in computer and information science.

The girls tour Windstream.

“It’s nice to know there are so many women in STEM fields who are setting the path for us so we can do something better,” said Emily Ye, an incoming eighth-grader at Forest Heights STEM Academy. One of the featured speakers was ��Vlog��ý Little Rock alumna Christina Copley, who is head of information technology systems transformation for Windstream’s Consumer and Small Business Division. Copley attended the University of Central Arkansas where she began a major in kinesiology, thinking she wanted to be a coach. Then, she took an elective course in the Information Technology program and loved it. “I thought there would be more opportunities for me there, so I switched majors,” Copley said. She started working at Alltel as a data warehousing intern and continued working for the company while she took night classes at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to earn her MBA in 2014. The girls asked Copley all sorts of questions: How many coding languages do you know? When you were our age, did you think you would be a stay-at-home mom? Do you think your job is different because you’re a woman? Then, finally, they stumped her: “Who is your favorite Chris?” (Chris Pine, Chris Evans, or Chris Hemsworth?) “They were not shy and I like that,” Copley said. “When I was in eighth grade, I didn’t know any women in IT. It wasn’t clear to me that was even a path. These STEM programs are important for girls to know there are options. Now is the age when you plant the seed.”

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

Girls learn tech skills at Windstream Girl: CODE Camp

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to host Arkansas Science Olympiad April 6

Girls Coding camp teaches foundations for STEM careers

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host Arkansas Science Olympiad April 6