For my practicum (completed during the summer of 2021) I helped organize and teach a virtual STEM summer camp with the department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. The name of this camp was “Engineering Design: Life Safety and Fire Protection Virtual Summer Camp.” Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and resurgence of various outbreaks the camp could not be held in-person and was conducted virtually. Due to this restraint many aspects of the camp had to be reworked to successfully fit a virtual environment.
I found this opportunity though my involvement in the Fire Protection Engineering Department. I was already a student ambassador for the Fire Protection Engineering Department and knew well how to present to others what fire protection engineering was and some basic science that goes into this field of study. From previous work with the department and having shown enthusiasm by going to events, and socials planned by the department my advisor (she became my site supervisor) offered me a position to work with her over the summer to complete the “Engineering Design: Life Safety and Fire Protection Virtual Summer Camp.” I would highly recommend to any future Science & Global Change scholar that they look for a practicum project within their major’s department. The reason I highly encourage this is because it allows you to kill two birds with one stone. You get to know those in your department and network which is a huge bonus in career advancement, as well as getting to complete the practicum project.
I performed a variety of different tasks as I prepared for and later helped teach for the camp. In preparation, there were a lot of initial meetings where our team (my advisor, her assistant, and I) would brainstorm ideas about what exactly would be most beneficial to the students to include in this four-day virtual camp. Figuring out the academic content was not overly complicated because the material could not be too complex since it was and introductory course. What proved to be much more of a challenge was how to keep the students engaged and interacting with the material. This was difficult because of the online format of the camp, making it very easy for attention spans to wander. The solution was to create “break” activities that were funny and if possible, got the students moving, during the camp we called them “fire breakers.” Additionally, we would take the academic material and try to find a way in which students could also participate, whether that be through a more conversational presentation/breakout room, video, or if there was a way for them to get some practice with software. We did all of these. I had to learn about how certain experiments worked so that I could then teach my group what was happening. I also would meet with professors who would teach me how to use software so that I could take lead in a breakout room to show the students what to do. This process was a lot of fun because I got to partake in a lot of the material and was able to ask professors in my department more complex questions about the material.
One of my other favorite tasks I had was to contact professionals in the Fire Pretention Engineering industry/field to ask if they could come give a presentation to our students about their job and projects they are working on. The reason I loved this was because it gave me the opportunity to get in touch with future employers as well as listen to their presentation and ask leading questions to get the students thinking about the material they learned.
The science I learned participating in the organization of this camp was in large part due to the meetings I was able to have with professors and professionals in the industry. I learned about the differences in the efficiency of burns, flame spread, as well as how to use software used in industry such as CFAST for fire modeling and Pathfinder for evacuation time modeling. This work affected me greatly because I was able to build stronger connections in my department which greatly help me in future career planning through networking. For example, one of the presenters that came to speak I had previously met at the career fair, and I was able to reconnect with her during the summer. Then I spoke with her again in the spring of 2022 which led my acceptance of an internship at her company for this upcoming summer of 2022.
With this practicum project I was able to see science and society connect right in front of my eyes as I saw how students engaged with the scientific material that was presented to them. It was truly enriching to see them ask questions and make hypotheses about what materials would or would not be better for flame insulation. It is my hope that the students enjoyed the camp as much as I enjoyed organizing and teaching it.
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