The task was to connect enough wires on a colorful board to
make a small lightbulb work. To succeed, a roomful of fidgety boys inside on a
warm, sunny summer day first had to sit quietly and learn about circuits.
The middle school-aged children were part of the annual Salt
Lake Community College Slick Science Camp, held three times in one-week
increments for a different group of boys and girls each week.
Barbara Antonetti, a fourth-grade teacher the rest of the
year, helped out with kid wrangling, breaks, questions and snacks during the camps.
“The challenge is to manage the kids – that’s why I’m here,” she said. For the
lightbulb project, SLCC electrical engineering lab coordinator James Quebbeman
patiently imparted the information students needed to pull it off.
But it was college students Elliot Befus, Randall Petersen
and Taylor Eley who ran this year’s camps, which in past years was a faculty
function. “The model of having the faculty so heavily involved was not a
workable, long-term solution,” said Quentin McRae, SLCC assistant professor of
engineering. The University of Utah draws from a pool of graduate students as
“counselors” for their summer camps, but it was uncertain if a two-year school
could replicate that success.
Several current and former SLCC students were offered an
opportunity to take a new invitation-only engineering course designed
specifically to prepare college students to steer the summer camp curriculum. McRae
organized the training and coursework for the three-credit ENGR 2900 class,
focusing on areas like what it takes to refine the GPS system camp goers used
to control an automated miniature car or how to operate the 3D printer they
used to build components for the vehicle. Six students took the invitation and
three were available to lead the camps.
“It demonstrates to potential employers and on graduate
school applications that the student is able to take risks, be adaptable and
take on significant new challenges,” said Craig Caldwell, dean of the SLCC
School of Science, Mathematics and Engineering. “These are all valuable
outcomes that can’t be learned by simply taking a class.”
Elliot Befus (left) and Taylor Eley watch as a boy chases his automated car.
Befus, 27, is a former SLCC student now attending the
University of Utah to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. Petersen, 36,
expects to graduate in the fall from SLCC with associate’s degrees in
pre-engineering and general education. Eley, 29, is finishing his master’s in
mechanical engineering at the U of U. The three were paid for the time helping
facilitate camp lessons and teaching about a dozen children in each camp in
subjects like writing and updating code, redesigning a circuit board,
manufacturing techniques and electricity.
“They are learning different elements each day,” Befus said.
“Each day they learn different skill sets necessary for building the car.”
None of the students had run a camp before. All three loved
the experience.
“You just kind of have to go with their personalities,”
Petersen said. “They all learn at a different rate and in a different way. You
need to quickly get to how they learn.”
As the roomful of boys – in the second camp this year there
were no girls – soldiered through the circuit board exercise, Befus and
Petersen decided they were too much of a distraction while trying to help. They
opted to step aside as Quebbeman taught and Antonetti came up with a key to
identifying circuits that was used to improve that lesson for the third week.
“Woo, we did it!” a student yelled out as the lightbulb on
his board glowed.
“Congratulations, you made your first circuit,” Quebbeman calmly
chimed in.
The next lesson that day – complete with snacks and a
respite outside – would involve learning about how to measure electricity through
energy being captured by solar panels.
James Quebbeman teaches camp goers about solar energy.
“They can definitely be a handful, but they’re fun, funny
and surprisingly really smart,” Befus said. “They’re capable of understanding
complex concepts. I think there’s a lot of potential here to grow the camp and
include more sessions.”
The success of this year’s camps may mean expanded offerings
in years to come, maybe with spinoff camps that focus on Slick Science
components like 3D printing, computer design and robotics.
On the final day of each week of camp, the students get to
demonstrate everything they learned using the automated cars they
pre-programmed with GPS coordinates. Families watch as the students place the
cars on the pavement of a parking lot on the Taylorsville Redwood Campus. If
they’re successful, the cars run a course by themselves and return to their
beaming owners.
