Summer Camp Let's Code and STEM Teacher Training

Summer Camp Let’s Code and STEM Teacher Training

The American Center held the «Let’s Code» summer camp from June 17 to July 3. The program was organized for 9–14 year-old school children with an interest for coding and STEM. They have strengthened their coding skills and have learned how to create their own games and interactive projects with Scratch during workshops and lectures. At the end of the program participants presented their project works to show the skills they’ve acquired.

20 school children became participants in the summer camp. Participants learned about the Scratch programming language, mastered the techniques and methods of work. They gained skills in designing with Scratch, learned about effective variables, developed bots and games.

Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics training

STEAM and Makerspace trainer, AMC Partner Ibrohimsho Abduchaborov, led master classes and lectures. Ibrohimsho designed the syllabus of the course and has helped participants with their most challenging questions.

Programming experience

The program participants learned a lot about Scratch programming language and algorithms of games production.

What do we play?

Interactive stories, games like Snake or Maze and animations were produces by schoolchildren during Let’s Code Camp. During the two-week course helped them to gain essential skills in programming and to create a new game!

STEM Teacher Training

Professional training for instructors and teachers of subjects related to information technology and engineering (STEM, IT) was held at the American Center on July 1-3. The training was devoted to enriching the educational opportunities of regional students though STEM-related programming. Six teachers and trainers from Vladikavkaz, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow region were invited to participate in the program.

First day — General Overview of STEM Programming at the American Center

In the first section of the course, participants studied the process of creating and managing a STEM extracurricular educational program. Coordinator Alexander Pachkov has shared American Center’s programming experience and courses outlines with the participants. Participants were trained on what is needed to be done to launch a program for extra-curricular activities.Download Program Agenda

Second day — Short-term Educational Programs

The second section was devoted to several types of short-term educational programs, such as summer camps and extracurricular activities. Instructors and teachers received a training on what is important in planning the program and selecting participants, evaluating the programs, and also got acquainted with new project management technologies.

Third day — AMC Makeathons for Russian Regions

Participants gained the skills to develop and administer school makeathons. The training participants observed the AMC “Game design camp for children: Let’s Code!” and evaluated the final projects of the program participants as independent experts.

Six professionals became participants in the three-day training. They learned how to create extracurricular educational programs. Participants learned about the techniques and formats of project activities, about the evaluation of project results and their implementation. As part of the training, the invitees also observed the Let’s Code Camp for kids. They were highly involved in the process of every-day workshops, and gave their feedback to the participants. They have discussed the course methodology and specifics of coding on Scratch with the program’s facilitator, exchanged experience of teaching IT classes.

They have highly evaluated the training content and organization and said they would use the methods shared in their work. One of the IT teachers says: “Such programs help to develop the STEM teachers community, where specialists are able to connect and discuss the most challenging questions of IT pedagogy.”