Can immersing adolescent girls in a four-week summer camp that’s steeped in computer science affect their lives? A project initiated by three Pacific University researchers aims to find out, according to the Oregonian. The trio have snagged a $554,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop and run the computer science summer camps over three years, beginning in summer 2011.

The overarching goal of the camp — Girls Gather for Computer Science (G2CS) — is to teach the middle school girls computational thinking. But, mentoring will be stressed, as well. All eight instructors will be women, and the girls will go on field trips to see female computer scientists at work at area companies, including Intel and Flying Rhino. Moreover, Oregon Public Broadcasting will develop video profiles of women computer scientists, and also instructive games.

The curriculum will likely include game programming, data gathering and analysis, and biotechnology. Ninety girls — 30 in each year — will participate in the program, and the researchers will track the girls over 10 years to see what, if any, impact the camp had on their lives.

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Tags: Computer Science, Programs for Girls, Research on Learning, Summer Camps & Programs (Students)