DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL (DSG) connects 10- to 13-year-olds in US out-of-school-time programs to children around the world, empowering them to collaborate to solve real-world engineering problems and increase their cross-cultural understanding. Through DSG, youth work together on hands-on activities, learn teamwork and creative problem-solving, and discover how to use the engineering design process to express and develop their ideas. They begin to see the possibilities for applying science and engineering to their own lives, and learn to share their own perspectives, while appreciating the cultures and experiences of students from another country.
The Pilot Project
Results from an initial pilot project demonstrated the potential of DSG to connect students from different backgrounds. Youth from out-of-school-time programs in Mississippi and Boston collaborated with children from Soweto, South Africa, to help improve the lives of the elderly in their communities. Through online team meetings, students shared their solutions and helped each other improve their designs. Their results: prototypes of an easy-to-use pill dispenser and a portable massage seat cushion powered by solar panels.
What DSG aims to achieve
With the increased globalisation of our world, this is an ideal time to develop a project that connects U.S. students and their peers in other countries and creates virtual communities where these students can work together to solve real-world problems. Through DSG, we will build broader knowledge about how to adapt both engineering resources and the outreach process needed to work collaboratively across distance and cultures. We will also generate evidence about whether and how this kind of collaborative work builds kids’ understanding of engineering, motivation to participate in engineering, and confidence in taking effective and informed action on behalf of pressing global problems. This will contribute to a larger body of work about whether and how engaging with global, collaborative engineering problems leads to greater self-efficacy for kids with very different backgrounds, experiences, and opportunities.
To find out more watch this DSG Promo Video
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