Society of Women Engineers Smoky Mountain Section
About SWE    Officers    Join SWE    Calendar    Projects    Newsletters    Links    Contact us		Thinking SMART Thinking SMART is a national project for girls and young women during the critical adolescent years (ages 12-14) to foster participants' interest in pursuing education and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by introducing them to the thought processes and methods employed by professionals in these fields and providing them with opportunities to take on real-life engineering challenges. Society of Women Engineers serves on the National Advisory Committee, which is a network of professionals in the field who can help guide development of Thinking SMART so that is built on exisiting work, expertise and research in the field. The Smoky Mountain Section of SWE is also specifically involved with the development of the Galaxy Girl module through participation on the Oak Ridge Thinking SMART Advisory Committee and the initial 2 week pilot program conducted in June 2003. Project Objectives: Develop, field test and evaluate a new program for adolescent girls focused on engineering and computer science. Foster collaborations between community organizations, schools, colleges, science organizations and the private sector. Produce planning, curriculum, and training materials so that the model can be replicated in communities across the country. Short-term Pilot Outcomes: Girls will partner with science and engineering professional to develop projects with real-life engineering challenges. Collaborative reearch teams of girls, scientists, and engineering professionals will create multi-media reports detailing their projects. Long-term Pilot Outcomes: Cultivate girls' interested in science and technology during the crucial early adolescent period to sustain their interest and participation. Increase girls' knowledge about careers in science and engineering and the academic preparation required to pursue those career paths. Increase girls' confidence about their competence in math, science and technology, and hence their participation in those fields. Development of Pilot Modules: Material Girls - design, architecture, civil engineering and construction - Girls Inc. of New Hampshire Eco Girls - ecology and environmental engineering - Girls Inc. of Worcester, MA NET Girls - nutrition, health, engineering and internet design - Girls Inc. of Shelbyville, IN Galaxy Girls - physics, space exploration and engineering - Girls Inc. of Oak Ridge, TN For more info, check out the SWE website at http://www.swe.org/ .
		Designed and maintained by Lien Nguyen    Revised November 3, 2003