This video created by Translogic describes an after school program called Minddrive. Minddrive is a not for profit organization that reaches out to at-risk students in the Kansas city area.
This video highlights Minddrive’s Lola project, an electric car that students help design, build, and market. Similar to games like Nephrotex , mentors guide students through the engineering design process and model ways of thinking like professional engineers.
The students who participate in this program are having fun while they are learning, and changing their career goals. One young man explained,
“It has changed me a lot. Before Minddrive I was hooked on becoming a professional athlete, basketball to be specific. But since then…it’s really been about my future and what I want to get my degree in, in college.”
Another young woman enjoys the sense of accomplishment.
“Hey I’ve built a car. What have you done?”
Epistemic Games has seen similar results regarding the diversity of women in STEM education. Nephrotex and Land Science present an exciting platform and opportunity for researching other underrepresented or at-risk students in STEM fields.