The UK Electronics Skills Foundation (UKESF) has partnered up with the Royal Institution to deliver a series of Computer Science masterclasses to year 8 pupils.

With the support of UKESF Scholars, pupils had the opportunity to get hands on with an interactive electronics session and participate in a drone competition. The masterclasses were held at a college in Hampshire.

“We are delighted that the students had such a positive experience at the masterclasses. Not only was there a fantastic atmosphere on the day, but pupils reported that they were inspired to learn more about the variety of careers that computer science can lead to, and that they were more likely to consider a career in STEM following the event.” Isabel Culmer, UKESF Education Outreach Advisor

The Insight into Electronics session was supported by UKESF Scholars Alexander Mills and Tao Zeng from the University of Southampton. Pupils were introduced to microcontrollers and sensors using an Arduino kit, and had the opportunity to ask their questions to the Scholars about their journey so far and experiences.

The drone competition was run by UKESF Scholars Shawn Poile and Efstratios Stamatopoulos, also from the University of Southampton, in collaboration with NXP Semiconductors. The pupils programmed drones to fly on an obstacle course, and learned that programming for hardware can come with challenges and unexpected outcomes.

Feedback following the session found that:

  • 92% of participants felt more enthused about computer science and electronics after attending
  • 100% of participants said that they are considering a career in computer science.
  • 100% of participants rated the masterclass 5/5
  • 100% of parents said the masterclasses were worthwhile for their children

Read the full report here.

If you would like to find out more about Insight into Electronics, click here. For more information about RI Masterclasses, click here.

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