OUTREACH
Aside from my research work, I am also progressively participating in outreach programs and give back to the community by contributing my knowledge, skills and abilities.
KOREAN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTOR
I thought about how I can use my knowledge, skills and abilities to provide assistance to people inside/outside the campus.
Korean is my native language. The popularity of Korean language in the United States has dramatically increased over the years. I decided to help people who are interested in studying the Korean language by offering free Korean classes every Monday since Fall 2017.
I was surprised with the response I received from people who wanted to learn Korean in Ames, Iowa. When I started offering the Korean class, my goal was for the students to actively engage in class. I want them to improve their conversational and vocabulary skills. Prior to each lesson, I prepare the learning materials from scratch.
Students who participated in my class were able to construct sentences and hold basic conversation with me. Aside from that, we were able to exchange culture by interacting outside the class and fostering friendships.
Korean is my native language. The popularity of Korean language in the United States has dramatically increased over the years. I decided to help people who are interested in studying the Korean language by offering free Korean classes every Monday since Fall 2017.
I was surprised with the response I received from people who wanted to learn Korean in Ames, Iowa. When I started offering the Korean class, my goal was for the students to actively engage in class. I want them to improve their conversational and vocabulary skills. Prior to each lesson, I prepare the learning materials from scratch.
Students who participated in my class were able to construct sentences and hold basic conversation with me. Aside from that, we were able to exchange culture by interacting outside the class and fostering friendships.
SCIENCE ORIENTED YOUTH PROGRAMS
2017 Iowa State Science and Technology
Dr. Bartlett, Tutika, and I, acted as judges in student's poster competition at the State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa in Spring, 2017.
We were impressed by the interesting experimental results and critical thinking skills middle school students displayed during the fair.
2018 Science Bound Program
I participated in Science Bound program to offer opportunities of experiencing and exploring science and engineering to Iowa high school students in Fall 2018.
Prior to the event, our team coordinated to brainstorm ideas and create soft robotic arms for the participants of the program.
We received feeback from Science Bound that everyone had an amazing time and rated our activity a 9 out of 10!
FIRST LEGO League
In January 2019, I participated as a FIRST LEGO League Team Helper at Iowa State University. The First Lego League encourages children, ages 9-14 years old, to pursue the field of science, engineering, and technology through project-based learning.
As a Team Helper, it was my responsibility to oversee and ensure that every activity ran smoothly.
Our team's name was Sparky Space Nebulas. I was so proud of our team for putting together complex LEGO structures and program these structures to accomplish missions autonomously.
The LEGO products brought by the participants to the event were complex and advanced. The participants were required to analyze the mechanical designs to perform tasks and program the hardware to move autonomously. I was very impressed by their problem-solving skills as well as enthusiasm about science, engineering and technology. I am looking forward to participating again next year.