Pushing Beyond Traditional School and Course Boundaries: High School and University Students Collaborate on an Interdisciplinary Project

Aimed at promoting math, science, and technology education in elementary and secondary schools, K-12 students and their teachers have participated in a variety of outreach programs. However, the majority of these programs have focused on small-scope projects which do not expose students and teachers to a range of CSET fields, but rather to specific CSET technologies and concepts. In this paper we present a case study of a collaboration between Williamstown High School and Rowan University students, teachers, and faculty. In the context of a college-level software engineering course, we exposed all those involved to a variety of CSET disciplines and experts, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software engineering, computer science, and robotics. Student reaction to the project was positive, and several interesting findings are presented. Active or observing roles could be assigned to the participants, depending on the scope, goals, duration, and availability.