A teenager from the Philadelphia area is organizing coding and AI camps for younger students, and fresh findings suggest that a model led by peers is effective.
A high school student named Khushi Kharuna runs coding and artificial intelligence summer camps for K–12 students in her Philadelphia-area neighborhood. At Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), Priya Kumar, who holds the PNC Technologies Career Development Professor chair, examines how young people move through the digital world. The two women’s common focus on young people’s engagement with technology brought their work together, leading to a study of a youth-led STEM learning model that places children’s voices at the center of the experience.
Khushi’s Camps
Kharuna created the camps on her own, covering subjects from simple coding all the way up to AI ideas. These camps reach students spanning the K–12 range, putting young learners in touch with a peer teacher who remains a student herself.
The design depends on the people running the sessions being younger than the participants. That arrangement puts someone near in age and experience at the center of the room, guiding the group rather than standing apart from it.
What the Collaboration Found
Kumar and Kharuna’s joint study looks at whether a peer-led approach alters how children respond to a learning setting. The findings show that children become more engaged when they learn from their peers rather than through traditional instruction.
“Their shared interests led to a research collaboration exploring a youth-led STEM learning model that puts children’s voices at the center of the learning experience.”
The research builds on Kumar’s broader work on how young people navigate the digital world. Her position at Penn State’s IST college gives her a direct line into questions of how kids learn, create, and participate online.
Why Peer Teaching Matters
Kumar’s research into how young people engage with technology naturally overlapped with Kharuna’s work building and running the camps, leading to their partnership.
When children’s voices take the lead, students get to shape what and how they learn. That approach in STEM education offers younger learners a model they can see themselves in — a teacher who is not far removed from their own experience.
A Model Worth Watching
This research demonstrates that children remain engaged and involved when a peer takes charge during sessions in this particular camp setup.
It remains uncertain whether other communities will be able to copy the model. What the study does show is the worth of a youth-led approach, a clear sign of its potential.
That signal matters.
Source: phys.org
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