**3. Supporting programs**

#### **3.1 Building bridges to design program**

The Building Bridges to Design Careers programs, conducted annually by author one, created a dialog on diversity and design between grade K-12 students, college of design students, scholars, and practitioners. Annual panels, workshops, and summer camps led by design faculty and practitioners engaged participants in creative problemsolving and prototyping exercises focused on cultural expressions in design. Since 2013, annual panels, workshops, and summer camps have engaged diverse participants in design problem-solving exercises focused on cultural expressions in the built environment. The program is structured to include after-school programs, summer design camps, lectures, and panel discussions. In the design camps, K-12 students are guided through ideation, concept sketching, and modeling exercises. The week-long summer design camp focuses on daily hands-on activities in design, three-dimensional modeling, and fabrication, and includes field trips (**Figures 2** and **3**). Lectures and

*Bridging the Digital Divide in Design and Mathematics through an Immersive Maker Program… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.111787*

**Figure 2.** *Building Bridges to Design program, 2013–2017.*

**Figure 3.** *Building Bridges to Design program, 2018–2019.* panel discussion for K-12 students focus on global design history, multicultural design perspectives, and diverse contributions to the built environment. Woodworking, laser cutting, and LEGO modeling experiences are used to guide K-12 students through the hands-on activities. A systematic instructional design process that engaged the learners, and included objectives, methods, and evaluation, was used in the development and execution of the program. During the programs, feedback was obtained through pre- and post-surveys from student participants to learn about their experiences and improve the programs.
