Student Volunteer Puts Passion for Coding to Use Testing AI Projects

High school student furthers interest in coding by helping test machine learning projects at Science Buddies.

Volunteering to Support STEM Education

Carissa is finishing her sophomore year at Valley View Charter Prep and will transfer to Acalanes High School in Lafayette, CA, in the fall. She volunteered this year as a student mentor in the Ask an Expert forums at Science Buddies as part of a team of volunteers who answer student questions about their STEM projects.

Most student volunteers help once a week with questions at Ask an Expert. This volunteer activity lets top science students share their enthusiasm for STEM and earn community service credit while helping other students troubleshoot their science and engineering projects. With an interest in engineering, coding, and AI, Carissa has been helping as a student mentor in the forums, but she has also been testing machine learning projects in the cutting-edge AI interest area at Science Buddies.

"After seeing how Science Buddies has a database of projects for people to try, I wanted to help troubleshoot any issues [so students can] fully enjoy the projects available," she explains.

Having volunteers like Carissa run through projects helps Science Buddies ensure that projects work as expected and are accessible for the target student audience. For Carissa, the volunteer testing has given her additional exposure to AI and machine learning techniques and algorithms, knowledge she will take with her as she continues to expand her coding skills.

A Coder at Heart

Though still in high school, Carissa already has a long history with computer science and coding. "I have been interested in coding since I was very young. I love how, with code, you can create anything, from video games to complicated algorithms used in research."

For her second-grade science fair, she created a program using Scratch to help her younger brother. "I wanted [to do] a project that used coding, so I decided to create a game that could help my brother practice his math and language skills in a fun and easy way."

Carissa says she started coding with Scratch, a colorful, block-oriented coding environment, and then learned JavaScript. After that, with the encouragement of her family and teachers, she took coding classes, watched videos, and studied independently to learn other programming languages. "Once I learned one language well, it became easier to transfer those skills into a new language."

She has continued building her coding skills by taking advanced math classes and coding courses at a local community college, which she says has been an "amazing experience."

Chess is Like Coding

Carissa is currently coding a chess engine in JavaScript. "I coded it fully from scratch. Right now, the pieces can all move, and the engine can decide which moves to play. I am working on improving it by changing the piece and square values and making the code more efficient so it can look farther ahead."

An avid chess player (for more than ten years), Carissa sees similarities between chess and coding. "I like how you have to plan ahead for each move and the complicated positions and strategies that can arise. It is similar to coding in that you have to design a plan or algorithm and then implement it properly to be able to win or create a working program.

An Interest in Machine Learning and AI

Looking ahead, Carissa says she wants to continue exploring machine learning. "I would like to work more with projects that use machine learning models like reinforcement learning to train an object to complete a goal, for example, creating a racetrack and training a car to complete it in the fastest time."

About the volunteer work she has been doing testing AI projects at Science Buddies, Carissa says she has appreciated the chance to see a number of machine learning techniques and models in action in a range of scientific fields. This year, she has tested projects like:

• Create a Facial Recognition System with Machine Learning
• Understanding the Emotions Hidden in Words with Sentiment Analysis
• Predicting Thyroid Cancer Recurrence with Machine Learning
• Can AI Classify Stars?
• Classify Spam Emails with Natural Language Processing

"Testing these projects has been a great experience, as I have been able to test projects that focus on different aspects of science. I have enjoyed being able to go through the code, see the results, and learn a bit about each topic."

Interested in using coding and engineering to solve real-world problems, Carissa plans to pursue a career in AI and medicine. "I want to create applications that can be used in developing new medical treatments and supporting better quality of life. Furthermore, I would like to research new ways to use AI and robotics in medicine to create robots that can assist with surgery or help paralyzed patients."

Supporting Student Interest in Machine Learning

Students interested in learning more about AI and machine learning from the programming side can learn more about AI and browse highlighted projects in the Student AI and Machine Learning Projects resource. To view all projects, see the AI area of the project library.

Thank you to Carissa for sharing this story with Science Buddies. If you have a story about your science project or how Science Buddies makes a difference in your classroom or program, reach out to us at scibuddy@sciencebuddies.org.