Report of an enriching educational experience: Computer science undergrads as workshop facilitators in Costa Rican rural areas

The Costa Rican Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT) promotes The Science and Technology Month. This is a yearly celebration aimed at bringing young students closer to science and technology. In 2016, the activity included events in six rural areas around the country. Laboratorio Experimental is a group for research and outreach in computer science education hosted by Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica (TEC) in one of its academic centers in the city of Alajuela. The group was invited by MICITT to participate in the events with a workshop on Free Cartography. Computer science undergrads from TEC Alajuela were involved as the workshops' facilitators. This paper describes the methodology, logistics and other aspects related to the execution of the workshops and reports the evaluation of the enriching educational experience of the students participating as facilitators. The evaluation was done through reflexive essays as the data collection instrument and the indicators defined by the North American National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) survey.