Hello Pitt! My name is Chris Kefalos and I am a rising senior pursuing a degree in electrical engineering. This summer, I am thrilled to be participating in the UHC’s Global Independent Research Program. My program takes place in Sierra Leone’s rural community of Kabala. Over 5 weeks, I will be collaborating with the organization World Possible-Sierra Leone and their country director Samuel Momoh, as well as fellow Pitt Computer Science student Luke Charlesworth to lead a pilot project aiming to augment STEM learning technologies in the DEC Central School of Kabala.
As an engineering student, it has been a rewarding process to reflect on the skill and knowledge I have gained during my time at Pitt. Entering freshman year, my biggest attraction to engineering was how a broad frame of knowledge can be applied in various ways to such unique and narrow problems. In the fall of 2021, I was inspired by Kaisamba Wisniewski, a Pitt student and native of Sierra Leone, who raised awareness about his home nation’s existing inequalities, particularly about the educational gap he realized while moving into the US school system. From there, Kai introduced Luke and me to World Possible-Sierra Leone (WPSL), a nonprofit organization committed to addressing the same challenges young Leoneans face in school. After meeting the WPSL team, I was hooked. I found a way where my knowledge and time would be able to create a positive impact for others.
WPSL, a branch of the parent nonprofit World Possible, leverages remote learning technologies to enhance student learning outcomes. A device known as RACHEL (Remote Area Community Hotspot for Educational Learning) is used, which employs networking protocols to deliver virtual academic resources to students, including Khan Academy, Kolibri, and Wikipedia. One obstacle tied to the current RACHEL device is the high initial cost of $750. Over this past year, we have been able to repurpose donated laptops to host the RACHEL software. Using two 250-watt solar panels, we aim to support a load of 30 client tablets, a laptop, and a router.
Our implementation will take place during the being of the wet season for the region, so I also hope to gather valuable data about the solar systems production and storage in the event of a streak of gloomy days.
In addition to installing and characterizing the solar system, Luke and I will also be conducting training sessions with the teachers about using the new technologies. Sierra Leone’s national language may be English, but Krio is mainly spoken across the country. Fortunately, we will have Samuel to help us smooth over any misunderstanding among the teachers, for our grasp of the language is “small small”. By the end of our trip, we hope to have the complete system fully functioning and integrated into a sample of 5th and 6th-grade classrooms
To gain an understanding of the effects the learning technology has on the students, we will be monitoring their progress through RACHEL’s material over the upcoming school year. In spring, 6th-grade students take the national exam to place them into secondary school. Using data from previous school years, we will compare the 2024 school year data and expect to see an improvement in scores.
Overall I can’t describe how excited I am to learn more about the nation’s rich culture and lifestyles. I am constantly reminded by friends and family about how this experience will change my life, however, I try to remain consistent about our projects goal. I hope that my efforts and knowledge will leave an even bigger impact on the students than this journey will reward me.
