CURIOUS CHEF

Bridging the STEM gender gap through hands-on learning with an AR-powered DIY science cookbook 


Curious Chef is an AR-supported DIY science cookbook that combines baking with physics education, targeting young teens aged 12-14. The project aims to make STEM subjects more approachable and engaging by demonstrating physics principles through the familiar activity of baking.

Context: Master’s Thesis, Parsons School of Design // Timeline: Jan - May 2023
Tools: Figma, Adobe Aero // Skills: User Research, Graphic Design, Interaction Design 



Women make up for only 28% of the workforce in STEM

While STEM fields offer some of the fastest-growing and highest-paid jobs of the future, they continue to face a significant gender gap, particularly in engineering (16.5% women) and computer science & mathematics (25.2% women). For my master’s thesis, I decided to research and historical context for this persisting gap as well as propose a product to excite and encourage girls for STEM subjects. 



‘What if...’ collages of women in male-dominated workspaces, including chemistry, biology, structural engineering,and mechanical enineering

Until the 1890s many science subjects were reserved for girls


 Until the early 20th century, science subjects were primarily taught to girls due to their perceived importance in household management. Female enrollment in the sciences started to decline around 1900, when universities introduced Latin (which was almost exclusively taught to boys at the time) as a requirement for passing entrance exams.




Question

Why do so few girls pursue studies and careers in STEM areas?


According to the literature, main drivers for the STEM gender gap are stereotypes, the lack of support from parents and the lack of female role models. I wanted to dive deeper and conducted interviews with women between 20-40, half of whom are working in STEM-related fields, and the other half of whom decided not to pursue a career in STEM despite initial interest. 

Synthesis of user interviews with ten women, sorted by number of times mentioned (x)


Girls often struggle to understand the real-world applications of STEM 

This session of user interviews confirmed the above hypotheses, but also revealed that women who decided not to pursue a career in STEM were often unsure about the real-world applications of the field and tended to perceive related topics as more abstract.



Challenge

How might we encourage girls interested in STEM to pursue careers in the field by demonstrating its applicability to everyday life?





Curious Chef stems from my upbringing in a STEM-supporting enviroment 

The concept for Curious Chef emerged from reflecting on my personal experience with STEM education. I was fortunate to grow up in an environment that challenged gender stereotypes (my mother is an engineer) and frequently exposed me to practical applications of science, thanks to my grandfather, a research scientist specializing in thermodynamics who loved to challenge me with riddles. This showed me how connecting scientific principles to everyday experiences can spark and sustain interest in STEM fields.



The HarvardX course “Science & Cooking” inspired Curious Chef


Baking as a prime example for the real-world applications of thermodynamics

Cooking and baking has always been a passion of mine since I was a child. Not only did I like to try out new recipes from my cookbooks but I also saw cooking as an opportunity to experiment and test my own ideas. I rediscovered this interest through the HarvardX course “Science & Cooking: From Haut Cuisine to Soft-Matter Science” and the related book, which served as a major inspiration for my project.





First concept storyboard for Curious Chef


Curious Chef: Combining science education and baking 

With Curious Chef, I wanted to make the experience of my own upbringing, coupled with my passion for baking, accessible to other teenagers. Rather than creating a finished product, my goal for this project was to develop a holistic learning model that utilizes baking as a tool to motivate and engage students in their journey to understand, explore, and apply concepts of thermodynamics.


Testing the interaction design with the children’s book ‘Curious Pearl: States of Matter’


Using AR to relate abstract concepts to real-world objects

During my research, I came across "Curious Pearl Science Girl," a children's book series using AR animations to enhance simple stories and teach science principles. Inspired by this, I decided to add AR experiences to Curious Chef. These allow users to see the concepts they are learning visualized on top of their own baked goods, connecting abstract scientific explanations to real-world objects.



First prototype of chapter consisting mainly of a recipe, science learning and AR link 
Second iteration of the firs prototype with a more visual recipe part

Developing the elements comprising one chapter

Over several iterations, I developed the individual elements that make up a single chapter of Curious Chef. While the first prototype consisted mainly of a recipe and a related scientific principle, in subsequent iterations I began to add more opportunities for direct user engagement, including quizzes. Each prototype was followed by peer user testing.

Concept of DIY workbook with content that encourages users to write, annotate, and solve quizzes 


Developing a DIY format to enhance interactivity

To further increase the level of user interaction, I decided to abandon my initial vision of a traditional hardcover book and instead introduce the concept of a DIY workbook consisting of a paper binder and individual pages that can be printed and added to over time. This format allows for easier and cheaper access while encouraging users to write, annotate, and make the book their own. The decision was inspired by scrapbooks and handwritten family cookbooks, which are living documents that are often passed down through generations.  





User testing at the NYC STEM center

I had the opportunity to test my prototype with 22 students at the NYC First STEM Center, including 16 girls and 6 boys, between the ages of 15 and 17. The student’s feedback was incredibly valuable for the further development of my project. The students provided me with insights on four different aspects of the project: content, visual design and structure, binder design, and the AR experience. Since the feedback on content was very positive, I focused on improving the visual structure and readability, as well as adding more gadgets like a tape measure, multiple pens, and sticky notes for the final iteration. 


Main insights from user testing session with 22 teenagers






Result

Curious Chef is a DIY science cookbook for young teens that combines simple cake recipes with physics learnings in the area of thermodynamics



The structure


01 Introduction & Getting Started

02 Measurments & Conversions

03 Chapter 1: Heat Transfer - Super Simple Chocolate Cake*

04 Chapter 2: Archimedes’ Principle - Sunken Apricot Sheet Cake*

*Each chapter includes a physics principle, a recipe that demonstrates the principle, and prompts for experimentation, a quiz, and an AR animation per chapter.




Flip through Curious Chef



The object






The AR prototype





Reflection & Challenges

There is much I would have liked to develop further in this project, which was not feasible within a single semester. For example, the AR experiences cannot currently be layered onto the baked goods as originally envisioned. While they capture my goal of making science learning more interactive and exciting, they don’t yet prompt users to actively engage in baking and experimenting.

The most challenging and rewarding part of this project was securing test users in the intended age range. I’m grateful to the NYC STEM Center team for responding to my cold outreach and allowing me to conduct user testing during an after-school session. Not only did I gather valuable feedback, but the session revealed the creativity of teens eager to offer ideas to bring Curious Chef to life. I believe a participatory design approach holds great potential for this project’s growth, and I hope for more chances to share, discuss, and test it with users of different ages, enabling them to help shape its future.


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JOHANNA SCHNEIDER
Johanna Schneider
schneider.johanna[at]outlook.com