PFI: Developing Infrastructure for Innovation in Downeast Maine: Using Place- and Inquiry-Based Marine Science Education to Build a K-12 STEM Pipeline

PFI：开发缅因州东部创新基础设施：利用基于地点和探究的海洋科学教育建立 K-12 STEM 管道

• 批准号: 0917787
• 负责人: Brian Beal
• 金额: $ 60万
• 依托单位: University of Maine at Machias
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-08-01 至 2013-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0917787&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; Developing; Infrastructure; Innovation; Downeast

This Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) project--a Type III (A: C) partnership between University of Maine at Machias, an NSF PFI graduate (0227729), and Washington County Community College (WCCC) (Calais, ME)--builds upon the previous PFI award which developed a partnership between university and local marine-resources. This project takes what was built in that partnership to the next level by adding human resource capacity?students and teachers?to be inextricably connected to a place- and inquiry-based curriculum for the marine environment of downeast Maine that can be implemented in a new physical infrastructure for innovation, a state-of-the-art wet/dry marine education center/classroom. This addition will occur on the same parcel of property, purchased as a result of the earlier project, which is home to the Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research and Education and a field station for the University of Maine at Machias. In this context, student involvement in mentored, hands-on, inquiry-based projects that use the marine environment as a tool to enhance applied marine research and education in the classroom will be increased, and that involvement will be further reflected in students? interest and confidence in science as a key to the well being of their community. At present, much of the economic engine that drives the downeast Maine coastal economy is tied to healthy and abundant marine resources (such as lobsters, soft-shell clams, sea urchins, sea scallops, mussels, marine worms, ground fish). The Principal Investigator and various other members of the partnership organizations have worked for over 20 years with fishermen, local stewardship committees, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, and local politicians to improve their knowledge of the ecology of these resources so that they can help to better manage them. Without healthy fisheries, downeast Maine?s coastal communities would become ghost towns. The vision is of a coastal economy that is fueled by these healthy and abundant marine resources that are part of both wild and culture fisheries. To achieve this vision requires combining new, innovative thinking with the traditional and fundamental approaches that have been used for generations. Indeed, efforts to enhance fisheries using cultured organisms and create new culture fisheries (clams, oysters, scallops, and perhaps lobsters) will continue as will applied research efforts that increase knowledge about spatial and temporal trends in the abundance of wild populations of commercially valuable marine species. This project fits nicely with and supports this long-term vision because it focuses attention on the marine environment, the fisheries, and the people who ply their trade in the marine environment. Specifically, this project focuses on the marine environment that students and their teachers live in and the importance of the health of that environment. Heretofore, this focus has not been brought to K-16 education. The infrastructure and the curriculum that will be built will stimulate some students to become more inquisitive and, eventually, to carry this level of inquisitiveness into STEM fields. Providing this educational opportunity will result in an increase in applied marine research, education, and technology transfer in downeast and coastal Maine which will lead to the commercialization of products and processes prompted by the needs and wishes of coastal communities, industries, and entrepreneurs. Partners at the inception of the project are Academic Institutions: University of Maine at Machias (lead institution); Washington County Community College; University of Maine Sea Grant College Program, University of Maine Orono; School Union #103; and the Moosabec Community School District; and Private Sector Organization: Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research and Education.

这个创新伙伴关系（PFI）项目——缅因大学马基亚斯分校(NSF PFI毕业生（0227729）和华盛顿县社区学院（WCCC） （ME加莱）之间的III型（a: C）伙伴关系——建立在以前的PFI奖的基础上，该奖项发展了大学和当地海洋资源之间的伙伴关系。该项目通过增加人力资源能力，将建立在这种伙伴关系中的成果提升到一个新的水平。学生和老师？与缅因州东北部海洋环境的地点和探究式课程密不可分，该课程可以在一个新的创新物理基础设施中实施，这是一个最先进的干湿海洋教育中心/教室。这一扩建将发生在同一地块上，该地块是早期项目的结果，是东南应用海洋研究与教育研究所的所在地，也是缅因大学马基亚斯分校的一个野外站。在这种情况下，学生参与指导的、动手的、以探究为基础的项目，这些项目利用海洋环境作为工具，加强应用海洋研究和课堂教育，这种参与将进一步反映在学生身上。对科学的兴趣和信心是他们社区福祉的关键。目前，推动缅因州沿海经济发展的经济引擎主要与健康而丰富的海洋资源（如龙虾、软壳蛤、海胆、海扇贝、贻贝、海洋蠕虫、陆鱼）有关。首席研究员和伙伴组织的其他成员与渔民、当地管理委员会、缅因州海洋资源部和当地政治家一起工作了20多年，以提高他们对这些资源生态的认识，以便他们能够更好地管理这些资源。没有健康的渔业，缅因东北部？美国沿海社区将成为鬼城。我们的愿景是建立一个由这些健康而丰富的海洋资源推动的沿海经济，这些资源既是野生渔业的一部分，也是养殖渔业的一部分。为了实现这一愿景，需要将新的创新思维与几代人使用的传统和基本方法结合起来。的确，将继续努力加强利用养殖生物的渔业和创造新的养殖渔业（蛤蜊、牡蛎、扇贝，也许还有龙虾），应用研究也将继续努力，以增加对具有商业价值的海洋物种野生种群丰富程度的时空趋势的认识。该项目非常符合并支持这一长期愿景，因为它将注意力集中在海洋环境、渔业和从事海洋环境贸易的人们身上。具体而言，该项目侧重于学生及其教师生活的海洋环境以及该环境健康的重要性。到目前为止，这种关注还没有被带到K-16教育中。基础设施和即将建立的课程将激发一些学生变得更加好奇，并最终将这种好奇心带入STEM领域。提供这种教育机会将导致缅因州东部和沿海地区应用海洋研究、教育和技术转让的增加，这将导致沿海社区、工业和企业家的需求和愿望推动产品和工艺的商业化。项目开始时的合作伙伴是学术机构：缅因大学马基亚斯分校（牵头机构）；华盛顿县社区学院；缅因大学奥罗诺分校缅因大学海洋资助学院项目；103校工会；以及Moosabec社区学区；私营部门组织：东北应用海洋研究与教育研究所。