ITEST Strategy: Society's Grand Challenges in Engineering as a Context for Middle School Instruction in STEM

社会工程大挑战（GCE）是这个特殊项目的背景，因为它致力于为中学STEM教学开发与社会相关的工程课程模块。威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校（University of Wisconsin-Madison）的项目团队包括工程和教育学院，以及来自5所农村和城市公立学校的23名中学教师和指导顾问，他们正在合作设计和测试课程模块和职业探索活动。通过暑期专业发展，该项目为教师和辅导员提供了传授相关内容所需的工具，以加强STEM课程，并向广大学生（尤其是女生）推销工程领域。研究团队运用社会认知职业理论（SCCT）设计教学过程，重点关注自我效能感和结果预期的建立。该研究旨在回答参加GCE课程的学生是否(1)报告更高水平的STEM职业兴趣，(2)报告更高的数学和科学自我效能感和结果预期，以及(3)更多地探索STEM职业和中学后STEM教育选择。没有接触过这些模块的学生作为这些结果变量的对照组。该计划的效果正在通过学生和教师的学习和实践以及咨询实践的各种措施进行评估。该项目将展示一种策略，通过将STEM领域的社会背景融入中学课程，改变STEM相关学科中代表性不足群体的态度，增加他们的参与。

Society's Grand Challenges for Engineering (GCE) is the backdrop of this particular project as it works to develop socially-relevant engineering curricular modules for middle school instruction in STEM. The project team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison consists of engineering and education faculty, along with 23 middle school teachers and guidance counselors from 5 rural and urban public schools who are collaborating to design and test curricular modules and career exploration activities. Through summer professional development, the project equips teachers and counselors with the tools they need to delivery relevant content to enhance STEM curriculum and market the field of engineering to a broad student demographic, especially girls. The research team utilizes Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) to design the process of instruction, focusing on building self efficacy and outcomes expectations. The research is answering whether students engaged in GCE courses (1) report higher levels of STEM career interest, (2) report higher math and science self efficacy and outcomes expectations, and (3) engage in more exploration of STEM careers and post-secondary STEM education options. Students who are not exposed to the modules serve as the comparison group on these outcomes variables. The effects of the program are being evaluated by a variety of measures of student and teacher learning and practice, as well as counseling practice.The project will demonstrate a strategy for transforming the attitudes and increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM-related disciplines by embedding the societal context of STEM fields into middle school curriculum.