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

社会的工程大挑战（GCE）是这个特定项目的背景，因为它致力于为STEM中学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的项目团队由工程和教育学院组成，沿着有来自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他们所需的工具，以提供相关内容，加强STEM课程，并将工程领域推向广泛的学生群体，特别是女孩。研究团队利用社会认知生涯理论（SCCT）设计教学过程，重点是建立自我效能和结果期望。该研究回答了参与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和成果预期，以及（3）更多地探索STEM职业和中学后STEM教育选择。 没有接触这些模块的学生作为这些结果变量的比较组。通过对学生和教师的学习和实践以及咨询实践的各种措施来评估该项目的效果。该项目将展示一种战略，通过将STEM领域的社会背景嵌入中学课程，转变态度并增加代表性不足的群体对STEM相关学科的参与。

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.