(RDE-BPR1) Veterans in STEM: Critical Analysis of the Factors Affecting Pathways to STEM Careers for Veterans Experiencing Disabilities

(RDE-BPR1) STEM 退伍军人：对影响残疾退伍军人 STEM 职业道路的因素进行批判性分析

• 批准号: 1246221
• 负责人: Ronda Jenson
• 金额: $ 44.2万
• 依托单位: University of Missouri-Kansas City
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-15 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1246221&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RDE; BPR1; Veterans; STEM; Critical

This research study "Veterans in STEM: Critical Analysis of the Factors Affecting Pathways to STEM Careers for Veterans Experiencing Disabilities" is being conducted in response to the NSF's Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) program solicitation (NSF 12-542) for the RDE-Broadening Participation Research in STEM Education Level 1 (RDE-BPR1) track. The RDE-BPR1 track targets fundamental learning and educational research, early-stage studies, and design and development research. RDE-BPR1 projects enhance the understanding of the basic underlying issues affecting differential learning, participation, persistence and graduation rates of postsecondary students with disabilities in STEM education. This study focuses on broadening participation in STEM of veterans challenged by disabilities acquired due to experiences of combat trauma. Due to experiences of combat trauma, veterans often experience an array of challenges associated with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury such as learning, memory, sensory, or communication challenges. The target population of this study is veterans and student veterans experiencing these challenges, which are often "invisible" or unrecognized during the transition from military to civilian life. The goal of the proposed project is to investigate the critical factors impacting learning, participation, persistence, and graduation for veterans with disabilities pursuing undergraduate STEM degrees. The proposal targets one primary research question: What are the critical factors reported by veterans with invisible disabilities influencing their decisions to enroll and persist in STEM post-secondary undergraduate programs? Through a social ecological framework, this study is designed to investigate veteran-specific variables. Using fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM), a methodology that applies fuzzy set theory making causal cognitive maps computable, the data from the subjects will provide a clear image of the multiple dimensions (e.g., characteristics, timing, and intensity) influencing veterans with disabilities succeeding in STEM. The interdependencies, as well as measures of direct and indirect effects will be computable, displayed, and validated by the subjects. Data collection involves interviews with subjects who include (a) veterans with disabilities in STEM, and (b) veterans transitioning between military service and college. Data is being sampled from a national population of subjects. In the interview process, causal cognitive maps are being created and relationships between identified variables are given quantifiable direction and weight. In the final phase, the maps are integrated qualitatively and quantitatively to result in a network of the direct and indirect relationships between influencing variables. This project includes an independent and external evaluation, plans to disseminate the results and findings from the study to a broad research audience and the public, and a plan to expand the subject pool beyond veterans with disabilities in future studies that will address contextual variables in which student veterans with disabilities in, and interested in STEM, operate.

这项研究“退伍军人在干：对影响途径的因素的批判性分析，以干职业经历残疾退伍军人”正在进行响应残疾教育（RDE）项目征求NSF的研究（NSF 12-542）RDE扩大参与研究在干教育水平1（RDE-BPR 1）轨道。 RDE-BPR 1轨道的目标是基础学习和教育研究，早期研究以及设计和开发研究。RDE-BPR 1项目提高了对影响STEM教育中残疾中学生的差异学习、参与、坚持和毕业率的基本问题的理解。这项研究的重点是扩大参与STEM退伍军人的挑战，由于战斗创伤的经验获得残疾。 由于战斗创伤的经历，退伍军人经常会遇到一系列与创伤后应激和创伤性脑损伤相关的挑战，如学习，记忆，感官或沟通方面的挑战。这项研究的目标人群是经历这些挑战的退伍军人和退伍军人学生，这些挑战在从军事生活过渡到平民生活的过程中往往是“看不见的”或不被认识的。 拟议项目的目标是调查影响学习，参与，坚持和毕业的残疾退伍军人追求本科STEM学位的关键因素。该提案针对一个主要的研究问题：有隐形残疾的退伍军人报告的关键因素是什么，影响他们决定参加并坚持STEM中学后本科课程？ 通过社会生态框架，本研究旨在调查退伍军人的具体变量。使用模糊认知映射（FCM），一种应用模糊集理论使因果认知图可计算的方法，来自受试者的数据将提供多个维度的清晰图像（例如，特征，时间和强度）影响残疾退伍军人在STEM中取得成功。相互依赖性以及直接和间接影响的测量将是可计算的，显示的，并由受试者验证。数据收集涉及采访的对象，包括（a）在干残疾退伍军人，和（B）退伍军人之间的兵役和大学过渡。数据是从全国的受试者群体中取样的。 在访谈过程中，正在创建因果认知图，并为确定的变量之间的关系提供可量化的方向和权重。在最后一个阶段，将这些地图定性和定量地结合起来，形成一个影响变量之间直接和间接关系的网络。 该项目包括一个独立的和外部的评估，计划从研究传播的结果和调查结果，以广泛的研究受众和公众，并计划在未来的研究中，将主题池扩大到退伍军人以外的残疾人，这将解决背景变量，其中残疾学生退伍军人，并有兴趣在干，操作。