COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Project TRUE (Teens Researching Urban Ecology)

美国的就业市场正在创造比其他领域更多的STEM工作岗位，这一趋势预计将在未来10年持续下去。尽管美国的STEM毕业生人数略有增加，但来自代表性不足人群的毕业生比例仍然很低。该项目将研究一个实际的城市生态学研究项目如何对代表性不足的青少年产生积极影响，并引导他们在大学里攻读stem相关课程和专业。通过一个非正式的科学机构（野生动物保护协会）和一所大学（福特汉姆大学）之间的合作，200名来自弱势群体的青少年将在一名大学教授、研究生和本科生以及动物园教育人员的指导下，在纽约市四个动物园中的一个进行城市生态学研究。城市生态学项目的一个独特之处在于分层指导模式，即大学教授指导城市生态学研究生，他们再指导本科生，然后共同指导来自STEM领域代表性不足社区的高中生。最终，该项目将确定可帮助扩大和多样化STEM劳动力的规划策略和学生支持方法。该项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，扩大STEM学习经验的获取和参与，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深度学习的理解。该研究和开发项目将通过调查先前研究表明增加STEM兴趣和参与的四个关键项目要素来推进STEM学习领域：1)动手干经验；2)全球对STEM学习效用的认识；3)接触榜样；4)与有共同STEM兴趣的同龄人进行互动。该研究将开发基于调查的测量工具，并使用多变量分析来检查每个项目要素对五年期间中短期stem相关结果的影响。该研究将进一步解决问题，以了解这四个原则在现实环境中的影响，包括非项目因素（如父母支持、学校课程等）对模型的影响程度，从而限制或增强影响。此外，本项目的评估部分将通过正式的案例研究更深入地检查分层指导模式的影响。研究和评估将是互补的，随着时间的推移，研究将跨越参与者的队列，评估将深入探索参与者的经历。

The nation's job market is creating more STEM jobs than jobs in other fields - a trend predicted to continue for the next 10 years. Although there has been a slight increase in the number of STEM graduates in the US, the percentage of graduates from underrepresented populations remains low. This project will study how a hands-on urban ecology research program can positively impact underrepresented teens and lead them to pursue STEM-related courses and majors in college. Through a partnership between an informal science institution (the Wildlife Conservation Society) and a university (Fordham University), 200 teens from underrepresented backgrounds will conduct urban ecology research at one of four zoos in New York City under the guidance of a university professor, graduate and undergraduate students, and zoo education staff. One of the unique features of the urban ecology program will be a tiered mentorship model, in which university professors mentor graduate urban ecology students, who in turn mentor undergraduate students, and together they mentor high school students from communities underrepresented in STEM fields. Ultimately, this project will identify programmatic strategies and student support methods that can help expand and diversify the STEM workforce. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. This research and development project will advance the field of STEM learning by investigating four key programmatic elements that previous studies have suggested increase interest and participation in STEM: 1) Hands-on STEM experience; 2) Awareness of the utility of STEM learning in the world; 3) Exposure to a role model; and 4) Interaction with peers with shared STEM interest. The research will develop survey-based measurement tools and use multivariate analysis to examine the influence of each programmatic element on short- and medium-term STEM-related outcomes over a five-year period. The research will further address questions to understand the impact of these four principles within a real-world context, including the degree to which non-project factors (e.g. parental support, school coursework, etc.) influence the model, thus limiting or enhancing impact. Additionally, the evaluation component of this project will examine the impacts of the tiered mentorship model in greater depth through a formal case study. The research and evaluation will be complementary, with the research looking across cohorts of participants over time, and the evaluation exploring participant experiences in depth.