COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Project TRUE (Teens Researching Urban Ecology)

合作研究：Project TRUE（青少年研究城市生态学）

• 批准号: 1421017
• 负责人: Karen Tingley
• 金额: $ 141.38万
• 依托单位: Wildlife Conservation Society
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1421017&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Project; TRUE; Teens

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.

美国就业市场创造的 STEM 就业岗位比其他领域的就业岗位还要多——预计这一趋势将在未来 10 年持续下去。尽管美国 STEM 毕业生的数量略有增加，但来自弱势群体的毕业生比例仍然很低。该项目将研究实践城市生态研究项目如何对代表性不足的青少年产生积极影响，并引导他们在大学学习 STEM 相关课程和专业。通过一家非正式科学机构（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 名来自弱势背景的青少年将在大学教授、研究生和本科生以及动物园教育人员的指导下，在纽约市的四个动物园之一进行城市生态研究。城市生态学项目的独特之处之一是分层指导模式，其中大学教授指导研究生城市生态学学生，研究生反过来指导本科生，并共同指导来自 STEM 领域代表性不足的社区的高中生。最终，该项目将确定有助于扩大 STEM 劳动力并使其多样化的计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 学习设计和开发的新方法以及基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径来扩大 STEM 学习体验的获取和参与，推进非正式环境中 STEM 学习的创新研究和评估，以及加深参与者对更深层次学习的理解。该研发项目将通过调查之前的研究表明增加对 STEM 的兴趣和参与的四个关键计划要素来推进 STEM 学习领域：1）实践 STEM 经验； 2) 对STEM学习在世界上的效用的认识； 3）接触榜样； 4) 与具有共同 STEM 兴趣的同行互动。该研究将开发基于调查的测量工具，并使用多元分析来检验每个计划要素对五年内短期和中期 STEM 相关成果的影响。该研究将进一步解决问题，以了解这四个原则在现实世界中的影响，包括非项目因素（例如家长支持、学校课程作业等）影响模型的程度，从而限制或增强影响。此外，该项目的评估部分将通过正式的案例研究更深入地研究分层指导模式的影响。研究和评估将是互补的，研究会随着时间的推移跨越参与者群体，而评估则深入探索参与者的经历。