Strategies: Making the Maker: A Pathway to STEM for Elementary School Students

在目前席卷全国的高度活跃的国家创造者运动的基础上，该项目将探索如何让更多的儿童参与到这一努力中来，并对STEM产生动力和兴趣。该项目将以200名3-5年级的儿童为目标，让他们从小就参与到“创造者的思维模式”中来。目标是让孩子们在STEM领域通过参与艺术、手工艺和叙事故事来培养强烈的自我认同感。在为期三年的时间里，拉美裔和非裔美国儿童将在基于项目的学习环境中，从建构主义的角度，参加由STEM启发的干预活动，该活动基于制造运动的原则。学生将学习电学、电路、欧姆定律、3D打印、电子负载平衡、LED、电阻、晶体管和二极管的基本概念，以及适合年龄的几何知识和技能，旨在培养对制造者心态的自我认同。研究表明，让儿童在早期参与这些类型的活动可以建立与更大的STEM社区的牢固联系，在该社区创造一种归属感，并帮助儿童做好准备，以便轻松融入快速变化的技术世界。为确保创科活动不会结束，教师将参与持续的专业发展活动，学习如何将创科活动长期融入现有的科学课程。这项反复设计的研究源于NSF以前的支持，并围绕四个主题展开，旨在：(A)从儿童早期发展的角度对制造者的运动进行概念化；(B)向儿童灌输制造者的心态；(C)影响儿童对STEM的认同感；以及(D)通过对未来STEM劳动力的贡献来造福社会。围绕这些线索构建的研究问题将指导项目团队在三年内对五个队列中的100名儿童进行的工作，这些儿童将参与制作者的干预，以观察对儿童对STEM自我认同的影响。项目团队将使用混合方法设计，以便每年在三个年级之间进行比较。出于比较的目的，将使用100名相同年级的儿童作为对照组。预计的结果是，随着时间的推移，孩子们将开始认为自己是STEM领域和STEM职业可能提供的东西的积极参与者和贡献者。

Building on the highly energized national Maker's Movement involving government offices, schools, and businesses now sweeping the country, this project will explore ways to engage more children in the effort and become motivated and interested in STEM. The project will target 200 children at grades 3-5 to involve them in the "Maker's mindset" from an early age. The goal is for children to develop strong self-identities in STEM areas through their involvement in arts, crafts, and narrative storytelling. For three years, Latino and African American children will participate in a STEM-inspired intervention based on principles of the Making Movement from a constructivist perspective in a project-based learning environment. Students will learn basic concepts in electricity, circuitry, Ohm's Law, 3D printing, electronic load balancing, LEDs, resistances, transistors, and diodes as well as age-appropriate knowledge and skills in geometry that is intended to foster self-identity with a Maker mindset. Research shows that engaging children early on in these types of activities builds strong affiliations with the larger STEM community, creates a sense of belonging in that community, and helps prepare children to easily assimilate within the rapidly changing technological world. To ensure that the Making activities are not an end unto themselves, teachers will participate in ongoing professional development activities to learn how to integrate Making activities into the existing science curriculum for the longer term. This iteratively designed study stems from prior NSF support and is structured around four threads aimed at: (a) conceptualizing the Maker's movement in terms of early childhood development; (b) instilling a Maker's mindset in children; (c) influencing children's identity about STEM; and (d) benefiting society through contributions to the future STEM workforce. Research questions structured around these threads will guide the project team's work with 100 children in five cohorts over three years who will participate in the Maker's intervention to observe the effects on children's self-identity with STEM. The project team will use a mixed-methods design to allow comparisons across three grades each year. A control group of 100 children at the same grades will be used for comparison purposes. The expected outcome is that over time, children will begin to see themselves as active partakers of and contributors to STEM fields and what STEM careers might offer.