I-Corps: A Hundred Tiny Hands

I军团：一百只小手

• 批准号: 1505339
• 负责人: Michelle Khine
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-02-01 至 2015-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1505339&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Hundred; Tiny; Hands

With a decline in Americans pursuing advanced education in STEM fields (more than 67% of engineers receiving Ph.Ds in the U.S. are not U.S. citizens and only 18% of engineers are female, it became apparent that priming the pipeline with diverse, qualified, and prepared students is mission critical. Understanding, actively engaging, and retaining a diverse population of inquisitive students prepared with critical thinking skills is paramount. Recent studies have shown that active learning, which engages children in activities and involves interactions with peers, as opposed to passive listening, emphasizes higher-order thinking and results in significantly better comprehension and performance. To address this national problem, this team has developed the "A Hundred Tiny Hands" that focuses on teaching modern science concepts in a playful and cooperative way, through a combination of physical Inventor?s Toolboxes and an online social media platform.A Hundred Tiny Hands proposes 3 avenues for adoption: direct to consumers; working with after school / outreach and children's organizations (including Girl Scouts and Big Brothers Big Sisters); and adoption from private, charter schools and eventually public school districts. The typical user for the (initial) Inventor's Toolboxes is a child (especially girls) between the ages of 6-10. The buyers for the 3 different scenarios, however, are very different. For the direct to consumer approach, the buyers would be the parents, typically highly educated, tech oriented professionals with disposable income who understands the importance of STEM literacy. In order to reach a broader demographic and children who otherwise would not have access to such toys, the team has forged relationships with various children?s programs, outreach/low income programs, and after school/ summer camps. Finally, the team is working with key decision makers of school districts and charter schools to gain adoption into the STEM curriculum.

随着在STEM领域接受高级教育的美国人的减少(在美国获得博士学位的工程师中，超过67%不是美国公民，只有18%的工程师是女性)，很明显，为管道提供多样化、合格和有准备的学生是至关重要的任务。理解、积极参与并留住具有批判性思维技能的不同群体的好奇心学生是至关重要的。最近的研究表明，主动学习，即让孩子参与活动并与同龄人互动，而不是被动倾听，强调更高层次的思维，并显著提高理解和表现。为了解决这个全国性的问题，这个团队开发了“百只小手”，通过实体发明家S工具箱和在线社交媒体平台的结合，以一种有趣和合作的方式传授现代科学概念。“百只小手”提出了三种采用方式：直接面向消费者；与课后/外展和儿童组织(包括女童子军和老大哥大姐妹)合作；以及从私立学校、特许学校以及最终的公立学区采用。(最初)发明者工具箱的典型用户是年龄在6-10岁之间的儿童(尤其是女孩)。然而，这三种不同场景的买家非常不同。对于直接面向消费者的方式，买家将是父母，通常是受过高等教育、以科技为导向、拥有可支配收入的专业人士，他们了解STEM扫盲的重要性。为了接触到更广泛的人群和原本无法接触到这类玩具的儿童，该团队与各种儿童-S计划、外展/低收入计划以及课后/夏令营-建立了关系。最后，该团队正在与学区和特许学校的关键决策者合作，以便将其纳入STEM课程。