Broadening Interest in Geosciences, Habitat, and Technology among Girls

该项目将推动学生和教师创新技术体验（ITEST）项目的努力，通过让阿拉斯加高中女孩参与附近自然环境的研究，更好地理解和促进提高学生在科学、技术、工程或数学（STEM）领域追求职业的动机和能力的实践。一项校外计划将在朱诺和费尔班克斯实施，该计划包括为期10天的暑期学院和学年期间的六个周六活动。两个地点的课程结构将是相同的，两个地点都将建立在学生对生物学和自然环境的普遍兴趣之上，以框架生态系统动力学，地球物理动力学和使用技术（如遥感）的跨学科研究，以研究环境变化的影响。在朱诺，该项目将重点关注斑海豹的生活史和生态系统，在费尔班克斯，该项目将重点关注港湾鲑鱼的生活史和生态系统；这两种动物对参与者的文化生活都很熟悉，也很重要。在夏季学院期间，参与者将提出研究问题，进行小型研究项目，综合他们的观察和结果，并向公众展示他们的发现。在这些活动中，参与者将听取来自该地区的当地女科学家的意见，她们将与女本科和研究生理科专业的学生一起使用科学仪器进行测量和分析。在学院毕业后的一学年，学生将与科学家、社区成员和各种机构代表一起探索环境变化的情景；他们将探讨温度变化对栖息地变化的影响；他们将与当地居民会面，听取有关重点物种的故事；他们将参观STEM工作场所，并与职业专家和顾问一起探索可能的职业道路。本项目将考察校外、基于地点和基于研究的学习环境对高中女生stem相关职业兴趣和身份发展的影响。该项目的目标是：a)提高阿拉斯加女孩进入STEM职业的意愿；b)增加阿拉斯加女孩对地球科学和技术的兴趣；c)提高阿拉斯加女孩的实际和感知的STEM能力。招募参加者的目标是土著学生、经济困难学生或代表其他少数群体的学生比例较高的学校和地区。该项目研究计划侧重于一个未被探索的研究领域：科学身份与榜样参与之间的关系，特别是在校外学习环境的背景下。数据将通过半结构化访谈的方式从参与项目前、后和一年前的参与者中收集；夏季和周六的活动将录像，以记录参与者、导师和榜样的做法；参与者在参与项目过程中产生的各种各样的工件将被分析。将采用扎根理论的方法来构建三个研究问题的答案：A)专业STEM角色榜样（女性）对参与者的身份发展和追求STEM的动机的影响是什么？B)利用现实世界的研究问题提出的学习环境在多大程度上影响了身份认同？c)女孩们从STEM和STEM实践中学到了什么，这与她们想成为的人有什么关系？研究小组还将寻找参与者对科学家印象的证据，以及对生物学的兴趣如何与对地球科学和技术的兴趣联系起来。

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by engaging high school Alaskan girls in studies of nearby natural environments. An out-of-school program consisting of a 10-day summer academy and six Saturday events during the school year will be implemented in both Juneau and Fairbanks. The program structure will be the same in both locations, and both locations will build on students' general interest in biology and the natural environment to frame interdisciplinary studies of ecosystem dynamics, geophysical dynamics, and use of technologies, such as remote sensing, to study impacts of environmental change. In Juneau the program will focus on the life history and ecosystems of harbor seals, and in Fairbanks the program will focus on the life history and ecosystems of harbor salmon; both animals are familiar and important to the cultural lives of participants. During the summer academy participants will generate research questions, conduct mini-research projects, synthesize their observations and results, and present their findings to the public. During these activities, participants will hear from local female scientists from the region, and they will work alongside female undergraduate and graduate science majors in using scientific instruments to take measurements and conduct analyses. During the school year following the academy, students will explore environmental change scenarios with scientists, community members, and various agency representatives; they will explore the impacts of temperature variations on habitat variation; they will meet with indigenous residents to hear stories about the focal species of interest; and they will visit STEM workplaces and explore possible career tracks with career professionals and counselors. This project will examine the impacts of an out-of-school, place-based, and research based learning environment on the STEM-related career interests and identity development of high school girls. The goals of the project are to: a) increase the intent of Alaskan girls to enter STEM careers; b) increase interest in the geosciences and technology among Alaskan girls; and c) Increase Alaskan girls' actual and perceived STEM competencies. Recruitment of participants will be targeted on schools and districts having high proportions of indigenous students, economically disadvantaged students, or students representing other minority groups. The project research plan focuses on an under-explored area of study: the relationship between science identity and engagement with role models, particularly within the context of out-of-school learning environments. Data will be collected from participants using semi-structured interviews before, after, and a year past exposure to the program; summer and Saturday events will be videotaped to document the practices of participants, instructors, and role models; and a variety of artifacts generated by participants during their involvement in the program will be analyzed. A grounded theory approach will be used to construct answers to three research questions: a) What is the impact of professional STEM role models (female) on the participants' identity development and motivation to pursue STEM? B) To what extent does the proposed learning environment, which leverages real-world research problems, impact identity? And c) What do the girls learn about STEM and STEM practices, and how does this relate to who they want to become? The research team will also seek evidence of participant impressions of scientists and how interests in biology may link to interests in geoscience and technology.