Collaborative Research: An Evidence-based Informal STEM Learning (ISL) Professional Framework

越来越多的证据表明，侧重于科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)学科的非正式学习环境培养了年轻人对STEM职业的兴趣，并促进了对STEM内容知识和科学过程的理解。该项目的中心是在非正式STEM学习(ISL)领域内建立和验证一个理论上有基础和经验上衍生的专业成长和学习框架(“框架”)。该框架将有助于ISL从业者在其教育或职业生涯的任何阶段，通过列出必要的技能、知识和性格来指导他们的职业成长。虽然该项目的直接受益者将是ISL专业人员本身，但该工作的最终受益者将是儿童、青年、教师和普通公众，他们参与了由熟练和知识丰富的ISL专业人员设计和实施的STEM体验。科学-技术中心协会、俄勒冈州立大学终身STEM学习研究中心、太平洋科学中心、华盛顿大学博物馆学系和俄亥俄州哥伦布市科学与工业中心(COSI Columbus)的终身学习小组将合作开发ISL专业框架。该框架将通过对科学中心和ISL机构工作人员使用的实际做法进行定性和定量的实证分析，评估不同职业阶段的感知和实际需求，以及对在其他专业中创建和使用类似学习框架的分析而建立。该项目将分三个阶段进行：(1)文献审查、研究综述和“制定课程”(DACUM)讲习班，以制定初步框架；(2)利益攸关方审查和反馈，以改进初步框架；(3)创建一个在线平台，以分享最后的框架草案，并为公用事业和国际空间法社区的接受度进行迭代测试。该项目将解决两个当前和紧迫的问题：(1)确保在科学中心类型的环境中工作的专业人员拥有必要的知识和技能，以便将大量和不断增长的证据基础应用于ISL，以及(2)了解和支持各种ISL专业人员在其基础教育期间和职业生涯中的特定阶段的需求。对ISL专业人员的有效支持要求，在最基本的层面上，如果要在工作中使用循证实践，需要对职业生涯中关键时刻的工作专业人员所需的知识、技能和性格有基本的了解。该项目由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助，该计划旨在促进对非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。

There is a growing body of evidence that informal learning environments focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines cultivates an interest among young people in STEM careers and promotes understanding of STEM content knowledge and the scientific process. This project centers on the creation and validation of a theoretically grounded and empirically derived framework for professional growth and learning within the informal STEM learning (ISL) field ("Framework"). The Framework will be useful to ISL practitioners at any stage of their education or career by laying out the necessary skills, knowledge, and dispositions to guide their professional growth. While the immediate beneficiaries of the project will be ISL professionals themselves, the ultimate beneficiaries of the work will be the children, youth, teachers, and general public that engage with STEM experiences designed and implemented by a skilled and knowledgeable ISL professional workforce.The Association of Science-Technology Centers, Oregon State University's Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning, Pacific Science Center, University of Washington Museology Department and the Lifelong Learning Group of the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, OH (COSI Columbus) will collaborate to develop the ISL professional framework. The Framework will be built from qualitative and quantitative empirical analyses of actual practices used by staff of science centers and ISL institutions, assessing perceived and actual needs at various career stages, as well as an analysis of the creation and use of similar learning frameworks in other professions. The project will be conducted in three phases: (1) Literature review, research synthesis, and "Developing a Curriculum" (DACUM) workshops to develop a preliminary framework; (2) Stakeholder review and feedback in order to improve the preliminary framework; and, (3) Creation of an online platform to share the final framework draft and conduct iterative testing for utility and ISL community acceptance. The project will address two current and pressing issues: (1) Ensuring that professionals working in science center-type settings have the necessary knowledge and skills to apply the substantial and growing evidence base in ISL, and (2) Understanding and supporting the needs of the full range of ISL professionals during their basic education and at particular points throughout their careers. Effective support for ISL professionals requires, at the most basic level, a fundamental understanding of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed by working professionals at critical points along their career pathway if they are to use evidence-based practice in their work.This project is being 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.