Latina SciGirls: Promoting Middle School-Age Hispanic Girls' Postitive STEM Identity Development

作为加强非正式环境中学习的整体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划为各种环境中使用的创新资源提供资金。 在这个项目中，双城公共电视台（TPT）将制作拉丁SciGirls，艾美奖获奖电视和跨媒体项目SciGirls的第四季。Latina SciGirls包括六个半小时的SciGirls电视节目，以西班牙语拍摄，展示了西班牙裔女孩和他们的Latina STEM（科学、技术、工程、数学）导师调查美国各地西班牙裔社区感兴趣的文化相关的科学和工程问题。电视导师和女孩将在美国西南部和东南部的西班牙裔社区拍摄，并代表各种文化背景和种族。 TPT还将创建一系列家庭和女孩友好的在线角色模型视频简介，用西班牙语和英语介绍拉丁裔STEM专业人士。 除了媒体部分，该项目将提供机会，通过在全国各地不同的西班牙裔社区的社区外展，将女孩及其家庭与拉丁裔榜样和STEM节目联系起来。 该项目的目标是促进西班牙裔中学女生积极的STEM身份发展。西班牙裔女性是最大的少数民族女性群体，占美国人口的8%，然而，西班牙裔女性在科学和工程领域的参与率非常低：2010年，美国劳动力中只有2%的科学家和工程师是西班牙裔女性。拉丁裔SciGirls的方法植根于以研究为基础的战略，证明让女孩参与STEM，并需要解决阻止许多西班牙裔女孩充分参与STEM活动的具体障碍。 这些障碍包括缺乏STEM身份（女孩认为自己是科学家或工程师），接触STEM榜样的机会有限，以及父母参与度低和英语水平低。 研究表明，西班牙裔女孩对STEM有很高的兴趣和信心，以及强烈的职业道德，但缺乏STEM专业人员的支持和接触。TPT将独特地利用国家媒体和外联的力量，使拉丁裔STEM专业人员能够与女孩及其家人进行面对面的互动。 Latina SciGirls剧集将由PBS和全国最大的西班牙裔网络Univerion在全国范围内播出，并在PBSKids.org上在线播放。 TPT将委托科罗拉多大学博尔德分校进行一项外部研究，该研究将测试这一假设：当SciGirls模型被增强以解决8至13岁西班牙裔女孩及其父母参与STEM的具体障碍时，将促进西班牙裔女孩积极的STEM相关身份的发展。 在这种能力，该研究将调查西班牙裔女孩的个人经历与项目交付成果，以及这些经验如何有助于他们的STEM相关的身份发展对文化和基于性别的陈规定型观念。 Knight-Williams，Inc.的外部评价将包括前端、形成和总结阶段。前端评估将让利益相关者参与西班牙语课程的开发，该课程具有文化上适当的故事情节，并展示拉丁裔STEM专业人员。 形成性评价将包括重点女孩和家庭小组，对方案的吸引力和感知价值作出反应。 总结性评价将涵盖广播、在线部分和社区活动的影响范围。 TPT将通过在国家会议上的演讲传播研究和评估结果，包括美国教育研究协会，国家科学教师协会，该项目对影响西班牙裔女孩STEM身份发展的认知和经验因素的复杂性进行了评估和研究，这将有助于该领域对这一主题的理解，扩大少数民族妇女在STEM领域的参与。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative resources for use in a variety of settings. In this project, Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) will produce Latina SciGirls, a fourth season of the Emmy Award-winning television and transmedia project SciGirls. Latina SciGirls includes six half-hour television episodes of SciGirls filmed in Spanish, showing groups of Hispanic girls and their Latina STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) mentors investigating culturally relevant science and engineering problems of interest to Hispanic communities across the U.S. Television mentors and girls will be filmed in Hispanic communities in the southwest and southeastern U.S. and represent various cultural backgrounds and ethnicities. TPT will also create a series of family and girl-friendly online role model video profiles in Spanish and English of Latina STEM professionals. In addition to the media components, the project will provide opportunities to connect girls and their families with in-person Latina role models and STEM programming via community outreach in diverse Hispanic communities across the country. The goal of the project is to promote positive STEM identity development in middle school-age Hispanic girls. Hispanic women are the largest group of minority females, constituting 8% of the U.S. population, however, the participation of Hispanic women in science and engineering is significantly low: in 2010, just 2% of all of the scientists and engineers in the U.S. workforce were Hispanic women. The approach to Latina SciGirls is rooted both in research-based strategies proven to engage girls in STEM, and the need to address specific barriers that prevent many Hispanic girls from participating fully in STEM activities. These barriers include lack of STEM identity (girls' perception of themselves as scientists or engineers), limited exposure to STEM role models, and low parental engagement and English proficiency. Research shows that Hispanic girls have high interest and confidence in STEM, and a strong work ethic, but lack support and exposure to STEM professionals. TPT will uniquely leverage the power of national media and outreach to enable Latina STEM professionals to interact with girls and their families both onscreen and in person. Latina SciGirls episodes will be broadcast nationally by PBS and the nation's largest Hispanic network, Univisión, and streamed online at PBSKids.org. Resources will be made available to additional Spanish-speaking communities nationwide through the NSF-funded outreach program, SciGirls CONNECT, and through partnership with the National Girls Collaborative Project. TPT will commission an external research study with the University of Colorado-Boulder, which will test the hypothesis: The SciGirls model, when augmented to address specific barriers to STEM engagement of Hispanic girls ages 8 to 13 and their parents, will promote the development of positive STEM-related identities in Hispanic girls. In this capacity, the study will investigate Hispanic girls' personal experiences engaging with the project deliverables and how those experiences contribute to their STEM-related identity development against cultural and gender-based stereotypes. An external evaluation by Knight-Williams, Inc. will include front-end, formative and summative phases. The front-end evaluation will involve stakeholders in the development of a Spanish language program that features culturally appropriate storylines and showcases Latina STEM professionals. Formative evaluation will include focus groups of girls and families offering their reactions to the appeal and perceived value of the program. Summative evaluation will capture the reach of the broadcast, online components and community events. TPT will disseminate the research and evaluation findings through presentations at national conferences, including the American Education Research Association, National Science Teachers Association, and at www.InformalScience.org. The project's evaluation and research about the complexities of the cognitive and experiential factors that influence Hispanic girls' STEM identity development will contribute to the field's understanding of this subject and the larger efforts of broadening minority women's participation in STEM.