Experiments in Transmedia: Studying Techniques for Increasing STEM Content Acquisition by Young Adults

作为在非正式环境中加强学习的总体战略的一部分，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。这个项目将研究为什么(或为什么不)18-35岁的年轻职业成年人通过广播和/或在线渠道参与PBS新闻一小时的科学内容，以促进他们的STEM知识和技能。这个年龄段的人已经不再观看传统的广播新闻媒体，越来越多地转向社交媒体渠道获取科学内容。通过多个平台(包括社交媒体)提供的多层STEM数字内容将用于确定吸引和激励这些18-35岁年轻人的属性。交付内容包括每年12个广播片段，其中包括STEM研究报道和一系列跨媒体努力(例如，通过Instagram、Vine、YouTube等分发的其他格式)。在目标受众中进行测试。该项目的一个补充部分将是学徒计划，在该计划中，每年有五名来自新闻学校的大学生加入新闻小时的专业记者行列，使用新的创新战略制作STEM内容，吸引18-35岁的年轻人。目前，PBS的NewsHour节目每晚有140万成年人观看，该网站每月有260万独立访问者。这项研究将试图使用心理档案和案例研究来定义18-35岁的学习生态，以说明科学学习者的范围，包括那些代表性不足的群体。第一个研究部分使用定量方法来评估早期职业成年人对12个STEM广播片段的反应，这些片段以其原始形式和重新包装后用于社交媒体。控制组观众将观看每个STEM片段的原始广播，并回答一份在线问卷，该问卷将确定观众如何使用和/或传递STEM内容以及传递给谁。测试受众将观看重新打包并在不同媒体平台上呈现的内容，回答相同的在线问卷，并允许对两组进行比较。第二个研究部分将重点放在大学年龄的新闻学徒身上，并采用参与式行动研究。这些学徒将收集他们的经验数据，并反思他们对STEM报告的贡献。第三个研究部分将是对PBS NewsHour的后期制作和编辑团队进行的人种学研究，使用焦点小组来获得反馈，并评估他们关于如何为早期职业成年人制作故事的元认知思维。数据将从三个群体收集和分析：18-35岁的早期职业成年人；新闻学徒；以及PBS新闻小时编辑团队。总体而言，这项研究将提供有关制作和分发数字STEM媒体的新知识，这些媒体吸引和影响早期职业成年人。

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. This project will study why (or why not) young career adults, aged 18-35 engage with the PBS NewsHour science content via broadcast and/or online avenues to advance their STEM knowledge and skills. This age group has shifted away from viewing traditional broadcast news media and increasingly looks to social media channels for science content. Multiple layers of STEM digital content delivered across multiple platforms (including social media) will be used to identify the attributes that engage and motivate these 18-35 year olds. Deliverables include 12 broadcast segments each year with STEM research coverage and a range of transmedia efforts (e.g. additional formats distributed via Instagram, Vine, YouTube, etc.) for testing with the target audience. A complementary component of the project will be an apprenticeship program in which each year five college age students from journalism schools join the professional reporters at the NewsHour to produce STEM content using new and innovative strategies engage to 18-35 year olds. The PBS NewsHour broadcast is currently viewed by 1.4 million adults each night and the website has 2.6 million unique visitors each month. The research will attempt to define the learning ecologies of 18-35 year olds using psychographic profiles and case studies to illustrate the range of science learners including those in underrepresented groups. The first research component uses a quantitative approach to assess the reaction of the early career adults to the 12 STEM broadcast segments in their original form and after repackaging for social media. A control group audience will watch the original broadcast of each STEM segment and respond to an online questionnaire that will establish how viewers use and/or pass on STEM content and to whom. The test audience will view the content that has been repackaged and presented on a different media platform responding to the same online questionnaire and allowing comparisons of the two groups. The second research component will focus on the college-age journalism apprentices and use participatory action research. The apprentices will collect data about their experiences and reflect on their contributions to STEM reporting. The third research component will be an ethnographic study of the post-production and editorial teams at the PBS NewsHour using focus groups to elicit feedback and evaluate their metacognitive thinking about how to produce stories for early career adults. Data will be collected and analyzed from three groups: early career adults 18-35 years of age; journalism apprentices; and the PBS NewsHour editorial teams. Overall the research will provide new knowledge about producing and distributing digital STEM media that engages and impacts early career adults.