ChemAttitudes: Using Design-Based Research to Develop and Disseminate Strategies and Materials to Support Chemistry Interest, Relevance, and Self-Efficacy

化学是一个重要的和广泛相关的科学领域。然而，与其他STEM内容领域相比，化学在美国科学博物馆和其他非正式教育环境中的代表性不足。这个项目将建立并积累关于提供化学非正式科学学习活动的创新方法的知识。该项目不仅将增加公众对化学的兴趣和了解，还将提高公众对化学的相关性的看法，并提高公众在化学方面的自我效能。该项目成果将包括一份实践者指南以及活动材料，这些材料将被打包成工具包，分发并复制，供美国各地250个地点的非正式科学教育工作者、化学家和化学学生使用。该项目团队将接触到服务于不同受众和不同地理位置的组织，包括农村和市中心地区的组织。这些工具包将为吸引女孩、各种能力的人、说西班牙语的人和其他不同的观众提供指导，并包括西班牙语材料。将包括书面指南、培训视频和培训幻灯片，以支持一般科学传播方面的培训，特别是化学方面的培训。该项目得到了推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划的支持，该计划为各种环境下使用的研究和创新资源提供资金，作为其加强非正式环境中学习的总体战略的一部分。该项目将采取创新的方法来开发关于化学的非正式教育活动和材料。该项目不是从内容目标开始，而是从一个理论框架开始，该框架来自于与兴趣、相关性和自我效能感有关的影响科学态度的研究。将使用基于设计的研究方法(DBR)将该框架应用于开发有关化学的实践教育活动，同时还测试和修改该框架本身。(DBR将经验性教育研究与理论驱动的学习环境设计相结合。)将与公众一起测试现有的或新的教育活动对游客的影响，这些活动似乎体现了框架所界定的关键特征。研究人员和教育工作者将确定框架中定义的教育活动的不同特征如何影响结果。这些活动将反复修改和测试，直到调查人员在框架和影响之间实现紧密一致。项目组将继续采用以设计为基础的研究方法，既要审查协同作用可产生单一互动以外的影响的活动组，也要审查也能显著影响成果的培训促进者的各种方式。通过这种方式，该项目将产生关于实践非正式学习活动工具包如何能够激发对被忽视的化学领域的兴趣、相关性和自我效能的态度的知识。项目小组将在教育研究、科学和非正式科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育界广泛传播项目成果。虽然这个项目将侧重于化学，但它将通过基于设计的研究过程开发和测试的战略将为更广泛的非正式STEM教育的有效方法提供宝贵的见解。

Chemistry is an important and widely relevant field of science. However, when compared with other STEM content areas, chemistry is under-represented in U.S. science museums and other informal educational environments. This project will build, and build knowledge about, innovative approaches to delivering informal science learning activities in chemistry. The project will not only increase public interest and understanding of chemistry but also increase public perception of chemistry's relevance and increase the public's self-efficacy with respect to chemistry. This project outcomes will include a guide for practitioners along with activity materials that will be packaged into a kit, distributed, and replicated for use by informal science educators, chemists, and chemistry students at 250 sites across the U.S. The project team will reach out to organizations that serve diverse audiences and diverse geographic locations, including organizations in rural and inner-city areas. The kits will provide guidance on engaging girls, people with various abilities, Spanish speakers, and other diverse audiences, and include materials in Spanish. Written guides, training videos, and training slides will be included to support training in science communication in general, as well as chemistry in particular. This project is supported by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds research and innovative resources for use in a variety of settings, as a part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments.This project will take an innovative approach to develop informal educational activities and materials about chemistry. Rather than starting with content goals, the project will start with a theoretical framework drawn from research about affecting attitudes about science related to interest, relevance, and self-efficacy. A design-based research approach (DBR) will be used to apply that framework to the development of hands-on educational activities about chemistry, while also testing and modifying the framework itself. (DBR blends empirical educational research with the theory-driven design of learning environments.) Existing or new educational activities that appear to embody key characteristics defined in the framework will be tested with public audiences for their impact on visitors. Researchers and educators will determine how different characteristics of the educational activities defined in the framework affect the outcomes. The activities will be modified and tested iteratively until the investigators achieve close alignment between framework and impacts.. The project team will continue the design-based research approach both to examine groups of activities in which synergies can have impacts beyond single interactions as well as to examine varied ways of training facilitators who can also significantly affect outcomes. In this way, the project will generate knowledge about how kits of hands-on informal learning activities can stimulate attitudes of interest, relevance, and self-efficacy with respect to the neglected field of chemistry. The project teams will broadly disseminate project outcomes within the educational research, science and informal Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education communities. While this project will focus on chemistry, the strategies it will develop and test through a design-based research process will provide valuable insight into effective approaches for informal STEM education more broadly.