Geotechnology Experiences for Students and Teachers

该项目将推进学生和教师创新技术体验（ITEST）计划的努力，以更好地理解和促进提高学生的动机和能力的做法，以追求科学，技术，工程或数学（STEM）领域的职业生涯，其重点是地球技术（也称为GIS或地理空间信息系统）职业生涯。该项目的方案目标是使教师做好准备，使高需求和高潜力学区的初中和高中学生掌握最先进的网络地理信息系统知识和技能，以激励学生追求正规的校本和非正规的校外教育经验。在社会认知职业发展理论和其他工作的指导下，项目研究将调查哪些项目经验有助于学生的动机和认知增益，以及哪些因素有助于教师将GIS内容融入学校课程。在项目的三年期间，项目将每年提供暑期教师工作坊和学生GIS夏令营，该夏令营将包括实地考察GIS相关行业和政府机构，并由这些组织的导师提供支持。讲习班和夏令营将支持教师和学生学习地理信息系统的概念和技能。教师还将学习如何将GIS和职业相关的知识整合到STEM和社会研究课程中。参加夏令营的学生将得到支持，组织一个地理信息系统课后俱乐部。该项目将研究ITEST计划的指导性问题之一：什么样的连贯的经验有效和高效地支持学生的能力，动机和持久性，以生产性地参与今天和未来的STEM相关劳动力？该项目将采用混合方法研究设计，包括准实验研究。该项目的研究结果将有助于教育工作者更好地理解和解决影响GIS在初中和高中课程整合的背景和因素。

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 its focus on geotechnology (also called GIS or geospatial information systems) careers. The programmatic goal of this project is to prepare teachers to engage middle and high schools students in high-needs and high-potential school districts with cutting-edge web GIS knowledge and skills in order to motivate students to pursue formal school-based and informal out-of-school educational experiences. Project research, guided by social-cognitive career development theory and other work, will investigate what programmatic experiences contribute to student motivation and cognitive gains and what factors contribute to teacher integration of GIS content into the school curriculum.During three years of the project, the project will offer a summer teacher workshop and a student GIS summer camp each year, The camp will include field trips to GIS-related industry and government agencies, supported by mentors from these organizations. The workshop and camp will support teachers and students in learning GIS concepts and skills. Teachers will also learn approaches to integrate GIS- and career-related in STEM and social studies classes. Students who attended the summer camp will be supported in organizing a GIS after-school club. This project will research one of the guiding questions of the ITEST program: What coherent sets of experiences effectively and efficiently support student competency, motivation and persistence for productive participation in the STEM-related workforce of today and the future? The project will use mixed methods research design including a quasi-experimental study. Research findings from this project will help educators better understand and address the context and factors that influence integration of GIS in middle and high school curricula.