Exploring a Community-based Approach for Engaging Students and Teachers in Effective STEM Education

该项目将推进学生和教师创新技术体验计划(ITEST)的努力，通过实施一项有目的地结合基于全球学习和观察的教育方法以造福于环境计划的战略，更好地了解和促进提高学生在科学、技术、工程或数学(STEM)领域追求职业生涯的动机和能力的实践。这一努力将满足培养和激励多达6500名学生对STEM领域和职业产生兴趣和积极性的需要。学生将有机会通过参与真实的在线本地和全球活动，在数据驱动的研究项目上与同行合作，以及在面对面的环境中与科学家和导师互动，从而增加他们在地球系统科学主题方面的知识和技能。职前和在职教师将参加暑期学校、学年研讨会和课堂上的课程，了解和使用有助于他们在STEM职业教育道路上吸引和留住更多学生的教学方法。这些职业发展机会将由大学教员、内容和评估专家、STEM专业人员、行业和劳动力发展专家以及专业教育组织顾问领导。目标是修改和完善一个以社区为基础的模式，全面解决STEM领域的教师准备和学生参与问题。该项目将使用混合方法设计来收集关于K-12学生对STEM职业的意识和兴趣水平、追求这些职业所需教育的动机、21世纪技能发展的改进以及通过协作技术实践获得STEM内容知识的具体目标的数据。将使用岗前调查、观察、访谈、焦点小组讨论、交流聊天组和描述性统计来获取有关项目活动对学生和教师的影响的数据。项目成果将包括开发课程单元，采用技术驱动的基于项目的协作；体现跨文化能力，并促进对地球科学内容知识以及21世纪劳动力技能的理解。成果还将包括教师专业发展进程和准备教师提供这些以技术为基础的STEM单元的材料，这些单元将影响通过这一努力将达到的20多个大都市地区学区。除了向合作学区传播项目成果外，还将在国家和地区会议上传播项目成果，如国家科学教师协会、国际教育技术学会、全国数学教师理事会和美国教育研究协会。出版物还将提交给同行评议的期刊。包括全球执行办公室、科罗拉多大学博尔德分校环境科学合作研究所、开放世界学习和科罗拉多州劳动力发展委员会在内的项目合作伙伴将通过其分发和沟通渠道促进和传播成果。将利用社交媒体，特别是面向教育工作者的媒体，向教育界的适当群体宣传项目成果。

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 implementing a strategy that purposefully combines educational methodologies based on the Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment program. This effort will address the need to prepare and inspire up to 6500 students to become interested and motivated in STEM fields and careers. Students will have opportunities to increase their knowledge and skills in earth system sciences topics by engaging in authentic online local and global activities; collaborating with peers on data-driven research projects, and interacting with scientists and mentors in face-to-face settings. Pre-service and in-service teachers will participate in summer institutes, academic year workshops, and in-class sessions to learn about and use pedagogies that will help them attract and retain more students in education pathways to STEM careers. These professional growth opportunities will be led by university faculty members, content and evaluation experts, STEM professionals, industry and workforce development specialists and professional education organization consultants. The goal is to modify and refine a community-based model that will comprehensively address teacher preparedness and student participation in STEM fields. The project will use a mixed method design to collect data about goals specific to K-12 students' level of awareness and interest in STEM careers, motivation to pursue the education necessary for these careers, improvement in 21st century skill development, and acquisition of STEM content knowledge through collaborative technology practices. Pre-post surveys, observations, interviews, focus group discussions, communication chat groups, and descriptive statistics will be used to capture data about the influence of project activities on students and teachers. Project outcomes will include the development of curriculum units that employ technology-driven project-based collaboration; embody intercultural competence, and promote the understanding of content knowledge in the earth sciences as well as 21st Century workforce skills. Outcomes will also include teacher professional development processes and material for preparing teachers to deliver these technology-based STEM units that will impact more than 20 metropolitan area school districts that will be reached through this effort. Beyond dissemination to partnering school districts, project results will also be disseminated at national and regional meetings and conferences such as the National Science Teachers Association, the International Society for Technology in Education, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the American Educational Research Association. Publications will also be submitted to peer-reviewed journals. Project partners including the GLOBE Implementation Office, University of Colorado at Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Open World Learning, and the Colorado Workforce Development Council will promote and disseminate results through their distribution and communication channels. Social media, especially those geared towards educators, will be utilized to promote project outcomes to appropriate groups in the educational community.