EAGER: MAKER: The Design and Engineering of Scientific Instrumentation as a Pathway for Introducing Making into High School Science Classrooms

作为在正式和非正式环境中加强Maker环境下学习的总体战略的一部分，学生和教师创新技术体验(ITEST)和推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划合作，通过使制造的未来催化STEM学习和创新的新方法，支持在各种环境下进行STEM的创新模式。这项早期的探索性研究概念助学金(EIGER)将测试一种创新的方法，将主要在非正式校外环境中进行的研究带入正式的科学课堂。虽然在K-12阶段的非正式环境中支持基于设计的设计的积极成果和影响的文献基础正在形成，但到目前为止，只有很少的研究调查了在正式背景下制定设计原则的影响。如果成功，该项目不仅将扩大文献基础中的这一差距，而且还将提供一种新的模式，将主要在非正规科学教育中发现的制作和修补的成功工程设计做法纳入正式的科学教育课堂。该模式还将展示一种创新的、高度互动的方式，让高中生和他们的老师参与到基于工程的设计原理中，并立即在现实世界中应用，因为在这个项目中开发的科学仪器可以以相对最低的成本直接集成到科学课堂中。通过多阶段的设计和实施模式，高中生和他们的老师将通过使用与Arduino兼容的硬件和软件设计和开发他们自己的科学仪器，深入参与设计原理的制定。该项目的第一阶段将反映一种更传统的制作经验，多达20名高中生和他们的老师参加一个课外设计制作俱乐部，在这种情况下，重点是科学仪器原型的开发和测试。在该项目的第二阶段，将测试将课后制造经验转化为更正式体验的第一项努力，最多8名学生将被选中参加西北大学为期两周的暑期研究实习，重点是通过制造进行科学仪器设计和开发。还将为参加随后试点研究的高中教师举办为期两天的暑期教师讲习班。从课后计划、学生实习和教师研讨会中收集的集体见解将最终为正式课堂试点研究的全面实施提供信息。第三阶段和最后阶段将结合几个月的迭代、形成性研究、设计和开发，导致在最多七个高中物理课堂上进行全面的试点调查。使用基于探索性设计的多阶段、混合方法的研究方法，这项为期18个月的研究将探索几个突出的研究问题：(A)科学仪器的设计和制造如何以及在多大程度上成为学习重要的科学和工程知识、实践和认识论的有用任务？(B)这项活动对不同能力和先前兴趣的学习者有多大的吸引力？什么可以推广到其他类型的制作活动？(C)Arduino硬件和编码环境对学习者的可及性如何？在这种类型的数字制作活动中，什么硬件和软件材料和工具的组合最能支持可访问性和学习？(D)需要哪些类型的脚手架(供学生和教师使用)来支持在课堂环境中有效使用制作材料和活动？将使用结构化访谈、人工制品、面罩摄像头的视频记录、学生设计日志、日志文件和人种学田野笔记来获取数据并解决研究问题。鉴于拟议研究的早期阶段，研究结果的传播将仅限于几个精选的期刊、教师论坛和研讨会以及专业会议。这种渴望已经做好了充分的准备，直接影响到多达125名高中物理学生(平均=25名学生/班)，大约7名高中物理教师，6-8名高中暑期实习生，近20名参加课后设计制作俱乐部的高中生，以及间接影响更多的人。这项调查的结果可以提供必要的基础和证据，以支持更有力、更广泛的未来调查，以进一步证实调查结果，并为将研究纳入正规科学教育的类似努力奠定基础。

As part of an overall strategy to enhance learning within maker contexts in formal and informal environments, the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) and Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) programs partnered to support innovative models for making in a variety of settings through the Enabling the Future of Making to Catalyze New Approaches in STEM Learning and Innovation Dear Colleague Letter. This Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) will test an innovative approach to bringing making from primarily informal out-of-school contexts into formal science classrooms. While the literature base to support the positive outcomes and impacts of design-based making in informal settings at the K-12 level is emerging, to date, minimal studies have investigated the impacts of making design principles within formal contexts. If successful, this project would not only add to this gap in the literature base but would also present a novel model for bridging the successful engineering design practices of making and tinkering primarily found in informal science education into formal science education classrooms. The model would also demonstrate an innovative, highly interactive way to engage high school students and their teachers in engineering based design principles with immediate real-world applications, as the scientific instruments developed in this project could be integrated directly into science classrooms at relatively minimal costs.Through a multi-phased design and implementation model, high school students and their teachers will engage deeply in making design principles through the design and development of their own scientific instruments using Arduino-compatible hardware and software. The first phase of the project will reflect a more traditional making experience with up to twenty high school students and their teachers participating in an after-school design making club, in this case, focused on the development and testing of scientific instrument prototypes. During the second phase of the project, the first effort to transpose the after school making experience to a more formalized experience will be tested with up to eight students selected to participate in two week summer research internships focused on scientific instrument design and development through making at Northwestern University. A two-day summer teacher workshop will also be held for high school teachers participating in the subsequent pilot study. The collective insights gleaned from the after school program, student internships, and teacher workshop will culminate to inform the full implementation of the formal classroom pilot study. The third and final phase will coalesce months of iterative, formative research, design and development, resulting in a comprehensive pilot investigation in up to seven high school physics classrooms.Using a multi-phased, mixed methods exploratory design-based research approach, this 18-month EAGER will explore several salient research questions: (a) How and to what extent does the design & making of scientific instrumentation serve as useful tasks for learning important science and engineering knowledge, practices, and epistemologies? (b) How engaging is this making activity to learners of diverse abilities and prior interests? What can be generalized to other types of making activities? (c) How accessible is the Arduino hardware and coding environment to learners? What combination of hardware and software materials and tools best support accessibility and learning in this type of digital making activity? and (d) What types of scaffolding (for students and teachers) are required to support the effective use of maker materials and activities in a classroom setting? Structured interviews, artifacts, video recordings from visor cameras, student design logs, logfiles, and ethnographic field notes will be employed to garner data and address the research questions. Given the early stage of the proposed research, the dissemination of the findings will be limited to a few select journals, teacher forums and workshops, and professional conferences. This EAGER is well-poised to directly impact up to 125 high school physics students (average= 25 students/class), approximately 7 high school physics teachers, 6-8 high school summer interns, nearly 20 high school students participating in the after-school design making club, and indirectly many more. The results of this EAGER could provide the basis and evidence needed to support a more robust, expanded future investigation to further substantiate the findings and build the case for similar efforts to bring making into formal science education contexts.