Developing rural girls' STEM competency and motivation through communicating scientific topics with advanced technology

让女孩和年轻妇女参与科学或信息和通信技术(信通技术)职业道路需要一个多方面的支助系统，帮助她们发展能力，拓宽她们对科学所需内容的看法，加深她们对这些努力的价值和效用的认识，并探索她们自己的兴趣和特性(特别是当她们与语言、历史和艺术相交时)。与此同时，包括增强现实(AR)在内的新兴技术正在改变公众获取、交流和理解科学的方式。这个ITEST战略项目解决了女性在科学和计算机科学领域的参与差距问题。它侧重于科学工作(即交流)的一些方面，这些方面可能对那些将科学仅仅等同于进行实验或学习事实的年轻人更具吸引力。该项目的目标是112名农村艺术青年妇女(15-18岁，居住在缅因州)，她们以前对科学没有兴趣。它与科学家和媒体设计师合作，创造专注于科学问题和与当地社区和环境相关的问题的AR体验。科学、计算思维和基本的计算机编程技能是通过年轻女性使用AR软件设计的科学交流来实现的。这个项目有助于我们理解如何使用基于AR的媒体设计来提高那些不认为自己是“科学类型”的年轻女性对科学和计算机科学的兴趣和信心，为她们考虑相关的职业道路打开大门。该项目还提供了对帮助科学家与不同受众有效沟通的策略的见解。总体而言，该项目旨在增加考虑科学和计算机科学职业的人的多样性，并支持农村地区未得到充分服务的女孩参与这些领域的机会。该项目采用一种创新的方法，通过将AR和非分级学习结合起来，侧重于科学传播的各个方面，支持年轻妇女的能力和参与科学和信息和通信技术工作的动机。该项目的目标是112名农村艺术青年妇女(15-18岁，居住在缅因州)，她们以前对科学没有兴趣。它与科学家和媒体设计师合作，创造专注于科学问题和与当地社区和环境相关的问题的AR体验。科学、计算思维和基本的计算机编程技能是通过年轻女性使用AR软件设计的科学交流来实现的。研究问题包括调查AR经历对年轻女性对信息和通信技术职业的兴趣的影响，从事科学或成为终身科学学习者的自我效能，以及对什么构成做科学研究的看法。这一经历对参与研究的科学家对公众参与科学的态度的影响也进行了调查。方法包括定量方法(例如，仪器化前)和定性方法(例如，日记和焦点小组)。结果将提供证据，说明对农村青年妇女来说哪些类型的经历是有成效和有意义的，以及如何扩大科学家与不同受众有效沟通的能力。

Engaging girls and young women in science or information and communication technology (ICT) career pathways requires a multi-faceted support system that helps them develop competence, broaden their views of what science entails, deepen their sense of the value and utility of these efforts, and explore their own interests and identities (particularly as they intersect with language, history and the arts). At the same time, emerging technologies, including augmented reality (AR), are changing the ways that science is and can be accessed, communicated, and understood by the public. This ITEST Strategies project addresses the disparity in female participation in science and computer science fields. It focuses on aspects of scientific work (namely communication) that may be more attractive to youth who equate science only with conducting experiments or learning facts. The project targets 112 rural art-oriented young women (15-18 years old and living in Maine) with no prior interest in science. It partners them with scientists and media designers to create AR experiences focused on science questions and issues relevant to their local community and environment. Science, computational thinking, and basic computer programming skills are targeted via science communication that the young women design using AR software. This project contributes to our understanding of the use of AR-based media design to enhance science and computer science interest and confidence of young women who do not see themselves as "science-types," opening the door for them to consider related career pathways. The project also provides insight into strategies that help scientists communicate effectively with diverse audiences. Overall, it aims to increase the diversity of people considering science and computer science careers and to support opportunities for participation in these fields by underserved girls from rural areas.The project takes an innovative approach to supporting young women's competency and motivation for participation in the science and ICT workforce by integrating AR and non-hierarchical learning to focus on aspects of science communication. The project targets 112 rural art-oriented young women (15-18 years old and living in Maine) with no prior interest in science. It partners them with scientists and media designers to create AR experiences focused on science questions and issues relevant to their local community and environment. Science, computational thinking, and basic computer programming skills are targeted via science communication that the young women design using AR software. Research questions include investigating the impact of the AR experiences on young women's interest in ICT careers, self-efficacy for doing science or becoming a lifelong learner in science, and perspectives on what constitutes doing science research. The impact of the experience on the participating scientists' attitudes about public engagement in science it also investigated. Methods include both quantitative (e.g., pre- post- instrumentation) and qualitative approaches (e.g., journaling and focus groups). Results will provide evidence on the types of experiences that are productive and meaningful to rural young women as well as ways to expand scientists' ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences.