Collaborative Research: Building Unique Inventions to Launch Discoveries, Engagement and Reasoning in STEM

“构建独特的发明，以启动STEM中的发现、参与和推理”（BUILDERS）项目将推进“面向学生和教师的创新技术体验”（ITEST）项目的努力，以更好地理解和促进提高学生在科学、技术、工程或数学（STEM）领域追求职业的动机和能力的实践。“建设者”项目将开发和测试一种创新方法，让来自STEM中代表性不足群体的高中生及其科学教师及时参与相关的STEM内容、话语和设计应用，以创建技术解决方案，解决社区内重要的生态、农业、环境和人类健康相关问题。在通过制造学习STEM理论框架的基础上，这一努力提供了一个独特的机会，可以在非正式和正式的Maker环境中仔细研究以社区为基础的问题解决与学生动机、意识、自我效能和STEM职业抱负之间的关系。目前的研究几乎完全集中在校外的学习上。由BUILDERS团队进行的研究将在目前此类研究有限的领域中推进知识，并将调查跨越非正式（夏季，校外时间）和正式（学年，在校期间）学习环境的混合模型的潜在结果和影响，从而扩大NSF在这些领域的研究和开发投资。构建者项目将向高中科学教师和学生展示通过制作理论框架学习STEM，并通过制作和基于社区的协作解决问题来促进STEM学习、兴趣和职业意识。与孤立地教授STEM概念不同，BUILDERS项目将使用高度跨学科的Maker活动，每年夏天让50名高中生和8名教师沉浸在夏季学院中，另外200名学生在学年期间通过教师参与者的科学教室，为700多名高中生和近25名教师提供潜在的研究人群。该研究将探讨几个关键问题：(a)沉浸在“通过制作学习STEM”的体验中是否会提高学生在STEM中的能力、动力和毅力？（二）能力提升是否会加强学生的学业自我概念和自我效能感？(c) STEM中自我效能感的提高是否会促进STEM经历融入青少年的新兴职业认同？(d)融入STEM的新兴职业身份是否会导致学生成为做出学术选择的代理人，以进一步加强他们的STEM身份？(e)在“通过创造来学习STEM”的环境中教授STEM概念，是否会影响教师自身的STEM认同和为学生树立榜样的能力？将采用混合方法在基线和整个干预过程中收集数据，使用学生调查、教师访谈、写作、日志记录和观察。定量和定性分析工具，如层次回归模型和NVIVO将用于解释，分析和呈现数据和发现。观察到的模式和趋势将被量化并报告。将采用一个迭代过程，允许对假设进行测试、接受、拒绝和/或修改。此外，外部评估人员将进行形成性和总结性评估。这项工作的研究和设计方面还可能产生更广泛的重大影响。在两个农村学区，来自代表性不足群体的700多名高中学生和教师预计将直接接触到STEM，这意义重大。通过参与者创建的youtube视频、顶点演示、在当地STEM中心的原型展示，以及由教师参与者生成并发布到阿拉巴马州学习交流（ALEX）（阿拉巴马州学区的在线全州资源）的“建设者”课程的开放访问，将有成百上千的人接触到。

The Building Unique Inventions to Launch Discoveries, Engagement and Reasoning in STEM (BUILDERS) 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). The BUILDERS project will develop and test an innovative approach to engage high school students from underrepresented groups in STEM and their science teachers in timely and relevant STEM content, discourse and design applications to create technological solutions to address important ecological, agricultural, environmental and human health related issues within their communities. Grounded in a Learning STEM through Making theoretical framework, this endeavor presents a unique opportunity to closely examine the relationship between community-based problem solving and student motivation, awareness, self-efficacy, and career aspirations in STEM within Maker contexts in informal and formal settings. The current Making research has focused almost exclusively on learning in out-of-school time settings. The research conducted by the BUILDERS team will advance knowledge in a domain where such research is currently limited and will investigate the potential outcomes and impacts of a blended model that spans informal (summer, out-of-school time) and formal (academic year, during the school day) learning contexts, thereby extending NSF's investment in research and development in these areas.The BUILDERS project will expose high school science teachers and students to the Learning STEM through Making theoretical framework and promote STEM learning, interest, and career awareness through Making and collaborative community-based problem solving. Instead of teaching STEM concepts in isolation, the BUILDERS project will use highly interdisciplinary Maker activities to immerse 50 high school students and 8 teachers in its Summer Academy each summer and another 200 students through the teacher participants' science classrooms during the school year, for a potential study population of over 700 high school students and nearly 25 teachers. The research will explore several key questions: (a) Does immersion in a "Learning STEM by Making" experience increase students' competency, motivation, and persistence in STEM? (b) Does increased competency strengthen students' academic self-concept and perceived self-efficacy? (c) Does increased self-efficacy in STEM foster integration of STEM experiences into adolescents' emerging professional identity? (d) Does an emerging professional identity that incorporates STEM lead to students becoming agents that make academic choices to further strengthen their STEM identity? (e) Does teaching STEM concepts in a "Learning STEM by Making" environment affect teachers' own STEM identity and perceived capacity to serve as role models for their students? A mixed methods approach will be used to collect data at baseline and throughout the interventions, using surveys of students, and teacher interviews, writings, journal entries, and observations. Quantitative and qualitative analysis tools such as hierarchical regression models and NVIVO will be used to interpret, analyze, and present the data and findings. Observed patterns and trends will be quantified and reported. An iterative process will be employed that will permit hypotheses to be tested, accepted, rejected, and or revised. Further, an external evaluator will conduct formative and summative evaluations.The research and design aspects of this work are complemented by the potential to achieve significant broader impacts. The anticipated direct reach of over 700 high school students and teachers from underrepresented groups in STEM in two rural school districts is significant. Hundreds to thousands more will be reached through participant-created You-Tube videos, capstone presentations, prototype displays in a local STEM center, and open access to BUILDERS lessons generated and posted by teacher participants to the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX), an online statewide resource for Alabama school districts.