Project Accelerate: University - High School AP Physics Partnerships

发现研究 K-12 计划 (DRK-12) 旨在通过创新资源、模型和工具 (RMT) 的研究和开发，显着增强 PreK-12 学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 的学习和教学。 DRK-12 计划中的项目建立在 STEM 教育基础研究以及先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议项目提供理论和实证依据。 Project Accelerate 为不提供 AP 物理的学校的学生带来 AP 物理 1 课程，并最终为学生提供 AP 物理 2 课程。该项目将使 249 名学生（大多数是服务不足的学生，即经济上处于不利地位的学生、少数族裔和少数族裔学生）能够注册 AP 物理课程——否则这些学生将无法获得该课程的机会。这些学生要么通过完成高度互动、概念丰富、严谨的在线课程（完成虚拟实验室实验）来准备 AP 物理 1 考试，要么参加经过认可的 AP 课程，其中还包括每周的动手实验。在这个项目中，该模型将在更多的学生中进行测试和完善，并扩展到 AP 物理 2。此外，模型复制将在两个试点站点之外的另一个站点进行测试。在马萨诸塞州波士顿大学的第一个试点年中，结果表明，充分参与 Project Accelerate 的学生 (1) 至少与传统课堂上的同龄人一样，做好了 AP 物理 1 考试的准备，(2) 比参与之前更倾向于参与其他 STEM 项目并追求 STEM 领域和项目。在试点研究的第二年，Project Accelerate 的规模扩大了一倍，并与西弗吉尼亚大学合作扩大规模。根据试点年的经验教训，正在做出重大改变，预计这将提高成功率。 Project Accelerate 为一个重大的全国性问题提供了潜在的解决方案，即获得高质量物理教育的年轻人太少，而这往往导致这些学生对进入 STEM 职业和大学课程做好准备。 Project Accelerate 是一个可扩展的模型，旨在帮助这些学生取得 STEM 成功，并可在全国各地复制（不仅在物理领域，还可能在 14 个 AP 科目中复制）。该项目可能会帮助数万名积极进取但服务不足的学生取得成功，这些学生就读的学校没有机会参与严格的 STEM 课程。 Project Accelerate 融合了学生家庭学校的支持结构、专为满足服务不足人群的需求而设计的私人在线课程以及实验室实践经验，以使服务不足的学生能够接触到 AP 物理。该项目的目标是：1）另外249名学生在三年内完成美国大学理事会认可的AP物理1课程或AP物理1预备课程； 2）增加一个额外的复制站点，到项目结束时共有三所大学参与； 3) 制定正式协议，以便 Project Accelerate 可以在全国各地轻松、准确地复制； 4) 制定正式协议，使项目能够以合理的成本自我维持（每位学生参与者约 500 美元）； 5) 开设 AP 物理 2 课程，为完成 AP 物理 1 课程的学生提供第二年的严格经验，帮助他们为大学和职业成功做好进一步准备； 6) 创建额外丰富的交互式内容，例如模拟和基于视频的实验，以添加到 AP 物理 1 预备课程中已有的内容并构建 AP 物理 2 预备课程 - 关键是让学生积极参与材料，并包括支持目标人群的脚手架； 7) 开展定性和定量教育研究，确定适合目标人群的计划特点，并确定需要改进的领域。该项目将支持越来越多的关于在线和混合（结合在线和面对面课程）课程有效性的研究，并调查此类课程在代表性不足的高中生中的使用情况。

The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools (RMTs). Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. Project Accelerate brings AP Physics 1 and, eventually, AP Physics 2 to students attending schools that do not offer AP Physics. The project will enable 249 students (mostly under-served, i.e., economically disadvantaged, ethnic minorities and racial minorities) to enroll in AP Physics - the students would otherwise not have access. These students either prepare for the AP Physics 1 exam by completing a highly interactive, conceptually rich, rigorous online course, complete with virtual lab experiments, or participate in an accredited AP course that also includes weekly hands-on labs. In this project, the model will be tested and perfected with more students and expanded to AP Physics 2. Further, model replication will be tested at an additional site, beyond the two pilot sites. In the first pilot year in Massachusetts at Boston University, results indicated that students fully engaged in Project Accelerate are (1) at least as well prepared as peer groups in traditional classrooms to succeed on the AP Physics 1 exam and (2) more inclined to engage in additional STEM programs and to pursue STEM fields and programs than they were prior to participating. In the second year of the pilot study, Project Accelerate doubled in size and expanded in partnership with West Virginia University. From lessons learned in the pilot years, key changes are being made, which are expected to increase success. Project Accelerate provides a potential solution to a significant national problem of too few under-served young people having access to high quality physics education, often resulting in these students being ill prepared to enter STEM careers and programs in college. Project Accelerate is a scalable model to empower these students to achieve STEM success, replicable at sites across the country (not only in physics, but potentially across fourteen AP subjects). The project could potentially lead to the success of tens of thousands of motivated but under-served students who attend schools where the opportunity to engage in a rigorous STEM curriculum is not available. Project Accelerate blends the supportive structures of a student's home school, a private online course designed specifically with the needs of under-served populations in mind, and hands-on laboratory experiences, to make AP Physics accessible to under-served students. The goals of the project are: 1) have an additional 249 students, over three years, complete the College Board-accredited AP Physics 1 course or the AP Physics 1 Preparatory course; 2) add an additional replication site, with a total of three universities participating by the end of the project; 3) develop formal protocols so Project Accelerate can be replicated easily and with fidelity at sites across the nation; 4) develop formal protocols so the project can be self-sustaining at a reasonable cost (about $500 per student participant); 5) build an AP Physics 2 course, giving students who come through AP Physics 1 a second year of rigorous experience to help further prepare them for college and career success; 6) create additional rich interactive content, such as simulations and video-based experiments, to add to what is already in the AP Physics 1 prep course and to build the AP Physics 2 prep course - the key is to actively engage students with the material and include scaffolding to support the targeted population; 7) carry out qualitative and quantitative education research, identifying features of the program that work for the target population, as well as identifying areas for improvement. This project will support the growing body of research on the effectiveness of online and blended (combining online and in-person components) courses, and investigate the use of such courses with under-represented high school students.