Integration of Engineering Design and Life Science: Investigating the influence of an Intervention on Student Interest and Motivation in STEM Fields

本项目将探讨工程设计，实践和思维融入中学生命科学课程，同时为学生提供机会，培养知识和增加对生命和生物科学的兴趣。该项目将专门响应创建，实施和评估一个示范干预措施的需要，该干预措施将促进建立和保留STEM领域代表性不足的少数群体的知识基础。具体而言，该项目将与来自两个当地学校公司的中学科学教师，STEM大学教师和本科工程专业学生，以及来自少数民族工程项目，未来工程师办公室和工程项目女性的大学外展协调员合作。通过这一共同努力，为农村社区服务不足，文化多样性和社会经济弱势学生的两个学校公司将为36名教师和3000名学生提供广泛的支持，使他们能够将生命科学与工程设计相结合。探索研究K-12计划（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源，模型和工具（RMT），显着提高学前班学生和教师的科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12项目中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和为拟议项目提供理论和经验依据的先前研究和开发工作的基础上。该项目将采用混合方法研究设计，结合定性和定量方法进行数据收集和分析。研究团队将使用分层线性模型进行定量分析，以确定将生命科学与工程设计和思维相结合对学生学习生命科学概念以及对生命和生物科学的兴趣产生影响的程度。定性方法，包括话语分析，将用于深入研究学生学习的目标生命科学概念。通过这项研究，该项目将推进以证据为基础的学习理解，增强学生生命科学学习的理论模型，并通过利用教师的专业知识在K-12科学教室的工程整合的有效方法，合并和扩展以前的研究的成功。具体来说，概念评估，兴趣调查，课堂话语记录，学生文物（例如，设计报告）、访谈和课堂观察将被用作数据来源。该项目的成果将推进知识基础，以建立和保留在STEM领域代表性不足的少数群体。生活STEM为重点的设计任务将通过一个在线同行评审的数字图书馆传播，可在美国和其他地区使用。沿着本网站上基于设计的任务;干预模型的结果将通过电子和印刷媒体传播，以告知在提高学生对STEM的学习和兴趣方面发挥关键作用的研究人员，教育工作者，管理人员和政策制定者，有关扩大STEM参与的途径。

This project will investigate the integration of engineering design, practices, and thinking into middle school life science curriculum while providing opportunities for students to foster knowledge of and increase interest in life and biosciences. The project will specifically respond to the need to create, implement, and evaluate a model intervention that will advance the knowledge base for establishing and retaining underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. Specifically, the project will partner with middle school science teachers from two local school corporations, STEM university faculty members and undergraduate engineering students, and university-based outreach coordinators from a minorities engineering program, the office of future engineers, and women in engineering program. Through this combined effort, both school corporations that serve underserved, culturally diverse, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students in rural communities; will have broad-based support for engaging 36 teachers and 3000 students in integrated life science with engineering design. 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.The project will employ a mixed methods research design incorporating both qualitative and quantitative approaches for data collection and analyses. The research team will conduct quantitative analyses by using Hierarchical Linear Modeling to determine the extent to which integrating life science with engineering design and thinking impact student learning of life science concepts and interest in life and biosciences. Qualitative approaches, including discourse analysis, will be used to delve deeper into student learning of the targeted life science concepts. Through this research, the project will advance evidence-based understanding of learning, enhance the theoretical models of student life science learning, and merge and extend the successes of previous studies by using the faculty expertise in effective approaches in engineering integration in K-12 science classrooms. Specifically, concept assessments, interest surveys, recordings of classroom discourse, student artifacts (e.g., design reports), interviews, and classroom observations will be used as data sources. Outcomes from the project will advance the knowledge base for establishing and retaining underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. The life STEM focused design tasks will be disseminated through an online peer-reviewed digital library available for use across the U.S. and beyond. Along with the design-based tasks on this website; results from the intervention model will be disseminated through electronic and print media to inform researchers, educators, administrators, and policy makers who play critical roles in enhancing student learning of and interest in STEM, about pathways to broadening participation in STEM.