EAGER: MAKER: Promoting "Culturally Relevant Making" and Utilitarian Scientific Literacy to Increase Student Retention in Technology Rich Disciplines Brian Lawrence (PI), Lycurgus

与文化相关的经验对于从STEM学科中代表性不足的群体中招聘和留住本科生来说是无价的，同样，可以鼓励并为学生提供大学毕业后科学和工程所需的技能。尽管如此，在新兴的“制造”领域中，与文化相关的编程开发的最佳实践并不存在，无论是正式的还是非正式的。该项目旨在通过创建创客空间文化来满足这一需求，该文化赋予学生在STEM中取得成功所需的文化相关实用科学素养技能。这一目标将通过创建一个在线模块（“创意、设计和制作中的素养”）来实现，该模块在文化上与代表性不足的STEM人群相关，并通过互联网广泛提供给任何有兴趣参与迅速扩大的创客运动的人（例如个人、高中、高等教育机构等）使用。本模块将通过创意、创意、设计思维、创新和创业等创客空间文化与技术的重要元素，向大学生介绍创客空间文化与技术。这种方法有望引导人们认识到“制造”（而不是“修修补补”）的内在价值，从而更好地帮助那些代表性不足的学生为科学和工程领域的职业生涯做好准备。预计通过制造来改善学生的学习，STEM中代表性不足的学生的招聘和保留的增加将成为确保未来国家科技劳动力多样性和准备的关键一步。

Culturally-relevant experiences prove invaluable to the recruitment and retention of undergraduates from underrepresented groups in STEM disciplines, and likewise, can encourage and provide students with the requisite skills for science and engineering beyond college. Despite this, best practices do not exist for the development of culturally-relevant programing, be it formal or informal, in the emergent field of "Making." This project is designed to meet this need through the creation of a MakerSpace culture that confers culturally-relevant utilitarian scientific literacy skills necessary for student success in STEM. This goal will be achieved, in part, by creating an online module ("Literacy in Ideation, Design, and Making") that is culturally relevant to underrepresented STEM populations and widely available through the Internet for use by anyone (e.g. individual, high school, institution of higher education etc.) interested in engaging in the rapidly expanding Maker Movement. This module will introduce undergraduates to MakerSpace Culture and Technology through important elements of Making such as Ideation, Creativity, Design Thinking, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The approach is expected to lead to an appreciation for the intrinsic value of Making (as opposed to "tinkering") that helps better prepare underrepresented students for a career in science and engineering. It is expected that by improving student learning through Making, the attendant increase in recruitment and retention of underrepresented students in STEM will serve as a key step toward ensuring the future diversity and preparedness of the nation's science and technology workforce.