My STEM Story: Scaling STEM Motivation Through Digital Storytelling and Near Peer Relationships

该项目将推进学生和教师创新技术体验（ITEST）计划的努力，以更好地理解和促进提高学生的动机和能力的做法，通过开发和测试一种新的方法来追求科学，技术，工程或数学（STEM）领域的职业生涯。 高中生将使用录像来捕捉他们与本科生关于他们在科学方面的学术斗争和成功的对话。我们的目标是让数字讲故事视频将来自代表性不足的群体的学生在追求STEM领域职业生涯中的经验带入生活。该项目是基于这样一个前提，即本科生和高中学生之间的互动具有相似的背景和社会经验，有可能使近同伴指导关系的学生以及其他高中学生谁查看教师指导的设置内的视频。数字讲故事的方法有望促进对科学的积极态度，对科学学科的兴趣，以及追求科学相关职业教育途径的意图。特别是，预计这种方法将有助于扩大学生的参与，这些学生来自历史上在STEM相关教育途径和职业领域代表性不足的群体。 该项目将研究计划中的创意和反思视频体验在多大程度上比传统的以学术为重点的方法更有效地产生对STEM职业道路的兴趣。假设数字讲故事视频突出核心主题，如克服个人斗争和制度障碍，从错误中学习，消除对科学家和科学事业的误解，以及作为对科学感兴趣的有色人种的年轻人的现实，可以有效地促进对科学的积极态度和追求STEM相关职业的意愿。（1）对于高中学生共同构建数字讲故事视频，项目干预是否影响学生可能的未来自我以及以下结果：（a）对科学的积极态度，（B）对科学的更大兴趣，（c）追求科学途径的更大意图？(2)在更广泛的样本高中学生在科学教室，项目干预成功地影响学生的可能的未来自我和随后的近端结果？(3)在数字化的讲故事视频中，有哪些主题是可以预测的，也有哪些是无法预测的？学生认为对个人有意义或难忘的关键因素是什么？(4)干预效果是否随观众对数字讲故事视频的参与程度、视频中描绘的特定主题和/或个别学生水平特征而变化？（5）干预在学校是否可行和可用？ 它是否显示出扩展的前景？ 该项目将开始设计干预措施，招募学生和教师，然后采用混合方法案例研究进行可行性试点测试。然后，将使用小规模分组随机设计进行有效性现场测试，学校随机分为三种情况之一：完全干预，不进行实时视频聊天的部分干预，以及使用信息视频而不是参与学生制作的数字讲故事视频的部分干预。 结果测量将在干预前、干预后立即和干预后六个月进行。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase student motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by developing and testing a novel approach to near-peer mentoring. High school students will use videography to capture their conversations with undergraduate students about their academic struggles and successes in science. The goal is for the digital storytelling videos to bring to life the experiences students from underrepresented groups have in their pursuit of careers in STEM fields. The project is based on the premise that interactions between undergraduate students and high school proteges having similar backgrounds and social experiences have potential to benefit both students in the near peer mentoring relationship as well other high school students who view the videos within teacher-guided settings. The digital storytelling approach is expected to promote positive attitudes toward science, interests in science disciplines, and intentions to pursue education pathways to science-related careers. In particular, it is anticipated that the approach will contribute to broadening the participation of students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM-related education pathways and career domains. The project will examine the extent to which the planned creative and reflective video experiences generate interests in pathways to STEM careers more effectively than traditional, academically focused approaches. It is hypothesized that the digital storytelling videos highlighting core themes such as overcoming personal struggles and institutional barriers, learning from mistakes, dispelling misconceptions about scientists and science careers, and the reality of being a young person of color interested in science, can effectively promote positive attitudes toward science and intentions to pursue STEM-related careers.This project is guided by four research questions: (1) For high school proteges co-constructing digital storytelling videos, does the project intervention influence students' possible future selves as well as the proximal outcomes of: (a) Positive attitudes toward science, (b) Greater interest in science, and (c) Greater intentions to pursue science pathways? (2) In a broader sample of high school students in science classrooms, does the project intervention succeed in influencing students' possible future selves and subsequent proximal outcomes? (3) What are the themes-both predicted and unanticipated-that are portrayed in the digital storytelling videos? What are the key elements that students find personally meaningful or memorable? (4) Do the intervention effects vary as a function of level of viewer engagement with the digital storytelling videos, specific themes portrayed in the videos, and/or individual student-level characteristics? And (5) Is the intervention feasible and usable in schools? Does it show promise for scaling? The project will begin with intervention design and recruitment of students and teachers, followed by a feasibility pilot test using a mixed-methods case study. An efficacy field test will then be conducted using a small-scale group-randomized design, with schools randomized into one of three conditions: full intervention, partial intervention without live video-chat, and partial intervention with informational videos rather than digital storytelling videos produced by participating students. Outcome measures will be administered before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and six months after the intervention.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.