Informal Learning Pathways through Mapathons for Military and Veteran Communities

通过 Mapathons 为军事和退伍军人社区提供非正式学习途径

• 批准号: 1810587
• 负责人: Patricia Solis
• 金额: $ 29.97万
• 依托单位: Texas Tech University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-01 至 2022-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1810587&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Informal; Learning; Pathways; through; Mapathons

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for STEM learning in a variety of settings. Many military veterans who seek to transition to higher education or workforce pathways find it challenging to translate the skills they acquired during service to civilian STEM settings and the modern day workforce. Yet many returning veterans have significant experience with STEM fields, including mapping and geospatial technologies, because of their unique functions and service assignments. Such geospatial skills are useful for location-aware industries, citizen science and public services. At the same time, military and veteran families have been largely overlooked as an important public audience for focused informal STEM learning. Informal learning events called "mapathons" which enlists participants to mapping exercises and create geospatial data on open platforms that address authentic needs in their communities and the broader society at large. When seeking to further their education upon returning from service, veterans' typical options have included some form of formal higher education. Mapathons may be a feasible bridging activity that (a) recognizes veterans' unique, valuable, and in-demand STEM skills and (b) supports lifelong learning.This pilot research seeks to understand how informal learning experiences such as mapathons are viable pathways for veterans to transition to the civilian workforce. The conceptual approach pays attention to the realities of the life course of military and veteran families, especially building upon theories of change related to transitions to include a spatial component. The foundation of the project's intellectual merit is its explicit inclusion and sensitivity to place, scale, and spatial behavior, building directly from findings of prior NSF-funded projects and the evidence base for informal learning pathways. The research will contribute to knowledge about workforce development by addressing the questions: (1) To what extent do veterans recognize that their extant skills acquired, in military settings, are translatable to civilian STEM settings?; (2) How can informal learning experiences help a diverse veteran population increase awareness of the translatability of geospatial workforce competencies, build confidence in technology skills, and motivate interest to pursue formal studies in STEM fields in general?; and (3) What pathways do which veterans favor when they could pursue formal STEM higher education learning among an array of choices online or at regional sites, and why? The study will engage 320 participants at 8 sites across Texas; employ in-depth surveys and interviews; and use spatial analysis to elicit insights about the research questions.Military and veteran families include a significant number of people from group typically underrepresented in STEM fields. Supporting more veterans to transition successfully to higher education pathways or careers in STEM is a vital service to the nation. This study on informal to formal pathways for veterans will include an innovative understanding of the importance of place in meaning-making and in the reality of choices they consider during the transitions of their life course.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.

作为加强非正式环境中学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式 STEM 学习 (AISL) 计划为各种环境中 STEM 学习的创新研究、方法和资源提供资金。许多寻求接受高等教育或进入劳动力市场的退伍军人发现，将他们在服役期间获得的技能转化为民用 STEM 环境和现代劳动力市场具有挑战性。然而，由于其独特的功能和服务任务，许多回国的退伍军人在 STEM 领域（包括测绘和地理空间技术）拥有丰富的经验。这种地理空间技能对于位置感知行业、公民科学和公共服务非常有用。与此同时，军人和退伍军人家庭作为重点非正式 STEM 学习的重要公众受众却在很大程度上被忽视。名为“mapathons”的非正式学习活动，邀请参与者进行绘图练习并在开放平台上创建地理空间数据，以满足其社区和更广泛社会的真实需求。当退役后寻求继续深造时，退伍军人的典型选择包括某种形式的正规高等教育。 地图马拉松可能是一项可行的桥梁活动，它 (a) 认可退伍军人独特、有价值且受欢迎的 STEM 技能，(b) 支持终身学习。这项试点研究旨在了解地图马拉松等非正式学习体验如何成为退伍军人过渡到平民劳动力的可行途径。概念方法关注军人和退伍军人家庭生命历程的现实，特别是建立在与过渡相关的变化理论的基础上，包括空间组成部分。该项目的智力价值的基础是其对地点、规模和空间行为的明确包容性和敏感性，直接建立在先前 NSF 资助项目的发现和非正式学习路径的证据基础之上。该研究将通过解决以下问题来增进对劳动力发展的了解：(1) 退伍军人在多大程度上认识到他们在军事环境中获得的现有技能可以转化为民用 STEM 环境？ (2) 非正式学习经验如何帮助多样化的退伍军人群体提高对地理空间劳动力能力可转化性的认识，建立对技术技能的信心，并激发对一般 STEM 领域进行正式研究的兴趣？ (3) 当退伍军人可以在一系列在线或区域网站的选择中追求正式的 STEM 高等教育学习时，他们喜欢什么途径，为什么？该研究将在德克萨斯州 8 个地点招募 320 名参与者；采用深入调查和访谈；军人和退伍军人家庭中有相当多的人来自 STEM 领域通常代表性不足的群体。支持更多退伍军人成功过渡到高等教育途径或 STEM 职业是对国家的一项重要服务。这项关于退伍军人从非正式到正式途径的研究将包括对位置在意义制定以及他们在生命历程转变过程中考虑的现实选择中的重要性的创新性理解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Modeling Education Deserts for Veterans and Military Families in the Southern United States

• DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2021.1947769
• 发表时间: 2021-09
• 期刊: Annals of the American Association of Geographers
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: P. Solís;Amal H. Aljaddani