Combining Project-based Learning, Citizen Science, and Authentic Research to Enhance the Success of STEM and STEM Education Majors

怀俄明大学的这个项目将邀请本科生STEM和STEM教育专业的多学科团队设计气象实验。然后，他们将与怀俄明州的K-12教师和学生合作，利用高空气球将这些实验发射到近太空。本科生将在大学二年级和三年级，这是学生最有可能离开STEM的时候。预计为他们提供真实的实践经验将培养STEM和STEM教育专业学生在他们选择的领域的技能和信心。学生们将在一个真正的项目上进行团队合作，有效地将两组学生的教育和实践结合在一起。该项目整合了本科生和博士后研究员的跨学科团队，以开发将吸引K-12学生参与真正的气象研究的活动。该项目对参与的学生具有变革性的潜力，因为他们将从事主动学习，通过教授彼此和更年轻的学生来学习，并将在由科学家、工程师和教育工作者组成的团队中工作。一个项目的优势是它结合了基于项目的学习、公民科学、创业或体验式学习以及同行教学。通过这个项目，学生们将通过与K-12教师和学生的互动，学习团队建设技能、解决问题的技能以及STEM合作和沟通技能。该项目团队将通过一种成熟的和新的评估工具的组合来评估本科生的学习情况，将学生的学习成果与对照组进行比较，并纵向跟踪学生在学位和就业过程中的进步。该项目还将与怀俄明州各地的K-12教师和学生合作，包括来自风河保护区学校的教师和学生。这个项目的很大一部分涉及科学有效载荷的开发，这些有效载荷将由本科生与博士后研究员密切合作，设计、建造并送入近太空。在这一过程中开发的东西可能具有专利或技术转让的潜力。因此，每年博士后研究员和本科生都会参加怀俄明大学商业资源网络的研讨会，其中包括怀俄明州技术转移和研究产品中心，以了解创业、资源和校园竞争。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project at the University of Wyoming will engage multi-disciplinary teams of undergraduate STEM and STEM education majors in designing meteorological experiments. They will then launch these experiments into near space on high-altitude balloons in collaboration with K-12 teachers and students in Wyoming. The undergraduate students will be in their second and third years of college, when students are most likely to leave STEM. It is expected that providing them with authentic, hands-on experiences will build the skills and confidence of both STEM and STEM education majors in their chosen field. Students will work in teams on a real project, effectively bringing together education and practice for both groups of students. The project integrates interdisciplinary teams of undergraduates and postdoctoral fellows to develop activities that will engage K-12 students in authentic meteorological research. The project has the potential to be transformative for the participating students, since they will be engaged in active learning, will learn by teaching one another and younger students, and will work in teams made up of scientists, engineers, and educators. A project strength is its combination of project-based learning, citizen science, entrepreneurial or experiential learning, and peer teaching. Through this project, students will learn team building skills, problem-solving skills, and STEM collaboration and communication skills by interacting with K-12 teachers and students. The project team will assess undergraduate student learning through a combination of proven and new assessment tools, compare student learning gains to a control group, and track students longitudinally as they progress through their degree and into the workforce. The project will also work with K-12 teachers and students across Wyoming, including those from schools on the Wind River Reservation. A large part of this project involves the development of scientific payloads that will be designed, built, and sent into near space by undergraduate students working closely with postdoctoral research fellows. The possibility exists that something developed in this process might have patent or technology transfer potential. Therefore, each year the postdoctoral research fellows and undergraduate students will participate in a workshop with University of Wyoming's Business Resource Network, which includes the Wyoming Technology Transfer & Research Products Center, to learn about entrepreneurship, resources, and competitions on campus.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.