Building a Learning Ecology to Increase STEM Participation Among Middle School Girls

该项目将推动学生和教师创新技术体验(ITEST)计划的努力，以更好地了解和促进实践，通过参与现场实践、实验室/基于项目的创业任务和指导经验，提高学生在科学、技术、工程或数学(STEM)领域追求职业生涯的动机和能力。该项目旨在提高中等规模种族和社会经济多元化社区中各种校外(OST)项目的中学年龄女孩对科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)的参与度。该项目将在现有数字青年天后(DYD)计划模式的基础上，研究和开发一项计划，重点是编码、设计数字设备(例如，传感器、触摸敏感设备)以及数字艺术和设计，并将有目的地解决女孩感兴趣的领域。该项目将与EvanSTEM合作，EvanSTEM是伊利诺伊州埃文斯顿的一个合作组织，提供STEM教育活动，创建一个社区主导的倡议学习计划，将STEM与艺术(STEAM)相结合。STEAM生态系统项目将侧重于三个部分：DYD城市集体，由为女孩提供STEM方案的校外(OST)组织组成；DYD关怀成人网络(DYD关爱成人网络，侧重于支持女孩中的STEM活动的家长社区)和Divas Circle(来自埃文斯顿各地的5-8年级女孩参加DYD附属方案和活动的社区)。该项目利用与当地OST提供商、家长和教育工作者社区的合作，创建STEM学习机会系统，该项目将调查几个关键的研究问题：(1)中学女孩如何更好地与STEM学习机会联系起来，组织如何更有效地协调其提供的服务并将其与女孩联系起来？(2)哪些因素有助于创建一个当地的STEM生态系统，以吸引和维持女孩的STEM兴趣和参与？(3)父母(或其他照顾者)如何参与支持女孩参与STEM，他们的参与有什么影响？(4)参与对家庭STEM认同和女孩的长期参与和兴趣有什么影响STEM活动和计划？该项目将使用各种研究方法和数据收集，包括：学区数据，如学生课程注册；评估参与程度、兴趣和影响的青年调查；将揭示参与程度和模式的在线参与数据；对学生、家长和提供者的访谈；以及参与家庭样本的案例研究数据。该项目将通过专业会议和期刊等学术场所，通过专业发展研讨会，以及通过在www.digitalyouthnetwork.org/divas网站上共享资源材料和课程，与教育研究社区广泛分享研究成果。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。

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by engaging in hands-on field experience, laboratory/project-based entrepreneurship tasks and mentorship experiences. The project is designed to increasie the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) participation of middle-school aged girls across various out-of-school (OST) programs in a midsized racially and socioeconomically diverse community. The project will research and develop a program, building on the existing Digital Youth Divas (DYD) program model, that focuses on coding, designing digital devices (e.g., sensors, devices sensitive to touch), and digital arts and design and that will intentionally address areas that are of interest to girls. The project will collaborate with EvanSTEM, a collaborative of Evanston, Illinois, community organizations that offer STEM education activities, to create a community-led initiative learning initiative that combines STEM with the arts (STEAM). The project STEAM ecosystem will focus on three components: the DYD city collective that consists of out-of-school (OST) organizations that provide STEM programming for girls; DYD Caring Adult Network (a community of parents focused on supporting STEM activities among girls); and the Divas Circle (a community of 5-8th grade girls from across Evanston who participate in DYD affiliated programming and events). This project leverages collaboration with a local community of OST providers, parents, and educators to create a system of STEM learning opportunities, social supports and technical infrastructure.The project will investigate several key research questions: (1) How can middle school girls better connect with STEM learning opportunities and how can organizations more effectively coordinate their offerings and connect them to girls?(2) What factors contribute to the creation of a local STEM ecosystem that engages and sustains girls' STEM interest and participation?(3) How can parents (or other caregivers) be engaged in supporting girls' participation in STEM and what impact does their involvement have?(4) What impact does participation have on family STEM identity and on girls' long term participation and interest in STEM activities and programs?The project will use a variety of research methods and date collection including: school district data such as student course registrations; youth surveys assessing participation levels, interest, and impacts; online participation data that will reveal levels and patterns of involvement; interviews with students, parents, and providers; and case study data of a sample of participating families. The project will share research findings widely with the educational research community through academic venues such as professional conferences and journals and with practitioners through professional development workshops and by sharing resource materials and curriculum on the www.digitalyouthnetwork.org/divas website.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.