Collaborative Research: A Multi-level Investigation of STEM Mentoring - Outcomes for Middle School Youth, their Mentors, and Partner Organizations

合作研究：STEM 辅导的多层次调查 - 中学生、他们的导师和合作伙伴组织的成果

• 批准号: 1906724
• 负责人: Bernadette Sanchez
• 金额: $ 53.33万
• 依托单位: DePaul University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2021-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1906724&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Multi; level; Investigation

Mentoring is a widely accepted strategy for supporting positive socioemotional and cognitive development across a variety of sectors including education, workforce development, and the justice system. An estimated 2.5 million volunteer mentors support youth development in the United States each year. However, there is broad concern that practice has outpaced empirical testing, with significant gaps in the research literature on important modifiers of mentoring relationships and their impacts. This is especially true for mentoring youth ages 10-14 in STEM. Studying highly successful programs may be one way to better understand the role of mentoring and moderators of mentoring effectiveness. The Science Club, a community-based STEM mentoring program for middle-grade youth in the Chicago area, will provide multiple sites for a research study to examine three important issues for advancing theory and practice for STEM mentoring. These issues include (1) understanding STEM mentoring for youth in the middle grades, (2) identifying outcomes and motivations for scientist mentors to more fully participate in mentoring programs, and (3) examining a model of middle-school-focused STEM mentoring collaboration. Through a series of three studies, the team will investigate which elements of the mentoring relationships are associated with the demonstrated STEM identity gains in youth participants. The work will also contribute much-needed data on the impact of STEM mentoring relationships on the mentors themselves. Study 1 is designed as a retrospective study of program alumni, both youth and mentors, about the nature and extent of each their STEM identity shifts during their time in Science Club. A purposeful sample of 160+ youth and 100+ mentor alumni will participate. Study 2 is a prospective study of three consecutive cohorts of active Science Club participants, built on data and findings from Study 1. In Study 2, the team will design and implement a new Identity-Focused Mentoring Observation Instrument specifically aimed at exploring the nature and quality of mentoring relationships and their role in science identity development longitudinally. Three independent cohorts of 40 youth and 20 mentors each will participate. Study 3 is retrospective, examining how participating individuals and organizations perceive and are impacted by mentoring. The three studies employ a mixed methods approach utilizing surveys, observations, individual interviews, and document review. This proposal will fill critical gaps in the mentoring literature regarding the formative middle school years through novel, empirical research. Building on the current literature and practice, outcomes of the work will inform practice and enhance knowledge-building in the field on both mentoring relationships and the collective impact of university-school-OST partnerships. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.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.

指导是一种被广泛接受的战略，用于支持教育、劳动力发展和司法系统等各个部门的积极社会情感和认知发展。据估计，美国每年有250万名志愿辅导员支持青年发展。然而，人们普遍关注的是，实践已经超过了经验测试，在指导关系及其影响的重要修饰符的研究文献中存在重大差距。这对于指导10-14岁的STEM青年尤其如此。研究非常成功的项目可能是更好地理解指导作用和指导有效性调节者的一种方法。科学俱乐部是一个以社区为基础的STEM辅导计划，面向芝加哥地区的中年级青年，将为一项研究提供多个地点，以研究推进STEM辅导理论和实践的三个重要问题。这些问题包括：（1）了解中学阶段青年的STEM指导，（2）确定科学家导师更充分参与指导计划的成果和动机，以及（3）研究以中学为重点的STEM指导合作模式。通过一系列的三项研究，该团队将调查指导关系的哪些要素与青年参与者中表现出的STEM身份收益相关。这项工作还将为STEM指导关系对导师本身的影响提供急需的数据。研究1的目的是作为一个回顾性的研究计划的校友，无论是青年和导师，关于每个他们的STEM身份转变的性质和程度，在他们的时间在科学俱乐部。一个有目的的样本160+青年和100+导师校友将参加。研究2是一项前瞻性研究，对三个连续队列的活跃科学俱乐部参与者进行了研究，建立在研究1的数据和发现的基础上。在研究2中，该团队将设计和实施一种新的以身份为中心的指导观察工具，专门用于探索指导关系的性质和质量及其在纵向科学身份发展中的作用。三个独立的小组，每组40名青年和20名导师将参加。研究3是回顾性的，研究参与的个人和组织如何看待和影响辅导。这三项研究采用了混合方法，利用调查，观察，个别访谈和文件审查。这项建议将填补关键空白的指导文学关于形成中学几年通过新颖的，实证研究。在现有文献和实践的基础上，这项工作的成果将为实践提供信息，并加强该领域关于指导关系和大学-学校-开放源码软件伙伴关系的集体影响的知识积累。该项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，以扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验，推进创新研究和评估的STEM学习在非正式环境中，并发展的理解，更深层次的学习参与者。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准的支持。