Collaborative Research: Technology Education for Women in Transition

推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划的创新发展轨道中的这个项目旨在通过创新和包容性的技术教育方法，扩大服务不足人群对STEM教育的参与。该项目旨在提高中西部以前被监禁但现在寻求重新进入劳动力市场或适应刑事司法系统以外生活的妇女（“转型期妇女”）对技术的了解和适应程度，并培养她们的计算思维。虽然妇女已成为被监禁人口中增长最快的部分，但监狱教育和重返社会方案没有做好充分准备，以应对这种涌入。转型期妇女很少接触STEM教育，她们在监狱中通常与数字世界隔绝。因此，他们面临着监禁后在获取和使用快速变化的数字技术方面的挑战。在此背景下，这个为期三年的技术教育项目将旨在帮助堪萨斯和密苏里州的过渡妇女发展与工作申请和监禁后调整相关的STEM技能。该项目可作为在非正式环境中建立循证劳动力准备工作的模板，同时在线同行网络和应用程序开发也可促进适应和扩展到其他区域和其他类似的数字弱势群体。该项目由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STEM学习在非正式环境中，并发展更深入的学习参与者的理解。该项目的设计是由研究团队的过去的经验，提供技术教育的妇女在过渡和其他欠发达的人口在中西部。该设计包括三个相互关联的方面：（1）技术教育，（2）网络/移动的应用程序开发，（3）原始的实证研究。研究团队将为堪萨斯和密苏里州的300名转型期妇女提供混合（线上和线下）技术培训项目。学习者将在公共图书馆参加每周一次的不同级别（入门级，中级和高级）的面对面技术课程。一个仅限会员的在线网站和一个用于在线教程和虚拟聚会的附带移动的应用程序将增加对不同类型技术的接触。从基于兴趣的技术主题开始，包括在线简历构建，信息验证和身份保护，该团队将向女性介绍更深层次的STEM主题，包括基本编码技能和计算思维。实证研究将研究提供技术教育的不同模式如何与参与该计划的妇女的学习成果相关联，以及增加数字技术知识和技能与自我效能，感知社会支持，就业，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进行评估，更广泛的影响审查标准。

This project in the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program's Innovations in Development track aims to broaden participation in STEM education among underserved populations through innovative and inclusive approaches to technology education. The project is designed to enhance knowledge and comfort with technology and develop computational thinking among women who were formerly incarcerated and are now seeking to reenter the workforce or adjust to their lives outside the criminal justice system ("women in transition") in the Midwest. While women have become the fastest growing segment of the incarcerated population, prison education and reentry programs are not well prepared to respond to this influx. Women in transition are rarely exposed to STEM education and they are generally isolated from the digital world while in prison. Consequently, they face post-incarceration challenges in accessing and using rapidly changing digital technologies. Against this backdrop, this three-year technology education project will aim to help women in transition in Kansas and Missouri develop STEM skills relevant to job applications and post-incarceration adjustments. The project may serve as a template for building evidence-based workforce preparation efforts in informal settings, and the concurrent online peer networking and app development may also facilitate adaptation for and scaling to other regions and other similarly digitally disadvantaged populations. This project is funded by the 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.The project design is informed by the research team's past experiences offering technology education to women in transition and other underserved populations in the Midwest. The design includes three interrelated aspects: (1) technology education, (2) web/mobile app development, and (3) original empirical research. The research team will offer hybrid (online and offline) technology training programs to 300 women in transition in Kansas and Missouri. Learners will attend weekly face-to-face technology classes at different levels (introductory, intermediate, and advanced) at public libraries. A member-only online site and an accompanying mobile application for online tutorials and virtual meet-ups will enhance exposure to different types of technologies. Starting with interest-based technology topics including online resume building, information verification, and identity protection, the team will introduce women to deeper STEM topics including elementary coding skills and computational thinking. Empirical research will examine how different modalities of offering technology education are associated with learning outcomes for women participating in the program and the association of increasing knowledge and skills in digital technologies with self-efficacy, perceived social support, employment, and reduced recidivism.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.