Collaborative Research: Technology Education for Women in Transition

该项目是推进非正式STEM学习计划(AISL)发展创新轨道中的项目，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。该项目旨在提高对技术的了解和舒适感，并在以前被监禁、现在正寻求重新进入劳动力大军或适应中西部刑事司法系统以外的生活的妇女(“转型妇女”)中发展计算思维。虽然女性已经成为被监禁人口中增长最快的部分，但监狱教育和重新进入监狱的项目没有做好充分准备，以应对这种涌入的人口。处于过渡时期的妇女很少接受STEM教育，她们在狱中通常与数字世界隔绝。因此，他们在获取和使用快速变化的数字技术方面面临监禁后的挑战。在此背景下，这一为期三年的技术教育项目将旨在帮助堪萨斯州和密苏里州转型中的妇女发展与工作申请和监禁后适应相关的STEM技能。该项目可作为在非正式环境中建立基于证据的劳动力准备工作的模板，同时在线同行联网和应用程序开发也可促进适应和适应其他区域和其他类似的数码弱势群体。该项目由AISL项目资助，该项目致力于推进在非正式环境中设计和开发STEM学习的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验的途径，推进对非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及加深参与者对更深层次学习的理解。项目设计借鉴了研究小组过去向转型妇女和中西部其他未得到充分服务的人群提供技术教育的经验。设计包括三个相互关联的方面：(1)技术教育，(2)网络/移动应用程序开发，(3)原创实证研究。研究团队将为堪萨斯州和密苏里州的300名转型女性提供混合(线上和线下)技术培训计划。学员将在公共图书馆参加每周不同级别(入门、中级和高级)的面对面技术课程。一个仅供会员使用的在线网站和一个附带的在线教程和虚拟会议的移动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。实证研究将考察提供技术教育的不同方式如何与参与该计划的女性的学习结果相关联，以及数字技术中不断增长的知识和技能与自我效能感、感知到的社会支持、就业和减少复发率之间的关联。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 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.