Polar Literacy: A model for youth engagement and learning

极地扫盲：青年参与和学习的模式将促进公众对极地科学的参与。该项目以服务不足的中学生和极地研究科学家为目标，目的是提高年轻人对极地地区的兴趣和了解，并磨练研究人员的科学交流技能。该项目将开发负担得起和可复制的方法，将极地教育引入非正式学习环境，扩大我们对如何向青年提供最大效果的极地教育倡议的理解，并设计一种专业发展模式，以提高极地地区研究人员制定有意义的更广泛影响活动的能力。极地扫盲将创建和测试一种模式，将科学家在课外环境中的直接参与与使用精心策划的极地研究数据集和数据可视化工具相结合，为青年创造参与式学习体验。在项目资助期限之外，许多项目交付成果(包括工具包、视频和其他资源)将继续通过项目合作者的持续工作在网上和面对面使用和传播。极地扫盲：青年参与和学习的模式将促进对非正式学习环境的理解，同时利用国家科学基金会(NSF)极地投资的丰富跨学科资源。该项目的主要受众--极地研究人员、非正式教育者和4-7年级(9-13岁)的校外时间(OST)青少年--将通过基于地点和基于互联网的体验建立联系，并合作产生一种灵活、可扩展和可转移的教育模式。该项目将1)设计OST工具包和资源指南(重点关注极地扫盲原则)，并包括旨在突出经久不衰的想法的“立即概念”视频；2)为非正式教育工作者提供专业发展；3)通过改编现有非正式学习计划的成功方面来合成俱乐部模式；以及4)通过修改现有的正式教育模式，为OST特别兴趣(SPIN)俱乐部和夏令营计划创建数据堵塞事件。一项研究设计在三年时间里在四个节点实施，将回答三个研究问题，以评估专业发展对非正规教育工作者的影响，以及方案对青年的影响，以及该模式的有效性。除了作为非正规教育从业人员的项目组和合作者外，一个由青年方案编制、非正规教育和评估方面的专家组成的咨询委员会将指导该项目，以确保其推进非正式STEM学习研究。极地扫盲是一个促进非正式STEM学习(AISL)的发展创新项目，以回应尊敬的同事信：支持学生和公众参与极地研究(NSF 18-103)。极地扫盲由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助，该计划旨在促进对非正式环境中STEM(科学、技术、工程、数学)学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括为扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验提供多种途径，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。该项目得到了极地计划办公室南极部分的共同资助。这一奖项反映了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。

Polar Literacy: A model for youth engagement and learning will foster public engagement with polar science. The project targets middle-school aged underserved youth and polar research scientists, with the goal to increase youth interest in and understanding of Polar Regions, and to hone researchers' science communication skills. The project will develop affordable and replicable ways of bringing polar education to informal learning environments, extend our understanding of how polar education initiatives can be delivered to youth with maximum effect, and design a professional development model to improve the capacity for Polar Region researchers to craft meaningful broader impact activities. Polar Literacy will create and test a model which combines direct participation by scientists in after-school settings, with the use of curated polar research data sets and data visualization tools to create participatory learning experiences for youth. Beyond the life of the project funding, many of the project deliverables (including kits, videos, and other resources) will continue to be used and disseminated online and in person through ongoing work of project collaborators.Polar Literacy: A model for youth engagement and learning will advance the understanding of informal learning environments while leveraging the rich interdisciplinary resources from polar investments made by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The project's key audiences -- polar researchers, informal educators, and out-of-school time (OST) youth in grades 4-7 (ages 9-13) -- will connect through both place-based and internet-based experiences and work collaboratively to generate a flexible, scalable, and transferable education model. The project will 1) design OST kits and resource guides (focused on Polar Literacy Principles) and include "Concept in a Minute" videos designed to highlight enduring ideas, 2) provide professional development for informal educators, 3) synthesize a club model through adaptation of successful facets of existing informal learning programs, and 4) create Data Jam events for the OST Special Interest (SPIN) clubs and camp programs by modifying an existing formal education model. A research design, implemented at four nodes over three years, will answer three research questions to evaluate the impact of professional development on informal educators, as well as the impact of programs on youth, and the effectiveness of the model. In addition to the project team and collaborators who are informal education practitioners, an advisory board composed of experts in youth programming, informal education, and evaluation will guide the project to ensure that it advances the body of informal STEM learning research. Polar Literacy is an Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Innovations in Development project in response to the Dear Colleague Letter: Support for Engaging Students and the Public in Polar Research (NSF 18-103). Polar Literacy 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 (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) 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 project has co-funding support from the Antarctic section of the Office of Polar Programs.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.