Polar Literacy: A model for youth engagement and learning

极地素养：青年参与和学习的模式将促进公众对极地科学的参与。该项目针对的是缺乏服务的中学生和极地研究科学家，目的是提高青少年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且可复制的方式，将极地教育引入非正式学习环境，扩大我们对极地教育倡议如何以最大效果向青年提供的理解，并设计一个专业发展模式，以提高极地研究人员开展有意义的、影响更广泛的活动的能力。极地扫盲计划将创建并测试一种模式，该模式将科学家在课后环境中的直接参与，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，为青少年创造参与式学习体验。在项目资金的生命周期之外，许多项目可交付成果（包括工具包、视频和其他资源）将继续在网上使用和传播，并通过项目合作者的持续工作亲自传播。极地扫盲：一个青年参与和学习的模式将促进对非正式学习环境的理解，同时利用美国国家科学基金会（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、非正式教育工作者和4-7年级（9-13岁）的校外青少年——将通过基于地点和基于互联网的体验进行联系，并协同工作，形成一个灵活、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（重点是极地识字原则），并包括旨在突出持久思想的“一分钟概念”视频，2)为非正式教育者提供专业发展，3)通过改编现有非正式学习计划的成功方面综合俱乐部模式，以及4)通过修改现有正规教育模式为OST特别兴趣（SPIN）俱乐部和营地项目创建数据Jam活动。一项研究设计将在三年内实施四个节点，将回答三个研究问题，以评估专业发展对非正式教育者的影响，以及项目对青年的影响，以及模型的有效性。除了由非正式教育从业者组成的项目团队和合作者外，一个由青年规划、非正式教育和评估专家组成的咨询委员会将指导该项目，以确保该项目推进非正式STEM学习研究。极地扫盲是响应《致同事的信：支持学生和公众参与极地研究》（NSF 18-103）的一项推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）发展创新项目。极地扫盲由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM（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。这包括提供多种途径，扩大STEM学习经验的获取和参与，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深度学习的理解。该项目得到了极地项目办公室南极分部的共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.