Collaborative Research: Water in the Four Corners Region: Libraries and Exhibits Connecting and Engaging Communities with Their Water Systems

作为加强非正式环境中学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）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，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。该项目将使美国西南部四角地区13个农村、部落和西班牙裔社区的社区成员和青年参与水的科学和文化资产。在这个地理区域，水是一种重要而稀缺的资源。“四角”地区年降水量少，可利用水量年波动大。因此，水是社区成员非常感兴趣的话题，他们的生活受到干旱、洪水和野火等与水有关的事件的影响。农村部落和西班牙裔社区在科学规划方面往往得不到充分的服务；他们的公共图书馆经常充当当地的科学中心。该项目的跨学科团队将为小型图书馆开发、部署、研究和评估一个互动旅游展览，该展览围绕区域水主题设计，并辅以互动节目和社区参与活动。此外，该团队将通过在东道国图书馆员中培养一个实践社区来建设当地能力，包括通过一个支持系统——STAR图书馆网络——参与其中，以增加他们的科学规划。这个项目围绕水的主题创建了一个巡回展览和补充项目。通过展览共同设计模式，社区将在展览开发中提供投入，确定对他们至关重要的水主题，并吸引多代观众。展览将水的迷人吸引力与潜在的科学内容和社区背景相结合，通过主动学习站、信息面板、公民科学活动和互动区域流域模型，为顾客提供探索这些主题的机会。水的艺术表现将由社区团体开发，并作为一个动态的展示元素纳入展览。项目目标是：(1)在四角地区的农村、部落和西班牙裔社区激发人们对水的兴趣，并加深对水作为一种重要资源和文化资产的认识。(2)增加服务不足的农村、部落和西班牙裔社区参与项目的可获得性和可及性，重点关注四角地区水的科学和文化方面。(3)建设图书馆实施以水为中心的科学项目的能力，增加适合这些非正式学习环境的科学学习和科学传播资源。(4)为参与的图书馆员建立一个实践社区（CoP），以支持他们的编程和内容知识的发展。(5)推进非正式学习环境及其在发展社区成员科学生态系统和科学身份中的作用的研究，特别是在图书馆环境中。项目团队将严格评估项目方法和组成部分在多大程度上激发了赞助人对科学的兴趣，增加了科学知识，并支持建立个人科学身份。该模型基于STEM学习生态系统框架。稳健的评估将通过前端需求评估和实施策略的迭代修订周期来指导项目开发。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。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program 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 project will engage community members and youth in 13 rural, tribal, and Hispanic communities in the Four Corners Region of the south western U.S. with the science and cultural assets of water. Water is a significant and scarce resource in this geographic area. The Four Corners Region experiences low annual precipitation and high year-to-year fluctuations in water availability. Thus, water is a topic of great interest to community members, whose lives are shaped by water-related events such as drought, flood, and wildfires. Rural tribal, and Hispanic communities are often underserved with respect to science programming; their public libraries often function as the local science center. The project's inter-disciplinary team will develop, deploy, research, and evaluate an interactive traveling exhibit for small libraries, designed around regional water topics and complemented by interactive programming and community engagement events. Additionally, the team will build local capacity by fostering a community of practice among the host librarians, including participation through a support system--the STAR Library Network--to increase their science programming. This project creates a traveling exhibit and complementary programming around water topics. Through an exhibit co-design model, communities will provide input in the exhibit development, identify water topics that are critical to them, and engage the multi-generational audiences. The exhibit merges the captivating attraction of water with the underlying science content and community context, giving patrons the opportunity to explore these topics through active learning stations, informational panels, citizen science-based activities, and an interactive regional watershed model. Artistic representations of water will be developed by community groups and incorporated into the exhibit as a dynamic display element. Project goals are to:(1) Spark interest in and increase understanding of water as a critical resource and cultural asset across rural, tribal, and Hispanic communities in the Four Corners Region.(2) Increase availability of and access to engaging programming for underserved rural, tribal, and Hispanic communities focusing on the science and cultural aspects of water in the Four Corners Region.(3) Build capacity for libraries to implement water-focused science programs, and increase available science learning and science communication resources tailored to these informal learning settings.(4 ) Foster a Community of Practice (CoP) for participating librarians to support the development of their programming and content knowledge.(5) Advance the body of research on informal learning environments and their role in developing community members' science ecosystems and science identities, particularly in library settings.The project team will rigorously assess the extent to which program approaches and components stimulate patrons' interest in science, increase science knowledge, and support building a personal science identity. The model is based on the STEM Learning Ecosystems Framework. Robust evaluation will guide the program development through a front-end needs assessment and iterative revision cycles of implementation strategies.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.