Broadening Participation in STEM Through Virtual Reality Career Exploration: Introducing Underrepresented Students to High Need STEM Careers

该项目将研究一项旨在提高农村高中生自我效能感和追求STEM职业动机的干预措施的效果。研究人员将采用基于设计的方法与农村学区合作，利用虚拟现实技术和职业探索模块，向学生介绍高需求的STEM职业领域。他们还将指导学生评估自己是否适合这些领域。研究人员假设，学生的职业决策自我效能感和职业结果预期会因干预而有统计学上的改善。该项目将分两个阶段实施：开发课程模块，然后实施干预措施，同时进行研究。该项目旨在通过让学生和学校辅导员接触潜在的高需求职业，扩大农村社区，特别是妇女和代表性不足群体对STEM劳动力的参与。在社会认知职业理论的指导下，研究人员将采用随机聚类的实验设计，通过调查四个研究问题来衡量干预的有效性：(1)基于虚拟现实技术的STEM职业探索干预对学生职业决策自我效能感、职业结果预期和目标职业知识的影响程度如何？(2)学生的性别、种族/民族和个性输入如何影响职业干预参与对职业决策自我效能感、职业结果期望和目标职业知识的影响？(3)学生社会经济地位如何影响职业干预参与对职业决策自我效能、职业结果预期和目标职业知识的影响？(4)学生如何描述职业探索干预在培养他们对目标职业的理解和兴趣方面的有效性？将在干预前后收集数据。此外，学生焦点小组将用于从每个学校的治疗条件的学生的代表性样本中收集数据。该项目将对虚拟现实技术在农村教育环境中的有效性进行概念验证。该项目由EHR核心研究（ECR）计划资助，该计划支持以STEM学习、学习和学习环境、扩大STEM参与和STEM专业劳动力发展为重点的基础研究。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。

The project will examine the efficacy of an intervention designed to increase self-efficacy and motivation to pursue STEM careers among rural high school students. Researchers will use a design-based approach to partner with rural school districts tointroduce students to high-need STEM career fields using virtual reality technology and career exploration modules. They will also guide students in assessing their potential fit for these fields. The researchers hypothesize that student career decision making self-efficacy and career outcome expectations will statistically improve as a result of the intervention. The project will beimplemented in two stages: development of the curriculum modules and then implementation of the interventionwith research being conducted concurrently. The project is designed to broaden participation in the STEM workforce for those in rural communities, particularly women and underrepresented groups, by exposing students and school counselors to potential high-need careers.Guided by social cognitive career theory, the researchers will employ an experimental design with randomization within clusters to measure the effectiveness of the intervention by investigating four research questions: (1) What is the magnitude of theeffect of a STEM career exploration intervention using virtual reality technology on student career decision making self-efficacy, career outcome expectations, and knowledge of the targeted careers? (2) How do student inputs of gender, race/ethnicity,and personality impact the effects of participation in the career intervention on outcomes of career decision making self-efficacy, career outcome expectations, and knowledge of the targeted careers? (3) How does student socio-economic status impact the effects ofparticipation in the career intervention on outcomes of career decision making self-efficacy, career outcome expectations, and knowledge of the targeted careers? and (4) How do students characterize the effectiveness of the career exploration interventionin developing their understanding of, and interest in, the target careers? Data will be collected pre- and post-intervention. Additionally, student focus groups will be used to collect data from a representative sample of students from the treatmentcondition at each school. The project will produce a proof-of-concept for the efficacy of virtual reality technology in rural educational settings.The project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program that supports fundamental research focused on STEM learning and learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM professional workforce development.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.