SciGirls in the National Parks: Building Positive STEM Identities in Underserved Girls in Citizen Science Programs Using Gender Equitable and Culturally Responsive Practices

作为在非正式环境中加强学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划为各种环境中使用的创新资源提供资金。这一发展创新项目解决了扩大女孩参与STEM学习和职业道路的必要性。虽然女性占美国劳动力的47%，但她们只占STEM工作的28.3%，受雇的工程师和科学家中只有十分之一是少数族裔女性。社会经济地位较低的女孩在中学期间开始对STEM失去兴趣和信心，而且随着女孩年龄的增长，这种下降往往会继续下去。多种社会文化障碍导致女孩丧失信心，包括性别和族裔陈规定型观念；缺乏符合文化的方案；接触妇女榜样的机会有限；以及很少或根本没有STEM实践经验。该项目建立在公共广播公司的电视节目SciGirls和国家外展计划的成功基础上，该计划就旨在让女孩参与STEM的以研究为基础的性别平等和响应文化的教学战略提供专业发展。这是双城公共电视台、康奈尔鸟类学实验室和国家公园管理局的合作项目。该项目的目标是为女孩，特别是有色人种女孩和/或来自农村地区的女孩创造媒体丰富的公民科学体验，扩大她们对STEM的参与，建立积极的STEM身份，增加女孩对科学概念的理解，同时利用国家公园的公民科学参与。项目交付成果包括：1)制作五集新的公共广播公司本节目，以16个国家公园的真实女孩与妇女导师一起工作为特色；2)制作五个新的国家公园管理局STEM专业人员的榜样视频，在公共广播公司的多个平台上传播；3)为教育工作者和榜样提供专业发展。该项目将增加有色人种女孩和/或来自农村地区的女孩接受STEM教育的机会，激励她们并为她们将来参加STEM劳动力做好准备。它将建设教育工作者和国家公园管理局女性榜样的能力，以创建欢迎不同种族、民族、社会经济和地理背景的女孩的教育和专业项目。SciGirls通过PBS广播和多个PBS数字平台广泛接触不同的受众，将扩大公众的科学素养，特别是对于在线连接、学习和生活的21世纪受众。这项由康奈尔鸟类学实验室进行的研究将解决以下问题：1)在公民科学节目中使用文化响应和性别平等的多媒体在多大程度上影响女孩的学习结果，并有助于培养积极的STEM认同感？2)她们在公园体验公民科学将如何影响女孩与自然的联系？在项目开始时，所有参与的女孩(n=160)将完成一项关于她们对科学的兴趣、从事科学的成效以及对公民科学和特定项目主题的知识的调查。研究人员将使用一套设计仪器来测量这些结构，其中大多数已经为年轻人验证过。为了衡量与自然的联系，研究人员将使用与自然指数的联系，这是为儿童开发的一种量表。将利用与女孩的访谈来获得定性数据，以补充调查数据。将分析事后数据，以确定响应文化的媒体和经历对女孩STEM身份的影响。研究人员将与项目评估者分享研究结果，以三角测量教育者实施策略和女孩学习结果之间的数据，从而更全面地了解整个计划。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。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative resources for use in a variety of settings. This Innovations in Development project addresses the need to broaden girls’ participation in STEM studies and career pathways. While women make up 47% of the U.S. workforce, they hold only 28.3% of STEM jobs and only 1 in 10 employed engineers and scientists are minority women. Girls of low socioeconomic status start losing interest and confidence in STEM during middle school, and this decline often continues as girls get older. Multiple sociocultural barriers contribute to girl’s loss of confidence including gender and ethnic stereotypes; lack of culturally responsive programming; limited exposure to women role models; and few or no hands-on STEM experiences. This project builds upon the success of SciGirls, the PBS television show and national outreach program, which provides professional development on research-based gender equitable and culturally responsive teaching strategies designed to engage girls in STEM. It is a collaboration between Twin Cities Public Television, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the National Park Service. The project’s goal is to create media-rich citizen science experiences for girls, particularly girls of color and/or from rural areas, which broaden their STEM participation, build positive STEM identities and increase girls’ understanding of scientific concepts, while leveraging citizen science engagement at national parks. Project deliverables include 1) creating five new PBS SciGirls episodes that feature real girls working with women mentors in 16 National Parks, 2) producing five new role model videos of women National Park Service STEM professionals, nationally disseminated on multiple PBS platforms, 3) providing professional development for educators and role models. This project will increase access to STEM education for girls of color and/or from rural areas, inspiring and preparing them for future STEM workforce participation. It will build the capacity of educators and National Park Service women role models to create educational and professional programs that are welcoming to girls of varying racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic backgrounds. SciGirls’ massive reach to diverse audiences via PBS broadcast and multiple PBS digital platforms will amplify public scientific literacy, particularly for 21st- century audiences that connect, learn and live online. The research study conducted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology will address these questions: 1) To what extent does the use of culturally responsive and gender equitable multimedia in citizen science programming affect girls’ learning outcomes, and contribute to the development of positive STEM identity? 2) how will their experiencing citizen science in the parks influence girls’ connection to nature? At the beginning of the project all participating girls (n=160) will complete a survey on their interest in science, efficacy for doing science, and knowledge of citizen science and project-specific subject matter. Researchers will use the suite of DEVISE instruments most of which have been validated for youth to measure these constructs. To measure connection to nature, researchers will use the Connection to Nature Index, a scale developed for children. Interviews with the girls will be used to obtain qualitative data to supplement the survey data. Pre-post data will be analyzed to determine the influence of the culturally responsive media and experiences on girls’ STEM identities. Researchers will share findings with the project evaluator to triangulate data between educators’ implementation of the strategies and girls’ learning outcome providing a more holistic picture of the overall program.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.