Intrinsic Motivation in Science Museums: Learning from and Broadening Participation of Visitors with Learning Disabilities

人们对学习障碍者在科学中心和博物馆等非正式学习环境中的经历知之甚少。该项目将说明对有学习障碍的来访者的参与度和内在学习动机得到支持和不支持的方式，并培养非正式STEM教育从业者将这种学习应用于有学习障碍的人以及在自我指导学习方面需要更多支持的任何来访者的能力。扩大科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)的参与度是国家科学基金会及其推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划的核心目标。该项目致力于实现这一目标，重点关注有学习障碍的年轻人。作为美国最大的残疾人群体，学习障碍者估计占美国人口的20%。科学职业为有学习障碍的个人提供了许多与生活和工作相关的机会，而非正式学习空间的灵活体验为促进参与科学、参与科学和激发科学动力提供了重要机会。这项工作代表了下一代无障碍设计，以扩大对非正式STEM学习机会的参与和影响。该项目将产生指导方针和资源，以支持这一群体的包容性设计。资源将包括一个可与有学习障碍的青年、非正式STEM从业者以及学习障碍研究和实践界共享的数字和印刷版本的视觉资产工具包。该项目将发展经验性知识，以支持非正式STEM从业者，更好地促进有学习障碍的青年的纳入。本研究以自主性理论为解释框架，分三个阶段展开。自我决定理论描述了必须满足的心理需求，如自主性和效能感，以创造一个支持个人参与自我激励行为的环境。第一阶段将是一项探索性研究，描述患有学习障碍的青少年(10-17岁)在体验各种STEM展品时的参与和动机。第一阶段将采用经过验证的量表，采用现有的观察方案，并对年轻人进行模拟回忆访谈。第二阶段将在教育STEM展览上探索、开发和调查设计策略，以改善学习障碍青少年的内在动机。第二阶段将涉及一组实验研究，其中与内在动机相关的设计策略被操纵，以告知为学习障碍游客提供包容性设计的原则。与前一阶段一样，第二阶段将采用经过验证的标尺，并采用现有的观测方案。第三阶段将侧重于设计图表，研究人员和实践者在合作设计过程中与有学习障碍的高中生合作。这些图表将生成使用通用设计学习的展览组件的指导方针和案例示例，以平衡不同的设计优先顺序，并有效地、包括地为这一群体设计展品。这第三个阶段将依赖于对共同设计的查尔特式人工制品、实地笔记和研究人员反思的定性编码；成员检查将在编码过程中发挥重要作用。该项目的宣传工作将以有学习障碍的青年、非正规STEM教育从业者以及更广泛的学习障碍研究人员和从业者为对象。除了上述展览设计指南和工具包，该项目还将发表同行评议的文章，并开发旨在教育研究和实践的手稿。该项目由推进非正式STEM学习计划资助，该计划旨在促进对非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和发展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，在非正式环境中推进对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。

Very little is known about the experiences of people with learning disabilities in informal learning environments such as science centers and museums. This project will describe the ways in which engagement and intrinsic motivation for learning are and are not supported for visitors with learning disabilities, and build capacity for informal STEM education practitioners to apply this learning for the benefit of those with learning disabilities as well as any visitor who needs more support in the context of self-directed learning. Broadening participation science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is a core goal of the National Science Foundation and its Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program. This project pursues this goal with a focus on young people with learning disabilities. As the largest group of individuals with disabilities in the United States, people with learning disabilities make up an estimated 20% of the U.S. population. Science professions offer many life- and work-related opportunities for individuals with learning disabilities, and the flexible experiences of informal learning spaces offer important opportunities to promote participation, engagement in and motivation for science. This work represents the next generation of accessible design to broaden participation in, and impacts of, informal STEM learning opportunities. This project will generate guidelines and resources to support inclusive design for this group of visitors. Resources will include a Toolkit of Visual Assets that can be shared digitally and in print with youth with learning disabilities, informal STEM practitioners, and the learning disability research and practice community.The project will develop empirical knowledge to support informal STEM practitioners to better facilitate the inclusion of youth with learning disabilities. Using the lens of Self-Determination Theory as an explanatory framework, this research will be pursued in three phases. Self-Determination Theory describes the psychological needs that must be met, such as autonomy and feelings of efficacy, to create an environment that supports individuals’ engagement in self-motivated behaviors. Phase 1 will be an exploratory study describing the engagement and motivation of adolescents (ages 10-17) with learning disabilities when experiencing varied STEM exhibits. This first phase will adapt validated scales, employ an existing observation protocol, and conduct stimulated recall interviews with youth. Phase 2 will explore, develop and investigate design strategies to improve the intrinsic motivation of youth with learning disabilities at educational STEM exhibits. This second phase will involve a set of experimental studies in which design strategies related to intrinsic motivation are manipulated to inform principles of inclusive design for visitors with learning disabilities. As in the previous phase, Phase 2 will adapt validated scales and employ an existing observation protocol. Phase 3 will focus on design charrettes in which researchers and practitioners work with high school students with learning disabilities in a co-design process. The charrettes will generate guidelines and case examples of exhibit components using Universal Design for Learning to balance varying design priorities and effectively, inclusively design exhibits for this population. This third phase will rely on qualitative coding of co-design charette artifacts, field notes and researcher reflections; member checking will play an important role in the coding process. Dissemination efforts for this project will target youth with learning disabilities, informal STEM education practitioners, and the broader field of learning disability researchers and practitioners. In addition to the exhibit design guidelines and Toolkit described above, the project will publish peer reviewed articles and develop manuscripts aimed at educational research and practice.This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning program, which 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 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.