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

人们对学习障碍人士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。本项目将描述学习障碍访客的参与和内在学习动机是如何得到支持的，以及如何不得到支持的，并为非正式STEM教育从业者建立能力，使他们能够将这种学习应用于学习障碍人士以及任何在自主学习背景下需要更多支持的访客。扩大科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的参与是美国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。这个项目以有学习障碍的年轻人为重点来实现这一目标。作为美国最大的残疾人群体，学习障碍患者估计占美国人口的20%。科学专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科学的参与和参与提供了重要机会。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。资源将包括一个视觉资产工具包，可以与有学习障碍的青年、非正式的STEM从业者以及学习障碍研究和实践社区共享数字和印刷形式。该项目将开发经验知识，以支持非正规STEM从业者更好地促进有学习障碍的青年融入。以自我决定理论为解释框架，本研究将分三个阶段进行。自决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，描述有学习障碍的青少年（10-17岁）在体验各种STEM展览时的参与和动机。第一阶段将采用经过验证的量表，采用现有的观察方案，并对年轻人进行刺激回忆访谈。第二阶段将探索、开发和调查设计策略，以提高STEM教育展览中有学习障碍的青少年的内在动机。第二阶段将涉及一系列实验研究，其中与内在动机相关的设计策略被操纵，以告知有学习障碍的游客的包容性设计原则。与前一阶段一样，第二阶段将采用经过验证的尺度，并采用现有的观察协议。第三阶段将侧重于设计小组，研究人员和实践者在共同设计过程中与有学习障碍的高中生一起工作。charrettes将使用通用学习设计生成展览组件的指导方针和案例示例，以平衡不同的设计优先级，并有效地为这一人群设计具有包容性的展品。这第三阶段将依赖于定性编码共同设计图表工件，现场笔记和研究人员的反思；成员检查将在编码过程中发挥重要作用。该项目的传播工作将针对有学习障碍的青年、非正式STEM教育从业者以及更广泛的学习障碍研究人员和从业者。除了上述展览设计指南和工具包外，该项目还将发表同行评审的文章，并编写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。

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.