NSF INCLUDES Planning Grant: Planning for an Inclusive Makerspace Alliance for Rural Students with Disabilities

NSF 包括规划拨款：为农村残疾学生规划一个包容性创客空间联盟

• 批准号: 2040887
• 负责人: Gina Oswald
• 金额: $ 9.64万
• 依托单位: University of Maine Farmington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-12-01 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2040887&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; INCLUDES; Planning; Grant; Inclusive

This NSF INCLUDES planning grant is funded by NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES), a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in discoveries and innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion and broadening participation in STEM at scale. The goal of this planning grant is to develop a shared vision for an Inclusive Makerspace Alliance that equips and empowers the STEM education community with the knowledge, support and resources necessary to effectively engage students with disabilities in STEM learning through accessible STEM focused makerspaces. The shortage of readily available, evidence-based inclusive STEM curriculum and technologies that capitalize on rural educational opportunities for students with disabilities is a major obstacle for utilizing accessible makerspaces, especially in rural areas. Unfortunately, promising practices are often not well documented, or broadly implemented, as K-12 STEM teachers often implement STEM-rich makerspace experiences in silos, unaware of relevant research and practices around the country. This planning effort will address this broadening participation challenge by centering accessible STEM education within the context of makerspace practices in diverse rural localities. It will build a network of partners committed to all aspects of makerspaces, from design-thinking and curricula to STEM career pathways, that present barriers and opportunities to rural students with disabilities. By engaging with and supporting the NSF INCLUDES National Network, this planning grant effort will leverage diverse partnerships and existing infrastructure to scale up to a national alliance advocating for the meaningful inclusion of individuals with disabilities in STEM education and careers through makerspaces.Over a sixteen-month period, the University of Maine Farmington and its partners will focus its work on the development and actualization of a shared vision, one of the NSF INCLUDES design elements for collaborative infrastructure. The shared vision will be supported by a range of catalytic activities including: (1) surveying K-12 schools in the State of Maine on their STEM makerspaces, relevant supportive technologies, and accessibilities measures, (2) conducting site visits to investigate strengths for, and barriers to, STEM curriculum implementation, and impact in makerspaces, (3) assessing common needs and working collaboratively to determine next steps, (4) establishing a National Consortium for accessible rural STEM makerspaces, (5) providing technical advice related to inclusion through universal design and common accommodations, and (6) developing, piloting, and testing the feasibility of a publicly available, searchable, and accessible virtual repository of rural-focused curricular resources related to accessible STEM makerspaces. To ground this work, an Inclusive Makerspace Summit will be held for partner organizations to promote shared understanding and collective impact. In addition, intentional connections will be made to the NSF INCLUDES National Network through knowledge, data, and resource sharing, networking, and participation in the online community. If successful, this planning grant has the potential to lay a strong foundation for a future national alliance centered on inclusive STEM makerspaces for all students, especially rural students with disabilities.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.

该NSF INCLUDES计划拨款由NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science（NSF INCLUDES）资助，这是一项全面的国家计划，旨在通过关注多样性，包容性和扩大STEM的参与来加强美国在发现和创新方面的领导地位。这项规划补助金的目标是为包容性创客空间联盟制定一个共同愿景，为STEM教育社区提供必要的知识，支持和资源，以有效地让残疾学生通过无障碍的STEM专注的创客空间参与STEM学习。缺乏现成的、基于证据的包容性科学、技术、工程和数学课程以及利用残疾学生农村教育机会的技术，是利用无障碍创客空间的主要障碍，特别是在农村地区。不幸的是，有希望的做法往往没有得到很好的记录，或广泛实施，因为K-12 STEM教师经常在筒仓中实施STEM丰富的创客空间经验，不知道全国各地的相关研究和实践。这项规划工作将通过在不同农村地区的创客空间实践背景下集中可获得的STEM教育来解决这一日益扩大的参与挑战。它将建立一个致力于创客空间各个方面的合作伙伴网络，从设计思维和课程到STEM职业道路，为农村残疾学生提供障碍和机会。通过参与和支持NSF INCLUDES国家网络，这项规划拨款工作将利用各种合作伙伴关系和现有基础设施，扩大到一个全国联盟，倡导通过创客空间将残疾人有意义地纳入STEM教育和职业生涯。缅因州法明顿大学及其合作伙伴将把工作重点放在共同愿景的发展和实现上，这是NSF包括协作基础设施的设计元素之一。共同愿景将得到一系列催化活动的支持，包括：（1）调查缅因州K-12学校的STEM创客空间、相关支持技术和辅助措施，（2）进行实地考察，调查STEM课程实施的优势和障碍，以及对创客空间的影响，（3）评估共同需求并合作确定下一步，（4）建立无障碍农村STEM创客空间国家联盟，（5）通过通用设计和共同住宿提供与包容相关的技术咨询，以及（6）开发，试点，并测试一个公共可用的，可搜索的，可访问的虚拟存储库的农村为重点的课程资源相关的无障碍STEM创客空间的可行性。为了使这项工作有基础，将为合作伙伴组织举办包容性创客空间峰会，以促进共同理解和集体影响。此外，将通过知识、数据和资源共享、联网和参与在线社区，与NSF INCLUDES国家网络建立有意的联系。如果成功的话，这项计划拨款有可能为未来的全国联盟奠定坚实的基础，该联盟以面向所有学生，特别是农村残疾学生的包容性STEM创客空间为中心。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。