Advancing the Conversation on Scaling National Informal STEM Programs

国家女童合作项目和教育发展中心正在召开为期两天半的知识建设会议--“推进关于扩展国家非正式STEM项目的对话”，将非正式STEM教育(ISE)的主要利益相关者聚集在一起，研究非正式学习环境中的规模是什么样子的。目前，对于在非正式学习环境中扩展项目意味着什么，没有一个共同的定义或一套与之相关的维度。在ISE中扩大规模的方法往往集中在开发和传播计划的人的观点和需求上，而较少考虑那些负责在超本地化背景下操作计划的人的现实。本次会议从方案实施者的角度探讨规模问题，他们是能力建设的受益者，也是这些规模方案的促进者。会议还向研究和支持教育规模的国家非正式STEM项目的项目开发人员、研究人员、评估人员和资助者发出了声音。这次会议的目的是开发一个新的ISE规模框架，以非正式教育工作者的伙伴关系和能力建设为中心。这种扩展方法解决了本地接入和多样性、公平性和包容性的问题，并促进了ISE在高需求社区中的可持续性。会议讨论挑战了对ISE规模的三种常见误解：(1)简单地传播和复制交钥匙计划可以在ISE中实现有效的规模；(2)从正规学习环境得出的规模定义应该用于跨ISE进行扩展；以及(3)跨ISE的规模应该由计划开发人员和寻求研究它的人来定义。具有广泛视角并代表不同组织类型的与会者将出席会议，共同阐述扩展成功因素、障碍、多样性、公平和包容战略，以及预期结果，提炼主题、问题和对当前评估和研究ISE规模的方法的担忧。与会者将共同创建一个ISE规模框架，该框架将定义以能力建设和多样性、公平和包容性为中心的新的和扩展的规模维度，以及通过该框架的镜头扩展ISE项目的计划开发人员指南。这些产品将增加参与国家规模计划的非正式学习组织、希望扩大其本地开发计划的STEM机构、非正式STEM研究人员和评估员以及包括计划资助者在内的更广泛的ISE领域的知识和能力。会议成果将通过出版物、会议和由国家女童合作项目和教育发展中心联合主办的全国网络研讨会广泛传播。本次会议由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助，旨在：(A)促进对非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解；(B)为扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验提供多种途径；(C)推进对非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估；以及(D)让所有年龄段的公众在非正式环境中学习STEM。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。

The National Girls Collaborative Project and Education Development Center are convening “Advancing the Conversation on Scaling National Informal STEM Programs,” a two-and-a-half day knowledge-building conference that brings together key stakeholders in informal STEM education (ISE) to examine what scale looks like across informal learning settings. Currently, there is not a common definition or set of dimensions related to what it means to scale programs in informal learning settings. Approaches to scale in ISE too often center on the perspectives and needs of people who are developing and spreading programs while less consideration is given to the realities of those responsible for operationalizing programs in hyper-local contexts. This conference approaches the question of scale from the perspective of the program implementers, who are the beneficiaries of capacity building and serve as facilitators of these scaled programs. The conference also gives voice to program developers, researchers, evaluators, and funders of national informal STEM programs who study and support scale in education. The aim of the conference is to develop a new framework for scale in ISE that centers partnership and capacity building of informal educators. Such an approach to scale addresses issues of local access and diversity, equity, and inclusion, and promotes sustainability of ISE in high-need communities.Conference discussions challenge three common misperceptions of scale across ISE: (1) simple spread and replication of turnkey programs lead to effective scale in ISE; (2) definitions of scale derived from formal learning settings should be used to scale across ISE; and (3) scale across ISE should be defined by program developers and those that seek to study it. Participants with a wide range of perspectives and who represent a diversity of organizational types will attend the conference and work together to articulate scaling success factors, barriers, diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies, and intended outcomes, distilling themes, questions, and concerns about current approaches to evaluating and researching scale in ISE. Together, conference participants will co-create a framework for scale in ISE which will define new and expanded dimensions of scale that center on capacity building and diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as a Program Developer’s Guide for scaling ISE programs through the lens of the framework. These products will increase the knowledge and capacity of informal learning organizations involved in nationally scaled initiatives, STEM-rich institutions wanting to scale their own locally developed programs, informal STEM researchers and evaluators, and the broader field of ISE including program funders. Conference findings will be broadly disseminated through publications, conferences, and a national webinar co-hosted by the National Girls Collaborative Project and Education Development Center.This conference is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to (a) advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments; (b) provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; (c) advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and (d) engage the public of all ages in learning STEM in informal environments.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.