Research to Understand and Inform the Impacts of Ambient and Designed Sound on Informal STEM Learning

这项服务于实践的研究项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在(a)推进非正式环境中STEM学习设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解；(b)提供多种途径，以扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验的机会；(c)推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估；(d)让所有年龄段的公众在非正式环境中学习STEM。该项目旨在支持非正式STEM学习（ISL）研究人员、设计师和教育工作者与声音研究人员和声学生态学家之间的合作，共同探索听觉体验（音景）在学习中的作用。在非正式的STEM学习空间中，对话促进了STEM学习，是与家人和朋友一起探索STEM现象的重要组成部分，关注声景的影响可能对学习产生重要影响。理解音景是如何促进、激发、分散甚至压倒思考和对话的，将为ISL教育者和设计师的实践提供证据。该项目的结构反映了ISL受众和经验的复杂性；因此，合作伙伴包括位于芝加哥多元化移民社区的北公园村自然中心；“野生靛蓝”是奥杜邦五大湖的一个项目，主要服务于中西部城市的非裔美国游客；一个课后/夏令营供应商，蒸汽前进新墨西哥，服务于新墨西哥州西南农村的家庭，以及俄亥俄州的四个地点，地铁公园，哥伦布动物园和水族馆，富兰克林公园温室和植物园，以及科学和工业中心。调查人员将进行大规模的探索性研究，以回答一个未被充分研究的研究问题： 环境声音如何影响非正式学习空间中的STEM学习？ 研究人员和从业人员将在不同的室外和室内展览/学习空间中描述和描述音景。研究人员将观察800名访客，跟踪吸引力、注意力、停留时间和共享学习情况。除了观察之外，研究人员还将与另外150名参观者一起进行思考访谈，研究人员将与参观者并肩行走，并在参观者实时描述他们的经历时捕捉相关笔记。使用机器学习算法的相关和聚类分析将用于识别不同声音、声景、响应和研究参与者的反射之间的模式。特别是，分析将识别与注意力增加和共享学习相关的声音特征。在整个项目中，一个评估小组将监督进展并支持持续改进，包括指导与项目合作伙伴共同定义的文化响应性研究指标的制定。评估人员还将记录项目对能力建设的影响程度，以及对项目伙伴的规划和设计考虑的影响程度。这项探索性研究是一个更大的研究议程的开端，为未来的实验研究设计奠定基础，以测试特定音景与访客学习之间的因果关系。这项研究的结果将通过研讨会、演讲、期刊文章、促进对话和一部与研究重点和发现相一致的短片，广泛传播给非正式学习研究人员和实践者。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。

This Research in Service to Practice project 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 project is designed to support collaboration between informal STEM learning (ISL) researchers, designers, and educators with sound researchers and acoustic ecologists to jointly explore the role of auditory experiences—soundscapes—on learning. In informal STEM learning spaces, where conversation advances STEM learning and is a vital part of the experience of exploring STEM phenomena with family and friends, attention to the impacts of soundscapes can have an important bearing on learning. Understanding how soundscapes may facilitate, spark, distract from, or even overwhelm thinking and conversation will provide ISL educators and designers evidence to inform their practice. The project is structured to reflect the complexity of ISL audiences and experiences; thus, partners include the North Park Village Nature Center located in in a diverse immigrant neighborhood in Chicago; Wild Indigo, a Great Lakes Audubon program primarily serving African American visitors in Midwest cities; an after-school/summer camp provider, STEAMing Ahead New Mexico, serving families in the rural southwest corner of New Mexico, and four sites in Ohio, MetroParks, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and the Center of Science and Industry.Investigators will conduct large-scale exploratory research to answer an understudied research question: How do environmental sounds impact STEM learning in informal learning spaces?  Researchers and practitioners will characterize and describe the soundscapes throughout the different outdoor and indoor exhibit/learning spaces. Researchers will observe 800 visitors, tracking attraction, attention, dwell time, and shared learning. In addition to observations, researchers will join another 150 visitors for think-aloud interviews, where researchers will walk alongside visitors and capture pertinent notes while visitors describe their experience in real time. Correlational and cluster analyses using machine learning algorithms will be used to identify patterns across different sounds, soundscapes, responses, and reflections of research participants. In particular, the analyses will identify characteristics of sounds that correlate with increased attention and shared learning. Throughout the project, a team of evaluators will monitor progress and support continuous improvement, including guidance for developing culturally responsive research metrics co-defined with project partners. Evaluators will also document the extent to which the project impacts capacity building, and influences planning and design considerations for project partners. This exploratory study is the initial in a larger research agenda, laying the groundwork for future experimental study designs that test causal claims about the relationships between specific soundscapes and visitor learning. Results of this study will be disseminated widely to informal learning researchers and practitioners through workshops, presentations, journal articles, facilitated conversations, and a short film that aligns with the focus and findings of the research.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.