Place-based learning, STEM identity work and identity play with storytelling technologies

随着年轻人经历具有挑战性的气候事件并意识到其系统性，他们可能会感到无力塑造未来，也不确定基于stem的解决方案。为了应对这些挑战，该项目重点关注基于地点的学习、现场科学和数字故事讲述的潜力，以培养多样化的中学生环境机构、STEM职业知识和STEM身份。该项目包括一系列夏令营和学年周六学院，以调查青少年学校所在的当地流域的历史、生态和恢复。该流域具有独特的生物多样性，在人口快速增长的城市中，受到负面气候事件的影响越来越大。青年将与STEM专业人士、大学生导师和社区领袖一起参与环境科学实地考察和流域恢复。青年们将利用播客、增强现实（AR）和数字杂志，在这些媒体的专业专家的指导下，创作有关该流域土地、水、人民和历史的故事。数字叙事是年轻人在相当大的气候焦虑中重新获得能动性的一种方式，因为这些故事的数字和移动性质有可能接触到不同的受众，并鼓励对分水岭的科学、情感、社会文化和历史知识。项目团队包括一系列社区利益相关者，他们住在附近，研究，恢复和倡导分水岭。该项目旨在培养和参与下一代stem知识社区利益相关者。该项目由“面向学生和教师的创新技术体验”（ITEST）项目资助，该项目支持有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）以及信息和通信技术（ICT）职业的知识和兴趣的实践、项目要素、背景和过程的理解。在这个项目中，年轻人被定位为媒体的创造者，而不是消费者。该项目将产生数字技术和基于地点的学习相结合的设计原则，以培养青少年的STEM知识、能动性、身份和福祉。对知识进步的主要贡献将是基于身份游戏的理论，其中包括：1)身份游戏的关键指标；2)基于地点的学习、数字故事和身份游戏之间的关系；3)数字叙事在鼓励身份游戏方面的独特功能。这些贡献将通过对多种数据来源的持续比较分析来实现，这些数据来源包括自然漫步记录前后、访谈后、对关键活动的观察。60名中学生为本研究的直接参与者。身份游戏是一种结构，它突出了身份发展中的代理作用，并提供了一种概念化成长的新方法。而不是仅仅将增长视为变得更加科学或向STEM运动，身份游戏是扩张性的，因此增长可能是非线性和网络化的。身份游戏可能包括尝试、寻找更好的选择、扩展和结合以前不相关的兴趣。基于身份游戏理论的实际意义包括设计多个STEM切入点和途径，认识到年轻人不追求某些途径的决定可能是富有成效的，并解释校外STEM经历对不同年轻人职业选择的影响。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。

As young people experience challenging climate events and become aware of their systemic nature, they may feel powerless to shape the future and uncertain about STEM-based solutions. To address these challenges, this project focuses on the potential of place-based learning, field science, and digital storytelling to nurture diverse middle school youths’ environmental agency, STEM career knowledge, and STEM identities. The project includes a series of summer camps and school-year Saturday Academies to investigate the history, ecology, and restoration of a local watershed where youths’ schools are located. The watershed has unique biodiversity and is increasingly impacted by negative climate events in a city experiencing rapid population growth. Youth will work alongside STEM professionals, college student mentors, and community leaders to engage in environmental science fieldwork and restoration of the watershed. Youth will create stories about the land, water, people, and history of the watershed using podcasts, augmented reality (AR), and digital zines, with mentorship from professional experts in each of these media. Digital storytelling is a way for youth to recapture a sense of agency amidst considerable climate anxiety as the stories’ digital and mobile nature have the potential to reach diverse audiences and encourage scientific, affective, sociocultural, and historical knowledge of the watershed. The project team includes an array of community stakeholders who live near, study, restore, and advocate for the watershed. This project aims to develop and involve the next generation of STEM-knowledgeable community stakeholders. This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers. In this project, youth are positioned as creators rather than consumers of media. The project will result in design principles for the pairing of digital technologies and place-based learning for settings that nurture youths’ STEM knowledge, agency, identities, and well-being. A primary contribution to the advancement of knowledge will be a grounded theory of identity play, which includes: 1) key indicators of identity play; 2) relationships among place-based learning, digital storytelling, and identity play; and 3) unique affordances of digital storytelling in encouraging identity play. These contributions will be achieved through constant comparative analysis of multiple sources of data including pre/post nature walk recordings, post interviews, observations of key activities. 60 middle school youth will be direct participants of this study. Identity play is a construct that highlights the agency within identity development and provides a new way of conceptualizing growth. Rather than viewing growth solely as becoming more scientific or movement towards STEM, identity play is expansive so that growth may be non-linear and networked. Identity play may involve things like trying out, finding a better alternative, stretching, and combining previously disconnected interests. The practical implications of a grounded theory of identity play include designing for multiple STEM entry points and pathways, recognizing that youths’ decisions not to pursue certain pathways may be productive, and explaining the impacts of out-of-school STEM experiences on diverse youths’ career choices.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.