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，并对基于STEM的解决方案感到不确定。为了应对这些挑战，该项目重点关注基于地点的学习、实地科学和数字讲故事的潜力，以培养不同的中学青年的环境机构、STEM职业知识和STEM身份。该项目包括一系列夏令营和学年的星期六学院，以调查青年学校所在的当地分水岭的历史、生态和修复。该分水岭具有独特的生物多样性，在一个人口快速增长的城市，越来越多地受到负面气候事件的影响。青年将与STEM专业人员、大学生导师和社区领袖一起参与环境科学实地考察和分水岭的修复。青年将使用播客、增强现实(AR)和数字杂志，在这些媒体的专业专家的指导下，创造关于土地、水、人和分水岭历史的故事。数字讲故事是年轻人在相当大的气候焦虑中重新获得使命感的一种方式，因为故事的数字化和移动性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居住在分水岭附近、研究、修复和倡导分水岭的社区利益相关者。该项目旨在培养和参与下一代具有STEM知识的社区利益攸关方。该项目由学生和教师创新技术体验计划(ITEST)资助，该计划支持的项目旨在加深对实践、计划要素、背景和过程的理解，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。在这个项目中，青年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与基于场所的学习相结合的设计原则，以培养年轻人的STEM知识、机构、身份和福祉。对知识进步的主要贡献将是身份游戏的扎根理论，其中包括：1)身份游戏的关键指标；2)基于地点的学习、数字讲故事和身份游戏之间的关系；以及3)数字讲故事在鼓励身份游戏方面的独特启示。这些贡献将通过对多种数据来源的不断比较分析来实现，包括自然行走前后的录音、事后访谈、对关键活动的观察。本研究的直接参与者为60名中学生。认同游戏是一种构建，它突出了认同发展中的中介，并提供了一种将成长概念化的新方法。身份认同游戏不是仅仅将增长视为变得更加科学或向STEM迈进，而是扩张性的，因此增长可能是非线性和网络化的。身份游戏可能涉及尝试、寻找更好的替代方案、延伸和结合以前不相关的兴趣等事情。身份游戏扎根理论的实际影响包括设计多个STEM入口点和路径，认识到年轻人决定不追求某些路径可能是有成效的，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。

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.