Fostering Systems Thinking in High School Environmental Engineering through Engagement of Coastal Communities

通过沿海社区的参与培养高中环境工程的系统思维

• 批准号: 2300556
• 负责人: Rossella Santagata
• 金额: $ 168.7万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-15 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2300556&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Fostering; Systems; Thinking; Environmental; Engineering

This project is an innovative exploratory research study focused on developing a high school environmental engineering curriculum that addresses the challenges posed by climate change. The curriculum follows a model-validate-iterate design paradigm, where students model dynamic real-world systems, validate their models using data, and create multiple iterations to explore changes in the system over time. The project aims to cultivate a new generation of environmental engineers who possess the necessary skills to analyze complex systems, collaborate with diverse communities, and develop creative solutions. By integrating systems thinking (ST) and critical science agency (CSA), the curriculum will bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world applications. Through collaborative efforts with students-largely from minoritized backgrounds-, teachers, and community partners, the project will create an engaging and participatory STEM learning experience. The outcomes of this project will contribute to the national interest by preparing students for environmental engineering careers and empowering them to address climate change-related challenges with creativity, effectiveness, equity, and justice.Using a design-based implementation research approach, the interdisciplinary research team--including the University of California-Irvine's Schools of Education, Engineering, and Biological Sciences--will partner with informal science educators from the Orange County Department of Education, teachers from a local school district and students from minoritized communities, and non-profit and community partners to co-design the curriculum. The project will investigate coastal changes as well as flooding concerns along the Santa Ana River in Orange County, CA. The curriculum will be tested with three classes (approximately 100 students) from underrepresented minority groups and low socio-economic backgrounds. Research questions will explore the design process and learning process and related student outcomes: 1. How can an environmental engineering curriculum and learning activities be designed to integrate a focus on ST and CSA in a way that is impactful? How do different stakeholders (i.e., researchers; informal science educators; high-school students; community members) participate and contribute their perspectives and expertise to the design process? 2. How do participating students from diverse backgrounds engage in co-designed learning activities? To what extent do they develop ST and CSA? The project will be structured in three phases: participatory co-design in Year 1, a curriculum testing in Year 2, and data analysis in Year 3. Data sources will include interviews with community members, recordings of design sessions, fieldnotes, and design artifacts, pre/post engineering ST measures, lesson recordings and interviews with a sub-sample of students and a student feedback survey. A mixed-method approach will be employed to analyze the design process through equity-centered participatory research perspectives and to examine students' learning process and development of CSA. Regression analysis will be employed to examine student learning outcomes. Findings will be disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and practitioner-oriented conferences. Participating high-school students will be invited to present to their community and share with peer networks. The curriculum will be made available to teachers and informal educators for free through the project website.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.

该项目是一项创新的探索性研究，旨在开发高中环境工程课程，以解决气候变化带来的挑战。该课程遵循模型 - 知觉识别设计范式，学生在其中模拟动态现实世界系统，使用数据验证其模型，并创建多个迭代，以探索随着时间的推移随时间的变化。该项目旨在培养新一代的环境工程师，他们拥有必要的技能来分析复杂系统，与不同的社区合作并开发创造性解决方案。通过集成系统思维（ST）和关键科学局（CSA），该课程将弥合课堂学习与现实世界应用之间的差距。通过与少数化背景，老师和社区合作伙伴的大力合作努力，该项目将创造引人入胜且参与的STEM学习经验。 The outcomes of this project will contribute to the national interest by preparing students for environmental engineering careers and empowering them to address climate change-related challenges with creativity, effectiveness, equity, and justice.Using a design-based implementation research approach, the interdisciplinary research team--including the University of California-Irvine's Schools of Education, Engineering, and Biological Sciences--will partner with informal science educators from the Orange County Department of Education, teachers来自当地学区以及来自少数社区的学生，非营利组织和社区合作伙伴，以共同设计课程。该项目将调查加利福尼亚州奥兰治县的圣安娜河沿线的沿海变化以及洪水问题。该课程将通过来自代表性不足的少数群体和低社会经济背景的三个班级（约100名学生）进行测试。研究问题将探讨设计过程和学习过程以及相关的学生成果：1。如何设计环境工程课程和学习活动，以将重点放在ST和CSA上，以影响力？不同的利益相关者（即研究人员；非正式科学教育者；高中生；社区成员）参与并为设计过程贡献他们的观点和专业知识？ 2。来自不同背景的参与学生如何从事共同设计的学习活动？他们在多大程度上发展了ST和CSA？ 该项目将分为三个阶段：第1年的参与式共同设计，第2年的课程测试以及第3年的数据分析。数据源将包括与社区成员的访谈，设计课程，现场表演和设计文物的录音，工程前/工程前的录音，课程录音，课程录音，课程录音和访谈和学生返回学生的样本和学生返回学生的样本。将采用一种混合方法来通过以公平为中心的参与研究观点来分析设计过程，并检查学生的学习过程和CSA的发展。回归分析将用于检查学生的学习成果。调查结果将通过同行评审的学术期刊和以从业者为导向的会议中的出版物进行传播。参加高中生的学生将被邀请向他们的社区展示并与同行网络分享。该课程将通过项目网站免费提供给教师和非正式教育者。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准通过评估来获得支持的。