Transforming STEM Education through Participatory and Community-Engaged Research: An Incubator Project

社区参与的学校教育侧重于社区出现的资产、观点、问题和解决方案，对不总是包括在STEM中的广泛学生有益。需要基础设施来建立联系，通过这些联系，地理上分散的社区参与教育工作者可以作为STEM教育研究的共同研究人员得到支持。这一努力旨在改变研究过程本身，包括在哪里进行研究，如何进行研究，以及谁有权发起、制定和使用STEM教育研究。这个中型研究基础设施孵化器使研究人员、社区和教育工作者能够共同开发和试点测试基础设施，以提高公平的STEM教育研究的速度和规模。该网络将汇集五个核心社区的利益相关者：STEM教育研究、正规教育、非正规教育、参与性和社区参与研究，以及多样性、公平和包容（DEI）研究。通过两次面对面大型会议、多次面对面小型会议和虚拟会议，该网络将规划1)地理分布设施和现场站点基础设施的开发和试点测试，以及2)联合、可互操作的数字基础设施。现场场地是当地社区参与的STEM学习空间，设施是将现场场地连接在一起的空间。联合的、可互操作的数字基础设施将使各个现场站点能够连接到他们的设施，并通过这些设施连接到更大的网络。该设计将提供共享通信协议和通用数据标准，同时使当地社区能够形成自己的现场网络结构。该网络将探索设施、现场设备和数字基础设施背后的科学和技术要求。该项目得到了比尔和梅林达·盖茨基金会、施密特期货和沃尔顿家族基金会的合作支持。NSF的推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划也提供资金。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。

Community-engaged schooling focuses on assets, perspectives, questions, and solutions emerging from communities and is beneficial for a wide array of students not always included in STEM. Infrastructure is needed to build connections through which geographically distributed community-engaged educators can be supported as co-researchers in STEM education research. This effort seeks to enact change in the research process itself including where research is undertaken, how research is conducted, and who holds power to initiate, enact, and use STEM education research. This Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure Incubator is enabling researchers, communities, and educators in co-developing and pilot testing infrastructure to increase the speed and scale of equitable STEM education research.The network will bring together stakeholders from five core communities: STEM education research, formal education, informal education, participatory and community-engaged research, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) research. Through two in-person large meetings, multiple in-person small meetings, and virtual meetings, the network will plan the development and pilot testing of 1) a geographically distributed facility and field site infrastructure, and 2) a federated, interoperable digital infrastructure. Field sites are local, community-engaged STEM learning spaces and facilities are spaces that connect field sites together. The federated, interoperable digital infrastructure will enable individual Field Sites to connect to their facilities, and through those facilities, connect to a larger network. This design will provide shared communication protocols and common data standards while enabling local communities to shape the structure of their own field fite. The network will explore the scientific and technical requirements underlying the facilities, field fites, and digital infrastructure.This project is supported through a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and the Walton Family Foundation. Funding is also provided by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program at NSF.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.