STEM Education Organizational Postdoctoral Research Fellowships: Collaborative Research in Informal STEM Learning Environments

纽约科学馆（NYSCI）将招募和支持两名博士后研究员，他们将花24个月的时间与NYSCI的不同工作人员，观众和当地社区进行研究。该奖学金计划旨在支持博士后研究人员，因为他们开发和追求公平和包容性的非正式STEM学习经验的独立研究路线。研究培训将强调与文化和语言多样的受众进行研究的做法，以及直接让STEM从业者和/或社区成员参与研究过程的协作研究方法。研究员将由研究专业人士和非正式的STEM从业者指导，包括教育工作者和程序开发人员，展览设计师，博物馆主持人和课程开发人员。通过指导和点对点的合作关系，博士后研究员将有丰富的机会产生关于有效的，包容性的STEM教育实践的新知识，以及发展所需的技能，以建立和维持与非正式STEM学习环境中的从业者的生产性，互利的伙伴关系。博士后研究员将离开奖学金配备进行文化响应和实践相关的研究，他们可以适用于未来的职业战略。推进关于如何支持不同受众和不同背景下的STEM学习的知识，取决于研究人员的方法和理论专业知识，以及他们在非正式STEM环境中与不同利益相关者胜任和协作的能力。掌握这两套能力是至关重要的，使早期的职业研究人员成为领导者，在整个领域的努力，以产生更多的实践相关的和可访问的形式的研究。在复杂的现实环境中，教育者、设计者和促进者基于实践的知识，以及社区成员的生活经验，是教育环境和干预措施成功的不可或缺的因素。在研究方法，荣誉荣誉不同的观点和认识的方式-跨文化，学科和教育机构内的角色-可以支持早期职业研究人员在开发的研究线，解决在STEM学习的公平性问题的响应和有影响力的方式。博士后学者将被邀请找到他们现有的研究兴趣相对于两个广泛的领域：STEM学习在非正式的学习环境，并扩大参与非正式STEM learning.This project is supported by NSF's STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship（STEM艾德PRF）Program with co-funding from the Advancing Informal STEM Learning（AISL）Program. STEM艾德PRF计划旨在提高STEM，STEM教育，教育和相关学科的近期博士学位的研究知识，技能和实践，以促进他们准备从事基础和应用研究，促进该领域内的知识。AISL计划支持以下项目：（a）促进研究和实践，考虑非正式STEM学习在STEM中的公平和归属感方面的作用;（B）促进STEM中的个人和教育成功;（c）推动公众参与科学发现;（d）培养对STEM职业的兴趣;（e）为有效的非正式STEM学习创建和加强理论和经验基础;（f）促进STEM学习。该奖项反映了NSF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。

The New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), will recruit and support two postdoctoral fellows, who will spend 24 months conducting research in residence with NYSCI’s diverse staff, audiences, and local community. This fellowship program is designed to support the postdoctoral researchers as they develop and pursue independent lines of research on equitable and inclusive informal STEM learning experiences. Research training will emphasize practices for conducting research with culturally and linguistically diverse audiences and collaborative research methods that directly engage STEM practitioners and/or community members in the research process. Fellows will be mentored by both research professionals and informal STEM practitioners, including educators and program developers, exhibit designers, museum facilitators, and curriculum developers. Through mentoring and peer-to-peer collaborative relationships, postdoctoral fellows will have rich opportunities to generate new knowledge about effective, inclusive practices in STEM education, as well as to develop the skills needed to build and sustain productive, mutually beneficial partnerships with practitioners in informal STEM learning environments. Postdoctoral fellows will leave the fellowship equipped with strategies for conducting culturally responsive and practice-relevant research that they can apply to future careers. Advancing knowledge about how to support STEM learning for diverse audiences and in diverse contexts depends upon researchers’ methodological and theoretical expertise and on their ability to work competently and collaboratively with diverse stakeholders within informal STEM environments. Mastering both sets of competencies is critical to enabling early career researchers to become leaders in field-wide efforts to produce more practice-relevant and accessible forms of research. Within complex, real-world settings, the practice-based knowledge of educators, designers, and facilitators, as well as the lived experiences of community members, are integral to the success of educational environments and interventions. Training in research approaches that honor diverse perspectives and ways of knowing — across cultures, disciplines, and roles within educational institutions — can support early career researchers in developing lines of research that address issues of equity in STEM learning in responsive and impactful ways. Postdoctoral scholars will be invited to locate their existing research interests relative to two broad areas: STEM learning in informal learning environments, and broadening participation in informal STEM learning.This project is supported by NSF’s STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) Program with co-funding from the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program. The STEM Ed PRF Program aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. The AISL Program, supports projects that: (a) contribute to research and practice that considers informal STEM learning's role in equity and belonging in STEM; (b) promote personal and educational success in STEM; (c) advance public engagement in scientific discovery; (d) foster interest in STEM careers; (e) create and enhance the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning; (f) improve community vibrancy; and/or (g) enhance science communication and the public's engagement in and understanding of STEM and STEM processes.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.