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

纽约科学馆(NYSCI)将招聘和支持两名博士后研究员，他们将花费24个月的时间与NYSCI的不同工作人员、观众和当地社区一起进行驻场研究。该奖学金计划旨在支持博士后研究人员在公平和包容的非正式STEM学习经验方面发展和追求独立的研究路线。研究培训将强调与文化和语言不同的受众开展研究的做法，以及直接让STEM从业人员和/或社区成员参与研究过程的合作研究方法。研究员将由研究专业人员和非正式的STEM从业者指导，包括教育工作者和程序开发人员、展品设计师、博物馆促进者和课程开发人员。通过辅导和点对点的协作关系，博士后研究员将有丰富的机会产生关于STEM教育中有效、包容的做法的新知识，并发展所需的技能，以便在非正式的STEM学习环境中与从业者建立和维持富有成效的互惠伙伴关系。博士后研究员将带着进行文化响应和实践相关研究的战略离开研究金，他们可以将这些战略应用于未来的职业生涯。关于如何在不同的受众和不同的背景下支持STEM学习的知识的提高，取决于研究人员的方法和理论专长，以及他们在非正式STEM环境中与不同的利益攸关方进行胜任和协作的能力。掌握这两套能力对于使早期职业研究人员成为全领域努力的领导者，以产生更多与实践相关和可获得的研究形式至关重要。在复杂的现实环境中，教育者、设计者和促进者以实践为基础的知识，以及社区成员的生活经验，是教育环境和干预措施成功不可或缺的组成部分。在尊重不同视角和不同认知方式的研究方法方面的培训--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开发研究路线，以响应和有效的方式解决STEM学习中的公平问题。博士后学者将被邀请将他们现有的研究兴趣定位于两个广泛的领域：非正式学习环境中的STEM学习，以及扩大对非正式STEM学习的参与。该项目由NSF的STEM教育博士后研究奖学金计划(STEM Ed PRF)支持，并由推进非正式STEM学习计划(AISL)共同资助。STEM ED PRF计划旨在增强STEM、STEM教育、教育和相关学科的新近博士的研究知识、技能和实践，以促进他们从事基础和应用研究，促进该领域知识的发展。AISL方案支持下列项目：(A)促进关于STEM非正式学习在公平和归属STEM中的作用的研究和实践；(B)促进STEM个人和教育方面的成功；(C)促进公众参与科学发现；(D)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(E)为有效的STEM非正式学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(F)提高社区活力；和/或(G)加强科学交流以及公众对STEM和STEM过程的参与和了解。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。

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.