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

纽约科学大厅（NYSCI）将招募并支持两名博士后，他们将在纽约科学大厅的不同工作人员、观众和当地社区进行为期24个月的研究。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方向。研究培训将强调与文化和语言不同的受众进行研究的实践，以及直接让STEM从业者和/或社区成员参与研究过程的合作研究方法。研究员将得到研究专业人士和非正式STEM从业者的指导，包括教育工作者和项目开发人员、展览设计师、博物馆协调员和课程开发人员。通过指导和点对点合作关系，博士后将有丰富的机会获得有关STEM教育中有效、包容性实践的新知识，并培养在非正式STEM学习环境中与从业者建立和维持富有成效、互利的伙伴关系所需的技能。博士后研究人员离开时，将具备进行文化响应和实践相关研究的策略，这些研究可以应用于未来的职业生涯。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进行有效合作的能力。掌握这两种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，教育工作者、设计师和辅导员基于实践的知识，以及社区成员的生活经验，是教育环境和干预措施成功的组成部分。在研究方法方面进行培训，尊重不同的观点和认识方式——跨越文化、学科和教育机构中的角色——可以支持早期职业研究人员发展研究方向，以响应性和影响力的方式解决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大领域：非正式学习环境中的STEM学习，以及扩大非正式STEM学习的参与。本项目由美国国家科学基金会STEM教育博士后研究奖学金（STEM Ed PRF）计划和推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划共同资助。STEM Ed PRF计划旨在提高STEM、STEM教育、教育和相关学科的近期博士的研究知识、技能和实践，以促进他们从事基础和应用研究的准备，从而提高该领域的知识。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公平和归属方面的作用；(b)促进个人和教育在STEM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)为有效的非正式STEM学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(f)改善社区活力；及/或(g)加强科学传播和公众对STEM和STEM过程的参与和理解。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。

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.