Environmental Health Investigators: Building STEM Interest to Promote Careers in the Health Sciences

环境健康调查员：培养 STEM 兴趣以促进健康科学职业

• 批准号: 10408140
• 负责人: Georgia Bracey
• 金额: $ 25.69万
• 依托单位: SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV AT EDWARDSVILLE
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-07-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10408140
• 关键词: Address; Advocate; Affect; Age; Air; Air Pollution; Area; Career Choice; College Preparation; Communication; Communities; County; Critical Thinking; Development; Education; Educational Curriculum; Educational Models; Educational process of instructing; Ensure; Environment; Environmental Health; Family; Future; Generations; Goals; Health; Health Sciences; Human; Humanities; Hunger; Illinois; Investigation; Knowledge; Learning; Life; Low income; Methodology; Middle School Student; Modeling; Modernization; Monitor; Noise; Occupations; Outcome; Personal Satisfaction; Phase; Photography; Population; Poverty; Problem Solving; Process; Quality of life; Research; Research Personnel; Resources; Risk; School-Age Population; Schools; Science; Scientist; Shoulder; Soil; Stress; Students; Teacher Professional Development; Technology; Testing; Time; Underrepresented Minority; Urban Community; Urban Developments; Work; Workplace; Youth; academic preparation; base; career; career awareness; cohort; community based participatory research; community organizations; design; digital; education pathway; experience; flexibility; informal learning; innovation; interest; junior high school; meetings; member; minority children; minority scientist; minority student; mobile sensor; novel; portability; programs; project-based learning; racial minority; science education; sensor; sensor technology; skill acquisition; skills; stressor; success; teacher; tool; underserved community

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in the field of environmental health sciences, despite good job prospects and the need for diverse perspectives to ensure the well-being of all communities. Learning science in out-of-school (informal) settings is a promising approach to generate interest in science because students are able to work on community-based projects over an extended period, immersing themselves in the process of science while learning success skills for the workplace such as teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking. However, there are limited opportunities to learn about environmental health sciences and related careers, particularly for minority youth who live in areas of concentrated poverty. The long-term goal of this project is to understand how to best generate and sustain an interest in health sciences that ultimately alters students' education and career pathways. The central hypothesis is that middle school students will develop and sustain a strong interest in science if they 1) participate in authentic science in a real-world context, 2) engage with and understand relevant scientific content that connects to their community, 3) interact regularly with professional scientists, and 4) act as and be seen by others as scientists. Towards attaining the long-term goal, the overall objective of this project is to develop, implement, and study an out-of- school time program in which underserved middle school youth (ages 11-13) participate in authentic scientific investigations of environmental health sciences in their community and present their findings to their families, community members, and a broader audience. The rationale for the proposed project is that a project-based curriculum can increase science skills and career awareness and, after testing and refinement, be replicated with other populations. The objective of the project will be accomplished by three specific aims: (1) Develop a modular out-of-school curriculum in environmental health sciences that emphasizes student choice and place- based learning, (2) Implement the student program in communities of concentrated poverty in Madison County, Illinois through a partnership with local community organizations, and (3) Provide professional development for educators in community-based environmental health sciences. The proposed program is significant because it (a) generates new knowledge about science interest development, (b) provides a model for environmental health science education in low-income urban communities, and (c) creates portable curriculum units that formal and informal educators can adapt to their specific teaching contexts. The project is innovative because it (a) utilizes a novel combination of high-impact educational practices to reach the intended audience, (b) applies Environmental Photovoice methodologies with youth, (c) unites partner organizations that typically do not work together around the common goal of developing the scientific skills and health career interests of at-risk youth, and (d) uses student choice and community relevance as central tenets for curriculum design and programming.

项目概要/摘要 尽管在环境健康科学领域取得了良好的成绩，但少数种族和族裔的代表性不足 就业前景以及需要多元化的观点来确保所有社区的福祉。学习 校外（非正式）环境中的科学是激发人们对科学兴趣的一种很有前途的方法，因为 学生能够长期从事基于社区的项目，沉浸在 科学的过程，同时学习工作场所的成功技能，例如团队合作、解决问题和 批判性思维。然而，学习环境健康科学和知识的机会有限。 相关职业，特别是对于生活在集中贫困地区的少数民族青年。长期目标是 该项目旨在了解如何最好地产生和维持对健康科学的兴趣，最终 改变学生的教育和职业道路。中心假设是中学生会 如果他们满足以下条件，就会发展并维持对科学的浓厚兴趣：1）参与现实世界中的真实科学 背景，2) 参与并理解与其社区相关的相关科学内容，3) 定期与专业科学家互动，4) 表现得像科学家，并被他人视为科学家。向 为了实现长期目标，该项目的总体目标是开发、实施和研究一个out-of- 学校时间计划，其中服务不足的中学生（11-13 岁）参加真正的科学活动 对社区的环境健康科学进行调查并向家人展示调查结果， 社区成员和更广泛的受众。拟议项目的理由是基于项目的 课程可以提高科学技能和职业意识，并且经过测试和完善后可以复制 与其他人群。该项目的目标将通过三个具体目标来实现：（1）制定 环境健康科学的模块化校外课程强调学生的选择和地点 基于学习，（2）在麦迪逊集中贫困社区实施学生计划 伊利诺伊州县通过与当地社区组织合作，以及 (3) 提供专业 社区环境健康科学教育工作者的发展。拟议的计划是 意义重大，因为它（a）产生了有关科学兴趣发展的新知识，（b）提供了一个模型 用于低收入城市社区的环境健康科学教育，以及 (c) 创建便携式 正式和非正式教育工作者可以适应其具体教学环境的课程单元。项目 之所以具有创新性，是因为它 (a) 利用高影响力教育实践的新颖组合来实现 目标受众，(b) 将环境光声方法应用于青年，(c) 团结合作伙伴 通常不会围绕发展科学技能的共同目标进行合作的组织 和高危青少年的健康职业兴趣，以及 (d) 以学生选择和社区相关性为核心 课程设计和编程的原则。