CAREER: Alternate Routes to Technology and Science

本研究探讨了学生可以利用计算工具参与专业实践来培养对STEM的理解和兴趣的猜想。研究者假设了一个推理链，其中a)计算工具使学生有可能从事有意义的项目；B)这些项目将学生与专业实践社区的规范、活动和互动模式联系起来；c)反思性实践的过程培养学生对STEM基本概念和技能的理解；d)这一过程反过来又逐渐创造出更大、更稳定的STEM专业知识孤岛。该项目将使用设计研究来检验这些假设。学生将使用数字动物园来模拟生物力学工程的实践，通过设计虚拟生物来学习物理和生物学。“生态2020”将用于解决城市规划问题。教育计划包括在课后项目中与高中生一起工作；开发本科和研究生课程，并与研究生一起进行研究。

This study explores the conjecture that students can develop STEM understanding and interest in STEM using computational tools to participate in professional practice. The investigator hypothesizes a chain of reasoning in which a) computational tools make it possible for students to engage in meaningful projects; b) such projects connect students to the norms, activities and patterns of interaction in communities of professional practice; c) the resulting processes of reflective practice develop students' understanding of fundamental STEM concepts and skills; and d) this process, in turn, creates progressively larger and more stable islands of STEM expertise. The project will use design research to test these hypothesis. Students will use the Digital Zoo to model the practice of biomechanical engineering to learn physics and biology by designing virtual creatures. Ecology 2020 would be used to solve urban planning problems. The education plan consists of working with high school students in an after school program; developing undergraduate and graduate courses and working with graduate students in the research.