The Impact of Informal Science on Girls' Interest, Engagement and Participation in Science Communities, Hobbies and Careers: A Research and Dissemination Project

富兰克林研究所（TFI）将与学习创新研究所（ILI）合作，开展一项研究工作，探讨非正式科学学习在支持女孩对科学社区、爱好和职业的长期兴趣、参与和参与方面所发挥的作用。 五个长期的女孩计划，开始5-20+年前，将是拟议的研究的重点，包括国家科学伙伴关系（NSP），女孩在中心（GAC），Wonderwise，和妇女在自然科学（NSP）。 选定的研究项目有机会接触到高中或高中以上年龄的女孩参与者，代表不同的种族，民族和社会经济地位。 一个国家研究咨询理事会将为调查奠定基础，并在研究的每个阶段审查调查结果。实践社区（CoP）文献（Lave和Wenger，1991）将为总体研究问题提供理论框架。 调查结果将记录女孩参与已确定的非正式科学计划的长期影响，确定非正式环境一般如何有助于女孩的科学学习和成就，并建立一个模型来了解非正式科学学习举措的影响。 可供参考的材料将包括支持女孩长期参与科学的非正式学习经历的具体例子，以及有助于女孩参与轨迹的影响类型的证据，包括重要的成年人和特定活动。 传播工具将是一次全国会议、一本研究专著和一系列与非正式科学教育工作者专业会议同时举办的讲习班。 通过更好地了解非正式计划在科学方面的影响，特别是更普遍的影响，并通过开发和展示一个有效的模型来了解跨项目的影响，拟议的研究将为该领域提供信息，并为未来的项目开发和研究工作提供基础。 研究结果将提高对这些领域实践的理解，并将记录非正式方案在影响女孩的职业和职业选择以及参与STEM领域方面的重要作用。 该研究还将展示CoP研究模式的适用性及其对其他非正式科学项目的启示。

The Franklin Institute (TFI), in collaboration with the Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI), will conduct a research effort that explores the role that informal science learning plays in supporting girls' long-term interest, engagement and participation in science communities, hobbies and careers. Five longstanding programs for girls, begun 5-20+ years ago, will be the focus of the proposed study and include the National Science Partnership (NSP), Girls at the Center (GAC), Wonderwise, and Women in Natural Sciences (WINS). The selected study projects have access to girl participants who are high-school aged or older and represent diverse race, ethnicity and SES. A national Research Advisory Council will ground the investigation and review the findings at each stage of the research. The Community of Practice (CoP) literature (Lave and Wenger, 1991) will provide the theoretical frame for the overarching research question. Findings will document long-term impacts of girls' participation in identified informal science programs, determine how informal contexts in general contribute to girls' science learning and achievement, and develop a model for understanding the impact of informal science learning initiatives. Deliverables will include specific examples of informal learning experiences that support girls' long-term participation in science and evidence of the types of influences, including significant adults and particular activities, that contribute to girls' trajectories of participation. Dissemination tools will be a national conference, a research monograph and a series of workshops conducted in conjunction with professional conferences for informal science educators. By better understanding the impact of informal programs in science, specifically and more generally, and by developing and demonstrating an effective model for understanding such impact across projects, the proposed research stands to inform the field and provide a base for future project development and research efforts. The research results will improve the understanding of practice in these arenas and will document the significant role that informal programs place in influencing girls' vocational and avocational choices and participation in STEM fields. The study will also demonstrate the applicability of the CoP research model and its lessons to other informal science programs.