GSE/RES: Red Light, Green Light Signals? Defining Family and School Influences on Rural, American Indian Girls' Early STEM Interests

俄克拉荷马州立大学（OSU）的一个多学科研究团队与当地公立学校官员合作，将在三年内测量年轻学生在STEM兴趣、成就和态度方面的变化，并将这些变化与可识别的家长/老师影响联系起来。研究目标是确定低收入，农村美洲原住民男孩和女孩对科学和数学的早期兴趣的重要预测因素，可以为鼓励年轻女孩对STEM兴趣的课堂实践提供指导。具体而言，本研究将(1)确定和检查家庭和学校对俄克拉何马州农村地区3 - 5年级学生科学和数学兴趣和成绩变化的影响，主要是美国原住民人口；(2)产生案例研究，说明在这一特殊人群中对女孩STEM兴趣的影响。目标学校地区包括大量低社会经济地位（SES）学生（有资格获得免费和减价膳食的学生）和印第安人。这项研究中的35所学校是(1)切罗基、波尼和奥塞奇印第安民族的小型农村学校，(2)位于研究基地附近。这项研究包括了3 - 5年级的800名学生（其中大约45%是印第安人学生），每个年级的男女人数相似。美洲土著咨询委员会将提供指导，确保文化意识和敏感性为方法和分析提供信息。方法包括观察方案、调查工具、焦点小组和学生考试成绩。更广泛的影响研究成果和新战略将在国家会议、专业出版物以及向部落群体和决策者广泛传播。这项研究将成为首个以研究为基础的关于家庭和学校对农村美国原住民群体STEM兴趣影响的研究。教育基础设施将得到加强，为不同的学生提供研究机会，与农村学校建立新的伙伴关系，扩大教育工作者的网络，准备解决STEM中的性别和少数族裔平等问题。长期的、创新的变化将在教学实践的确定中得到衡量，这些教学实践将鼓励年轻的美国原住民女性对STEM感兴趣。这项研究对改善国内更大、更多样化的科学和工程劳动力的机会具有启示意义。俄克拉荷马州立大学坚定地致力于教师和学生的多样性，在许多传统上代表性不足的群体中积极招聘。值得注意的是，俄勒冈州立大学是美国原住民大学生入学率最高的大学。该奖项由EPSCoR和科学与工程项目中的性别研究共同资助。

Intellectual MeritA team of multidisciplinary researchers at Oklahoma State University (OSU), in collaboration with local public school officials, will measure changes in young students' STEM interests, achievement, and attitudes over three years and relate these changes to identifiable parent/teacher influences. The research goal is to determine significant predictors of low-income, rural Native American boys' and girls' early interests in science and mathematics that can provide guidance for classroom practices that encourage young girls' STEM interests. Specifically, this research will (1) determine and examine family and school influences related to changes in students' science and math interests and achievement from 3rd - 5th grade among rural, largely Native American populations in Oklahoma and (2) generate case studies that illustrate influences on girls' STEM interests within this special population.The targeted school region includes large numbers of low, socio-economic status (SES) students (those eligible for free and reduced-price meals) and Native Americans. The 35 schools in this study are (1) small, rural schools within the Cherokee, Pawnee and Osage Indian Nations and (2) located near the research base. The study includes 800 students (with approximately 45% Native American students) in grades 3 - 5 with similar numbers of girls and boys at each level. A Native American Advisory Board will provide guidance to assure cultural awareness and sensitivity informs methodology and analysis. Methods include observation protocols, survey instruments, focus groups, and student test scores.Broader ImpactsResearch results and new strategies will be widely disseminated at national conferences, in professional publications, and to tribal groups and policy makers. This study will break ground as the first research-based research of home and school influences on STEM interests among rural, Native American populations. Educational infrastructure will be enhanced by providing research opportunities for diverse students, creating new partnerships with rural schools, and expanding the network of educators prepared to address gender and minority equity issues in STEM. Long-term, innovative changes will be measured in the determination of pedagogical teaching practices that encourage STEM interests of young Native American women. This research has implications for improving opportunities for a larger and more diverse domestic science and engineering workforce. Oklahoma State University is strongly committed to faculty and student diversity, actively recruiting among many traditionally underrepresented groups. It should be noted that OSU has the highest enrollment of Native American college students in the United States.This award is co-funded by the EPSCoR and the Research on Gender in Science and Engineering programs.