Full-Scale Development: Science STARS-Nurturing Urban Girls' Identities Through Inquiry-Based Science

“科学之星”是一个课后项目，将邀请大约400名城市中学女生参与真实的基于探究的科学调查，并制作一部科学纪录片，扩展她们的研究并将她们的发现定位。该项目已在纽约州罗切斯特市进行试点，并将扩展到密歇根州兰辛市和华盛顿州西雅图市。为提高项目经验，增加了新的元素，包括纪录片视频部分、与当地社区外展组织的伙伴关系、当地女科学家的指导、利用嵌入式评估来加强对学习的衡量，以及向当地利益相关者举行会议和演讲，以展示参与者的工作。参与者将在学年期间和夏季的三个密集周会面，每年总计约65小时。该项目的一个独特之处在于使用了来自当地教师培训计划的职前教师，以方便调查。这反过来又发展了职前教师在实践中实施和利用探究式学习的能力。项目层面的研究将解决这样的问题：诸如此类的模型如何鼓励女孩发展积极的科学身份，以及将科学调查置于她们的社区中如何影响她们对科学和当地问题的理解。项目评估将由Horizon Research进行，重点关注项目活动的质量、项目研究计划的质量以及对参与者和职前教师的影响。科学之星周到地连接正式和非正式的学习环境。虽然“科学之星”项目的基地主要设在学校，以增加那些可能不认同科学的人的接触机会，但该项目的目的是利用非正式环境的独特优势，并有助于理解如何利用非正式科学教育来培养城市中学女生的积极科学身份。

Science STARS (Stars Tackling Authentic & Relevant Science) is an after-school program that will engage approximately 400 urban middle school girls in authentic inquiry-based scientific investigations and the creation of a science documentary that extends their research and situates their findings. The project has been piloted in Rochester, NY and will be expanded to sites in Lansing, MI and Seattle, WA. New elements have been added to enhance the project experience including the documentary video component, partnerships with local community outreach organizations, mentoring by local female scientists, leveraging embedded assessments to enhance the measurement of learning, and a conference and presentations to local stakeholders to showcase the work of the participants. Participants will meet during the school year plus three intensive weeks during the summer for a total of about 65 hours per year. A unique feature of this project is the use of pre-service teachers from local teacher preparation programs to facilitate the investigations. This in turn develops the capacity of pre-service teachers to implement and leverage inquiry-based learning in their practice. Project-level research will address questions of how models such as this encourage the development of positive science identities in girls and how situating science investigations in their community affects their understanding of science and local issues. The project evaluation will be conducted by Horizon Research and will focus on the quality of project activities, the quality of the project's research plan, and the impact on participants and pre-service teachers.Science STARS thoughtfully bridges formal and informal learning environments. While Science STARS largely situates its home base in schools in order to increase access to those who may not self-identify with science, the program is designed to capitalize on the unique affordances of informal settings and contribute to understanding how informal science education can be used to nurture positive science identities for urban middle school girls.