Might Young Makers Be The Engineers Of The Future?

本研究的目的是了解K-12的青年创客，以及他们的知识、技能和态度如何为他们追求高级STEM教育和职业做好准备。本研究将通过正式工程教育的视角，通过发展表征青年创客及其路径的理论，来提高目前对青年创客社区有限的认识。其目的是建立证据，证明“制造”如何使青年制造者受益，并影响他们进入STEM专业和相关职业的途径。这项研究的结果将改变关于青年创客可以成为什么样的人的讨论，将制造与工程联系起来，就像父母和职业顾问将擅长科学和数学的学生指向工程学一样。通过在正规教育系统中向学生、K-12学校管理人员、大学领导、招生官员以及在线和青年创客社区活动中广泛分享不同（年龄、性别和种族）的青年创客成功档案，我们的目标是照亮青年创客成为未来工程师的道路。此外，本研究可以在非正式工程教育和修修补补活动的成功属性的基础上，形成未来正式K-12 STEM教学法的创新。

The purpose of this study is to understand Young Makers in K-12 and how their knowledge,skills, and attitudes might prepare them to pursue advanced STEM education and careers. Thisstudy will advance the currently limited knowledge of the Young Maker community bydeveloping theory characterizing Young Makers and their pathways through the lens of formalengineering education. The aim is to establish evidence as to how Making benefits YoungMakers and affects their pathways to STEM majors and related careers.The results of this study will transform the conversation of who Young Makers could become,linking Making with engineering in the same way that students who excel in science and mathare pointed toward engineering by parents and career counselors. By sharing a diverse (by age,gender, and ethnicity) set of success profiles of Young Makers widely in the formal educationsystem to students, K-12 school administrators, university leaders, admissions officers, and toYoung Makers both online and at Young Maker community events, we aim to illuminatepathways for Young Makers to become the engineers of the future. In addition, this study couldinform future innovation in formal K-12 STEM pedagogy based on successful attributes ofinformal engineering education and tinkering activities.