COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Project TRUE (Teens Researching Urban Ecology)

美国的就业市场正在创造更多的STEM工作岗位，而不是其他领域的工作岗位--预计这一趋势将在未来10年持续下去。尽管美国STEM毕业生人数略有增加，但来自代表性不足人口的毕业生比例仍然很低。该项目将研究如何动手城市生态研究计划可以积极影响代表性不足的青少年，并引导他们在大学追求STEM相关课程和专业。通过一个非正式的科学机构（野生动物保护协会）和一所大学（福德姆大学）之间的伙伴关系，200名来自代表性不足背景的青少年将在一名大学教授，研究生和本科生以及动物园教育人员的指导下，在纽约市的四个动物园之一进行城市生态学研究。城市生态计划的独特之处之一将是分层导师模式，其中大学教授指导研究生城市生态学生，他们反过来指导本科生，他们一起指导来自STEM领域代表性不足的社区的高中生。最终，该项目将确定方案战略和学生支持方法，可以帮助扩大和多样化的干劳动力。该项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，以扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深入学习的理解。这个研究和开发项目将通过调查四个关键的计划要素来推进STEM学习领域，以前的研究已经建议增加对STEM的兴趣和参与：1）动手STEM经验; 2）对STEM学习在世界上的效用的认识; 3）接触榜样;和4）与具有共同STEM兴趣的同龄人互动。该研究将开发基于调查的测量工具，并使用多变量分析来研究每个项目要素对五年内短期和中期STEM相关成果的影响。该研究将进一步解决问题，以了解这四个原则在现实世界中的影响，包括非项目因素（如父母的支持，学校课程等）的程度。影响模型，从而限制或增强影响。此外，该项目的评价部分将通过正式的案例研究，更深入地审查分层导师模式的影响。研究和评价将是相辅相成的，研究将随着时间的推移对参与者群体进行考察，评价将深入探讨参与者的经验。

The nation's job market is creating more STEM jobs than jobs in other fields - a trend predicted to continue for the next 10 years. Although there has been a slight increase in the number of STEM graduates in the US, the percentage of graduates from underrepresented populations remains low. This project will study how a hands-on urban ecology research program can positively impact underrepresented teens and lead them to pursue STEM-related courses and majors in college. Through a partnership between an informal science institution (the Wildlife Conservation Society) and a university (Fordham University), 200 teens from underrepresented backgrounds will conduct urban ecology research at one of four zoos in New York City under the guidance of a university professor, graduate and undergraduate students, and zoo education staff. One of the unique features of the urban ecology program will be a tiered mentorship model, in which university professors mentor graduate urban ecology students, who in turn mentor undergraduate students, and together they mentor high school students from communities underrepresented in STEM fields. Ultimately, this project will identify programmatic strategies and student support methods that can help expand and diversify the STEM workforce. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. This research and development project will advance the field of STEM learning by investigating four key programmatic elements that previous studies have suggested increase interest and participation in STEM: 1) Hands-on STEM experience; 2) Awareness of the utility of STEM learning in the world; 3) Exposure to a role model; and 4) Interaction with peers with shared STEM interest. The research will develop survey-based measurement tools and use multivariate analysis to examine the influence of each programmatic element on short- and medium-term STEM-related outcomes over a five-year period. The research will further address questions to understand the impact of these four principles within a real-world context, including the degree to which non-project factors (e.g. parental support, school coursework, etc.) influence the model, thus limiting or enhancing impact. Additionally, the evaluation component of this project will examine the impacts of the tiered mentorship model in greater depth through a formal case study. The research and evaluation will be complementary, with the research looking across cohorts of participants over time, and the evaluation exploring participant experiences in depth.