AISL: Innovations in Development: Community-Driven Projects That Adapt Technology for Environmental Learning in Nature Preserves

虽然低收入和少数群体社区不成比例地遭受恶劣环境条件的影响，但这些社区的成员在参与性科学项目和非正式科学学习机会中的代表性往往不足。社区驱动的STEM项目有许多好处，无论是对个人的经验学习还是对社区的改善。扩大参与还有助于更全面地了解复杂的环境问题，包括STEM内容和技能。该项目使种族和经济上多样化的社区成员参与确定和执行对其生活有意义的环境项目，并采用称为自然网的技术来帮助他们。NatureNet包括一个手机应用程序、一个多用户、基于触摸的桌面显示器和一个基于网络的社区，它是在NSF的支持下开发的。参与华盛顿，华盛顿特区Anacostia流域协会方案的核心参与者，和马里兰州，以及北卡罗来纳州夏洛特的芦苇溪自然保护区，将与自然学家，教育工作者和技术专家合作，提出科学问题，并形成与城市水道恢复和保护本地物种有关的假设。然后，他们将使用NatureNet收集和分析数据，要求更改技术，以根据项目需要进行定制。自然中心的休闲游客将能够通过桌面与环境项目互动，而那些住在更远地方的人将能够通过在线社区参与更多的外围活动。这项研究由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习的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来拓宽STEM学习经验的获取和参与，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度学习的理解。该研究项目由马里兰州大学帕克分校的研究人员领导，来自北卡罗来纳州大学夏洛特和科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的合作者，将提供两个问题的答案：1）社区驱动的非正式环境学习项目如何影响参与者，包括他们通过技术积极参与科学问题的动机以及他们对自然保护区和科学探究的态度，以及2）关键因素是什么（例如，参与者的人口组成、地理位置）对社区推动的环境项目的发展有何影响？研究人员将收集大量的定性和定量数据，以了解社区项目是如何选择和实施的，参与者如何使用和适应技术，以及如何在几个月的时间内通过迭代项目周期促进对STEM相关问题的非正式学习和参与。数据将通过动机问卷、焦点小组、访谈、桌面、移动的和网站互动日志、参与式设计和反思会议的现场记录以及自然保护区工作人员保存的项目日志收集。通过广泛的研究，迭代设计和评估工作，研究人员将为社区驱动的环境项目开发一种创新模式，通过展示不同社区的成员如何将环境知识和科学探究技能与其社区的实践，价值观和目标联系起来，以及如何使用技术来促进这种联系，从而深化非正式的科学教育。

While low-income and minority communities suffer disproportionately from poor environmental conditions, members of these communities tend to be under-represented in participatory scientific projects and informal science learning opportunities. There are many benefits to community-driven STEM projects, both for individuals' experiential learning and for the betterment of communities. Expanding participation also contributes to a more complete understanding of complex environmental problems, including STEM content and skills. This project engages members of racially and economically diverse communities in identifying and carrying out environmental projects that are meaningful to their lives, and adapts technology known as NatureNet to assist them. NatureNet, which encompasses a cell phone app, a multi-user, touch-based tabletop display and a web-based community, was developed with prior NSF support. Core participants involved in programs of the Anacostia Watershed Society in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, and the Reedy Creek Nature Preserve in Charlotte, NC, will work with naturalists, educators, and technology specialists to ask scientific questions and form hypotheses related to urban waterway restoration and preservation of native species. They will then collect and analyze data using NatureNet, requesting changes to the technology to customize it as needed for their projects. Casual visitors to the nature centers will be able to interact with the environmental projects via the tabletop, and those who live farther away will be able to participate more peripherally via the online community. This study 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.The research project, led by researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park, with collaborators from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and the University of Colorado, Boulder, will provide answers to two questions: 1) How do community-driven informal environmental learning projects impact participants, including their motivation to actively participate in science issues via technology and their disposition toward nature preserves and scientific inquiry, and 2) What are the key factors (e.g., demographic composition of participants, geographical location) that influence the development of community-driven environmental projects? Researchers will gather extensive qualitative and quantitative data to understand how community projects are selected and carried out, how participants approach technology use and adaptation, and how informal learning and engagement on STEM-related issues can be fostered over a period of several months and through iterative project cycles. Data will be collected through motivation questionnaires; focus groups; interviews; tabletop, mobile, and website interaction logs; field notes from participatory design and reflection sessions; and project journals kept by nature preserve staff. Through extensive research, iterative design, and evaluation efforts, researchers will develop an innovative model for community-driven environmental projects that will deepen informal science education by demonstrating how members of diverse communities connect environmental knowledge and scientific inquiry skills to the practices, values, and goals of their communities, and how technology can be used to facilitate such connections.