"Making" STEM Relevant in Underserved Communities

全国各地的许多社区都在开发“创客空间”，将物理制造设备、人们一起工作的社会社区和学习如何设计和创造物体的教育活动结合在一起的环境。越来越多的创客空间和创客技术旨在为学龄青年提供更多的学习机会。不幸的是，很少有来自弱势群体的年轻人有机会参与这些创客空间，许多社区没有资源来建立专门的创客活动设施。该项目由加州州立大学、圣马科斯和圣地亚哥县教育办公室、Vista联合学区和圣地亚哥Fab Lab的教师合作，是一项可行性研究，将通过在服务不足的年轻人中实施和评估试点移动制造项目来解决这些需求。它将使用一辆面包车将设备和本科生导师带到项目地点，将Making带到圣地亚哥服务不足社区的四个课外项目中。在这些网站上，50%到90%的学生是西班牙裔或拉丁裔，40%到90%的学生有资格享受免费或减价午餐。该项目采用以研究为基础的方法来设计和实施“移动制作”计划，并结合以证据为基础的计划来制定未来传播模式。项目目标是：提高参与者对制造/STEM在日常生活中的相关性的兴趣、自我效能感和感知；识别和克服与移动制作程序相关的挑战；开发一个模型，在服务不足的社区实施和评估移动制造；并为从业人员分发材料和指南。发展将以五项基于研究的原则为指导，以设计服务不足社区的校外时间计划：获取资源；种族多元化的同级领导；真实的活动;社区内的合法性；以及参与者的持续反馈。为了为项目开发和实施提供信息，包括在为期两年的计划中持续监测和调整，评估部分将采用混合方法来研究学生、家长和本科生导师的成果。未来的工作将应用项目中获得的经验教训来指导实施，并研究该模型在其他非正规教育环境中的适用性。传播计划将包括出版项目成果、活动、从业者指南以及在服务不足的社区实施制作方案的模式。

Many communities across the country are developing "maker spaces," environments that combine physical fabrication equipment, social communities of people working together, and educational activities for learning how to design and create objects. Increasingly, maker spaces and maker technologies are being designed to provide extended learning opportunities for school-aged young people. Unfortunately, few youth from under-represented populations have had the opportunity to participate in these maker spaces, and many communities do not have the resources to establish facilities dedicated to making activities. This project, a collaboration of faculty at California State University, San Marcos and San Diego County Office of Education, the Vista Unified School District, and the San Diego Fab Lab, is a feasibility study that will work to address these needs by implementing and evaluating a pilot Mobile Making program in an underserved youth population. It will bring Making to four after-school programs in underserved communities in San Diego by using a van to take both equipment and undergraduate student mentors to program sites. At these sites, between 50% and 90% of the students are Hispanic or Latino and between 40% and 90% are eligible for free or reduced price lunch. The project employs a research-based approach to the design and implementation of the Mobile Making program, coupled with an evidenced-based plan for developing a model for future dissemination. Project objectives are: increasing the participants' interest, self-efficacy, and perception of the relevance of Making/STEM in everyday life; identifying and overcoming challenges associated with a Mobile Making program; developing a model for implementing and assessing Mobile Making in underserved communities; and disseminating materials and guides for practitioners. Development will be guided by five research-based principles for design of out-of-school time programs in underserved communities: access to resources; ethnically diverse near-peer leaders; authentic activities; legitimacy within the community; and ongoing input from participants. To inform program development and implementation, including continuous monitoring and adjustment throughout the two-year initiative, the evaluation component will use a mixed methods approach to study outcomes with respect to the students, their parents and the undergraduate mentors. Future work will apply the lessons learned in the project to guide implementations and study the model's applicability in other informal education settings. The dissemination plan will include publication of project findings, activities, practitioner's guides, and the model for implementing making programs in underserved communities.