CAREER: Digital Badges for STEM Education: Designing Networked Learning Environments That Promote High School Students' STEM Identities and Learning Trajectories

数字革命改变了年轻人发现和追求自己兴趣的方式；他们如何与他人沟通并向他人学习；以及他们如何接触和了解周围的世界。我们如何确定将新媒体技术融入学习环境的最佳实践，以与年轻人产生共鸣的方式，包括他们的兴趣、目标以及他们在日常生活中使用技术的方式？我们如何解决记录和承认非正式STEM学习并将其与正规教育环境联系起来的需求？可以制定哪些策略来激励和跟踪学生朝着下一代科学标准（NGSS）中概述的学习目标前进？这些问题是本职业研究项目的潜在动机。数字徽章代表了一种特殊的网络技术，被吹捧为一种替代的认证系统，用于识别和奖励跨领域的学习，无论是在正规教育环境内还是在正规教育环境外。尽管对数字徽章的使用有相当大的热情和猜测，但它们在多大程度上成功地赋予学习者权力，并将他们的学习跨环境联系起来，这在很大程度上仍未经检验。该项目旨在填补这一知识空白。该研究计划采用的方法是一个基于设计的三个阶段的研究工作，将重点放在四个目标上：(1)确定开发和实施识别非正式STEM学习的数字徽章系统所需的设计原则和支持结构；(2)记录与建立数字徽章生态系统相关的机遇和挑战，该生态系统将非正式学习环境与正规教育和就业机会联系起来；(3)确定数字徽章是否以及如何支持学习者的STEM身份；(4)确定数字徽章是否以及如何帮助学习者将其非正式STEM学习与正规教育和就业机会联系起来。在第一阶段，在西雅图太平洋科学中心之前的工作中创建的现有原型将被开发成一个功能齐全的数字徽章系统。在第二阶段，太平洋科学中心倡议还将与高等教育利益攸关方合作，建立在高等教育背景下认可太平洋科学中心徽章的正式机制。在第三阶段，将扩大徽章生态系统，并在学生申请和进入大学时跟踪他们对徽章的使用和参与情况。该项目涉及参加太平洋科学中心探索队项目的高中生，华盛顿大学的本科生和研究生，以及西雅图K-12和高等教育社区的利益相关者。与该研究项目相结合的教育活动将支持：(1)在整个项目中指导华盛顿大学的学生，培养他们作为实践型研究人员的技能；(2)将该项目的研究过程和结果纳入大学课程，旨在培养学生对使用新媒体技术支持学习的机遇和挑战的理解；(3)利用研究结果制定教育外展计划，以支持其他非正式STEM学习机构使用数字徽章。

The digital revolution has transformed how young people discover and pursue their interests; how they communicate with and learn from other people; and how they encounter and learn about the world around them. How can we identify best practices for incorporating new media technologies into learning environments in a way that resonates with youth, including their interests, goals, and the ways they use technology in their everyday lives? How do we resolve the need to document and recognize informal STEM learning and connect it to formal education contexts? What strategies can be developed for inspiring and tracking student progress towards the learning goals outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)? These questions are the underlying motivation for this CAREER program of research. Digital badges represent a specific kind of networked technology and have been touted as an alternative credentialing system for recognizing and rewarding learning across domains, both inside and outside of formal education contexts. While there is considerable enthusiasm and speculation around the use of digital badges, the extent to which they succeed at empowering learners and connecting their learning across contexts remains largely untested. This project seeks to fill this gap in knowledge.The approach taken for this program of study is a three phased design-based research effort that will be focused on four objectives: (1) identifying design principles and support structures needed to develop and implement a digital badge system that recognizes informal STEM learning; (2) documenting the opportunities and challenges associated with building a digital badge ecosystem that connects informal learning contexts to formal education and employment opportunities; (3) determining whether and how digital badges support learners' STEM identities; and (4) determining whether and how digital badges help learners to connect their informal STEM learning to formal education and employment opportunities. In Phase 1, an existing prototype created in prior work at Seattle's Pacific Science Center will be developed into a fully functional digital badge system. In Phase 2, the PI will also work collaboratively with higher education stakeholders to establish formal mechanisms for recognizing Pacific Science Center badges in higher education contexts. In Phase 3, the badge ecosystem will be expanded and students' use of and engagement with badges will be tracked as they apply to and enter college.The project involves high school students participating in the Discovery Corps program at the Pacific Science Center, undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Washington, and stakeholders in the K-12 and higher education community in Seattle. Educational activities integrated with this program of research will support: (1) mentoring University of Washington students throughout the project to develop their skills as practice-oriented researchers; (2) incorporating the research processes and findings from the project into university courses aimed at developing students' understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with using new media technologies to support learning; and (3) using the research findings to develop educational outreach initiatives to support other informal STEM learning institutions in their use of digital badges.