App Maker Pro (AMP): Motivating STEM Study through App Development

该项目将推动学生和教师创新技术体验(ITEST)计划的努力，以更好地了解和促进提高学生在科学、技术、工程或数学(STEM)领域追求职业生涯的动机和能力的实践，方法是产生经验结论和/或研究工具，帮助了解哪些模式和干预措施最有可能提高未来STEM和STEM同源密集型劳动力的能力。项目AMP(App Maker Pro)是亚利桑那州立大学与亚利桑那州钱德勒、希格利、梅萨和凤凰城公立学校的合作项目，将衡量设计村(社区)计划的有效性，该计划旨在培养高中生的技术兴趣和天赋。作为增加STEM专业数量的一种方式，教师将提高他们的技术专业知识和技术应用知识。在设计村，由高中生和高中STEM教师组成的团队将研究现有的应用程序，然后开发(或修改)现有的应用程序，包括那些专注于游戏和建筑设计的应用程序，这些应用程序解决各种STEM和相关领域的问题，例如城市规划、生态友好建设、教育、金融、营养/健身/医疗保健和旅游。AMP的方法及其设计是由科学家和行业专家、教师和学生组成的村庄，他们通过开发将立即为公众所用的应用程序来合作确定和解决STEM领域具有挑战性的问题，不仅增加了为STEM领域的专上教育做好准备的高中生人数，而且还可能被证明是招募高中毕业生进入STEM领域的一种工具。AMP产品，包括有效的课后AMP计划的课程，促进了这一战略在全国范围内的复制。应用程序和软件设计计划将遵循非正式的敏捷开发方法，从原型到中间到最终版本的需求、设计规范、实施和验证的快速循环迭代。在增加自己在设计和开发方面的专业知识后，教师和高中生团队将为所在学校的其他学生和教师创建和开展课后AMP项目。设计村将由大学和行业科学家领导，并由软件设计和编程专业的本科生协助。每个设计村将由5名村民(3名学生和2名教师)组成的10个小组组成。在整个项目过程中，将进行三个设计村，涉及90名高中生，60名高中教师，15至45名导师。评估将以学生和教师为重点。主要目标将包括：1)提高学生在高中学习STEM科目的兴趣和承诺；2)在高中以后的教育环境中注册并坚持STEM计划的学生人数；3)增加教师对将软件开发作为让学生参与解决现实世界问题的工具的兴趣和承诺；以及4)增加教师成功规划和提供课后或在校计划的软件设计和应用程序开发课程的能力。评估结果将增加关于学生课程和项目选择的动机和职业选择的知识，以及提高教师技术人才和STEM职业知识的专业发展方法。

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by producing empirical findings and/or research tools that contribute to knowledge about which models and interventions with K-12 students and teachers are most likely to increase capacity in the STEM and STEM cognate intensive workforce of the future. Project AMP (App Maker Pro), a partnership between Arizona State University and the Chandler, Higley, Mesa, and Phoenix, Arizona public schools, will gauge the effectiveness of a design village (community) program on the technology interests and talents of high school students. The teachers will enhance their technology expertise and knowledge of applications of technology, as a way to increase the number of STEM majors. In design villages, teams of high school students and high school STEM teachers will study existing apps, and then develop (or modify existing) apps, including those focusing on games, and architectural designs, that address problems in the various STEM and related fields, as for example, city planning, eco-friendly construction, education, finance, nutrition/fitness/healthcare, and travel. The AMP approach, with its design villages of scientists and industry experts, teachers and students, who collaborate to identify and address challenging problems in STEM fields through development of apps that will be immediately useful by the public, not only increase the number of high school students well-prepared for post-secondary education in STEM fields, but may also prove to be a tool for recruiting high school graduates into STEM fields. AMP products, including curricula for effective after-school AMP programs facilitate replication of this strategy nationwide. The app and software design program will follow an informal agile development methodology which moves through rapid-cycle iteration from prototyping to intermediate to final versions of the requirements, design specifications, implementation and validation. After increasing their own expertise in design and development, teams of teachers and high school students will create and conduct after-school AMP programs for other students and teachers in their schools. Design villages will be conducted and led by university and industry scientists, assisted by undergraduate software design and programming majors. Each design village will consist of 10 teams of 5 villagers (3 students and 2 teachers). Over the course of the project, three design villages will be conducted, involving 90 high school students, 60 high school teachers, and from 15 to 45 mentors. Evaluation will focus on both students and teachers. Major goals will include: 1) Increase in student interest in and commitment to study STEM subjects in high school; 2) Increase in the number of students who enroll in and persist in STEM programs in education settings beyond high school; 3) Increase in teacher interest in and commitment to use of software development as a vehicle for engaging students in solving real-world problems; and 4) Increase in teachers' talents to successfully plan and offer software design and app development courses for after-school or in-school programs. Results from the evaluation will add to knowledge about motivation for student course and program selection and career choice, and professional development approaches that enhance teacher technology talents and knowledge of STEM careers.