RAIN - Rural Activation and Innovation Network

总体而言，全国各地的农村社区在各种形式的STEM教育方面服务不足。显然，她们在当代STEM学科领域的代表性不足，往往是因为她们在地理上与世隔绝，无法前往有科学和博物馆中心的城市接受非正式教育。作为加强非正式环境学习总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）项目为各种环境中使用的创新资源提供资金。该奖项将在社区内的合作努力下，将STEM活动带到亚利桑那州的选定社区。在最初的活动中，将有一个STEM节，突出社区及其资产的各个方面，以努力收集支持，并开始为长期努力提供身份观点。此外，这些社区将联网，以促进讨论和提高效率。该项目将在选定的社区内开展STEM活动和STEM学习，为社区及其居民提供青年发展和职业选择的身份和机会。亚利桑那州选定的社区代表了一个多元化的群体，包括美洲原住民和拉丁美洲人。在与社区居民的合作下，将制定一项设计计划，以满足现有社区资产（无论是采矿、旅游还是政府设施）的需求和机会。评估工作旨在确定促进每个农村社区获取STEM知识的关键特征和方法。该项目代表了农村非正规STEM教育领域的开创性和基础性工作。研究人员将探讨以下问题：1)了解农村社区目前如何感知、获取和参与非正式科学学习，以及他们在多大程度上认同自己和/或他们的社区与科学的关系；2)相关的、基于地点的网络可以在多大程度上提高公众对当地STEM资产、资源和机会的认识，并在个人和社区层面培养与科学相关的身份。这些数据将与AISL投资组合中其他农村社区项目的数据进行比较。这项工作的合作伙伴包括亚利桑那科学中心、来自亚利桑那州四个农村地区的社区领导人、亚利桑那州立大学和科学与工业中心。

Rural communities across the Nation are, in general, underserved in terms of the various forms of STEM education. Clearly, they are under-represented in the realm of contemporary STEM subjects often because they are geographically isolated and cannot travel to cities where there are Science and Museum Centers for informal education opportunities. As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative resources for use in a variety of settings. This award will, in a collaborative effort within the community, bring STEM activities to selected communities in Arizona. Among the initial activities, there will be a STEM festival highlighting aspects of the community and its assets in an effort to gather support and begin to give perspective on identity for an extended effort of longevity. Further, these communities will be networked to facilitate discussion and to enhance effectiveness. This project will develop STEM activities and STEM learning within a selected community by giving the community and its residents identity and opportunities for youth development and career choices. The selected communities in Arizona represent a diverse group that includes Native Americans and Latinos. In collaboration with community residents, a designed plan will be established that satisfies the needs and opportunities that can be derived from the extant community assets whether it is mining, tourism, or government facilities. Evaluation efforts are set to determine what the key features and methodologies are that facilitate STEM knowledge acquisition for each rural community. This project represents seminal and foundational work in the area of rural informal STEM education. Researchers will explore the following questions: 1) understanding how rural communities currently perceive, access, and engage in informal science learning, and the extent to which they identify themselves and/or their community in relation to science; and 2) the extent to which relevant, place-based networks can increase public awareness of local STEM assets, resources, and opportunities, and foster a science-related identity at both the personal and community level. These data will be compared to data on other rural community projects in the AISL portfolio. The partners in this effort include the Arizona Science Center, community leaders from four rural regions in Arizona, Arizona State University, and the Center of Science and Industry.