NSF INCLUDES: Early Engagement in Research: key to STEM retention

这是一个为期两年的“工程和科学领域未被充分代表的发现者学习者的全国社区包容”（包括）设计和开发启动试点项目，目标是哈德逊河谷（Hudson Valley）的高中生，包括纽约大都会地区。它将支持一个致力于为对真正的研究项目感兴趣的青年提供实习和指导机会的机构合作伙伴网络。拟议的工作将建立在当前的浸入式研究项目——哥伦比亚大学Lamont-Doherty地球观测站的中学实地研究项目（SSFRP）。SSFRP为高中生提供服务，主要来自代表性不足和服务不足的社区，他们与大学生，科学教师和研究人员一起研究特定的科学问题。在过去的十年里，该项目已经产生了明显的影响，包括上大学的人数，以及学生对STEM专业的选择。跟踪数据显示，它在四年制大学的校友保留率远高于正常水平，而且早期参与者中有很大一部分现在正在攻读科学或工程专业的研究生课程。该项目在吸引缺乏科学服务的人群、促进进入大学、招收STEM专业学生以及通过本科和研究生学习保留学生方面的有效性超出了所有人的预期。因此，该项目的总体目标将是通过与同行研究机构、学区和网络、公共土地和资源管理机构、私人资助机构、非正式教育机构以及教学模型、指标和评估方面的专家的联盟，扩展和调整研究沉浸式暑期实习模式。以地球和环境科学为重点，夏季和全年的指导模式将允许高中生在研究科学家的指导下，在由大学生和教师领导的研究团队中工作。指导模式将是多层次的，在整个学习过程中，同伴、近同伴和研究人员与学生的关系交织在一起。该项目制定了一系列可检验的解释性假设：(1)除了具体的学科知识外，成功取决于学生在实践社区中的参与度，在科学研究的背景下与近同龄人的导师、教师和科学家进行互动；(2)参与的强度也改变了学生对未来的看法，包括高等教育，特别是想象和走向STEM职业；(3)在学生上大学之前的早期参与是至关重要的，因为高中是学生形成与科学学习相关的参与模式和能力的地方。因此，这个为期两年的计划的近期目标将是创建大约11个以地球和环境科学为重点的研究实习项目，并通过与更广泛的教育合作伙伴社区的接触，建立促进发展的网络。这种方法的主要重点将是消除高中生和STEM组织之间的障碍，并使哥伦比亚大学目前的指导模式适应哈德逊河谷下游其他研究小组和实习项目的特定文化。该团队已经召集了一系列不同的合作伙伴，致力于通过集体影响的方法扩大STEM的参与，尽早参与基于项目的学习。研究伙伴将提供导师、研究项目和实验室设施。教育网络合作伙伴将为学生，特别是资源不足社区的学生提供参与的机会，并为感兴趣的教师提供参与的机会。非正式学习型组织将提供进入实地和研究地点的机会，以及研究传播的机会。在第一年，该项目将为现有的合作伙伴举办一系列发展讲习班，并根据共同利益、资源互补和地理邻近程度促进形成新的伙伴集群。研讨会将为合作伙伴提供一个论坛，让他们了解彼此的愿景、价值观、挑战和现有结构，同时解决与年轻研究人员参与STEM相关的理论和实践问题。在第二年，项目将根据商定的目标、项目模式、研究项目、招聘和保留策略、员工培训、数据收集和评估计划，在各个地点实施实习计划。外部评估人员将处理形成性和总结性评估，以检查三个项目。关于科学研究对学生参与、沉浸程度和项目整体有效性的教育影响的假设。

This is a two-year "Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science" (INCLUDES) Design and Development Launch Pilot targeting high school students in the Hudson Valley, including the New York Metropolitan Area. It will support a network of institutional partners that are committed to providing internship and mentoring opportunities to youths interested in authentic research projects. The proposed work will build on a current research immersion program--the Secondary School Field Research Program (SSFRP) at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. SSFRP serves high school students, mainly from underrepresented and underserved communities, who work with college students, science teachers, and researchers around a specific science problem. Over the past decade, the program has had demonstrable impact, including attendance to college, and students' selection of STEM majors. Tracking data indicates that retention rates of its alumni in four-year colleges are well above the norm, and a significant fraction of early participants are now in graduate programs in science or engineering. The program has surpassed all expectations in its effectiveness at engaging underserved populations in science and promoting entry into college, recruitment into STEM majors, and retention through undergraduate and into graduate studies. Hence, the project's overall goal will be to extend and adapt the research-immersive summer internship model through an alliance with peer research institutions, school districts and networks, public land and resource management agencies, private funding agencies, informal educational institutions, and experts in pedagogical modeling, metrics, and evaluation. Focused on earth and environmental sciences, the summer and year-round mentoring model will allow high school students to work in research teams led by college students and teachers under the direction of research scientists. The mentoring model will be multilayered, with peer, near-peer, and researcher-student relationships interweaving throughout the learning process. The project has formulated a set of testable explanatory hypotheses: (1) Beyond specific subject knowledge, success rests on increased student engagement in a community of practice, with near-peer mentors, teachers, and scientists in the context of scientific research; (2) The intensity of engagement also shifts the students' vision of their future to include higher education, and specifically to imagine and move toward a STEM career; and (3) Early engagement, before students attend college, is critical because high school is where students form patterns of engagement and capacities related to science learning. Thus, the immediate goal of the two-year plan will be to create approximately 11 research internship programs focused on earth and environmental sciences, and to build the networks for growth through engagement with a wider community of educational partners. The main focus of this approach will be removing barriers between high school students and STEM organizations, and adapting the current mentoring model at Columbia University to the specific cultures of other research groups and internship programs throughout the lower Hudson Valley. The team has already assembled a diverse set of partners committed to broadening participation in STEM using a collective impact approach to early engagement in project-based learning. Research partners will provide the mentors, research projects, and laboratory facilities. The educational network partners will provide access for students, particularly those from under-resourced communities to participate, as well as participation opportunities for interested teachers. Informal learning organizations will provide access to field and research sites, along with research dissemination opportunities. In Year 1, the project will conduct a series of development workshops for partners already in place and foster the formation of new partnership clusters according to shared interest, complementary resources and geographic proximity. The workshops will provide a forum for partners to learn about each other's visions, values, challenges, and existing structures, while working through theoretical and practical issues related to STEM engagement for young investigators. In Year 2, the project will target the implementation of the internship programs at various sites according to the agreed-upon goals, program model, research projects, recruitment and retention strategy, staff training, data collection, and evaluation plans. An external evaluator will address both the formative and summative evaluation of the effort directed toward examining the three project?s hypotheses concerning the educational impacts of scientific research on student engagement, extent of the immersion, and overall effectiveness of the programs.