Case Study of Experiential, Capstones in Industry: Understanding High School Students Interest and Preparation for STEM Careers

该项目的目的是帮助在校学生，特别是代表性不足的少数民族和女性，进入科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的职业生涯。 该战略将是研究一个成功的学习模式，将传统的高中STEM课程与STEM商业社区的真实的世界项目相结合。该研究将阐明该计划的各个组成部分如何共同努力，以支持学生的动机和STEM职业的准备，特别是女性和少数民族学生。研究结果将使在全国类似情况下实施该方案成为可能。在公立学区范围内更好地理解体验式学习可能会影响成千上万的学生。该项目的目标是进行探索性的个案研究蓝谷中心高级专业研究（BVCAPS），这是该中心的高级专业研究（CAPS）网络的创始位置。CAPS将为公立学校高中三年级和四年级学生提供包括STEM顶点经验（医学、生物科学、技术或工程）的编程。本研究以社会认知职业生涯理论和高质量项目学习的理论和概念框架为指导，试图回答以下研究问题：1）CAPS模式如何支持学生的STEM职业动机和准备？2)BVCAPS模式的哪些方面有助于提高女性和代表性不足的少数民族学生的动机和准备干职业？定性探索将用于创建一套经过验证和可靠的工具，可用于更广泛地研究这一项目和类似项目，因为它们与STEM职业的动机和准备有关。本研究将建立在高中STEM教育的文献在基于项目的学习和顶点经验在高中和添加到高中STEM体验式学习的发展文献。本研究创建的测量工具将使我们能够在学校网络（美国13个州80多个学区的10，000多名学生）和更广泛的项目中检查顶点模型。除了测量工具本身的潜在影响外，本研究的结果还将讨论其他STEM教育工作者如何支持STEM职业学生的动机和准备，特别是女性和少数民族。在这一领域收集的信息将有助于推进高中STEM改革和准备中学后的职业和学习机会。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The aim of this project will be to help school students, particularly under-represented minorities and females, to access careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The strategy will be to study a demonstrated successful learning model that integrates traditional high school STEM curriculum with real world projects from the STEM business community. The study will illuminate how the components of the program work together to support students' motivation and preparation for STEM careers, in particular female and minority students. The findings of the study will make it possible to implement the program in similar contexts across the nation. A better understanding of experiential learning within a public school district context can potentially impact tens of thousands of students. The goal of this project is to conduct an exploratory case study of Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies (BVCAPS) which is the founding location of the Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) network. CAPS will provide programming that includes STEM capstone experiences (in medicine, bioscience, technology, or engineering) for public school high school juniors and seniors. Guided by the theoretical and conceptual constructs of social cognitive career theory and high-quality project-based learning, this study will seek to answer the following research questions: 1) How does the CAPS model support students' motivation and preparation for STEM careers? 2) What aspects of the BVCAPS model contribute to increased female and under-represented minority student motivation and preparation for STEM careers? The qualitative exploration will be used to create a set of validated and reliable instruments that can be used to study this and similar programs more broadly as they relate to motivation and preparation for STEM careers. This study will build on the literature in high school STEM education in the area of project-based learning and capstone experiences in high school and add to the developing literature on high school STEM experiential learning. Measurement tools created by this study will enable examination of the capstone model in programs within the network of schools (over 10,000 students in more than 80 school districts within 13 states across the US) and more broadly. In addition to the potential impact of the measurement tools themselves, the findings of this study will address how other STEM educators can support the motivation and preparation for students in STEM careers, in particular female and minorities. Information gleaned in this area will help advance high school STEM reform and preparation for post-secondary careers and learning opportunities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.