Virtual Access to STEM Careers (VASC)

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。为了满足STEM劳动力的多样化需求和未来需求，国家倡议强调了鼓励来自服务不足群体的学生探索STEM职业的重要性。该项目名为虚拟STEM职业访问(VASc)，旨在调查一种以问题为基础的学习课程，旨在消除一些传统障碍，这些障碍阻碍了未得到充分服务的学生参与真正的STEM学习机会。VASC专注于3-5年级，在沉浸式虚拟环境中使用多个平台和不同的交互模式开展一系列活动，以满足缺乏资源和基础设施以广泛投资于昂贵技术的学校的需求。将战略重点放在小学层面，突显了在过渡到中学水平的课程时防止“STEM管道破裂”的重要性，因为研究表明，曾经对STEM职业感兴趣的学生往往会失去兴趣。VASC的第一阶段侧重于STEM在海洋、地质和计算机科学领域的职业暴露。为了激发学习者的好奇心，学生们将调查赤头海龟的生活史，这种海龟广泛地栖息在北卡罗来纳州的海滩上，目前被《濒危物种法案》列为濒危物种。海龟是构建VASC学习平台的一个出色而强大的模型，因为在它们的一生中，它们会旅行很远的距离(迁徙过程中会走数千英里)，经历各种物理和化学的海洋条件，以及与许多海洋动植物物种的大量生态互动。因此，了解海龟的生命周期使年轻学习者接触到大量的STEM应用以及调查和保护海龟种群的人的职业生涯。学生还将承担不同STEM职业的角色和责任，当他们参与以问题为基础的学习模式时，不仅要在现场，也要在实验室里。该项目的目标包括：1)利用自然资源保护者、科学家和教育团队的意见开发虚拟技术；2)构建一个STEM课程，可供服务不足的人群使用；3)实施课程的迭代评估过程，以便有效和高效地测试和重新测试修改。研究人员的目标是通过结合基于问题的学习和沉浸式虚拟环境作为一种创新的教学模式来推动情境认知理论的发展，以实现变革。为了测试VASC课程的有效性，将考察以下研究问题：(1)哪些涉及新兴技术的学习经验有效地使不同群体的学生熟悉这些技术并获得相关能力，以及哪些因素影响学习经验的结果？以及(2)教师使用了哪些与文化相适应的教学和课程实践和模式来提高学生对STEM职业的理解和兴趣，以及哪些因素影响了实践和模式的结果？来自北卡罗来纳大学威尔明顿分校的科学教育、特殊教育和计算机科学教员研究团队与社区利益相关者密切合作，其中包括秃头岛保护协会、费舍尔堡州立娱乐区和作为该大学教育推广项目的MarineQuest。这一合作伙伴关系提供了STEM职业生涯、吸引参与者的规划以及激发课程、技术和实验发展的地点的必要真实世界范例。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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' motivation and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). To meet the diverse needs and future demands of a STEM workforce, national initiatives have highlighted the importance of encouraging students from underserved groups to explore STEM careers. This project, called Virtual Access to STEM Careers (VASC), investigates a problem-based learning curriculum designed to remove some of the traditional barriers that prevent underserved students from participating in authentic STEM learning opportunities. Focused on grades 3-5, VASC employs a range of activities in Immersive Virtual Environments using multiple platforms and in different interaction modalities to meet the needs of schools which lack the resources and infrastructure to invest extensively in costly technologies. The strategic emphasis placed at the elementary level underscores the importance of preventing "a crack in the STEM pipeline" when transitioning to middle school level coursework where research indicates students who once had interest in a STEM career often lose interest. The first phase of VASC focuses on STEM career exposure in marine, geological, and computer sciences. To capture learner curiosity, students will investigate the life cycle of the loggerhead sea turtle, a species that nests widely on North Carolina beaches and is currently listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The sea turtle is a wonderful and powerful model for building the VASC learning platform because during their lifespan, they travel great distances (thousands of miles during migrations) and experience a wide range of physical and chemical ocean conditions, as well as substantial ecological interactions with numerous marine plant and animal species. Thus, understanding the life cycle of a sea turtle exposes young learners to numerous STEM applications as well as the careers of those that investigate and protect sea turtle populations. Students will also take on the roles and responsibilities of different STEM occupations "in the field" as well as in the "lab" when engaging in the problem-based learning model. Goals for this project include 1) developing virtual technologies using input from conservationists, scientists, and the educational team, 2) constructing a STEM curriculum that is accessible to underserved populations, and 3) implementing an iterative assessment process of the curriculum which will allow for testing and retesting modifications effectively and efficiently. Researchers aim to advance Situated Cognition Theory through combining Problem Based Learning and Immersive Virtual Environments as an innovative pedagogical model to effect change. In order to test the efficacy of the VASC curriculum, the following research questions will be examined: (1) What learning experiences involving emerging technologies effectively enable diverse populations of students to gain familiarity and relevant competencies with these technologies, and what factors influence the outcomes of the learning experiences? and (2) What culturally-responsive instructional and curricular practices and models used by teachers enhance student understanding of and interest in STEM occupations and what factors influence the outcomes of the practices and models? The research team of science education, special education, and computer science faculty from the University of North Carolina Wilmington works closely with community stakeholders including Bald Head Island Conservancy, Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, and MarineQuest which serves as an educational outreach program situated at the university. This partnership is equipped to provide the necessary real-world examples of STEM careers, programming to engage participants, and locations to inspire curricular, technological, and experimental development.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.