The STEM Ambassador Program: Supporting Scientists' Engagement with Public Audiences

作为加强非正式环境中学习的整体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助创新研究，方法和资源，用于各种环境。 促进科学的更大包容性对科学和社会都有好处。 在这个创新与发展项目中，犹他州大学将研究如何维持和扩大STEM大使计划（STEMAP），该计划于2016年开始，由AISL资助。 STEMAP开发了一个创新的过程，通过在非传统环境中开展活动，培训科学家，让无法或无法通过传统科学教育场所（如博物馆、学校、动物园）接触科学的公众参与进来。由最初的STEMAP努力培训的65名科学家有效地参与了超过45个环境，包括经济适用房开发，青年住宅治疗中心，州立监狱，烹饪班，日托设施和几个高级中心。申请该计划的科学家数量很快超过了STEMAP的能力。 其他机构表示有兴趣复制培训。 该项目将探索扩大和维持公众参与培训的战略，以支持更多的科学家，他们可以在更多的场所吸引更多的人。 其成果将为STEMAP的更广泛实施以及其他公众参与计划的努力提供信息，其中许多计划面临类似的规模和可持续性挑战。扩大和维持公众参与科学（PES）计划是许多非正式科学学习社区的核心挑战。该项目将探索扩大和维持STEM大使计划的战略。 研究问题包括：（1）不同的计划形式如何增加或限制计划容量和参与结果？(2)科学家及其机构通过参与公众参与科学活动而获得哪些好处，从而可能成为继续开展这些活动的动力？(3)在商业和其他专业环境中开发的资金和组织模式是否适用于维持这些计划？为了解决可扩展性问题，本项目将探讨三种传播形式的有效性：（1）为面对面的学员创建导师计划，（2）培训培训师方法，以及（3）在线培训与面对面的导师。项目团队将创建一个评估工具包，其中包括参与者调查、观察员规则以及根据AISL奖1811022开发的“现场”评估工具，以评估学员以三种形式开展的参与活动的有效性。为了解决可持续性问题，项目团队将通过调查和访谈向参与培训的科学家及其机构记录公众参与培训的价值。 来自商业部门的顾问将创建一个PES校园理事会，以探讨可能的财务，组织和领导计划，这将有助于维持参与的努力。 成果将发表在同行评审期刊上，并汇编成一个传播框架，为扩大和维持STEMAP和其他公众参与科学计划的行动提供信息，以吸引更多难以接触的受众。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches, and resources for use in a variety of settings. Fostering greater inclusion in science creates benefits for both science and society. In this Innovations and Development project, the University of Utah will investigate how to sustain and scale the STEM Ambassador Program (STEMAP), begun in 2016 with AISL funding. STEMAP developed an innovative process to train scientists to engage members of the public, who cannot or do not gain access to science via conventional science education venues (such as museums, schools, zoos), by implementing activities in non-traditional settings. The 65 scientists trained by the initial STEMAP effort effectively engaged in over 45 settings including an affordable housing development, a youth residential treatment center, a state prison, a cooking class, a daycare facility, and several senior centers. The number of scientists applying to the program quickly exceeded STEMAP's capacity. Other institutions expressed interest in replicating the training. This project will explore strategies for scaling and sustaining public engagement training to support more scientists who can engage more people in more venues. Outcomes will serve to inform the broader implementation of STEMAP and the efforts of other public engagement programs, many of which face similar scaling and sustainability challenges. Scaling and sustaining public engagement of science (PES) programs is a central challenge for many in the informal science learning community. This project will explore strategies to scale and sustain the STEM Ambassador Program. Research questions include: (1) How do different program formats increase or restrict program capacity and engagement outcomes? (2) What benefits accrue to scientists and their institutions by participating in public engagement in science activities that might serve as motivators to continue these activities? (3) Are funding and organizational models developed in business and other professional settings applicable to sustaining these programs? To address scalability, this project will explore the effectiveness of three dissemination formats: (1) the creation of a mentorship program for in-person trainees, (2) a train-the-trainer approach, and (3) online training with in-person mentorship. The project team will create an evaluation toolkit with participant surveys, rubrics for observers, and "on-the-spot" assessment tools developed under AISL Award 1811022 to assess the effectiveness of engagement activities delivered by trainees in each of the three formats. To address sustainability, the project team will document the values of public engagement training to both the participating scientists and their institutions via surveys and interviews. Consultants from the business sectors will create a PES Campus Council to explore possible financial, organizational, and leadership plans that will help sustain engagement efforts. Outcomes will be published in peer-reviewed journals and compiled into a dissemination framework to inform actions to scale and sustain STEMAP and other public engagement of science programs to engage more hard-to-reach audiences. Inverness Research will serve as the project's external evaluator.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.