Youth Engaged in STEM and Service: Locally- and Globally-Relevant Solar Technology Summer Experiences

青年从事STEM和服务：与当地和全球相关的太阳能技术暑期体验项目回应了对正规和非正式STEM教育系统的迫切需求，以支持黑人、棕色和女性-确定青年有机会在要求的课程之外建立和维持他们对STEM的兴趣。该项目将利用以社区为基础的伙伴关系，通过亲身实践的太阳能技术夏令营，扩大女性和黑人和棕色社区青年的参与。研究人员将共同设计和实施两种夏令营模式，通过(1)本地相关性或(2)全球服务学习的视角，让青年参与基于项目的学习体验。这些夏令营的运作前提是，将年轻人的生活经历、兴趣和与全球相关的问题联系起来，使年轻人能够将自己视为有能力成为一名科学家和工程师的人。在这些夏令营模式中，青年将学习电力、能源、工程和太阳能技术；从事科学和工程实践；并对STEM的职业道路有更多的认识。这些夏令营将与直接影响青年生活经历和社区的地方问题(地方相关性)或全球社会问题建立联系，以便有机会利用他们所学到的知识来推动社会变革(全球服务学习)。青年参与STEM和服务项目旨在帮助实地了解两种与文化相关的方案设计方法的优势和挑战，对STEM方案决策具有重要影响。这项研究将包括一个三部分的研究，以检查这个项目的设计和开发、实施和学习者的成果。该项目将建立在外地对关键的方案特点和必要条件的了解的基础上，这些特点和必要条件可以支持针对黑人和棕色以及识别女性的青年制定具有文化相关性的STEM方案。利用基于设计的研究，该项目将与社区合作伙伴一起进行迭代设计过程，为两个太阳能夏令营开发方案模型，采用两种与文化相关的方案编制方法：一种侧重于全球服务学习，另一种侧重于地方相关性。一项执行研究将加深我们对这两种经验的特点如何支持执行和青年参与的理解。最后，学习者结果研究将使用准实验混合方法来考察夏令营经历对青少年认知和社会情绪结果的影响。认知结果包括学生对STEM内容的理解和对STEM职业道路的认识。社会-情感结果包括与科学相关的性格、兴趣和认同感。此外，这项研究将调查不同性别认同的不同结果，并试图了解导致这些差异的条件。这项研究将依靠定量和定性数据，包括内容评估、观察、访谈和青年调查，这些调查衡量了STEM的吸引力、价值观、能力信念、参与度和科学认同感。该项目的成果包括以太阳能技术为中心的动手的、与文化相关的夏令营的研究成果和课程资源。该项目由学生和教师创新技术体验计划(ITEST)资助，该计划支持一些项目，这些项目建立对实践、计划要素、背景和过程的理解，有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程、数学(STEM)和信息和通信技术(ICT)职业的知识和兴趣。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。

The Youth Engaged in STEM and Service: Locally- and Globally-Relevant Solar Technology Summer Experiences project responds to the pressing need for systems of formal and informal STEM education to support Black, brown, and female-identifying youth with opportunities for youth to build and sustain their interests in STEM beyond required coursework. This project will leverage community-based partnerships to broaden the participation of youth from female-identifying and Black and brown communities through engaging, hands-on solar technology summer camps. The investigators will co-design and implement two summer camp models that engage youth in project-based learning experiences through the lens of either (1) local relevance or (2) global service learning. These camps will operate under the premise that drawing connections to youths’ lived experiences, interests, and globally relevant issues empowers youth to see themselves as someone who can do and be a scientist and engineer. In each of these camp models, youth will learn about electricity, energy, engineering, and solar technology; engage in science and engineering practices; and gain a greater awareness of STEM career pathways. The camps will draw connections to either local issues that directly impact youth’s lived experiences and communities (local relevance), or global social issues with an opportunity to use what they learn to enact social change (global service learning). The Youth Engaged in STEM and Service project aims to contribute to the field’s understanding of the strengths and challenges of two approaches to culturally relevant program design, with important implications for STEM programmatic decision-making. The research will include a three-part study to examine the design and development, implementation, and learner outcomes of this project. The project will build on the field’s understanding of the key programmatic characteristics and necessary conditions that can support culturally relevant STEM programming for Black and brown and female-identifying youth. Utilizing design-based research, the project will engage in an iterative design process with community-based partners to develop program models for two solar power summer camps, using two approaches to culturally relevant programming: one focused on global service learning and one on local relevance. An implementation study will deepen our understanding of how the features of the two experiences support implementation and youth engagement. Finally, the learner outcomes study will use a quasi-experimental mixed methods approach to examine the impact of camp experiences on youth’s cognitive and social-emotional outcomes. Cognitive outcomes include students’ understanding of STEM content and awareness of STEM career pathways. Social-emotional outcomes include dispositions, interest and identity associated with science. In addition, the study will investigate differential outcomes by gender identity and seek to understand the conditions that attribute to these differences. The study will rely on quantitative and qualitative data including content assessments; observations; interviews; and youth surveys that measure STEM fascination, values, competency beliefs, engagement, and science identity. Outcomes of the project include the research findings as well as curricular resources for hands-on, culturally-relevant summer camps centered around solar technology.This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.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.