Youth Lead the Way: A Youth Advisory Research Board Model for Climate Impact Education

地方和全球气候变化的影响威胁着人们的生活方式。一些一线社区，特别是在历史上被剥夺权利和资源不足的地区，特别容易受到野火、洪水和城市热岛等气候事件的破坏性影响。因此，迫切需要以证据为基础的集体理解和参与，以预防和应对这些可能致命的事件。由俄勒冈州波特兰市的俄勒冈科学与工业博物馆（OMSI）牵头，与当地和国家合作伙伴合作，青年引领道路是一个早期发展创新项目，为气候脆弱社区的青年提供基于理论的方法，与实地研究人员一起从事气候科学研究，培养领导技能，并及时参与影响他们自己社区的对话。该项目将开发和评估一个青年咨询研究委员会模式，为青年和非正式STEM教育机构提供装备和支持，以开展基于证据的当地气候影响研究，并将研究结果传达给社区。“青年领路”项目推进了美国国家科学基金会之前资助的几个项目的工作，这些项目涉及气候教育、青年咨询委员会和合作网络，以吸引公众参与非正式的STEM学习。该项目的研究结果将支持非正式STEM教育领域的持续努力，以有意义地吸引年轻人，并更有效地向公众传播与气候及其影响相关的科学。在最初为期两年的早期项目中，主要来自STEM中代表性不足的种族和族裔群体的青年将参与为期一年的扩展STEM体验。这些青年将与科学家和博物馆专业人员合作，提高他们作为气候研究人员、科学传播者和教育领导者的技能，同时通过在OMSI、他们的学校和社区进行的研究和活动，接触到大约4000名或更多的公众观众。使用队列模型，青年将对各种当地气候影响主题进行科学研究，同时在俄勒冈科学与工业博物馆担任顾问角色，在那里他们将参与制定相关的博物馆计划和实践。青年们还将编写并呈现气候故事——一种以讲故事为基础的传播方式——以提高公众对当地气候变化及其影响的了解和认识。除了青年部分，还将在纽约伊萨卡的科学中心（一个合作组织）举办一个伙伴讲习班，培训工作人员，并正式评估在其他博物馆推广该模型的可行性。在项目层面，将进行一项探索性质的研究，以确定整个模型中有助于青年参与、气候影响教育和非正式科学教育专业发展的预期结果的因素。访谈、调查、焦点小组、青年队列成员之间的小组聊天，以及青年产生的人工制品的回顾将为这项探索性研究提供信息。还将编写一份以理论为基础的指南，概述主要发现、考虑和建议。这项工作的传播将是多层次的，通过公共项目、专业网络、会议和由科学技术中心协会主办的现场虚拟专业发展活动，在目标社区内达到数千人。如果成功，“青年引领潮流”将为一种模式奠定基础，该模式将通过气候科学研究促进青年和公众参与STEM，并为本项目之外的未来研究和类似努力确定有希望的途径。这个早期发展创新项目由美国国家科学基金会推进非正式STEM学习计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，扩大STEM学习经验的获取和参与，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深度学习的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

The impacts of changes in the climate at local and global levels threaten how people live. Some frontline communities, especially in historically disenfranchised and under-resourced areas, are particularly vulnerable to the devastating effects of climatological events such as wildfires, flooding, and urban heat islands. As such, there is an urgent need for collective, evidence-based understanding and engagement to prevent and prepare for these potentially fatal events. Led by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland, Oregon, in collaboration with local and national partners, Youth Lead the Way is an early-stage Innovations in Development project that offers a theory-based approach for youth in climatologically vulnerable communities to work in climate science research alongside field researchers, develop leadership skills, and engage in timely conversations that impact their own communities. The project will develop and evaluate a Youth Advisory Research Board model to equip and support youth and informal STEM education institutions to conduct evidence-based research on local climate impacts and communicate the findings of their research to their communities. Youth Lead the Way advances the work of several previous NSF-funded projects on climate education, youth advisory boards, and collaborative networks to engage the public in informal STEM learning. Findings from this project will support ongoing efforts in the informal STEM education field to meaningfully engage youth and to more effectively communicate science related to climate and its impacts to the public. During this initial two-year early-stage project, youth predominantly from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in STEM will engage in a year-long extended STEM experience. These youth will work collaboratively with scientists and museum professionals to enhance their skills as climate researchers, science communicators, and educational leaders, while reaching an estimated 4,000 or more public audience members through research and events at OMSI, in their schools, and in their communities. Using a cohort model, the youth will conduct scientifically based research studies on various local climate impact topics while concurrently serving in an advisory role at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, where they will participate in shaping relevant museum programs and practices. The youth will also develop and present climate stories—a communication approach based on storytelling—to raise public understanding and awareness about local climatological changes and impacts. In addition to the youth component, a companion workshop will be held at the Sciencenter in Ithaca, New York, a partner organization, to train staff and formatively assess the feasibility of scaling the model in other museums. At the program level, an exploratory qualitative research study will be conducted to identify the factors of the overall model that contribute to desired outcomes of youth engagement, climate impact education, and informal science education professional development. Interviews, surveys, focus groups, group chats among youth cohort members, and reviews of artifacts generated by the youth will inform this exploratory study. A theory-based guide outlining key findings, considerations, and recommendations will also be produced. The dissemination of this work will be multi-tiered, reaching thousands within the target communities through public programs, professional networks, at conferences, and a live virtual professional development event hosted by the Association for Science-Technology Centers. If successful, Youth Lead the Way will lay the groundwork for a model that promotes youth and public engagement in STEM through climate science research and identifies promising pathways for future research and similar efforts well beyond this project.This early-stage Innovations in Development project is funded by the NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants.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.