Collaborative Research: LIGO SEC Partnership Strengthening Communities of Learners

该奖项是为激光干涉仪引力波天文台(LIGO)科学教育中心(SEC)伙伴关系提供资金的合作努力的一部分。该项目是与多个合作伙伴的联合努力：利文斯顿LIGO、巴吞鲁日南方大学(SUBR)和旧金山探索馆。这些合作伙伴与大新奥尔良-STEM(GNO-STEM)、苏格兰格拉斯哥大学、苏格兰学校教育研究中心(SSERC)、弗莱彻技术社区学院(FTCC)和南部大学路易斯安那州什里夫波特(SUSLA)学院连接计划合作。该项目的重点是面向公众的科学宣传、教师培训和教师教育，重点是路易斯安那州的LIGO活动。该伙伴关系计划招募STEEM(科学、技术、工程、教育和数学)专业的未被充分代表的本科生和K-12学生。之前的奖项帮助创建了SEC大楼，有一个教室和一个大型展厅，展品由探索博物馆开发，工作人员是SUBR学生讲解员和一名专业工作人员(单独出资)。这种多层次的伙伴关系，一个尖端的研究机构，以及一个著名的非正式科学中心，为未来的合作模式创造了一个模型。随着这一伙伴关系的扩大，这一模式也得到了扩展，对这些广泛合作的影响的研究可以为今后利用研究实验室的资源用于教育目的提供信息。SuBR&amp；SuSLA Connect STEEM本科生将在学校和社区外展中担任讲解员和榜样，由LIGO科学教育中心与探索馆协商领导。讲解员将促进LIGO的实地考察，在家庭数学和科学之夜开展活动，以及公共宣传活动。将通过SUBR、GNO-STEM和FTCC为在职和职前教师举办讲习班，以加强他们对物理科学的概念理解和兴奋。然后，这些教师将在LIGO的实地考察中得到支持，以增强他们学生的STEM身份。选定的教师将被培训为学校社区的领导者，扩大他们的培训效果。路易斯安那州的科学教师将参加探索学院的暑期学院，路易斯安那州的物理教师将参加与苏格兰同事的交流。SUBR SMED项目的博士生将对LIGO-SEC伙伴关系开展的项目和活动进行详细研究。因弗内斯研究将对项目进行形成性和终结性评估，并提供加强项目的建议。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 award is a component of a collaborative effort to fund the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) Science Education Center (SEC) Partnership. This project is a combined effort with multiple partners: LIGO Livingston, Southern University of Baton Rouge (SUBR), and San Francisco’s Exploratorium. These partners collaborate with Greater New Orleans-STEM (GNO-STEM), the University of Glasgow in Scotland, Scottish Schools Education Research Centre (SSERC), Fletcher Technical Community College (FTCC), and the Southern University Shreveport Louisiana (SUSLA) College Connect program. The project is focused on scientific outreach to the public, teacher training, and teacher education focused on LIGO activities in Louisiana. The partnership plans to engage under-represented undergraduates and K-12 students in STEEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Education, and Mathematics). Previous awards helped create the SEC building, with a classroom and a large exhibit hall, with exhibits developed by the Exploratorium and staffed by SUBR student docents and a (separately funded) professional staff. The multilayered partnership, a cutting-edge research facility, and a renowned informal science center created a model for future collaboration models. With the expansion of this partnership, the model is extended, and research on the effects of these extensive collaborations can provide information for future attempts at leveraging the resources of research laboratories for educational purposes. SUBR & SUSLA Connect STEEM undergraduates will be engaged as docents and role models in school and community outreach led by LIGO’s Science Education Center in consultation with the Exploratorium. Docents will facilitate field trips to LIGO, conduct activities at family math and science nights and public outreach events. Workshops through SUBR, GNO-STEM, and FTCC will be given to in-service and pre-service teachers to strengthen their conceptual understanding of and excitement for the physical sciences. These teachers will then be supported in field trips to LIGO to enhance their students’ STEM Identities. Select teachers will be trained to be leaders in their school communities, magnifying their training effect. Louisiana science teachers will attend Exploratorium’s Summer Institute, and Louisiana physics teachers will participate in an exchange with colleagues in Scotland. Ph.D. students in the SUBR SMED program will conduct detailed research on programs and activities performed by the LIGO-SEC Partnership. Inverness Research will conduct formative and summative assessments of the programs and provide recommendations for strengthening the project.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.