Enhancing Making and Innovation Capacity for HBCU Students and Faculty Via an Inclusive Community of Practice

历史黑人学院和大学本科课程(HBCU-UP)支持旨在提高HBCU科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)学生和教职员工研究能力的会议。美国科学促进会(AAAS)将组织两个制造与创新展示会，为HBCU的学生和教职员工提供实施和展示技术原型的机会。此外，AAAS将进行一项评估研究，探索与制造商相关的活动对学生、教师和机构的影响。展示会将于2021年11月和2022年11月在霍华德大学校园举行。每个展会将有60名参赛者，团队由3至5名本科生或研究生和1名教职员工组成。如果届时全球新冠肺炎疫情不允许面对面的会面，展示将以虚拟方式进行。该项目的总体目标是进行研究，以调查最佳实践，以通过包容性实践社区增强河北州立大学学生和教师的决策和创新相关能力。将通过以下活动实现这一目标：每年举办两次制造和创新展示活动，学生团队将根据联合国可持续发展目标中的一项开发和展示创新，并参加专业发展会议；每月虚拟参与，支持参与者；电子辅导和辅导；为负担得起的国家开发制造和创新资源工具包。在教师和学生层面指导该项目的研究问题涉及教师专业发展、改进的教学策略、学生动机和STEM认同感，以及学生在实践社区中的角色。活动的影响将使用定量和定性的研究方法进行研究。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 Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) supports conferences that seek to increase the research capacity of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students and faculty at HBCUs. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) will organize two Making & Innovation Showcases to provide students and faculty from HBCUs with an opportunity to implement and present technology prototypes. Furthermore, AAAS will conduct an evaluation research study exploring the impact of maker-related activities on students, faculty, and institutions. The showcases will be held on November 2021 and November 2022 on the campus of Howard University. Each showcase will host sixty participants, with teams comprised of three to five undergraduate or graduate students and one faculty member. In case the global COVID-19 pandemic does not allow in-person meetings at that time, the showcases will be conducted virtually.The overall goal of the project is to conduct research to investigate best practices to enhance making and innovation-related capacity for HBCU students and faculty via an inclusive community of practice. This goal will be accomplished via the following activities: two yearly Making and Innovation Showcases where student teams will develop and present innovations in response to one of the seventeen United Nations Sustainability Development Goals, and participate in professional development sessions; monthly virtual engagement to support participants; e-mentoring and coaching; and development of a toolkit of making and innovation resources for HBCUs. The research questions that guide this project at the faculty and student level are related to faculty professional development, improved teaching strategies, student motivation and STEM identity, and the students’ role in the community of practice. The impact of the activities will be studied using quantitative and qualitative research methods.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.