Exploring Key Predictors of STEM/ICT Career-related Outcomes Using the World Smarts STEM Challenge Model that Incorporates Global Engagement and Mentorship

显然，对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）以及信息和通信技术（ICT）劳动力的需求是多样化的、熟练的、有文化能力的。此外，STEM/ICT员工越来越认识到，解决世界上最紧迫问题的办法必须在全球范围内合作开发。通过这个项目，IREX将与北卡罗来纳州立大学的研究人员合作，让在STEM/ICT领域历史上代表性不足的高中青年参与一个旨在培养全球能力和STEM/ICT技能的虚拟课外项目。该项目将通过基于社区的STEM活动，将跨文化团队中的美国高中生和STEM/ICT行业导师与加纳的高中生联系起来。这些团队将合作设计STEM原型，解决联合国可持续发展目标中确定的现实世界当地问题。由8名美国青年、8名加纳青年和2名导师（1名美国青年和1名加纳青年）组成的24支队伍将参加为期10周的世界智能STEM挑战赛（World Smarts STEM Challenge），他们将通过虚拟劳动力技术（Slack、Zoom和Notion）进行互动和协作。Slack将成为该项目的中心，每个两国团队都有自己的协作渠道，他们可以在那里聊天、共享文档、录制视频、进行语音通话，并通过视频聊天进行联系。挑战赛旨在逐步释放STEM/ICT导师的责任，以增强学生的领导力。除了学生驱动的虚拟互动和协作外，STEM/ICT导师还为学生提供持续的指导和每周两小时的指导；导师提供应用STEM/ICT知识，并促进与社区其他主要利益相关者的联系。一个基于实践的研究伙伴关系将研究全球虚拟交换的虚拟跨文化项目模型，通过测量其对职业相关成果的影响，并调查虚拟模型如何适应一系列STEM/ICT环境。该项目将不断完善一个技术丰富的课后模式，将全球参与和指导STEM/ICT团队学习结合起来，培养美国青少年的STEM/ICT职业抱负和全球竞争力。该项目将聘请不同的导师和非裔美国人、西班牙裔、加纳裔和女性学生。研究团队将通过回答以下研究问题来量化虚拟项目模型的影响：参与一个跨文化技术丰富的基于团队的STEM/ICT项目，在多大程度上影响青少年的STEM/ICT职业兴趣、自我效能感、兴趣、结果预期、背景支持和全球能力的感知？研究方法包括对参与者进行纵向调查，并通过结构方程模型评估假设的关系和模型。项目评估将采用定性和参与性的方法来收集有关干预活动的相关性和包容性的形成性反馈。总结性评价将集中于征聘战略和传播讲习班。该项目将产生关于虚拟课后课程益处的新知识，重点关注全球协作和STEM/ICT技能。最后，该项目将创建三个主要资源：世界聪明世界STEM激活工具包（计划和后勤重点）、世界聪明世界STEM活动包（课程和内容重点）和世界聪明世界ICT指南（技术使用重点），组织、教师和导师可以使用这些资源来调整他们自己的以STEM为重点的虚拟交流学习机会。该开发和测试创新项目由“面向学生和教师的创新技术体验”（ITEST）项目资助，该项目支持建立对实践、项目要素、背景和流程的理解，有助于提高学生对STEM和ICT职业的知识和兴趣。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。

There is a clear need for a diverse, skilled, and culturally competent science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and information and communications technology (ICT) workforce. Further, the STEM/ICT workforce increasingly recognizes that solutions to the world’s most pressing problems must be developed collaboratively on a global level. Through this project, IREX, in collaboration with researchers at North Carolina State University, will engage high school youth who are historically underrepresented in STEM/ICT fields in a virtual afterschool program that aims to develop global competence and STEM/ICT skills. The project will connect U.S. high school students and STEM/ICT industry mentors in cross-cultural teams with high school students in Ghana via community-based STEM activities. These teams will collaboratively design STEM prototypes that address real-world local problems identified in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Twenty-four teams comprised of eight U.S. youth, eight Ghanaian youth, and two mentors (one U.S. and one Ghanaian) will be engaged in a 10-week curriculum, the World Smarts STEM Challenge, where they interact and collaborate through virtual workforce technologies (Slack, Zoom, and Notion). Slack will serve as the project’s hub, with each bi-national team having their own collaboration channel where they can chat, share documents, record videos, have voice calls, and connect over video chat. The Challenge is designed with a gradual release of responsibility from the STEM/ICT mentor to empower student leadership. In addition to student-driven virtual interactions and collaboration, STEM/ICT mentors provide students with on-going mentorship and two hours of weekly instruction; the mentors offer applied STEM/ICT knowledge and facilitate connections to other key stakeholders in the community. A practice-based research partnership will study the virtual cross-cultural program model for global virtual exchange by measuring its impacts on career-related outcomes and investigating how the virtual model can be adapted to a range of STEM/ICT contexts. This project will iteratively refine a technology-rich afterschool model that incorporates global engagement and mentored STEM/ICT team learning to foster U.S. adolescents’ STEM/ICT career aspirations and global competence. The project will engage diverse mentors and African American, Hispanic, Ghanaian, and female students. The research team will quantify the impact of the virtual program model by answering the following research question: To what extent does participation in a cross-cultural technology-rich team-based STEM/ICT program impact adolescents’ STEM/ICT career interests, self-efficacy, interest, outcome expectancies, perceptions of contextual supports and global competence? The research methods will include longitudinal surveys of participants and the hypothesized relationships and model will be assessed via structural equation modeling. Program evaluation will employ qualitative and participatory methods to collect formative feedback on the relevance and inclusiveness of intervention activities. A summative evaluation will focus on recruitment strategies and the dissemination workshop. The project will generate new knowledge on the benefits of virtual afterschool programming that focuses both on global collaboration and STEM/ICT skills. Finally, the project will create three primary resources: a World Smarts STEM Activation Kit (planning and logistics focus), a World Smarts STEM Activity pack (curriculum and content focus), and a World Smarts ICT Guide (technology use focus) that organizations, teachers, and mentors can use to adapt their own STEM-focused virtual exchange learning opportunities. This Developing and Testing Innovations 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 STEM and 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.