PFI-RP: Mobile Technology to Improve Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) College and Career Awareness for Underserved High School Students

这个创新研究伙伴关系（PFI-RP）项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于，它能够通过手机游戏让服务不足的学生接触到高等教育的可能性，并让学生想象自己在教育和职业领域的前景。在美国，低收入、少数族裔和第一代（第一代）学生往往没有充分的学术准备，对他们未来生活的教育和职业机会缺乏不切实际的理解。这种知识的缺乏会对就业机会、工资、成年后的健康和福祉产生严重的长期后果。虽然一些教育技术已经被用来帮助少数族裔和低收入学生在大学和职业道路上导航，但这一领域的手机游戏化发展和系统评估已经成熟。这个项目的独特之处在于，它开发了一个专门针对大学和职业规划的移动应用程序，以进一步个性化学生的目标、时间表和资源。考虑到移动应用技术的成本效益，该项目有可能快速传播信息，并提供即时反馈，这在正式课堂、职业咨询或校外非正式环境中是不容易获得的，同时将费用降至最低，使其成为服务不足的学生的宝贵资源。拟议中的项目旨在为服务不足的低收入和少数族裔学生开发一种数字干预手段，创造独特的学习机会，让学生在玩一系列为此目的设计的手机游戏时，能够建立与教育和职业道路相关的知识和技能。这一创新的教育资源已被证明可以促进学校、社区组织、当地企业和高等教育机构之间的协同、信息伙伴关系，以共享和提供资源，提高学生在STEM大学和职业道路上的意识和进步。对游戏的进一步实证评估将有助于越来越多的研究和实践，为低收入和少数民族学生拓展STEM职业道路，并允许研究团队迭代游戏原型。从该项目中获得的数据将支持将基于应用程序的技术和战略规划纳入高中课程，这些课程可以增强和改善STEM的参与，同时直接支持商业计划开发、客户发现和商业化服务的努力，以将原型推向市场。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 broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation – Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) project lies in its ability to expose underserved students to postsecondary possibilities through mobile games and allows students to envision themselves in educational and occupational spaces. Low-income, minority, and first-generation (first-gen) students in the U.S. often have inadequate academic preparation and an unrealistic understanding of the education and career opportunities for their future lives. This lack of knowledge can have severe long-term consequences for job opportunities, wages, health and well-being in adulthood. While some educational technologies have been used to assist minority and low income students with navigating their college and career pathways, serious mobile gamification in this field is ripe for development and systematic evaluation. This project is unique in that it develops a mobile application that focuses exclusively on college and career planning to further personalize a student’s goals, timelines, and resources. Given the cost-effective nature of mobile app technology, this project has the potential to quickly disseminate information with instant feedback not readily available in formal classrooms, career counseling, or informal settings outside of school while keeping expenses to a minimum, making it a valuable resource for underserved students. The proposed project aims to develop a digital intervention for underserved low income and minority students that creates unique learning opportunities where students can build knowledge and skills related to education and career pathways as they play a series of mobile games designed for that purpose. This innovative educational resource has shown to facilitate synergistic, informational partnerships among schools, community organizations, local businesses, and postsecondary institutions to share and provide resources that advance students’ awareness and progress in STEM college and career pathways. Further empirical evaluation of the game will contribute to the growing body of research and practice to expand STEM career pathways for low income and minority students and allow the research team to iterate the game prototype. Data derived from this project will support the inclusion of application-based technology and strategic planning for high school programs that can enhance and improve participation in STEM while directly supporting efforts of business plan development, customer discovery, and commercialization services to bring the prototype to market.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.