Understanding how Making contributes to student self-efficacy and character development across multiple STEM disciplines and student identities

这是一个STEM教育研究能力建设项目，其中包括一项研究，通过检查自我效能感和品格发展领域来调查制造活动的效果，以及一项专业发展计划，以建立研究者在自我效能感和品格美德发展以及定性研究设计和方法方面的主题专业知识。该研究项目旨在(1)开发在STEM课程中代表技术、概念或性格能力的制造活动；(2)评价Making教学法对学生自我效能感的影响；(3)比较不同学科和学生身份群体的教学效果。研究者将同时实施一项专业发展计划，以获得对学生自我效能感、性格发展和跨学科STEM教育研究的未来工作至关重要的培训和经验。研究者将研究四个研究问题：(1)制作活动如何促进学生在课程、学科和性格发展中的自我效能感？(2)制造活动的哪些特征对学生在这些领域的自我效能感贡献最大？(3)如何更好地理解心理社会因素（如心态和自我效能感）在这些领域中的关系？(4) Making对自我效能感的贡献在不同学科和代表性不足的群体中是否一致？本研究将部分由班杜拉的自我效能理论构成，作为更大的社会认知理论和主动学习教学法的一部分。研究者将测试一种工具，该工具是在一个初步项目中开发的，用于检查工程仪器和控制课程中的自我效能感，该课程侧重于与创业心态相关的方面：好奇心、创造力和建立联系。该项目将是该机构在正式课程设置中进行教学实践的首批跨学科考试之一。来自STEM学科的教师将被招募来发展他们的制造干预。研究者将管理一项调查工具，该工具将提供对学科特定自我效能的见解，同时检查品格和美德发展的共同指标，特别是创造力的品格美德。探索性因素分析将用于识别跨课程、学期和制作模式存在的因素。线性混合模型将检查跨学科和学生群体的自我效能结果。STEM本科生课堂观察协议（COPUS）将在本研究招募的所有课程中执行。该项目预计将为教师发展和改进教学方法提供材料。该项目由EHR核心研究（ECR）项目的ECR: STEM教育研究能力建设竞赛资助。ECR支持以STEM学习和学习环境为重点的基础STEM教育研究，扩大STEM领域的参与，以及STEM劳动力的发展。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。

This is a STEM education research capacity building project that incorporates a study to investigate the effect(s) of Making activities by examining domains of self-efficacy and character development and a professional development plan to build the investigator's subject matter expertise in self-efficacy and character virtue development and qualitative research design and methods. The research project aims to (1) develop Making activities that represent technical, conceptual, or dispositional competencies across STEM courses; (2) evaluate the impact of Making pedagogy on student self-efficacy; and (3) compare Making pedagogy outcomes across disciplines and student identity groups. The investigator will concurrently implement a professional development plan to acquire training and experience crucial to pursuing future work in student self-efficacy, character development, and interdisciplinary STEM education research.The investigator will examine four research questions: (1) How do Making activities contribute to students’ self-efficacy in their course, discipline, and character development? (2) What characteristics of the Making activities contribute most to student self-efficacy in these domains? (3) How can we better understand the relationship between psychosocial factors, such as mindset and self-efficacy, in these domains? and (4) Are the contributions of Making on self-efficacy consistent across disciplines and underrepresented groups? The research will be framed partly by Bandura’s self-efficacy theory as part of the larger Social Cognitive Theory and Active Learning Pedagogies. The investigator will test an instrument that was developed in a preliminary project to examine self-efficacy in an engineering instrumentation and controls course that focused on aspects linked to entrepreneurial mindset: curiosity, creativity, and making connections. The project will be among the first interdisciplinary examinations of Making pedagogical practices at the institution in formal course settings. Faculty from STEM disciplines will be recruited to develop their Making intervention. The investigator will administer a survey instrument that will provide insights into disciplinary specific self-efficacy while examining common metrics of character and virtue development, specifically the character virtue of creativity. Exploratory factor analysis will be used to identify factors present across courses, semesters, and modes of Making. Linear mixed models will examine self-efficacy outcomes across discipline and student groups. The Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) will be performed in all of the courses recruited for the study. The project is expected to produce materials for faculty development and improvements in instructional pedagogy. This project is funded by the ECR: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research competition of the EHR Core Research (ECR) program. ECR supports fundamental STEM education research focused on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.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.