Supporting Active Learning in Introductory STEM Courses with Extended Reality

加州拥有全国最多的STEM劳动力，预计STEM职业生涯将快速增长。尽管其规模和增长能力很大，但少数族裔群体，特别是拉丁裔工人，在加州STEM劳动力中所占比例不到15%，而占劳动年龄人口的近40%。这种不平衡提供了一个关键机会，本项目试图解决这个问题。在不断改进的本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构(HSI计划)、加州州立大学弗雷斯诺分校、圣何塞州立大学、索诺马州立大学和弗雷斯诺城市学院正在合作为30名STEM教育工作者提供培训，将主动学习融入化学、物理、土木工程和建筑管理的STEM入门课程。特别是，项目团队将探索扩展现实(XR)的使用，它代表了三种技术(虚拟现实、增强现实和混合现实)，使学生能够以在传统课堂环境中无法完成的方式参与课程材料。在NSF资助的先前为在STEM早期课程中使用XR的学生带来积极成果的工作的基础上，该项目将影响超过15,000名本科生，并将建立一个以XR增强的主动学习为中心的实践社区。项目研究计划将产生关于教师实施XR技术的新知识，有效实施XR的技术，以及这些方法对学生学习结果的影响。加州州立大学(CSU)校长办公室的参与将支持机构和社区转型，以及与弗雷斯诺城市学院的合作。这是更广泛关系的一部分，它在CSU系统和加州社区学院(CCC)系统之间引入了新的联系，该系统每年为116所大学的200多万名学生提供服务。该项目的目标是设计、实施和评估XR支持的主动学习策略，以缩小成绩差距并促进合作机构的系统变革，以实现公平的STEM教育。使用混合方法的研究设计，项目团队将调查三个研究问题。1)跨学科STEM教师在入门课程主动学习中采用XR的障碍和途径是什么？2)什么因素和策略影响XR在STEM入门课程中实现学习结果的有效性？3)对于在STEM研究领域的参与度落后于其在普通人群中的代表性的少数民族学生，XR对学习和成就差距的教学影响是什么？项目团队将与主要合作伙伴和外部咨询委员会成员密切合作，以实现四个目标。首先是建立一个实践社区，以支持STEM教职员工采用和维持XR增强的、以学生为中心的主动学习。第二是创建XR开放教育资源的在线资源库。第三，进行课堂试验和试点，比较不同类型的XR技术和积极学习经验的有效性和教学影响。第四，领导教师专业发展，让更广泛的教育界参与开发和传播STEM中XR的教学应用。该项目的结果将最终促进对系统的、包容性的方法的理解，该方法利用XR技术在STEM中进行主动学习，以满足不同学生群体的不同需求。HSI计划旨在加强本科生STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建设HSIS的能力。鉴于高等教育机构的不同性质和背景，实现这些目标需要创新的方法，以激励机构和社区的变革，并促进基础研究(I)关于学生参与式学习，(Ii)关于如何有效地多样化和增加对STEM的参与，以及(Iii)提高我们对如何建设高等教育机构能力的理解。HSI计划支持的项目也将从这些方法中获得如何实现这些目标的新知识。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。

California has the largest STEM workforce in the country and anticipates rapid growth in STEM careers. Despite its size and growth capacity, minority groups, especially Latinx workers, represent less than 15% of the California STEM workforce while making up nearly 40% of the working-age population. This imbalance presents a key opportunity which this project seeks to address. Supported by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), California State University-Fresno, San Jose State University, Sonoma State University, and Fresno City College are collaborating to provide training for 30 STEM educators to integrate active learning into introductory STEM courses in chemistry, physics, civil engineering, and construction management. In particular, the project team will explore the use of extended reality (XR), which represents three technologies (virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality) that will enable students to engage with course materials in ways that cannot be accomplished in a traditional classroom setting. Building from prior NSF-funded work that resulted in positive outcomes for students using XR in early STEM courses, the project will impact more than 15,000 undergraduates and will establish a community of practice centered on XR-enhanced active learning. The project research plan will generate new knowledge about faculty implementation of XR technology, techniques for implementing XR effectively, and the impact of these approaches on student learning outcomes. The involvement of the California State University (CSU) Chancellor’s office will support institutional and community transformation, and the collaboration with Fresno City College. This is part of a more extensive relationship which introduces a new connection between the CSU system and the California Community College (CCC) system, which serves more than 2 million students annually throughout its 116 colleges.The goal of this project is to design, implement, and evaluate XR-supported active learning strategies to narrow achievement gaps and promote systemic transformation at the collaborating institutions to achieve equitable STEM education. Using a mixed-method research design, the project team will investigate three research questions. 1) What are the barriers and pathways for STEM instructors across disciplines when adopting XR in active learning for introductory courses? 2) What factors and strategies influence XR's effectiveness for achieving learning outcomes in introductory STEM courses? and 3) What are the pedagogical impacts of XR on learning and achievement gaps for minority students whose participation in STEM fields of study lags behind their representation in the general population? The project team will collaborate closely with key partners and external advisory board members to pursue four goals. First is to develop a community of practice to support STEM faculty efforts to adopt and sustain XR-enhanced, student-centered active learning. Second is to create an online repository of XR open educational resources. Third is to conduct in-class trials and pilots to compare the effectiveness and pedagogical impacts of different types of XR technologies and active learning experiences. Fourth is to lead faculty professional development to engage a broader education community in developing and disseminating pedagogical uses of XR in STEM. The findings of this project will ultimately advance the understanding of a systemic, inclusive approach that leverages XR technologies for active learning in STEM to meet the diverse needs of a diverse population of students. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.