STEM-based University Pathway Encouraging Relationships with Chicago High schools in Automation, Robotics and Green Energy

这个开发和测试创新项目将推动学生和教师创新技术体验（ITEST）计划的努力，以更好地理解和促进增加学生对科学，技术，工程，信息和通信技术（ICT）通过将伊利诺伊州立大学的教师和本科生与四所芝加哥地区高中和四所社区组织（CBO）的学生和教师联系起来，为他们周围的社区服务。该项目基于对以STEM为重点的技术的探索，包括机器人、太阳能和电动汽车，旨在为STEM领域代表性不足的学生提供服务。学生将在放学后每周见面一次，参加非正式的，动手STEM教育活动。在夏季，学生将参加为期三天的STEM夏令营，应用和扩展他们在全年中获得的知识，并通过实地考察和STEM行业的演讲嘉宾了解STEM教育和职业途径。每一所高中的教师将担任学生的导师。该研究由国家研究理事会的STEM学习生态系统模型指导，将有助于破坏阻碍参与者获得STEM职业管道的不平等现象，作为非正式高中学术经验，STEM相关高等教育课程和STEM相关职业途径之间的桥梁。该项目将从四所合作高中招收大约320名学生。 该项目将采用混合方法收集数据，包括观察、调查和访谈。 利用前到后的方法，研究人员将采用由教育和复原力伙伴关系（PEAR）研究所开发和验证的调查通用工具套件（CIS）。调查数据将衡量学生和教师对STEM相关的态度，包括STEM参与度、STEM职业知识和STEM身份。 这项工作提供了一种方法，以支持年轻人了解自动化，机器人技术和绿色能源对技术行业和工作性质的影响。此外，这项工作将捕捉CBO合作伙伴在中学后STEM教育和职业道路上的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

This Developing and Testing Innovations project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers by connecting faculty and undergraduate students at Illinois State University with students and teachers at four Chicago-area high schools and four Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) that serve the communities around them. The project is based on the exploration of STEM-focused technologies including robotics, solar energy, and electric vehicles, and aims to serve students from populations that are underrepresented in STEM fields. Students will meet after school once per week to engage in informal, hands-on STEM educational activities. During the summers, students will attend a three-day STEM camp to apply and extend the knowledge they have gained throughout the year and learn about STEM educational and career pathways through field trips and guest speakers from STEM industries. Teachers at each of the high schools will serve as mentors for the students. The research, guided by the National Research Council’s STEM Learning Ecosystem Model, will contribute to the disruption of inequities that hinder access to STEM career pipelines for participants by serving as a bridge between informal high school academic experiences, STEM-related higher education programs, and STEM-related career pathways. The project will recruit approximately 320 students from the four partner high schools. The project will use a mixed-method data collection approach including observations, surveys, and interviews. Utilizing a pre to post methodology, researchers will employ the Common Instrument Suite (CIS) of surveys, developed and validated by the Partnerships in Education and Resilience (PEAR) Institute. Survey data will measure student and teacher's STEM-related attitudes, including STEM engagement, STEM career knowledge, and STEM identity. This work offers an approach to support youth in their understanding of the impact that automation, robotics, and green energy are having on the technology industry and the nature of that work. Additionally, the work will capture the effects CBO partners have in post-secondary STEM education and career pathways.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.