Engaging African American Young Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship Through Community-Centered Making

该项目将开发和研究一种模式，让来自低收入家庭的高中年龄的非裔美国女性参加与STEM相关的制造和创业教育项目。Making是一种强调兴趣驱动型学习的文化，通过在非正式的、同行主导的和创造性的社会环境中进行学习。该项目将向参与者介绍产品设计和制造周期，涉及三个制造学科(例如，计算机辅助设计、陶瓷和纺织品与STEM概念、技能和企业家精神相结合)。STEM职业生涯的新途径将为这些年轻女性打开，因为她们将自己的优势和兴趣与她们在制造领域发展起来的知识和技能联系起来。项目的每个合作伙伴，包括Forge Greensboro Makerspace、格林斯伯勒住房管理局(在Forge附近提供低收入住房)和TERC(一家STEM教育设计和研究机构)，都为该项目带来了独特和必要的专业知识：Forge Greensboro Makerspace(制造和创业)。参与者将在13周内每周花大约4个小时参加该计划。他们将从迷你设计挑战周开始，通过参与者社区的移动制造商空间提供设计周期、制造和创业的简要概述。在本课程结束后，参与者将选择他们想要探索的学科。在最初的一周之后，参与者将通过一系列的设计和构建冲刺和创业会议，最终将与当地商界人士的小组讨论产品推介和反馈社区活动。来自Forge Makerspace的导师将在参与者发展他们的项目想法和设计时与他们合作，并支持他们发展适当和相关的技能。在项目研究和评估的基础上，该项目将制作一份全面的多媒体指南，旨在为非正式学习空间设计和实施创业方案，包括如何在社区组织和创业者空间之间建立伙伴关系，以吸引小规模青年。该指南和项目研究将通过期刊、会议演示和社交媒体与非正式学习研究人员和开发人员、社区组织和Maker社区的相关社区共享。该项目将使用迭代的参与式设计研究(PDR)框架，该框架将使参与者、年轻的非裔美国女性与MakerSpace专家、学习设计师和社区领导人共同创建反映女性STEM相关兴趣的过程和产品。该项目的研究将解决与参与者的发展和项目模式开发有关的问题：(1)参与者发展哪些STEM和创业实践，包括定义问题、计划和执行调查/设计周期、使用数学和计算思维、设计解决方案、沟通和创业实践；(2)参与者如何看待他们的未来，与STEM相关的职业和他们的道路？(3)该计划的哪些特点有望刺激和支持参与者学习STEM和创业实践，以及对STEM职业道路的认识？以及(4)将一批年轻的非裔美国女性引入创客空间如何改变现有的创客空间社区？研究将使用定性和定量的方法，如调查、参与者人工制品分析、焦点小组、访谈和民族志实地观察，反复开发项目模型，并确定其特征如何影响参与者的STEM相关实践、STEM职业意识和他们对未来的看法。该项目由学生和教师创新技术体验计划(ITEST)资助，该计划支持建立对实践、计划要素、背景和过程的理解的项目，这些项目有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)以及信息和通信技术(ICT)职业的知识和兴趣。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。

The project will develop and research a model for engaging high-school-aged African American women from low-income families in STEM-related making and entrepreneurship educational programs. Making is a culture that emphasizes interest-driven learning by doing within an informal, peer-led, and creative social environment. The project will introduce participants to a product design and build cycle, involving three Making disciplines (e.g., computer-aided design, ceramics, and textiles integrated with STEM concepts, skills, and entrepreneurship. New pathways to STEM careers will open for these young women as they make connections among their strengths and interests, and the knowledge and skills they develop in the makerspace. Each of the project’s partners, including the Forge Greensboro makerspace, the Greensboro Housing Authority (providing low-income housing near the Forge), and TERC (a STEM education design and research organization), brings distinct and necessary expertise to the project: the Forge Greensboro makerspace (making and entrepreneurship). Participants will spend about 4 hours a week over 13 weeks in the program. They will start with a mini-design challenge week that provides a brief overview of the design cycle, making, and entrepreneurship, conducted via a mobile maker space in the participants’ community. After this session, participants will choose making disciplines that they wish to explore. Following this initial week, participants will work through a series of design and build sprints and entrepreneurship sessions, which will culminate in a product-pitch-and-feedback community event with a panel of local business people. Mentors from the Forge makerspace will work with participants as they develop their project ideas and designs and support participants in developing appropriate and relevant skills. Based on project research and evaluation, the project will produce a comprehensive multimedia guide aimed at informal learning spaces on designing and implementing a making-and-entrepreneurship program, including how to create partnerships between community-based organizations and makerspaces to engage minoritized youth. The guide and project research will be shared with relevant communities of informal learning researchers and developers, community organizations, and the maker community via journals, conference presentations, and social media.The project will use an iterative, participatory design research (PDR) framework that will bring the participants, young African American women, together with makerspace experts, learning designers, and community leaders to co-create processes and products that reflect the women’s STEM-related interests. The project’s research will address questions regarding participants’ development and the development of the project model: (1) What STEM and entrepreneurship practices do the participants develop, including defining problems, planning and carrying out an investigation/design cycle, using math and computational thinking, designing a solution, communication, and entrepreneurship practices; (2) How do participants come to view their futures, with regard to STEM-related careers and pathways to them? (3) What features of the program hold promise for stimulating and supporting participants learning of STEM and entrepreneurship practices, and awareness of STEM career pathways? and (4) How does the introduction of a cadre of young African American women into the makerspace change the existing makerspace community? The research will use qualitative and quantitative methods such as surveys, analysis of participant artifacts, focus groups, interviews, and ethnographic field observations to iteratively develop the program model and determine how its features affect participants’ STEM-related practices, STEM career awareness, and their views of the future. The 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 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (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.