Fostering STEM identify development through localized engineering for LGBTQ+ youth displaced by housing insecurity

该项目将开发和研究一个模型，让LGBTQ+青年在工程教育计划中经历住房不安全。该研究计划通过为期三年的基于设计的研究明确扩大了工程和STEM的参与。该团队将在印第安纳波利斯的一个住宅中心与LGBTQ+离家出走/无家可归的青年合作，定制他们现有的“位移（LED）本地化工程”课程。LED课程使用主动，混合，协作和民主教学法来支持学习者识别他们周围看到的技术问题，研究相关的STEM原则，并提出他们可以使用的解决方案。教育技术工具包（EngStarter）为学习者提供了可适应的工具。该团队将结合实践和研究，研究青年身份，学习经验和技术参与的发展。支持LGBTQ+离家出走/无家可归的青年将产生巨大的个人和社会影响，扩大这一特定人群选择STEM途径的机会，成为自力更生的个人，将他们的资产和潜力转化为社区发展，并反过来支持未来更多的青年。LGBTQ+离家出走/无家可归的青年往往被描述为一个特别脆弱的人群，具有性取向和性别的交叉性，以及种族/民族和阶级，研究过分强调了这些年轻人的缺陷。因此，本项目在其理论和方法论立场中使用资产导向。通过为期三年的基于设计的研究（DBR）研究，项目团队将协同设计和情境化本地化工程计划，包括课程（“位移中的本地化工程”），教学法（“主动，混合，协作和民主”学习）和技术（“EngStarter”，一个多功能的教育实验室套件）。学生被要求识别，范围，迭代生成和测试解决方案，以解决他们周围的问题（“本地化”），通过定制的LED课程学习相关技能和领导决策。该团队将与印第安纳波利斯的Trinity Haven Transitional Home for LGBTQ+ Youth合作，共同设计本地化的工程计划，适合背景的技术工具和研究。研究团队将使用DBR，鉴于其独特的性质，联系实践和研究，以促进整个计划周期的合作参与。该项目将解决有关问题（1）身份谈判，建设和解决的经验和战略：（1）（a）。什么身份LGBTQ+青年经历住房不安全谈判和解决通过参与本地化工程在位移程序？(b)青年在协商和构建工程身份时采用了什么策略？（c）.参与该计划的教师发展了哪些身份？(2)独特的LGBTQ+离家出走/无家可归的青年经历和多种STEM途径的建设：（2）（a）青年参与解决社区问题的本地化工程教育计划的经验是什么？(b)该计划以何种方式为青年提供信息和增加STEM劳动力途径的选择？(c)一位当地教师与青年的互动和经历是什么？(3)技术的作用和青年的专门知识：（3）（a）EngStarter技术在工程身份谈判中的作用和实现的可供性是什么？(b)年轻人为了满足他们的需求而对教育技术进行了哪些设计修改？(c)教师通过EngStarter发展ICT自我效能感的过程是什么？本研究将使用定量和定性的研究方法来迭代开发程序模型。该项目由学生和教师创新技术体验（ITEST）计划资助，该计划支持建立对实践，计划元素，背景和过程的理解的项目，有助于增加学生对科学，技术，工程，信息和通信技术（ICT）该奖项反映了NSF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 project will develop and research a model for engaging LGBTQ+ youth experiencing housing insecurity in an engineering education program. This research program explicitly broadens engineering and STEM participation through a three-year Design-Based Research study. The team will collaboratively tailor their existing “Localized Engineering in Displacement (LED)” curriculum to and with LGBTQ+ runaway/homeless youth at a residential center in Indianapolis. The LED curriculum uses Active, Blended, Collaborative, and Democratic pedagogy to support learners in identifying a technical problem they see around them, studying relevant STEM principles, and coming up with a solution they can use. The educational technology kit (EngStarter) provides adaptable tools for learners to use. The team will integrate practice and research and study the development of youth identities, learning experiences, and technology engagement. Enabling LGBTQ+ runaway/homeless youth will have large individual and social impacts, expanding opportunities for this specific population to choose STEM pathways, become self-reliant individuals, translate their assets and potential into community development, and in turn support more youth in the future. LGBTQ+ runaway/homeless youth are often characterized as an exceptionally vulnerable population with the intersectionality of sexual orientation and gender, as well as race/ethnicity and class, and research has overemphasized the deficits of these young people. This project, therefore, uses an asset orientation in its theoretical and methodological stance. Through a three-year Design-Based Research (DBR) study, the project team will collaboratively design and contextualize a localized engineering program consisting of a curriculum (“Localized Engineering in Displacement”), a pedagogy (“Active, Blended, Collaborative, and Democratic” learning), and a technology (“EngStarter,” a versatile educational lab kit). Students are asked to identify, scope, and iteratively generate and test solutions to a problem around them (“localized”), proceeding through the tailored LED curriculum to learn relevant skills and lead decision-making. The team will collaborate with Trinity Haven Transitional Home for LGBTQ+ Youth in Indianapolis and co-design the localized engineering program, the technology tools appropriate for the context, and the research. The research team will use DBR, given its unique nature, to link practice and research to foster collaborative participation throughout the program cycle. The project will address questions regarding (1) identity negotiation, construction and resolution experience and strategies: (1) (a). What identities do LGBTQ+ Youth experiencing housing insecurity negotiate and resolve by participating in a localized engineering in displacement program? (b) What strategies are employed by youth in negotiating and constructing an engineering identity? (c). What are the identities developed by teachers engaging in the program? (2) Unique LGBTQ+ runaway/homeless youth experiences and construction of multiple STEM pathways: (2) (a) What are the experiences of youth participating in a localized engineering in displacement educational program addressing community issues? (b) In what ways does the program inform and augment choices of STEM workforce pathways for youth? (c) What are the interactions and experiences of a local teacher embedded with youth? (3) technology’s role and expertise of youth: (3) (a) What are the roles and realized affordances of the EngStarter technology in the negotiation of engineering identity? (b) What are design modifications youth make to contextualize educational technology for their needs? (c) What is the process by which teachers develop ICT self-efficacy with EngStarter? The research will use quantitative and qualitative research methods to iteratively develop the program model. 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.