Catalyst Project: Broadening Participation in Quantum Information Science and Engineering through Culturally-Relevant Experiential Learning

CATALYST项目支持历史悠久的黑人学院和大学(HBCU)致力于建立教职员工的研究能力，以加强科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)本科教育和研究。预计该奖项将进一步提高教职员工的研究能力，改善学院的研究和教学，并让本科生参与研究经验。这一奖项授予北卡罗来纳农业与技术州立大学(NCAT)，旨在扩大STEM中代表性不足的学生的参与，特别是量子信息科学，为更多样化和更精通量子的劳动力做出贡献。利用与文化相关的教育学(CRP)和体验式学习活动相结合的方式，研究小组试图研究提高NCAT学生对量子信息科学与工程(QISE)兴趣的方法，NCAT是一所历史悠久的黑人大学。将努力识别和消除障碍，并利用促进者来激发和培养学生对QISE相关职业的兴趣。具体地说，将与外部行业合作伙伴(例如IBM、Google、IBM-HBCU量子联盟和新的本地初创QC公司)合作，将CRP注入体验活动中。这个项目将让教育工作者参与他们的创造性活动的设计，这些活动将内容知识与学生的生活经验联系起来，让学生参与真实的实践，并衡量参与活动的学生在多大程度上表现出更高的自我效能和加入量子计算大军的兴趣。预计该项目的结果将确定选择QISE作为职业选择的障碍和促进者，并检测CRP和体验式学习活动在消除障碍和利用促进者扩大对这一新计算范例的参与方面的有效性。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。

Catalyst Projects provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to work towards establishing research capacity of faculty to strengthen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate education and research. It is expected that the award will further the faculty member's research capability, improve research and teaching at the institution, and involve undergraduate students in research experiences. This award to North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NCAT) aims to broaden participation of students underrepresented in STEM, particularly in quantum information sciences, to contribute to a more diverse and quantum-proficient workforce. Utilizing a combination of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) and experiential learning activities, the research team seeks to examine approaches to increase the interest in quantum information science and engineering (QISE) among students enrolled at NCAT, a historically black university. Efforts will be made to identify and relieve barriers and leverage facilitators to spark and cultivate student interest in QISE-related careers. Specifically, CRP will be infused into experiential activities in collaboration with external industry partners (e.g., IBM, Google, the IBM-HBCU Quantum Coalition, and new local start-up QC companies). This project will engage educators in their design of creative activities that bridge content knowledge to students’ lived experiences, engage students in authentic practices, and measure the extent to which participating students demonstrate increased self-efficacy and interest in joining the quantum computing workforce. It is anticipated that the outcomes of this project will identify both the barriers and facilitators of choosing QISE as a career choice, as well as detect the efficacy of CRP and experiential learning activities in relieving the barriers and leveraging the facilitators to broaden participation in this new computing paradigm.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.