Empowering Children of Migratory/Seasonal Farmworkers with Gamification and Culturally-Responsive Engineering Design Instruction

该项目旨在通过实施一个小规模的研究项目和专业发展计划，培养研究人员进行强有力的STEM基础教育研究的能力。这项研究调查了响应文化的游戏化活动如何影响移民家庭学生的STEM身份发展和促进STEM路径。该项目扩展了亚利桑那州立大学移民学生暑期学院的努力，该学院为这些学生群体提供暑期充实活动。专业发展计划旨在加强定性数据分析的基本技能和以公平为中心的定性研究方法。该项目可以提供对流动青少年STEM轨迹的洞察，并扩大关于游戏化元素与以文化响应为中心的活动如何与目标社区产生共鸣的知识。调查员将使用关键机构框架实施定性研究，通过在线平台收集和分析前后调查、访谈和跟踪的数据。参与者将包括三组，每组10名学生。研究问题是(1)移民学生如何描述他们的家庭和社区知识体系以及他们在STEM方面的潜在能力？(2)参与响应文化的工程设计活动对移民学生的学业概况有何影响？(3)移民学生在参与在线活动后如何描述他们自己和他们关键的STEM机构？以及(4)移民学生如何参与游戏化元素，特别是与文化相关的故事情节？该项目可以填补关于移民农场工人学生的文献中的空白，并通过一种响应文化的方法将工程活动与移民学生的生活经历联系起来，弥合平等差距。该项目得到了ECR：STEM教育研究能力建设(BCSER)计划的支持。BCSER旨在培养研究人员进行强有力的基础STEM教育研究的能力，重点关注STEM学习和学习环境，扩大对STEM的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。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 aims to build the investigator’s capacity to conduct robust fundamental STEM education research by implementing a small-scale research project and a professional development plan. The research investigates how culturally responsive gamified activities impact STEM identity development and promote STEM pathways among students of migratory families. The project extends the efforts of the Migratory Student Summer Academy at Arizona State University that provides summer enrichment activities for this student population. The professional development plan aims to reinforce basic skill sets of qualitative data analysis and equity-centered approaches to qualitative research. The project could provide insight of migratory adolescents’ STEM trajectories and expand knowledge of how gamification elements with culturally responsive centered activities resonate with the targeted community.The investigator will implement a qualitative study using a critical agency framework to collect and analyze data from pre- and post- surveys, interviews, and tracking via an online platform. Participants will include three cohorts of 10 students. The research questions are (1) How do migratory students describe their home and community bodies of knowledge and their potential ability in STEM? (2) How does participating in the culturally responsive engineering design activity impact migratory students’ academic profiles? (3) How do migratory students describe themselves and their critical STEM agency after participating in the online activity? and (4) How are migratory students engaging with gamification elements and, specifically, the culturally responsive story line? The project could fill a void in the literature about students of migratory farm workers and bridge the equity gap by connecting engineering activities with migratory students’ lived experiences through a culturally responsive approach. The project is supported by the ECR: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (BCSER) program. BCSER is designed to build the capacity of investigators to conduct robust fundamental STEM education research that focuses on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.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.