YouthQuake: Engaging urban students in a computational geology experience to forecast earthquake hazards and manage risks for their community

该项目将有助于地球科学教育界了解如何让学生参与计算活动，并优先考虑他们的知识，个人经验和社区价值观，可以扩大不同学生在地球科学中的参与。YouthQuake项目将让加州斯托克顿的西班牙裔和非洲裔美国中学生参与到对他们社区的地震危害、风险和准备的真实调查中，使用专业地球科学家的实践。通过教师、地球科学家、教育研究人员、技术和课程开发人员以及劳动力和多样性专家之间的伙伴关系，该项目将共同设计为期四周的计算地球科学课程。学生将（1）探索他们的社区经历破坏性地震的可能性，（2）确定他们的社区目前的地震防备政策和资源，（3）根据真实世界的数据和沿着断层的陆地运动的计算模型调查地震的原因，以及（4）使用直观的基于块的编程环境创建地震危险图，该编程环境导入地震数据并生成基于地图的可视化输出。该项目计划与10名中学教师和大约1 120名中学生合作。研究结果将产生基于证据的教学策略，促进学生对地震灾害，风险和减灾的理解，以及他们的计算地球科学身份和职业意识。通过设计和开发产生的材料将免费提供给所有未来的学习者，教师和研究人员，除了项目中概述的参与者。YouthQuake项目的目标是让加州斯托克顿的西班牙裔和非洲裔美国中学生参与地震灾害的真实计算地球科学调查，以提高他们对地震灾害的兴趣和认同，计算地球科学的职业生涯。YouthQuake教师，地球科学家，教育研究人员，技术和课程开发人员以及劳动力和多样性专家之间的多学科合作伙伴关系将共同设计为期四周的计算地球科学课程。课程活动将位于当地社区的背景下，使学生可以：1）探索他们的邻居的可能性经历破坏性地震和相关的准备，2）调查GPS数据和使用陆地运动的计算模型沿着他们的社区周围的断层，和3）创建地震灾害地图的计算可视化。两个周期的设计为基础的研究将进行开发YouthQuake课程和评估材料。一个混合方法的研究设计将被应用于分析前后测试，调查，嵌入式评估，以及整个班级和学生的视频。项目研究将产生有关课程设计和教学策略的知识，促进学生参与以计算为媒介的科学实践以及计算地球科学身份和职业兴趣。将研究几种股权战略，包括：（1）使用情境支架帮助学生将现实世界的问题与他们不同形式的科学知识和经验联系起来，（2）让学生参与职业专业人士的真实调查和实践，（3）建立学生的文化资产和优势，这些资产和优势来自不同的社区，（4）使学生成为塑造其知识和实践的认知主体。该项目的成果将包括以证据为基础的知识和示范性的学生技术经验，解决这些公平战略。该项目由学生和教师创新技术经验（ITEST）计划资助，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，有助于增加学生对科学，技术，工程，和数学（STEM）和信息和通信技术（ICT）的职业生涯。 该项目也得到了Discovery Research preK-12项目（DRK-12）的资助，该项目旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高preK-12学生和教师的STEM学习和教学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

This project will contribute to the Earth science education community's understanding of how engaging students with computational activities and prioritizing their knowledge, personal experiences, and community values can broaden the participation of diverse students in geoscience. The YouthQuake project will engage Hispanic and African American middle school students in Stockton, California, in authentic investigations of their community's earthquake hazards, risks, and preparedness using practices of professional geoscientists. Through a partnership among teachers, geoscientists, educational researchers, technology and curriculum developers, and a workforce and diversity specialist, the project will co-design a four-week computational geoscience curriculum. Students will (1) explore their community's likelihood of experiencing a damaging earthquake, (2) determine their community's current policies and resources for earthquake preparedness, (3) investigate what causes earthquakes based on real-world data and computational models of land motion along faults, and (4) create earthquake hazard maps using an intuitive block-based programming environment that imports seismic data and generates map-based visualization outputs. The project plans to work with 10 middle school teachers and approximately 1,120 middle school students. The findings will generate evidence-based teaching strategies that promote students' understanding of earthquake hazards, risk, and mitigation as well as their computational geoscience identities and career awareness. The materials generated through design and development will be made available for free to all future learners, teachers, and researchers beyond the participants outlined in the project.The goal of the YouthQuake project is to engage Hispanic and African American middle school students in Stockton, California, in authentic computational geoscience investigations of earthquake hazards in order to increase their interest in, and identity with, computational geoscience careers. A multidisciplinary partnership among YouthQuake teachers, geoscientists, educational researchers, technology and curriculum developers, and a workforce and diversity specialist will co-design a four-week computational geoscience curriculum. The curriculum activities will be situated in the local community context so students can: 1) explore their neighborhood's likelihood of experiencing a damaging earthquake and related preparedness, 2) investigate GPS data and use computational models of land motion along the faults around their community, and 3) create computational visualizations of earthquake hazard maps. Two cycles of design‐based research will be conducted to develop the YouthQuake curriculum and assessment materials. A mixed-methods research design will be applied to analyze pre-post tests, surveys, embedded assessments, and whole class and student videos. Project research will generate knowledge about curriculum design and teaching strategies that promote students' engagement with computation-mediated science practices as well as computational geoscience identity and career interests. Several equity strategies will be investigated, including: (1) using contextual scaffolds to help students bridge real-world problems with their diverse forms of science knowledge and experiences, (2) engaging students in authentic investigations and practices of career professionals, (3) building on students' cultural assets and strengths derived by belonging to different communities, and (4) empowering students to become epistemic agents in shaping their knowledge and practice. The outcomes of the project will include evidence-based knowledge and an exemplary student technology experience that addresses these equity strategies.This 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 project is also funded by the Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12), which seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of STEM by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools.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.