Young Scientists and Ambitious Teachers Improving Health in an Urban Ecosystem

 描述（由申请人提供）：在得梅因，爱荷华州为中心，这个项目响应在美国的心脏地带发生的快速民族和种族多元化，并解决了少数民族的代表性不足的挑战，无论是历史和新来的科学。这个项目的目标，青年科学家和雄心勃勃的教师在城市生态系统中改善健康，是中断在低收入，城市背景下的教育和健康差距的复制，并支持历史上被排斥的青年在他们的轨迹走向科学。为了实现这一目标，我们与社区组织和当地学校合作，支持年轻人开展以社区为基础的蚊子和健康参与式调查，他们可以访问爱荷华州蚊子监测数据库，这是该国历史最悠久的蚊子数据档案。我们使用这种青年驱动的调查作为一种手段，准备教育工作者以更真实，雄心勃勃和文化响应的方式教授科学。通过同时培养年轻的科学家沿着雄心勃勃的教师，这个项目为教师准备的新方法，是社区嵌入式模型。此外，该项目是爱荷华州州立大学的大学之路倡议的核心，这是一个精心配置的承诺计划，为历史上被排斥的青年提供接受高等教育的机会和负担能力。该项目有三个目标。1)历史上被排斥的青年将发展真正的科学知识，技能和性格，以及好奇心，兴趣和对科学的积极认同，以及继续科学研究的动机，通过参与科学界和从事该学科的活动和话语。2)职前和在职教师将展示真实和雄心勃勃的科学教学能力，并对科学文化多样性的肯定方向进行示范。3)社区居民将对城市生态系统中的蚊子表现出更准确的理解和改变的做法，以提高健康和福祉。该项目说明了一种可推广的方法，以解决往往被科学边缘化的社区中的重大教育和卫生不平等问题。它将积极影响参与的青年及其教育工作者对科学的取向，以及社区居民的健康和福祉。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Centered in Des Moines, Iowa, this project responds to the rapid ethnic and racial diversification occurring in America's heartland and addresses the challenge of the underrepresentation of minorities-both historical and newly arriving-in science. The goal of this project, Young Scientists and Ambitious Teachers Improving Health in an Urban Ecosystem, is to interrupt the reproduction of educational and health disparities in a low-income, urban context and to support historically-excluded youth in their trajectories toward science. To accomplish this, we collaborate with community organizations and local schools to support youth as they carry out a community-based participatory inquiry of mosquitoes and health, in which they access the Iowa Mosquito Surveillance database, the longest-standing mosquito data archive in the country. We use this youth-driven inquiry as a means to prepare educators to teach science in more authentic, ambitious, and culturally-responsive ways. By concurrently nurturing young scientists along with ambitious teachers, this project models a new approach for teacher preparation that is community-embedded. In addition, this project is central to Iowa State University's Pathways to College Initiative, a uniquely-configured promise program providing access and affordability to higher education for historically-excluded youth. The objectives of the project are three-fold. 1) Historically-excluded youth will develop authentic science knowledge, skills, and dispositions as well as curiosity, interest, and positive identification with science, and motivation for continued science study, by participating in a scientific community and engaging in the activities and discourses of the discipline. 2) Pre-service and in-service teachers will demonstrate competence in authentic and ambitious science teaching and model an affirming orientation toward cultural diversity in science. 3) Residents in the community will display more accurate understandings and transformed practices with respect to mosquitos in the urban ecosystem in service of enhanced health and well-being. The project illustrates a replicable way to address significant educational and health inequities in communities often marginalized from science. It will positively impact the orientations of participating youth and their educators toward science, as well as the health and well-being of community residents.