Adapting and Scaling the Biotinkering Approach through a CoP Model

项目摘要和摘要 尽管现代生物学的格局正在迅速发展，但大多数K-12 学习者对生物学的了解仍然植根于传统的程序性和规范性方法。有一个 迫切需要让学生参与到更具21世纪的生物学方法中来--强调 作为科学实践的关键要素的开放式探索和创造力。在过去五年中，作为 在我们之前的SEPA奖项中，我们开发了一种获奖的非正式生物教育方法， 生物墨迹，真正让年轻人与科学接触，认为这是一种个人相关和创造性的 通过支持学习者代理和选择来进行流程。我们的项目，适应和扩展生物墨迹方法 通过实践共同体(COP)模式，旨在使其他非正式科学机构能够 与我们一起参与并共同撰写生物墨水的未来。深思熟虑地确保我们的 新兴的方法可以有意义地为STEM领域带来更多不同的视角，我们的 拟议的警察中心社区和共同设计。每个参与站点的社区关系将是 整合到整个项目中，帮助为更具包容性和文化内涵的生物墨迹奠定基础 与此相关，特别是对边缘化社区而言。 为了达到我们预期的效果，我们有以下三个目标。首先，我们将建立一个蓬勃发展的生物墨水 实践社区支持不同的从业者通过在其 自己的背景。通过使用缔约方会议模式进行机构能力建设，我们可以对 通过构建分散的生物墨迹中心网络来提供持续的支持和指导 传给其他练习者。其次，我们的生物墨迹公约的所有四个创始成员都将在文化上发展 与当地社区共同设计的相关生物墨迹活动，以产生更多样化的 为不同的观众和环境提供体验。这将导致亲身体验生物墨迹 在全国范围内实施，接触到数万名年轻人，并为学习者提供 发展更强的STEM身份的途径。第三，我们将确定战略和有前景的做法 这可以被从业者用来采用生物墨迹作为一种包容性的方法，集中社区的声音。 我们的新社区和专注于包容的资源，从不同的社区角度和 共同设计学习，将更好地支持生物墨水适应不同的情况和背景，使 将这项工作进一步扩展到更多的非正式学习网站和新社区更容易。 这种方法可以产生社会需要的非正式学习体验类型 更多样化的下一代生物技术和生物医学创新者的励志切入点。教训 从这个项目的成功和挑战中学到的东西也可以为使用COPS作为 非正式科学学习领域内自我维持的规模和知识转移模式。

Project Summary and Abstract Despite the rapidly advancing landscape of modern biology, the majority of experiences that K-12 learners have with biology are still rooted in traditional procedural and prescriptive approaches. There is a critical need to engage students in a more 21st century approach to biology – one that emphasizes open-ended exploration and creativity as key elements of scientific practice. Over the last five years as part of our previous SEPA award, we have developed an award-winning approach to informal biology education, biotinkering, that authentically engages young people with science as a personally relevant and creative process by supporting learner agency and choice. Our project, Adapting and Scaling the Biotinkering Approach through a Community of Practice (CoP) Model, aims to empower other informal science institutions to participate in and co-author the future of biotinkering with us. To be thoughtful about ensuring that our burgeoning approach can meaningfully contribute to bringing more diverse perspectives into STEM fields, our proposed CoP centers community and co-design. Community relationships at each participating site will be integrated throughout the project to help build a foundation for biotinkering that is more inclusive and culturally relevant, especially for marginalized communities. To reach our desired impact, we have the following 3 aims. First, we will establish a thriving Biotinkering Community of Practice to support diverse practitioners in gaining confidence with doing biotinkering in their own contexts. By using a CoP model to do institutional capacity building, we can create lasting impact on the field by building a dispersed network of biotinkering hubs equipped to provide ongoing support and mentorship to other practitioners. Second, all four founding members of our Biotinkering CoP will develop culturally relevant biotinkering activities, co-designed with local communities, to generate a more diverse repertoire of experiences for varied audiences and environments. This will result in hands-on biotinkering experiences being implemented around the nation, reaching tens of thousands of young people and providing learners with pathways to develop stronger STEM identities. And third, we will identify strategies and promising practices that can be used by practitioners to adopt biotinkering as an inclusive approach that centers community voices. Our new community and inclusion-focused resources, forged from diverse community perspectives and co-design learnings, will better support the adaptation of biotinkering to diverse situations and contexts, making it easier to further scale this work to additional informal learning sites and new communities. This approach can generate the types of informal learning experiences society needs to serve as inspirational entry points for a more diverse next generation of biotech and biomedical innovators. Lessons learned from the successes and challenges of this project can also offer valuable insights about using CoPs as a model for self-sustaining scaling and knowledge transfer within the informal science learning field.