Be a Scientist!

成为一名科学家！

• 批准号: 1008372
• 负责人: Shrikanth Narayanan
• 金额: $ 41.89万
• 依托单位: University of Southern California
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-15 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1008372&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Scientist

'Be a Scientist!' is a full-scale development project that examines the impact of a scalable, STEM afterschool program which trains engineers to develop and teach inquiry-based Family Science Workshops (FSWs) in underserved communities. This project builds on three years of FSWs which demonstrate improvements in participants' science interest, knowledge, and self-efficacy and tests the model for scale, breadth, and depth. The project partners include the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California, the Albert Nerken Engineering Department at the Cooper Union, the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, and the New York Hall of Science. The content emphasis is physics and engineering and includes topics such as aerodynamics, animal locomotion, automotive engineering, biomechanics, computer architecture, optics, sensors, and transformers. The project targets underserved youth in grades 1-5 in Los Angeles and New York, their parents, and engineering professionals. The design is grounded in motivation theory and is intended to foster participants' intrinsic motivation and self-direction while the comprehensive design takes into account the cultural, social, and intellectual needs of diverse families. The science activities are provided in a series of Family Science Workshops which take place in afterschool programs in eight partner schools in Los Angeles and at the New York Hall of Science in New York City. The FSWs are taught by undergraduate and graduate engineering students with support from practicing engineers who serve as mentors. The primary project deliverable is a five-year longitudinal evaluation designed to assess (1) the impact of intensive training for engineering professionals who deliver family science activities in community settings and (2) families' interest in and understanding of science. Additional project deliverables include a 16-week training program for engineering professionals, 20 physics-based workshops and lesson plans, Family Science Workshops (40 in LA and 5 in NY), a Parent Leadership Program and social networking site, and 5 science training videos. This project will reach nearly one thousand students, parents, and student engineers. The multi-method evaluation will be conducted by the Center for Children and Technology at the Education Development Center. The evaluation questions are as follows: Are activities such as recruitment, training, and FSWs aligned with the project's goals? What is the impact on families' interest in and understanding of science? What is the impact on engineers' communication skills and perspectives about their work? Is the project scalable and able to produce effective technology tools and develop long-term partnerships with schools? Stage 1 begins with the creation of a logic model by stakeholders and the collection of baseline data on families' STEM experiences and knowledge. Stage 2 includes the collection of formative evaluation data over four years on recruitment, training, co-teaching by informal educators, curriculum development, FSWs, and Parent Leadership Program implementation. Finally, a summative evaluation addresses how well the project met the goals associated with improving families' understanding of science, family involvement, social networking, longitudinal impact, and scalability. A comprehensive dissemination plan extends the project's broader impacts in the museum, engineering, evaluation, and education professional communities through publications, conference presentations, as well as web 2.0 tools such as blogs, YouTube, an online social networking forum for parents, and websites. 'Be a Scientist!' advances the field through the development and evaluation of a model for sustained STEM learning experiences that helps informal science education organizations broaden participation, foster collaborations between universities and informal science education organizations, increase STEM-based social capital in underserved communities, identify factors that develop sustained interest in STEM, and empower parents to co-invest and sustain a STEM program in their communities.

“成为一名科学家！”是一个全面的开发项目，旨在研究可扩展的 STEM 课外计划的影响，该计划培训工程师在服务不足的社区开发和教授基于探究的家庭科学研讨会 (FSW)。该项目以三年的 FSW 为基础，展示了参与者科学兴趣、知识和自我效能的提高，并测试了模型的规模、广度和深度。该项目的合作伙伴包括南加州大学维特比工程学院、库珀联盟大学阿尔伯特·内肯工程系、洛杉矶自然历史博物馆和纽约科学馆。内容重点是物理和工程学，包括空气动力学、动物运动、汽车工程、生物力学、计算机体系结构、光学、传感器和变压器等主题。该项目针对洛杉矶和纽约服务匮乏的 1-5 年级青少年、他们的父母以及工程专业人士。 该设计以动机理论为基础，旨在培养参与者的内在动机和自我导向，而综合设计则考虑到不同家庭的文化、社会和智力需求。科学活动通过一系列家庭科学研讨会提供，这些研讨会在洛杉矶八所合作学校和纽约市的纽约科学馆的课后项目中举办。 FSW 由本科生和研究生工程专业学生授课，并由担任导师的执业工程师提供支持。主要项目交付成果是一项为期五年的纵向评估，旨在评估（1）对在社区环境中开展家庭科学活动的工程专业人员进行强化培训的影响，以及（2）家庭对科学的兴趣和理解。其他项目可交付成果包括针对工程专业人员的为期 16 周的培训计划、20 个基于物理的研讨会和课程计划、家庭科学研讨会（洛杉矶 40 个，纽约 5 个）、家长领导计划和社交网站以及 5 个科学培训视频。该项目将惠及近千名学生、家长和学生工程师。多方法评估将由教育发展中心儿童与技术中心进行。评估问题如下： 招聘、培训和 FSW 等活动是否与项目目标一致？这对家庭对科学的兴趣和理解有何影响？这对工程师的沟通技巧和工作观点有何影响？该项目是否可扩展并能够生产有效的技术工具并与学校建立长期合作伙伴关系？第一阶段首先由利益相关者创建逻辑模型并收集有关家庭 STEM 经验和知识的基线数据。第二阶段包括收集四年来有关招聘、培训、非正式教育工作者共同教学、课程开发、FSW 和家长领导计划实施的形成性评估数据。最后，总结性评估涉及该项目如何实现与提高家庭对科学的理解、家庭参与、社交网络、纵向影响和可扩展性相关的目标。 全面的传播计划通过出版物、会议演示以及博客、YouTube、家长在线社交网络论坛和网站等 Web 2.0 工具，扩大了项目在博物馆、工程、评估和教育专业社区的更广泛影响。 “成为一名科学家！”通过开发和评估可持续 STEM 学习体验模型来推动该领域的发展，帮助非正式科学教育组织扩大参与，促进大学和非正式科学教育组织之间的合作，增加服务不足社区中基于 STEM 的社会资本，确定发展可持续发展的因素对 STEM 感兴趣，并授权家长在其社区共同投资和维持 STEM 计划。