COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Project TRUE (Teens Researching Urban Ecology)

合作研究：Project TRUE（青少年研究城市生态学）

• 批准号: 1421019
• 负责人: James Lewis
• 金额: $ 121.87万
• 依托单位: Fordham University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1421019&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Project; TRUE; Teens

The nation's job market is creating more STEM jobs than jobs in other fields - a trend predicted to continue for the next 10 years. Although there has been a slight increase in the number of STEM graduates in the US, the percentage of graduates from underrepresented populations remains low. This project will study how a hands-on urban ecology research program can positively impact underrepresented teens and lead them to pursue STEM-related courses and majors in college. Through a partnership between an informal science institution (the Wildlife Conservation Society) and a university (Fordham University), 200 teens from underrepresented backgrounds will conduct urban ecology research at one of four zoos in New York City under the guidance of a university professor, graduate and undergraduate students, and zoo education staff. One of the unique features of the urban ecology program will be a tiered mentorship model, in which university professors mentor graduate urban ecology students, who in turn mentor undergraduate students, and together they mentor high school students from communities underrepresented in STEM fields. Ultimately, this project will identify programmatic strategies and student support methods that can help expand and diversify the STEM workforce. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. This research and development project will advance the field of STEM learning by investigating four key programmatic elements that previous studies have suggested increase interest and participation in STEM: 1) Hands-on STEM experience; 2) Awareness of the utility of STEM learning in the world; 3) Exposure to a role model; and 4) Interaction with peers with shared STEM interest. The research will develop survey-based measurement tools and use multivariate analysis to examine the influence of each programmatic element on short- and medium-term STEM-related outcomes over a five-year period. The research will further address questions to understand the impact of these four principles within a real-world context, including the degree to which non-project factors (e.g. parental support, school coursework, etc.) influence the model, thus limiting or enhancing impact. Additionally, the evaluation component of this project will examine the impacts of the tiered mentorship model in greater depth through a formal case study. The research and evaluation will be complementary, with the research looking across cohorts of participants over time, and the evaluation exploring participant experiences in depth.

美国的就业市场比其他领域的就业机会要多得多 - 预计将在未来10年中持续这种趋势。尽管美国的STEM毕业生人数略有增加，但人口不足的毕业生百分比仍然很少。该项目将研究一个动手的城市生态研究计划如何积极影响代表性不足的青少年，并导致他们在大学中攻读与STEM相关的课程和专业。通过非正式科学机构（野生动植物保护协会）与大学（福特汉姆大学）之间的伙伴关系，来自人为不足的背景的200名青少年将在纽约市的四个动物园之一在大学教授，研究生和本科生和动物园教育人员的指导下，在纽约市的四个动物园之一进行城市生态研究。城市生态学计划的独特特征之一将是一个分层的指导模型，在该模型中，大学教授导师毕业的城市生态学生，反过来又指导本科生，他们共同指导来自STEM领域中人数不足的高中生。最终，该项目将确定可以帮助扩展和多样化STEM劳动力的程序化策略和学生支持方法。该项目由非正式的STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进对非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，以扩大对STEM学习经验的访问和参与度，推进对非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究，并发展参与者对更深入学习的理解。该研究和开发项目将通过调查以前研究提出的四个关键程序化元素来提高STEM学习的领域：1）动手STEM经验； 2）意识到世界上STEM学习的效用； 3）接触榜样； 4）与具有共同茎的同龄人的互动。这项研究将开发基于调查的测量工具，并使用多元分析来检查每个程序化元素对五年内与中期与STEM相关结果的影响。该研究将进一步解决问题，以了解这四个原则在现实世界中的影响，包括非项目因素（例如父母支持，学校课程等）影响模型的程度，从而限制或增强影响的影响。此外，该项目的评估部分将通过正式案例研究更深入地研究分层指导模型的影响。研究和评估将是互补的，随着时间的推移，研究与参与者的研究进行了研究，并进行了评估，以深入探索参与者的经验。