Strategies: Making the Maker: A Pathway to STEM for Elementary School Students

策略：创造创客：小学生通往 STEM 的途径

• 批准号: 1433770
• 负责人: Francis Quek
• 金额: $ 108.32万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard 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=1433770&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Strategies; Making; Maker; Pathway; STEM

Building on the highly energized national Maker's Movement involving government offices, schools, and businesses now sweeping the country, this project will explore ways to engage more children in the effort and become motivated and interested in STEM. The project will target 200 children at grades 3-5 to involve them in the "Maker's mindset" from an early age. The goal is for children to develop strong self-identities in STEM areas through their involvement in arts, crafts, and narrative storytelling. For three years, Latino and African American children will participate in a STEM-inspired intervention based on principles of the Making Movement from a constructivist perspective in a project-based learning environment. Students will learn basic concepts in electricity, circuitry, Ohm's Law, 3D printing, electronic load balancing, LEDs, resistances, transistors, and diodes as well as age-appropriate knowledge and skills in geometry that is intended to foster self-identity with a Maker mindset. Research shows that engaging children early on in these types of activities builds strong affiliations with the larger STEM community, creates a sense of belonging in that community, and helps prepare children to easily assimilate within the rapidly changing technological world. To ensure that the Making activities are not an end unto themselves, teachers will participate in ongoing professional development activities to learn how to integrate Making activities into the existing science curriculum for the longer term. This iteratively designed study stems from prior NSF support and is structured around four threads aimed at: (a) conceptualizing the Maker's movement in terms of early childhood development; (b) instilling a Maker's mindset in children; (c) influencing children's identity about STEM; and (d) benefiting society through contributions to the future STEM workforce. Research questions structured around these threads will guide the project team's work with 100 children in five cohorts over three years who will participate in the Maker's intervention to observe the effects on children's self-identity with STEM. The project team will use a mixed-methods design to allow comparisons across three grades each year. A control group of 100 children at the same grades will be used for comparison purposes. The expected outcome is that over time, children will begin to see themselves as active partakers of and contributors to STEM fields and what STEM careers might offer.

该项目以目前席卷全国的政府机关、学校和企业参与的高度活跃的全国创客运动为基础，将探索如何让更多的儿童参与其中，并对 STEM 产生积极性和兴趣。该项目将针对 200 名 3-5 年级的儿童，让他们从小就培养“创客思维”。目标是让孩子们通过参与艺术、手工艺和叙事故事，在 STEM 领域培养强烈的自我认同。三年来，拉丁裔和非裔美国儿童将在基于项目的学习环境中，从建构主义的角度，参与基于 STEM 启发的干预措施，该干预措施基于“创造运动”的原则。学生将学习电力、电路、欧姆定律、3D 打印、电子负载平衡、LED、电阻、晶体管和二极管的基本概念，以及适合年龄的几何知识和技能，旨在培养创客的自我认同心态。研究表明，让孩子尽早参与此类活动可以与更大的 STEM 社区建立牢固的联系，在该社区中创造归属感，并帮助孩子做好准备，轻松融入快速变化的技术世界。为了确保“创造”活动本身不是目的，教师将参加持续的专业发展活动，以学习如何将“创造”活动长期整合到现有的科学课程中。这项迭代设计的研究源于之前 NSF 的支持，围绕四个主题构建，旨在：(a) 从儿童早期发展的角度概念化创客运动； (b) 向儿童灌输创客思维； (c) 影响儿童对 STEM 的认同； (d) 通过为未来的 STEM 劳动力做出贡献来造福社会。围绕这些线索构建的研究问题将指导项目团队在三年内与五个队列中的 100 名儿童一起工作，他们将参与 Maker 的干预，以观察 STEM 对儿童自我认同的影响。项目团队将使用混合方法设计，以便每年对三个年级进行比较。将使用由 100 名同年级儿童组成的对照组进行比较。预期的结果是，随着时间的推移，孩子们将开始将自己视为 STEM 领域以及 STEM 职业可能提供的积极参与者和贡献者。