Making in The Colonias: Motivating STEM Participation through a Making as Micro-Manufacturing Model

科洛尼亚斯的制造：通过制造作为微制造模型激励 STEM 参与

• 批准号: 1623543
• 负责人: Francis Quek
• 金额: $ 28.5万
• 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: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-09-01 至 2020-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1623543&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Making; Colonias; Motivating; STEM; Participation

As part of an overall strategy to enhance learning within maker contexts in formal and informal environments, the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) and Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) programs partnered to support innovative models in Making poised to catalyze new approaches in STEM learning and innovation. Employing a novel design and development approach, this Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) will test the feasibility of integrating Making concepts with real world micro-manufacturing engineering principles within the context of intense, multi-year team apprenticeship experiences for high school students. The apprenticeship model is particularly novel, as current Making research and experiences predominately take place in afterschool and summer programs for up to 25 youth. The proposed apprenticeships will require a two year commitment by a small cohort of Texas high school students, which will provide an opportunity to examine the feasibility and impact of the effort longitudinally. The cohort will learn to think critically, solve problems, and work together as a Making Production Team (MPT) in a customized makerspace in their high school, constructing engineering-based science kits for implementation in a local elementary school. Not only will the students enhance their content knowledge while developing design and development skills but the students will also receive stipends which will address two very practical needs for the targeted high need population - employment and workforce development. Few, if any, efforts currently serve the targeted population through the contextualization of Making within a supply chain management and micro-manufacturing framework that extends the Making experience by integrating the student designed products into elementary classrooms. As such, this project will contribute to essentially unexplored areas of Making research and development. Six high school students from high poverty, underserved Texas communities along the Texas-Mexico border (colonias) will be selected for the Making Production Team (MPT). In Years 1 and 2, the students will meet regularly during the academic school year and over the summer with Texas A & M University undergraduates, graduate students, and the project team to learn key aspects of Making and manufacturing (i.e., ideation, prototyping, design, acquisition, personnel, and production) through hands-on making activities and direct instruction. Concurrently, a research study will be conducted to explore: (a) the actualization of the model in an underserved community, (b) the effectiveness of problem-based learning to train students in the model, and (c) STEM knowledge and self-concept. Data will be collected from multiple sources. An adapted version of the Academic Self-Description Questionnaire will be administered to the students to assess their STEM technical knowledge and skills as well as their self-concept in relation to STEM domains. Remote and in person interviews will be conducted with the students to track the evolution of the primary dependent variables, STEM learning and self-concept, over time. Program facilitators and partners will be interviewed to examine the feasibility of the making experience within the given context and for the targeted students. Finally, the students' diary reflections, products, and video recordings of their work sessions will also be examined. Time-series quantitative tests and in-depth qualitative methods will be used to analyze the data.

作为在正式和非正式环境中加强创客环境学习的总体战略的一部分，学生和教师的创新技术体验 (ITEST) 和推进非正式 STEM 学习 (AISL) 计划合作支持创新模式，准备催化新方法STEM 学习和创新。这项探索性研究早期概念资助 (EAGER) 采用新颖的设计和开发方法，将在高中生密集的多年团队学徒经历的背景下，测试将制造概念与现实世界的微制造工程原理相结合的可行性。学徒模式特别新颖，因为目前的研究和经验主要在课后和暑期项目中进行，最多可容纳 25 名青少年。拟议的学徒期将需要德克萨斯州一小群高中生进行为期两年的承诺，这将提供一个机会来纵向检查这项工作的可行性和影响。学生们将学习批判性思考、解决问题，并在高中的定制创客空间中作为制作制作团队 (MPT) 一起工作，构建基于工程的科学套件，以便在当地小学实施。 学生不仅可以在发展设计和开发技能的同时增强他们的内容知识，而且还将获得津贴，这将满足目标高需求人群的两个非常实际的需求——就业和劳动力发展。目前，很少有努力通过供应链管理和微型制造框架内的制造情境化来服务目标人群，通过将学生设计的产品融入小学课堂来扩展制造体验。 因此，该项目将为尚未探索的制造研究和开发领域做出贡献。来自得克萨斯州和墨西哥边境沿线的高度贫困、服务水平低下的得克萨斯州社区（colonias）的六名高中生将被选入制作制作团队（MPT）。在第一年和第二年，学生将在学年和夏季定期与德克萨斯农工大学的本科生、研究生和项目团队会面，学习制造和制造的关键方面（即构思、原型设计、设计、采购、人员和生产）通过动手制作活动和直接指导。同时，将进行一项研究，以探索：（a）该模型在服务不足的社区中的实现，（b）基于问题的学习在模型中培训学生的有效性，以及（c）STEM知识和自我学习概念。数据将从多个来源收集。将对学生进行学术自我描述调查问卷的改编版本，以评估他们的 STEM 技术知识和技能以及与 STEM 领域相关的自我概念。我们将对学生进行远程和面对面访谈，以跟踪主要因变量、STEM 学习和自我概念随时间的演变。项目主持人和合作伙伴将接受采访，以检查在特定背景下针对目标学生制作体验的可行性。最后，还将检查学生的日记反思、产品和工作会议的视频记录。将使用时间序列定量测试和深入的定性方法来分析数据。