Fostering Enduring Interest in STEM through Exoplanet Education and Interactive Exploration and Creation of Potentially Habitable Worlds

通过系外行星教育以及潜在宜居世界的互动探索和创造，培养对 STEM 的持久兴趣

基本信息

批准号：
1906873
负责人：
H Chad Lane
金额：
$ 273.82万
依托单位：
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Continuing Grant
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-08-01 至 2024-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1906873&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Fostering Enduring Interest STEM through

项目摘要

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. It is estimated that there could be 40 billion earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of stars in the Milky Way. Major advances in long range telescopes have allowed astronomers to identify thousands of exoplanets in recent decades, and the discovery of new exoplanets is a now a common occurrence. Public excitement for the discoveries grown alongside these discoveries, thus opening new possibilities for inspiring a new generation of scientists and engineers that may dream of one day visiting these planets. This project investigates the use of interactive, intelligent educational technologies to generate interest in STEM by allowing learners to explore and even create their own exoplanets. Research will occur across several informal learning contexts, including summer camps, after school programs, planetarium shows, and at home. The approach is based on the idea of "What if?"questions about Earth (e.g., "What if the Moon did not exist?"), designed to trigger interest in STEM and frame exploratory and elaborative discussions around hypothetical science questions that are subsequently linked to the search for habitable exoplanets. Learners are able to interact with and explore scientifically accurate simulations of alternative versions of Earth, while making observations and posing explanations for what they see. Technology-based informal learning experiences designed to act as triggers for and sustainment of interest in STEM have the potential to plug the leaky STEM pipeline, and thus have profound implications for the future of science and technology in the United States. The project seeks to advance the science of designing technologies for promoting interest in STEM and informal astronomy education in several ways. First, the project will develop simulations for exploratory learning about astronomy and planetary science. These simulations will present hypothetical worlds based on what-if questions and feasible models of known exoplanets, thus giving learners a chance to better understand the challenges of finding a habitable world and learning about what is needed to survive there. Second, a new PBS NOVA Lab will be developed that will focus on Exoplanet education. This web-based activity has the potential to reach millions of learners and will help them understand how planets are formed and the requirements for supporting life. Learners who use the lab will have an opportunity to invent their own exoplanets and export them for first-person exploration. Third, researchers on the project will design and implement Artificial Intelligence-based pedagogical agents to support learning and promote interest. These agents will inhabit the simulations with the learner, acting as a coach and guide, and be designed to be culturally responsive and personalized based on learner preferences. Fourth, interactive exoplanet-focused planetarium shows, that will involve live interaction with simulations, will take place at the Fiske Planetarium (Boulder, CO). Finally, the project will develop a server-based infrastructure for tracking and supporting long term development of interest in STEM. This back-end will track fine-grained behaviors, including movement, actions, and communications in the simulations. Such data will reveal patterns about how interest develops, how learners engage in free-choice learning activities, and how they interact with agents and peers in computer simulations. A design-based research methodology will be employed to assess the power of these different experiences to trigger interest and promote learning of astronomy. A range of different pathways for interest in STEM will therefore be considered and assessed. Research will measure the power of these experiences to trigger interest in STEM and promote re-engagement over time. Innovation lies in the use of engaging and intelligent technologies with thought-provoking pedagogy as a method for extended engagement of diverse young learners in STEM. Project research and educational resources will be widely disseminated to researchers, designers developers and the general public via peer-reviewed research journals, conference presentations, informal STEM education networks of science museums, children's museums, Fab Labs, and planetariums, and public media such as public television's NOVA science program website.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

作为加强非正式环境中学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式 STEM 学习 (AISL) 计划资助创新研究、方法和资源，以供在各种环境中使用。据估计，银河系中恒星的宜居带内可能有400亿颗地球大小的行星在运行。近几十年来，远程望远镜的重大进步使天文学家能够识别出数千颗系外行星，而新的系外行星的发现现在已是司空见惯。公众对这些发现的兴奋与日俱增，从而为激励新一代科学家和工程师提供了新的可能性，他们可能梦想有一天访问这些行星。该项目研究如何使用交互式智能教育技术，让学习者探索甚至创造自己的系外行星，从而激发对 STEM 的兴趣。研究将在多个非正式学习环境中进行，包括夏令营、课后项目、天文馆表演和家庭。该方法基于关于地球的“如果？”问题（例如，“如果月球不存在怎么办？”）的想法，旨在激发人们对 STEM 的兴趣，并围绕随后提出的假设科学问题进行探索性和详尽的讨论。与寻找宜居系外行星有关。学习者能够与地球的替代版本进行交互并探索科学准确的模拟，同时对他们所看到的进行观察并提出解释。基于技术的非正式学习体验旨在激发和维持对 STEM 的兴趣，有可能堵塞 STEM 漏洞，从而对美国科学技术的未来产生深远影响。该项目旨在通过多种方式推进设计技术的科学发展，以提高人们对 STEM 和非正式天文学教育的兴趣。首先，该项目将开发用于天文学和行星科学探索性学习的模拟。这些模拟将基于假设问题和已知系外行星的可行模型呈现假设世界，从而使学习者有机会更好地理解寻找宜居世界的挑战并了解在那里生存所需的条件。其次，将开发一个新的 PBS NOVA 实验室，重点关注系外行星教育。这项基于网络的活动有可能吸引数百万学习者，并将帮助他们了解行星是如何形成的以及支持生命的要求。使用该实验室的学习者将有机会发明自己的系外行星并将其导出以进行第一人称探索。第三，该项目的研究人员将设计和实施基于人工智能的教学代理，以支持学习并提高兴趣。这些代理将与学习者一起进行模拟，充当教练和向导，并根据学习者的偏好进行文化响应和个性化设计。第四，以系外行星为中心的互动式天文馆表演将在菲斯克天文馆（科罗拉多州博尔德）举行，其中包括与模拟的现场互动。最后，该项目将开发一个基于服务器的基础设施，用于跟踪和支持 STEM 兴趣的长期发展。该后端将跟踪细粒度的行为，包括模拟中的移动、动作和通信。这些数据将揭示有关兴趣如何发展、学习者如何参与自由选择学习活动以及他们如何在计算机模拟中与代理和同伴互动的模式。将采用基于设计的研究方法来评估这些不同体验激发兴趣和促进天文学学习的力量。因此，我们将考虑和评估对 STEM 感兴趣的一系列不同途径。研究将衡量这些经历激发人们对 STEM 兴趣并随着时间的推移促进重新参与的力量。创新在于使用引人入胜的智能技术和发人深省的教学法，作为扩大多元化年轻学习者参与 STEM 的方法。项目研究和教育资源将通过同行评审的研究期刊、会议演示、科学博物馆、儿童博物馆、Fab Labs 和天文馆的非正式 STEM 教育网络以及公共媒体（例如公共电视台的 NOVA 科学节目网站。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

期刊论文数量（3）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

Identifying and Coding STEM Interest Triggers in a Summer Camp

在夏令营中识别和编码 STEM 兴趣触发器

DOI：
发表时间：
2021
期刊：
15th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS
影响因子：
0
作者：
Yi, Sherry;Gadbury, Matthew;Lane, H. Chad
通讯作者：
Lane, H. Chad

Triggering STEM interest with Minecraft in a hybrid summer camp.

在混合夏令营中通过 Minecraft 激发 STEM 兴趣。

DOI：
10.1037/tmb0000077
发表时间：
2022
期刊：
and Behavior
影响因子：
0
作者：
Lane, H. Chad;Gadbury, Matthew;Ginger, Jeff;Yi, Sherry;Comins, Neil;Henhapl, Jack;Rivera-Rogers, Aidan
通讯作者：
Rivera-Rogers, Aidan

MineObserver: A Deep Learning Framework for Assessing Natural Language Descriptions of Minecraft Imagery

MineObserver：用于评估 Minecraft 图像自然语言描述的深度学习框架