Collaborative Research: Replication of a Community-Engaged Educational Ecosystem Model in Rust Belt Cities

合作研究：在铁锈地带城市复制社区参与的教育生态系统模式

• 批准号: 2111377
• 负责人: Faisal Aqlan
• 金额: $ 74.58万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-01 至 2022-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2111377&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Replication; Community; Engaged

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving educational environments that contribute to strengthening and diversifying the regional STEM workforce. The challenges of building a STEM workforce in shrinking Rust Belt cities are addressed by replicating and examining an effective STEM learning environment that applies and innovates high impact practices. Rust Belt cities refer to areas of the northern and Midwest United States that were once known for steel production and heavy industry. These cities often have high poverty rates and lower educational attainment in STEM, highlighting the need to bridge the divide of communities that can engage in the knowledge economy. This project aims to build STEM attraction and retention by immersing high school and college students in the STEM knowledge, skill, and capacity needs of deindustrialized cities using project-based learning, community engagement, and community development techniques. The Community-Engaged Educational Ecosystem Model (C-EEEM) was first developed and implemented in South Bend, Indiana in the Center for Civic Innovation at the University of Notre Dame. It produced a sustainable network of educational institutions and community stakeholders in delivering a high impact STEM learning environment. This project will replicate and study the C-EEEM in two other cities, Youngstown, Ohio and Erie, Pennsylvania. The ultimate goal of the project is to establish an interconnected network of STEM education initiatives to benefit the regional workforce.This project seeks to answer questions about the implementation of the C-EEEM in two sites with different community characteristics and types of anchor institutions. The project will also investigate differences in learning and dispositional outcomes in students in these new contexts. Consequently, units of analysis are nested: 1) the learning environment created by the C-EEEM and 2) the individual students. Both levels of examination use structured mixed-methods data collection. For students, the research will explore STEM motivation and persistence in STEM career pathways using theoretical framing derived from Self Determination Theory (SDT), as well as explore and expand on pilot findings regarding place attachment. For the C-EEEM learning environment, researchers will examine the core elements and critical factors specified from the pilot C-EEEM against the development of the new sites, allowing for comparison and assessment of relevance of the C-EEEM specifications in different conditions as well as identification of adaptations for generalizability. Concurrently, researchers will look for differences in student outcomes correlating with model differences. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.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.

该项目旨在通过改善有助于加强和多样化区域STEM劳动力多样化的教育环境来服务国家利益。通过复制和检查应用和创新高影响力实践的有效的STEM学习环境，解决了在缩小锈腰城市中建立STEM劳动力的挑战。锈带城市是指北部和中西部的地区，这些地区曾经以钢铁生产和重工业而闻名。这些城市通常具有很高的贫困率和较低的STEM教育程度，这强调了弥合可以参与知识经济的社区的鸿沟的必要性。该项目旨在通过将基于项目的学习，社区参与和社区发展技巧的高中生，技能和能力需求沉浸在SEM知识，技能和能力需求中，以建立STEM吸引力和保留率。社区参与的教育生态系统模型（C-EEEM）是在圣母大学公民创新中心的南本德开发和实施的。它建立了一个可持续的教育机构和社区利益相关者网络，以提供高影响力的STEM学习环境。该项目将在俄亥俄州扬斯敦和宾夕法尼亚州伊利的其他两个城市中复制并研究C-EEEM。该项目的最终目标是建立一个相互联系的STEM教育计划网络，以使该地区劳动力受益。本项目旨在回答有关在具有不同社区特征和锚定机构类型的两个站点实施C-EEEM的问题。该项目还将调查这些新背景下学生的学习和性格成果的差异。因此，分析单位是嵌套的：1）C-EEEM创建的学习环境和2）单个学生。两种检查级别的使用结构化混合方法数据收集。对于学生而言，这项研究将使用自我确定理论（SDT）得出的理论框架探索STEM职业道路中的STEM动机和持久性，并探索和扩展有关地点依恋的试点发现。对于C-EEEM学习环境，研究人员将研究试点C-EEEM指定的核心要素和关键因素，以反对新站点的开发，从而可以比较和评估不同条件下C-EEEM规范的相关性，并识别适应性的普遍性。同时，研究人员将寻找与模型差异相关的学生结果的差异。 NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型的轨道，该计划支持努力在高等教育和学科社区的机构中转变和改善STEM教育的努力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评估来进行评估的审查标准。