Collaborative Research: Developing neural and behavioral measures to predict long-term STEM learning outcomes from a high-school spatial learning course

合作研究：开发神经和行为测量来预测高中空间学习课程的长期 STEM 学习成果

• 批准号: 2201307
• 负责人: David Uttal
• 金额: $ 26.5万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2201307&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Developing; neural; behavioral

This project uses neural and behavioral measures of learning as a basis for making improvements to an immersive high school course that trains students in flexible spatial cognition and data analysis. Tracking students into college, the project measures long-term effects of improved spatial cognition resulting from the modified geospatial course curriculum. Large-scale longitudinal studies have demonstrated the overwhelming benefit of advanced spatial cognitive abilities for success in STEM careers. Recent research has shown the effectiveness of spatial cognitive training for developing these skills in the context of secondary and higher education curricula. What is lacking are the data to connect these separate lines of research: does spatial cognitive education yield lasting effects on cognition that influence future success in STEM fields. This project leverages, and further develops, a successful high school spatial STEM curriculum to identify factors that support long-term learning that builds over time, demonstrated by tracking progress into college. Given the substantial evidence that spatial cognition is a determinant of success in STEM, broadening access to spatial learning is critical to broadening the gateway to STEM achievement. Currently, spatially-focused educational experiences (e.g., extracurricular science activities) often require access to resources associated with socioeconomic status. This project aims to establish an empirical basis for broad adoption of spatial curricula so that more students receive spatial instruction, as well as curriculum development tools to yield more effective STEM curricula and shorten development time. Further, this project can provide new insights for broadening participation in STEM and will point to neural targets for intervention, identifying possible effects of sex and STEM-related anxieties on conceptual learning in the brain, and testing the efficacy of spatial education for reducing disparities. Most broadly, the research has potential to bolster spatial ability in the next generation of the U.S. STEM workforce, with diverse backgrounds and diverse career paths. The project uses neural data, in combination with behavioral tests, to measure and compare the effectiveness of different instructional approaches and to improve the curriculum itself. The research builds on a foundation of work by the multidisciplinary team, including years of curriculum development, neural data analysis, and examination of the cognitive and neural benefits of spatial cognitive education. The insights provided by this project allow the investigators to address several fundamental questions, including how to most effectively train and utilize spatial cognition in education, what long-term neural and cognitive changes are associated with spatial learning during adolescence, how can neural data be incorporated into the curriculum development cycle, and which instructional changes benefit student learning and motivation to pursue future STEM endeavors. Beyond testing the efficacy of spatial education, this project also generates new methods for decoding the neural signals that reflect learning and conceptual understanding. Further, the project puts these methods to use in comparing different versions of the spatial curriculum on the basis of short-term and long-term neural and cognitive changes. By comparing traditional learning outcomes, novel neural measures, and student motivation for pursuing STEM disciplines, the project provides a new, powerful evidentiary basis for decision-making when choosing among instructional approaches. This project builds new capacity for focus-group testing that includes neural data to improve educational curricula, in addition to providing specific and actionable recommendations for spatially-enriched science curricula. This project therefore advances curriculum development on two fronts: by demonstrating the long-term effectiveness of spatial cognitive learning in secondary education – tracking student progress into college – and by adding neural data to the toolbox of the curriculum developer. This project is jointly funded by the Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12), EHR Core Research (ECR) program, and the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program.The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The program supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent challenges in education.The ITEST program supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.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.

该项目使用学习的神经和行为度量作为改进身临其境的高中课程的基础，该课程培训学生灵活的空间认知和数据分析。该项目跟踪学生进入大学，衡量了改良的地理空间课程改善空间认知的长期影响。大规模的纵向研究表明，先进的空间认知能力对STEM职业的成功带来了压倒性的好处。最近的研究表明，在中学和高等教育课程的背景下，空间认知培训在发展这些技能方面的有效性。缺乏连接这些单独的研究线的数据：空间认知教育对影响STEM领域未来成功的认知产生了持久影响。该项目利用并进一步发展了一项成功的高中空间STEM课程，以确定支持长期学习的因素，这些因素通过跟踪进步进入大学来证明。鉴于空间认知是STEM成功的确定的实质证据，因此扩大空间学习的访问对于扩大STEM实现的门户至关重要。目前，以空间为中心的教育经验（例如，课外科学活动）通常需要获得与社会经济地位相关的资源。该项目旨在建立广泛采用空间课程的经验基础，以便越来越多的学生接受空间教学，以及课程开发工具，以产生更有效的STEM课程和缩短开发时间。此外，该项目可以为扩大STEM的参与提供新的见解，并将指出干预的神经目标，确定性别和与STEM相关的动画对大脑概念学习的可能影响，并测试空间教育对降低差异的有效性。最广泛地说，这项研究有潜力在下一代美国STEM劳动力中增强空间能力，并具有潜水员的背景和多样化的职业道路。该项目将神经数据与行​​为测试结合使用，以测量和比较不同教学方法的有效性并改善课程本身。这项研究以多学科团队的工作为基础，包括多年的课程开发，神经元数据分析以及对空间认知教育的认知和神经增生的检查。 The insights provided by this project allow the investigators to address several fundamental questions, including how to most effectively train and utilize spatial cognitive changes in education, what long-term neuronal and cognitive changes are associated with spatial learning during adolescente, how can neuronal data be incorporated into the curriculum development cycle, and Which instructional changes benefit student learning and motivation to pursue future STEM endeavors.除了测试空间教育的效率外，该项目还生成了解码反映学习和概念理解的神经信号的新方法。此外，该项目将这些方法用于比较不同版本的空间课程，以短期和长期的神经和认知变化为基础。通过比较传统的学习成果，新颖的神经措施和学生追求STEM学科的动机，该项目在教学方法中选择时为决策提供了新的，有力的基于证据的基础。该项目还建立了重点组测试的新能力，其中包括神经元数据以改善教育课程，此外还为空间增强的科学课程提供了特定且可操作的建议。因此，该项目在两个方面进行了课程发展：通过展示中学教育中空间认知学习的长期有效性 - 跟踪学生进入大学的进步，并通过将神经数据添加到课程开发人员的工具箱中。 This project is jointly funded by the Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12), EHR Core Research (ECR) program, and the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program.The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and 工具。 DRK-12计划中的项目基于STEM教育和先前的研发工作的基础研究，为拟议项目提供了理论和经验的理由。ECR计划强调了基本的STEM教育研究，从而在该领域产生了基础知识。投资是在重要，广泛和结束的关键领域进行的：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大参与STEM以及STEM劳动力的发展。该计划支持积累强大的证据，以告知努力，以理解，建立理论来解释并提出干预和创新，以应对教育中持续的挑战。 ITEST计划支持对实践，计划要素，上下文和过程的理解的项目，这有助于增加学生对科学，技术，工程和数学和数学（STEM）以及信息与通信技术（ICT）职业的知识和兴趣。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的智力效果和广泛的评估来评估，并以评估为珍贵，并具有珍贵的评论。