Research to Understand and Inform the Impacts of Ambient and Designed Sound on Informal STEM Learning

研究了解并了解环境和设计声音对非正式 STEM 学习的影响

• 批准号: 2215101
• 负责人: Martha Merson
• 金额: $ 199.86万
• 依托单位: TERC Inc
• 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: 2022-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2215101&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Understand; Inform; Impacts; Ambient

This Research in Service to Practice project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to (a) advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments; (b) provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; (c) advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and (d) engage the public of all ages in learning STEM in informal environments. This project is designed to support collaboration between informal STEM learning (ISL) researchers, designers, and educators with sound researchers and acoustic ecologists to jointly explore the role of auditory experiences—soundscapes—on learning. In informal STEM learning spaces, where conversation advances STEM learning and is a vital part of the experience of exploring STEM phenomena with family and friends, attention to the impacts of soundscapes can have an important bearing on learning. Understanding how soundscapes may facilitate, spark, distract from, or even overwhelm thinking and conversation will provide ISL educators and designers evidence to inform their practice. The project is structured to reflect the complexity of ISL audiences and experiences; thus, partners include the North Park Village Nature Center located in in a diverse immigrant neighborhood in Chicago; Wild Indigo, a Great Lakes Audubon program primarily serving African American visitors in Midwest cities; an after-school/summer camp provider, STEAMing Ahead New Mexico, serving families in the rural southwest corner of New Mexico, and four sites in Ohio, MetroParks, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and the Center of Science and Industry.Investigators will conduct large-scale exploratory research to answer an understudied research question: How do environmental sounds impact STEM learning in informal learning spaces?  Researchers and practitioners will characterize and describe the soundscapes throughout the different outdoor and indoor exhibit/learning spaces. Researchers will observe 800 visitors, tracking attraction, attention, dwell time, and shared learning. In addition to observations, researchers will join another 150 visitors for think-aloud interviews, where researchers will walk alongside visitors and capture pertinent notes while visitors describe their experience in real time. Correlational and cluster analyses using machine learning algorithms will be used to identify patterns across different sounds, soundscapes, responses, and reflections of research participants. In particular, the analyses will identify characteristics of sounds that correlate with increased attention and shared learning. Throughout the project, a team of evaluators will monitor progress and support continuous improvement, including guidance for developing culturally responsive research metrics co-defined with project partners. Evaluators will also document the extent to which the project impacts capacity building, and influences planning and design considerations for project partners. This exploratory study is the initial in a larger research agenda, laying the groundwork for future experimental study designs that test causal claims about the relationships between specific soundscapes and visitor learning. Results of this study will be disseminated widely to informal learning researchers and practitioners through workshops, presentations, journal articles, facilitated conversations, and a short film that aligns with the focus and findings of the research.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.

这项服务对实践项目的研究是由非正式的STEM学习（AISL）计划资助的，该计划试图（a）提高对非正式环境中STEM学习设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解； （b）提供了多种途径，以扩大进入和参与STEM学习经验的途径； （c）对非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究； （d）在非正式环境中吸引所有年龄段的公众学习STEM。该项目旨在支持非正式的STEM学习（ISL）研究人员，设计师和教育工作者与合理的研究人员和声学生态学家之间的合作，以共同探索在学习中的听觉经历（Soundscapes）的作用。在非正式的STEM学习空间中，对话会进步STEM学习，并且是与家人和朋友一起探索STEM现象的重要组成部分，关注Soundscapes的影响可能对学习具有重要意义。了解声音景观如何托管，火花，分散注意力，甚至不知所措的思维和对话都会为ISL教育者和设计师提供证据以告知他们的实践。该项目的结构是反映ISL受众和经验的复杂性；因此，合作伙伴包括位于芝加哥潜水员移民社区的北方公园村自然中心； Wild Indigo，一个伟大的湖泊奥杜邦计划，主要为中西部城市的非洲裔美国游客提供服务；一家课后/夏令营提供商，在新墨西哥州向前蒸腾，在新墨西哥州的西南角为家庭服务，以及俄亥俄州，哥伦比亚省动物园和水族馆，富兰克林公园音乐学院和植物园的四个地点研究人员和从业人员将在不同的室外和室内曝光/学习空间中表征和描述音景。研究人员将观察800名游客，跟踪吸引力，注意力，居住时间和共享学习。除了观察外，研究人员还将加入另外150名访客进行思维访谈，研究人员将与访客同行并捕捉相关笔记，而访客实时描述了他们的经验。使用机器学习算法进行的相关和聚类分析将用于识别研究参与者的不同声音，音景，响应和反射的模式。特别是，分析将确定与增加关注和共享学习相关的声音的特征。在整个项目中，一组评估者将监控进度并支持持续改进，包括开发与项目合作伙伴共同定义的具有文化响应式研究指标的指南。评估人员还将记录项目影响能力构建的程度，并影响项目合作伙伴的计划和设计注意事项。这项探索性研究是较大的研究议程中的最初，为未来的实验研究设计奠定了基础，该研究测试了因果关系关于特定音景与访客学习之间关系的主张。这项研究的结果将通过研讨会，演示文稿，期刊文章，准备的对话和一部与研究的重点和发现相吻合的短片将广泛地传播到非正式的学习研究人员和从业人员中。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过基金会的知识分子优点和广泛的影响来评估NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得的。