STEM Education Organizational Postdoctoral Research Fellowships: Collaborative Research in Informal STEM Learning Environments

STEM 教育组织博士后研究奖学金：非正式 STEM 学习环境中的合作研究

• 批准号: 2329473
• 负责人: Katherine McMillan
• 金额: $ 124.59万
• 依托单位: New York Hall of Science
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2329473&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STEM; Education; Organizational; Postdoctoral; Research

The New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), will recruit and support two postdoctoral fellows, who will spend 24 months conducting research in residence with NYSCI’s diverse staff, audiences, and local community. This fellowship program is designed to support the postdoctoral researchers as they develop and pursue independent lines of research on equitable and inclusive informal STEM learning experiences. Research training will emphasize practices for conducting research with culturally and linguistically diverse audiences and collaborative research methods that directly engage STEM practitioners and/or community members in the research process. Fellows will be mentored by both research professionals and informal STEM practitioners, including educators and program developers, exhibit designers, museum facilitators, and curriculum developers. Through mentoring and peer-to-peer collaborative relationships, postdoctoral fellows will have rich opportunities to generate new knowledge about effective, inclusive practices in STEM education, as well as to develop the skills needed to build and sustain productive, mutually beneficial partnerships with practitioners in informal STEM learning environments. Postdoctoral fellows will leave the fellowship equipped with strategies for conducting culturally responsive and practice-relevant research that they can apply to future careers. Advancing knowledge about how to support STEM learning for diverse audiences and in diverse contexts depends upon researchers’ methodological and theoretical expertise and on their ability to work competently and collaboratively with diverse stakeholders within informal STEM environments. Mastering both sets of competencies is critical to enabling early career researchers to become leaders in field-wide efforts to produce more practice-relevant and accessible forms of research. Within complex, real-world settings, the practice-based knowledge of educators, designers, and facilitators, as well as the lived experiences of community members, are integral to the success of educational environments and interventions. Training in research approaches that honor diverse perspectives and ways of knowing — across cultures, disciplines, and roles within educational institutions — can support early career researchers in developing lines of research that address issues of equity in STEM learning in responsive and impactful ways. Postdoctoral scholars will be invited to locate their existing research interests relative to two broad areas: STEM learning in informal learning environments, and broadening participation in informal STEM learning.This project is supported by NSF’s STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) Program with co-funding from the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program. The STEM Ed PRF Program aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. The AISL Program, supports projects that: (a) contribute to research and practice that considers informal STEM learning's role in equity and belonging in STEM; (b) promote personal and educational success in STEM; (c) advance public engagement in scientific discovery; (d) foster interest in STEM careers; (e) create and enhance the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning; (f) improve community vibrancy; and/or (g) enhance science communication and the public's engagement in and understanding of STEM and STEM processes.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.

纽约科学馆 (NYSCI) 将招募和支持两名博士后研究员，他们将在 NYSCI 的不同员工、受众和当地社区中进行为期 24 个月的驻地研究。该奖学金计划旨在为博士后研究人员提供支持。开发和追求关于公平和包容性非正式 STEM 学习体验的独立研究路线 研究培训将强调与文化和语言多样化的受众进行研究的实践以及直接让 STEM 从业者和/或社区成员参与研究过程的合作研究方法。将要得到研究专业人员和非正式 STEM 从业者的指导，包括教育工作者和项目开发人员、展览设计师、博物馆协调员和课程开发人员。通过指导和同行协作关系，博士后研究员将有丰富的机会产生有关有效性的新知识。博士后研究员将为奖学金配备进行文化响应和实践相关研究的策略。他们能否将其应用到未来的职业生涯中，取决于研究人员的方法论和理论专业知识，以及他们在非正式 STEM 环境中与不同利益相关者进行有效合作的能力。能力对于使早期职业研究人员成为全领域努力的领导者至关重要，以在复杂的现实世界环境中进行更多与实践相关且易于理解的研究形式，教育工作者、设计师和促进者的基于实践的知识，还有作为社区成员的生活经历，尊重不同观点和认识方式的研究方法培训（跨文化、学科和教育机构内的角色）是教育环境和干预措施成功的组成部分，可以支持早期职业研究人员的发展。以响应性和有影响力的方式解决 STEM 学习公平问题的研究方向将邀请博士后学者在两个广泛的领域定位他们现有的研究兴趣：非正式学习环境中的 STEM 学习，以及扩大非正式 STEM 学习的参与。该项目得到 NSF STEM 教育的支持博士后研究奖学金 (STEM Ed PRF) 计划由推进非正式 STEM 学习 (AISL) 计划共同资助。STEM Ed PRF 计划旨在增强新近博士在 STEM、STEM 教育、教育方面的研究知识、技能和实践。 AISL 计划支持以下项目：(a) 促进考虑非正式 STEM 学习在公平中的作用的研究和实践。 (b) 促进 STEM 中的个人和教育成功； (d) 培养对 STEM 职业的兴趣； (e) 为有效的非正式 STEM 奠定理论和经验基础；学习；(f) 提高社区活力；和/或 (g) 加强科学传播以及公众对 STEM 和 STEM 流程的参与和理解。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识进行评估，被认为值得支持。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。