This NSF INCLUDES pilot addresses the challenge of broadening participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) among minoritized youth in grades 5-8 and their access to computer science (CS), which is recognized as integral to all STEM disciplines. This project will specifically focus on developing and understanding computing experiences intentionally designed to strengthen mathematical skills utilizing culturally responsive pedagogy. Culturally responsive pedagogy integrates knowledge relevant to students' identities and communities with computational learning activities, and maximizes the potential for increasing engagement, competence, and belonging of underrepresented youth in computing. This pilot will be situated in community-based organizations, including Boys and Girls Clubs and Public Libraries, with the support of industry partners and the local Department of Education. Given the role of community-based organizations and libraries across the nation for community engagement and educational enrichment, this work represents an exciting opportunity for spreading into thousands of libraries and community centers across the nation, thereby having collective impact that materializes CS for All.
This project will engage minoritized youth in grades 5-8. The overarching vision is to establish a scalable model for providing these students with recurrent opportunities to create computational artifacts that are culturally-responsive to their community contexts. In addition, there will be an explicit and simultaneous focus on strengthening students' mathematical skills. The project has four goals: (1) facilitate culturally-responsive learning of key CS concepts and practices; (2) build youth and community knowledge around positive impacts of computing on local communities; (3) increase participants' knowledge, confidence and interest in becoming creators of computing innovations; and (4) strengthen mathematical skills through intentional computing experiences. The project will adapt and implement CS modules from the NSF-funded Exploring Computer Science curriculum, and will intentionally reinforce mathematics skills and community engagement. It will design and implement a culturally-responsive training model for establishing community instructors who can support CS project learning. Finally, it will create instruments for monitoring project goals and participant outcomes. Due to the collaboration with community-based organizations present in cities across the nation, the model has strong potential to scale up regionally and nationally.
DATE:
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Lori PollockChrystalla MouzaJohn PeleskoRosalie Rolon-Dow
The Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, in collaboration with several informal science education and other cultural and business organizations in San Diego, Chicago, and Worcester, MA are implementing a research and development project that investigates a range of possible approaches for stimulating the development of 21st Century creativity skills and innovative processes at the interface between informal STEM learning and methods for creative thinking. The goal of the research is to advance understanding of the potential impacts of creative thinking methods on the public's understanding of and engagement with STEM, with a focus on 21st Century workforce skills of teens and adults. The goal of the project's development activities is to experiment with a variety of "innovation incubator" models in cities around the country. Modeled on business "incubators" or "accelerators" that are designed to foster and accelerate innovation and creativity, these STEM incubators generate collaborations of different professionals and the public around STEM education and other STEM-related topics of local interest that can be explored with the help of creative learning methodologies such as innovative methods to generate creative ideas, ideas for transforming one STEM idea to others, drawing on visual and graphical ideas, improvisation, narrative writing, and the process of using innovative visual displays of information for creating visual roadmaps. Hosting the project's incubators are the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership (San Diego), the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago) and the EcoTarium (Worcester, MA). National partners are the Association of Science-Technology Centers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Americans for the Arts. Activities will include: the formation and collaborative processes of three incubator sites, a research study, the development of a creative thinking curriculum infused into science education, professional development based on the curriculum, public engagement events and exhibits, a project website and tools for social networking, and project evaluation. A national advisory council includes professionals in education, science, creativity, and business.
The National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) seeks to maximize access to shared resources within projects and with public and private sector organizations and institutions interested in expanding girls’ participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, the NGCP is a robust national network of more than 3,000 girl-serving STEM organizations. Currently, 31 Collaboratives, serving 40 states, facilitate collaboration between more than 12,800 organizations who serve more than 7.7 million girls and 4.4 million boys. The NGCP occupies a unique role in the STEM community because it facilitates collaboration with all stakeholders who benefit from increasing diversity and engagement of women in STEM. These stakeholders form Regional Collaboratives, who are connected to local girl-serving STEM programs. Regional Collaboratives are led by leadership teams and advisory boards with representatives from K-12 education, higher education, community-based organizations, professional organizations, and industry. NGCP strengthens the capacity of girl-serving STEM projects by facilitating collaboration among programs and organizations and by sharing promising practice research, program models, and products through webinars, collaboration training, and institutes. This is accomplished through a tested comprehensive program of change that uses collaboration to expand and strengthen STEM-related opportunities for girls and women. In each replication state, the NGCP model creates a network of professionals, researchers, and practitioners, facilitating collaboration within this network, and delivering high-quality research-based professional development. Participating programs can also receive mini-grant funding to develop collaborative STEM-focused projects. To date, over 27,000 participants have been served in 241 mini-grant projects, and over 17,000 practitioners have been served through in-person events and webinars. The NGCP’s collaborative model changes the way practitioners and educators work to advance girls’ participation in STEM. It facilitates the development of practitioners in their knowledge of good gender equitable educational practices, awareness of the role of K-12 education in STEM workforce development, and mutual support of peers locally and across the United States.