| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 15, 2015 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 3, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1503315 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Sandra Welch
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2015 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $2,943,309.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $2,943,309.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2017 = $750,430.00 FY 2018 = $787,608.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3939 CAMPBELL AVE ARLINGTON VA US 22206-3440 (703)998-2608 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
2700 South Quincy Street Arlington VA US 22206-2242 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Discovery Research K-12 |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001718DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001819DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
The Discovery Research K-12 program (DR-K12) 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 (RMTs). 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. This project scales up the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs (SRL), a model that trains teens to produce video reports on important STEM issues from a youth perspective. Participating schools receive a SRL journalism and digital media literacy curriculum, a mentor for students from a local PBS affiliate, professional development for educators, and support from the PBS NewsHour team. The production of news stories and student-oriented instruction in the classroom are designed to increase student learning of STEM content through student-centered inquiry and reflections on metacognition. Students will develop a deep understanding of the material to choose the best strategy to teach or tell the STEM story to others through digital media. Over the 4 years of the project, the model will be expanded from the current 70 schools to 150 in 40 states targeting schools with high populations of underrepresented youth. New components will be added to the model including STEM professional mentors and a social media and media analytics component. Project partners include local PBS stations, Project Lead the Way, and Share My Lesson educators.
The research study conducted by New Knowledge, LLC will add new knowledge about the growing field of youth science journalism and digital media. Front-end evaluation will assess students' understanding of contemporary STEM issues by deploying a web-based survey to crowd-source youth reactions, interest, questions, and thoughts about current science issues. A subset of questions will explore students' tendencies to pass newly-acquired information to members of the larger social networks. Formative evaluation will include qualitative and quantitative studies of multiple stakeholders at the Student Reporting Labs to refine the implementation of the program. Summative evaluation will track learning outcomes/changes such as: How does student reporting on STEM news increase their STEM literacy competencies? How does it affect their interest in STEM careers? Which strategies are most effective with underrepresented students? How do youth communicate with each other about science content, informing news media best practices? The research team will use data from pre/post and post-delayed surveys taken by 1700 students in the STEM Student Reporting Labs and 1700 from control groups. In addition, interviews with teachers will assess the curriculum and impressions of student engagement.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The PBS NewsHour STEM Student Reporting Labs project explored the transformative potential of student-produced video journalism for STEM learning and literacy. The four-year project demonstrated how project-based learning integrating socially relevant media and STEM content increases youth interest in STEM learning, promotes STEM and media literacy, and can motivate youth to pursue careers in STEM and STEM communication.
The major goal of PBS NewsHour STEM Student Reporting Labs was to expand its highly successful existing youth journalism network and methodology to support increased STEM literacy among underserved student populations and their communities. The project investigated how engaging youth in producing STEM-focused video news stories for an authentic audience, including the nightly PBS NewsHour, can impact members of their social networks and increase understanding and demand for high-quality STEM reporting.
Student Reporting Labs (SRL) is an innovative youth journalism program founded in 2009 that trains middle and high school students to report on important issues from their perspective. The program provides teachers with a journalism and digital media curriculum, mentorship through connections to local PBS stations and news professionals, and robust support from SRL team members to promote teen mastery of concepts as they generate original video reports.
Using this model, STEM SRL prepared and distributed a parallel curriculum featuring science reporting and data analysis in 2016, eventually reaching 90 high school and middle school classes (including returning teachers' classrooms).
STEM SRL engaged hundreds of youth in science reporting each year, bringing STEM content into English language arts and media arts classrooms for a transdisciplinary approach. Students produced 92 STEM stories over seven semesters, and their stories and video responses have aired on national television as part of PBS NewsHour, which reaches over 2.4 million people per night. Assignments included reporting on America's National Parks, climate change, STEM innovation, Engineering and citizen science. These stories were shared by youth with their peers, through local PBS station distribution channels, and through the SRL network online at StudentReportingLabs.org. Distribution of student-created content helped engaging, accurate science reporting reach new audiences -- particularly young people.
Working closely with students, teachers, and researchers at Knology, SRL staff continually improved on STEM SRL's curriculum and strategy. Teacher, student, and mentor feedback were critical to the development of the program and to measuring the outcomes of STEM SRLs. By listening to participants, the SRL team learned about challenges faced in the field, like undefined mentor responsibilities and difficulty filming off-site, and used feedback to identify solutions. As the program grew, flexibility became a key component, both for assignments and for mentor relationships. Between Year 2 and Year 3, SRL restructured the STEM SRL curriculum to feature two prompts, rather than one year-long project in an effort to scaffold learning with basic skills learned in the first semester and more in-depth science reporting in the second. This shift, and retooled resources for educators, helped motivate classes throughout their year-long coursework.
A final report available on Knology's website, synthesized data from four years of programming to reveal that students in STEM SRL classrooms were significantly more likely to demonstrate increased interest in STEM topics than their peers in non-STEM SRL classrooms. The program also successfully expanded horizons for students by connecting STEM SRL classes with mentors from STEM fields. These mentorships gave youth an opportunity to learn about different careers and how STEM is applied in daily life. Over half of STEM SRL teachers surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that the program increased their students' interest in STEM or health careers, as opposed to less than 20% of control classrooms. Major achievements include:
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11 STEM student-produced stories made it to the PBS NewsHour nightly broadcast, reaching over 2.4 million people each.
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40 students from STEM SRLs accepted to the SRL Summer Academy, the premier student journalism recognition and NewsHour training experience. Academy Fellows have gone on to internships at their local stations, and received scholarships to universities and colleges.
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STEM SRL won the 2019 STEM FOR ALL VIDEO SHOWCASE
SRL will continue to apply lessons learned from the STEM SRL project in programming for years to come, particularly in the implementation of its Health SRL project, the creation of science reporting assignments, and the development of StoryMaker, a digital tool for student journalism that will feature STEM-specific resources for science reporting and incorporate STEM skills -- such as data analysis and research -- into the fabric of the curriculum.
Last Modified: 02/07/2020
Modified by: Leah Clapman
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