Award Abstract # 1623543
Making in The Colonias: Motivating STEM Participation through a Making as Micro-Manufacturing Model

NSF Org: DRL
Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL)
Recipient: TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: August 27, 2016
Latest Amendment Date: September 28, 2016
Award Number: 1623543
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Monya Ruffin
mruffin@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4635
DRL
 Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL)
EDU
 Directorate for STEM Education
Start Date: September 1, 2016
End Date: August 31, 2020 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $284,985.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $284,985.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2016 = $284,985.00
History of Investigator:
  • Francis Quek (Principal Investigator)
    quek@tamu.edu
  • Malini Natarajarathinam (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Mathew Kuttolamadom (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Sharon Lynn Chu (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Texas A&M University
400 HARVEY MITCHELL PKY S STE 300
COLLEGE STATION
TX  US  77845-4375
(979)862-6777
Sponsor Congressional District: 10
Primary Place of Performance: Texas A&M University Main Campus
3137 TAMU
College Station
TX  US  77843-3137
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
10
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): JF6XLNB4CDJ5
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): AISL
Primary Program Source: 04001617DB NSF Education & Human Resource
Program Reference Code(s): 7916, 8212
Program Element Code(s): 725900
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.076

ABSTRACT

As part of an overall strategy to enhance learning within maker contexts in formal and informal environments, the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) and Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) programs partnered to support innovative models in Making poised to catalyze new approaches in STEM learning and innovation. Employing a novel design and development approach, this Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) will test the feasibility of integrating Making concepts with real world micro-manufacturing engineering principles within the context of intense, multi-year team apprenticeship experiences for high school students. The apprenticeship model is particularly novel, as current Making research and experiences predominately take place in afterschool and summer programs for up to 25 youth. The proposed apprenticeships will require a two year commitment by a small cohort of Texas high school students, which will provide an opportunity to examine the feasibility and impact of the effort longitudinally. The cohort will learn to think critically, solve problems, and work together as a Making Production Team (MPT) in a customized makerspace in their high school, constructing engineering-based science kits for implementation in a local elementary school. Not only will the students enhance their content knowledge while developing design and development skills but the students will also receive stipends which will address two very practical needs for the targeted high need population - employment and workforce development. Few, if any, efforts currently serve the targeted population through the contextualization of Making within a supply chain management and micro-manufacturing framework that extends the Making experience by integrating the student designed products into elementary classrooms. As such, this project will contribute to essentially unexplored areas of Making research and development.

Six high school students from high poverty, underserved Texas communities along the Texas-Mexico border (colonias) will be selected for the Making Production Team (MPT). In Years 1 and 2, the students will meet regularly during the academic school year and over the summer with Texas A & M University undergraduates, graduate students, and the project team to learn key aspects of Making and manufacturing (i.e., ideation, prototyping, design, acquisition, personnel, and production) through hands-on making activities and direct instruction. Concurrently, a research study will be conducted to explore: (a) the actualization of the model in an underserved community, (b) the effectiveness of problem-based learning to train students in the model, and (c) STEM knowledge and self-concept. Data will be collected from multiple sources. An adapted version of the Academic Self-Description Questionnaire will be administered to the students to assess their STEM technical knowledge and skills as well as their self-concept in relation to STEM domains. Remote and in person interviews will be conducted with the students to track the evolution of the primary dependent variables, STEM learning and self-concept, over time. Program facilitators and partners will be interviewed to examine the feasibility of the making experience within the given context and for the targeted students. Finally, the students' diary reflections, products, and video recordings of their work sessions will also be examined. Time-series quantitative tests and in-depth qualitative methods will be used to analyze the data.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Chu, S., Quek, F., Bhangaonkar, S., Ging, A. B. and Sridharamurthy, K. "aking the Maker: Nurturing the Maker MindsetDescription: Presents a new direction for the role of Making for children." Making the Maker: Nurturing the Maker Mindset , 2015
Chu, S., Quek, F., Bhangaonkar, S., Ging, A. B. and Sridharamurthy, K. "Making the Maker: Nurturing the Maker Mindset." International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction: Special Issue on Digital Fabrication in Education , 2015

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 exploratory project investigated a distance apprenticeship with university engineering students providing mentorship to high school students in remote  a rural school district. Learning a combination of basic technologies (3D design and fabrication, microprocessor-based electronic design, and programming) and rudimentary manufacturing engineering, the high school students engage in the design and production of Maker-based learning materials for an elementary school classroom. The intent is that the rural school students who do not normally have access to such technology-infused learning will develop the competencies and self-efficacies for production at micro-levels within the local community context. The project simulated the condition of work by proposing to pay students a stipend for manufacturing Maker-based learning materials for an elementary school class. The students organize as Manufacturing Production Teams (MPT) and assume rotating roles of ‘project manager’, ‘production manager’, ‘inventory manager’, ‘communications specialist’, and ‘testing engineer’ for each project. The high school students also coordinate with the elementary school teacher (through the communications specialist) and assist the teacher in her elementary school classroom. The project engaged 10 rural students over three years. The project showed the promise of our approach, and nearly all the students in the project continued to higher education and work in STEM fields. Significantly, we found that the authentic need to manufacture materials for younger students in their community was critical in focusing the attention and learning, and helped the high school students identify as STEM-capable and interested individuals. In fact, we found that paying the students stipends to simulate job-like conditions took away from the more powerful motivation of producing for their community, and we abandoned the stipends in the second year of the project. These and other findings are disseminated through 10 peer-reviewed publications. More importantly the project exposed critical research needs that informed two new successful NSF proposals. A new Cyberlearning project explores how situated communication using telepresence robots with augmented reality may support distance technology-based mentoring. Another grant extends the integrated pedagogy and mentoring for community-relevant design, prototyping, and manufacturing. The new project formalizes the horizontally-organized curriculum for a high school Career and Technical Education program.


 


Last Modified: 12/29/2020
Modified by: Francis Quek

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