Recipient Organization
UNIV OF IDAHO
875 PERIMETER DRIVE
MOSCOW,ID 83844-9803
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The goal of this project is to empower Idaho 4-H youth to enter STEM professions for their future careers through an innovative STEM education program titled "The Idaho Drone League for 4-H leadership (iDrone 4-H)". As a new initiative, the iDrone 4-H program will consist of a week-long online curriculum development and design (Phase 1) plus two-day hands-on in-person training (Phase 2) during the Idaho 4-H State Teen Association Convention (STAC). This hybrid (online + offline) future workforce activity will build and fly drones, learn about safety regulations, drone technology, and develop research questions. To accomplish the overarching goal of the program, the project team will focus on four primary objectives; 1) increase students' knowledge in STEM-related areas (non-formal learning), 2) improve students' attitudes toward STEM (non-formal learning), 3) increase students' motivation to be an ag scientist or engineer, and 4) increase students' self-efficacy and self-confidence related to leadership skills and STEM. We will recruit students across Idaho via the 4-H network, with a recruitment focus on STEM minorities in rural settings. Although a first-come, first-served principal is applied, 15-20 seats will be reserved for students in rural homes where internet service is unavailable. About 450 (150 students/yr x 3 years) highly motivated Idaho youth will impact their communities by increasing the number of talented students in rural settings through iDrone-4H, ultimately enhancing the nation's STEM competitiveness.
Animal Health Component
90%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
90%
Developmental
10%
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project, therefore, is to empower Idaho 4-H youth to enter STEM professions for their future careers through an innovative STEM education program titled "The Idaho Drone League for 4-H leadership (iDrone 4-H)". As a new initiative, the iDrone 4-H program will consist of a week-long online curriculum development and design (Phase 1) plus two-day hands-on in-person training (Phase 2) during the Idaho 4-H State Teen Association Convention (STAC). This hybrid (online + offline) future workforce activity will build and fly drones, learn about safety regulations, drone technology, and develop research questions. To accomplish the overarching goal of the program, the project team will focus on four primary objectives; Obj 1) increase students' knowledge in STEM-related areas (non-formal learning), Obj 2) improve students' attitudes toward STEM (non-formal learning), Obj 3) increase students' motivation to be an ag scientist or engineer, and Obj 4) increase students' self-efficacy and self-confidence related to leadership skills and STEM.
Project Methods
iDrone 4-H Online camp (Phase 1): We will recruit students across Idaho via 4-H network, with a targeted recruitment focus on STEM minorities in rural settings (See the collaboration letters). Although a first-come, first-served principal is applied, 15 - 20 seats will be reserved for students in rural homes, where no internet service is available. We will work with remote/rural school districts to accommodate them for Phase I (sprig break) and Phase 2 (summer break) while they can participate in the iDrone 4-H as an option by travelling. Recruitment will take place as soon as the proposal is funded and our advisory board will provide insight and assistance in recruitment. We will advertise through local school districts and community-based organizations and ask educators and program facilitators to identify students and promote the iDrone 4-H during 4-H STAC in summer 2023. Because the project is designed to encourage 4-H youth, we will leverage connections with preexisting programs, such as the 4-H Extension program (see attached letter), the UI Drone Summit, faculty classroom, the existing STEM education network, e.g., Idaho STEM Action Center (Idaho STEM AC, 2020), and the tribes. Students (about 105 online students) will be recruited for iDrone 4-H Online during spring break (Phase 1)Each youth participant from the iDrone 4-H Online will explore their own research questions with support from our team (including USDA-funded staff). They will bring those questions to the workshop where they will learn to fly drones, collect data, analyze data/image processing, and learn federal regulations for safe flight (e.g., FAA Part 107 license). After recruitment, participating students will be asked to complete a pre-workshop survey to assess their current level of understanding related to iDrone concepts and provided with an informational video to introduce them to drones and guide them to develop a research question and brainstorm techniques. Examples such as drone-based insect sampling for precision agriculture, environmental water sampling, wildfire monitoring, and salmon habitat research will be provided as context. Examples will vary based on target region and population, so they are culturally relevant to participants' socio-cultural experiences at their location. They will then be asked to brainstorm their own drone-based research ideas and bring those to the iDrone 4-H to share with their peers. If brainstormed ideas are not a good fit for team project areas, teams can use the examples above. We will use survey findings from Phase 1 to refine and improve Phase 2 curricular design to sustain the iDrone 4-H program. The iDrone 4-H team will work collaboratively to tailor Phase 2 iDrone training workshops adjust the curriculum to include a basis for where participants are in their understanding of general experimental design and self-efficacy as assessed in the pre-workshop survey. Although the general STEM content will stay consistent, alterations will be made in the planning stage of each phase to infuse culturally relevant topics and maximize the potential benefit for youth. With a wide age range of 6th-12th graders, the team will consider whether there is a need to tailor programming to age-specific tracks based on survey findings. Note that the broad age group mingled well in past iDrone events with older students often taking on the role of leading their team, especially during coding, developing a mission plan, and the poster session (Ryu et al., 2020; Ryu et al., 2021).iDrone 4-H Offline Training (Phase 2): During the 4-H STAC, the iDrone 4-H youth will begin with a 2-day hands-on training scheduled for each summer. Participating students will complete a brief survey that will capture demographic information, STEM interests, and motivation for participating in a drone workshop (as well as interest in participating in a drone league near future). The iDrone training module during the 4-H STAC is described below. Teams will be formed in subsequent stages. The first groups will be formed based on participants' topics of preference (e.g., precision ag, environment, and public safety). Within these groups, secondary groups will be formed based on the level of participants' STEM skillsets (e.g., beginner, intermediate, and expert). Final teams (3-5 students in each group) will be formed utilizing both topics of preference and STEM skillsets based on the recommendations by the iDrone project team. Each team will be assigned an advisor (mentor) who represents a diverse population of STEM professionals. Advisors will include women, Hispanics, Native Americans, and first-generation college students, to provide role models who correspond to participants' gender and ethnicity make-up. These advisors will be recruited as a guest speaker after the selection of youth to be representative to the corresponding participants through the previously described networks for recruitment of participants. Advisors will be expected to support their assigned team through the development of their iDrone 4-H project. Additionally, these advisors will be asked to share about their current careers and their journey towards their career. Throughout Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education Program (IKEEP), Co-PI Wargo will develop an advising or mentoring guide and conduct a training session to provide advisors with the necessary knowledge to be successful assisting with iDrone projects.Team building activities will include cooperative learning strategies and leadership sessions. Participants will engage in ongoing "sharing" and "processing," where they will work in cooperative learning groups to refine their ideas. This trial-and-error time allows youth to reflect on successes and opportunities for growth while working toward a better solution. At the end of the workshop, they will share their projects with all workshop participants and engage in a full group reflection.Working with local iDrone 4-H coordinators (USDA-funded staff), the project team will also provide basic instructions on methods to investigate specific aspects of participants' identified real-world problems, such as 1) how advanced drone technology can minimize fire potential in Idaho (e.g., Soda fires) via drone-based remote sensing, 2) how to improve net revenue using drone-mounted spot spray for precision agriculture, 3) how to identify salmon spawning areas using drone-mounted sensors to advance river restoration projects for salmon returns in the northwest, 4) what conditions, constraints, and risks can make it possible to provide drone-based delivery service (e.g., ag equipment part delivery in rural settings, or 5) how to protect privacy from nearby drone flights using anti-drone and/or drone jamming technology. These examples will be altered during the hands-on training to be culturally relevant to participating youth. This portion of the workshop will aid in the generalization of learned knowledge and transferability of content to various contexts. Although they are not expected to compete in any way, they will be instructed and guided in collaborative data collection with the methods they have been taught at this stage (Phase 2).Group discussions will revolve around what students learned from the "scripted" approach and the data they gathered. Learning objectives will include: understanding what a research question is, methods of answering questions with data, technical data collection skills, and content knowledge gains in areas specific to the science of the questions and aligned to American Science and Math Education standards. Additionally, youth participants will be challenged to generalize their knowledge and derive new opportunities for application in their futures.