Girl Scouts Introduce STEM-Focused Badges

女童子军引进 STEM 焦点徽章

摘要：

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) recently announced a set of new badges available at different age-levels, focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) topics.

最近，美国女童子军（Girl Scouts of the United States of America，GSUSA）公布了一系列不同年龄层级的新徽章，重点是科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）等主题。

正文：

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) recently announced that several new badges to support STEM programs will be available. The organization’s site states: "Through hands-on and age-appropriate experiences for girls as young as five, Girl Scouts is both enhancing the important outdoor opportunities the organization is known for and addressing the lack of exposure many girls have to STEM."

最近，美国女童子军（Girl Scouts of the United States of America，GSUSA）公布了几项即将推出的支持 STEM 计划的新徽章。该机构的网站称：“对于五岁这样年纪小的女孩而言，通过实践和适龄的经验，加入女童子军既可增强组织因之出名的重要户外机会，又解决许多女孩必须加入 STEM 缺乏经历的问题。”

Some of these new badges combine with existing badges to create "journeys" for members of the Girl Scouts, including:

这些新徽章中的一些与现有徽章相结合，为女童子军的成员创造“旅程”，包括：

• Think Like an Engineer, with hands-on design challenges
• 想像成一个工程师，挑战动手设计
• Think Like a Program, with the opportunity to solve problems in interactive computational-thinking activities
• 想像作为一个程序，有机会去解决交互式计算思维活动中的问题

Some of the programming around the new badges were created with collaborators including Code.org, GoldieBlox, SciStarter, Society of Women Engineers, and WGBH/Design Squad Global.

与新微章相关的一些编程，是由包括 Code.org、GoldieBlox、SciStarter、女工程师协会和 WGBH 全球设计小组的合作者共同创建的。

The new CEO for GSUSA, Sylvia Acevedo, found encouragement to from her experience in the Girl Scouts. As a former engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories, she recognizes the value of hands-on learning and how that helped her pursue her dreams. These new badges will be earned through hands-on activities and mentoring.

GSUSA 的新总裁 Sylvia Acevedo 表示，她在“女童子军”的经历中找到了信心。作为 NASA 喷气推进实验室的前任工程师，她认识到实践学习的价值，以及如何帮助她追逐梦想。这些新徽章将通过实践活动和指导来获得。

Additionally, the Girl Scouts will create 18 new Cybersecurity badges in association with Palo Alto Networks, a security company based in Canada. This program, with plans to introduce cybersecurity education to girls as young as five, is a step toward "eliminating traditional barriers to industry access, such as gender and geography."

此外，女童子军将与 Palo Alto Networks（一家位于加拿大的安全公司）联合创建网络安全的 18 个新徽章。该计划向五岁这样年纪小的女孩提供网络安全教育，这是迈向“消除行业准入的传统障碍（如性别和地域）”的一步。

The use of hands-on activities and more exploratory learning will not only increase the girls' understanding of STEM subjects, but will also increase confidence in that understanding. One study discussed in Science shows that 35% of women in college who drop out of STEM-based classes state that a lack of confidence is the main reason for dropping (compared to 14% of men). The study noted that while the rate of confidence loss is the same between men and women during their class, women enter the program with less confidence.

通过实践活动和更多的探究性学习，女孩们不仅会增加对 STEM 科目的理解，还会增强理解的信心。科研的一项研究显示，大学女生中有 35% 退出了 STEM 课程，她们认为失去信心是导致退出的原因（而男生所占比例为 14%）。该研究指出，虽然男女学生在上课时，都会一样失去信心，但进入该计划的女生信心更低。

According to GSUSA’s press release: "The new Girl Scout programming builds girls’ skills and encourages their interest in STEM and environmental conservation from an early age, increasing their confidence in these areas—in an all-girl environment where they feel comfortable trying new things, taking appropriate risks, and learning from failure."

根据 GSUSA 的新闻稿：“新的女童子军计划培养女孩的技能，并鼓励她们对 STEM 感兴趣，从小就有环保意识，提高她们对这些领域的信心，在一个女孩环境中，她们乐于尝试新事物，承担适当的风险，从失败中学习”。

查看英文原文：Girl Scouts Introduce STEM-Focused Badges