| NSF Org: |
BCS Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | May 17, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 24, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1560862 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Tom Evans
tevans@nsf.gov (703)292-4891 BCS Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences |
| Start Date: | June 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | May 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $400,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $400,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2017 = $240,000.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1701 PENNSYLVANIA AVE NW STE 325 WASHINGTON DC US 20006-5805 (202)234-1450 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1710 16th St NW Washington DC US 20009-3104 |
| 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): | Geography and Spatial Sciences |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001718DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.075 |
ABSTRACT
This project will build a research coordination network (RCN) that enables transformative research in geography education, defined as pioneering research activities with strong potential to inform broad-scale improvements in U.S. geography education. The National Center for Research in Geography Education will coordinate this research network. The project will strengthen geography education research processes by creating the networks, opportunities for interdisciplinary conversations, and publicly-available datasets and scientific resources that ultimately result in sustainable lines of research. Through a collaborative process involving dozens of universities and major geography organizations, the project will create a self-sustaining RCN whose members pursue multiple active lines of research that engender evidence-based practices, new knowledge and theory, more robust curricula, better standards and assessments, and expanded access to high-quality teacher training programs in geography. In practical terms, the RCN will work to raise the profile of geography education as a research field. Doing so will help the participating universities recruit more diverse cohorts of graduate students, increase faculty research productivity, and promote the use of research to improve the quality of geography teaching and learning in local communities.
The need for transformative research in geography education was given in-depth consideration by The Road Map for 21st Century Geography Education project funded by NSF from 2011-2013. The Road Map Project, which built on many prior efforts to assess the state of research in geography education, issued a landmark study and research agenda in 2013. The Road Map report considers many substantive issues as to what research topics and questions are most critical for ensuring long-term progress and improvements in student achievement. It also draws attention to the important methodological issue of how geography education research that aspires to be transformative should be designed. The Road Map Project's research agenda offers a set of recommendations for building research capacity and capability in geography education. It emphasizes scientific approaches to research planning and design as a strategy for moving beyond the descriptive, singular and anecdotal studies that at present characterize the geography education literature. Enacting this vision will require considerable coordination, collaboration and information sharing among geographers and educational researchers in other disciplines. This RCN project will, for the first time, provide the infrastructure needed to carry out this work.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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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.
Overview
The National Center for Research in Geography Education (NCRGE) was established in November 2013 by the American Association of Geographers and Texas State University. NCRGE's mission is to build capacity for research that advances theory, deepens knowledge, challenges thinking, and supports evidence-based practices in geography education.
This Research Coordination Network served as a principal source of funding to support the implementation of the Road Map for 21st Century Geography Education Project's agenda for transformative research in geography education (NSF Award DRL-1049437). RCNs are distributed networks of researchers whose work is orchestrated in a manner that maximizes intellectual synergies and facilitates the transfer of research findings to practitioners. RCN projects typically do not involve primary research activities per se. Instead, RCNs are focused on innovative networking strategies aimed at creating new communities of researchers organized on a theme providing coherence to the research collaboration and planning.
Intellectual Merit
The RCN mechanism offer several advantages to improve the quality and relevance of geography education research, including:
- Fostering communications to solidify partnerships for interdisciplinary and international collaborations.
- Accumulating, sharing, and curating a body of knowledge, including validated research instruments, databases, annotated bibliographies, and other resources.
- Supporting data collection at multiple sites and across diverse educational environments.
- Setting community standards for data and meta-data.
- Building capacity for acquiring funding for larger, more complex studies.
- Connecting local researchers to a broader community of scholars and helping them see connections between their work with that of others who share their research interests.
During the period of NSF RCN funding for this award, NCRGE invited proposals from RCN members to catalyze research planning and networking activities that have significant promise to result in potentially transformative research. RCN funds supported the formation of research groups in twelve areas: 1) project-based learning, 2) spatial thinking assessment, 3) learning progressions, 4) pedagogical content knowledge, 5) GIS professional development, 6) geography college and career pathways, 7) geo-computation, 8) geography and civics education, 9) international curriculum research, 10) geography and GIS learning in libraries, 11) Powerful Geography, and 12) national and international educational assessment research. The outcomes of each research group have been published in academic journals including Research in Geographic Education, Journal of Geography, and International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education.
Broader Impacts
RCN funding has created a new infrastructure to support geography education research. That infrastructure consists of over 200 geographers, STEM education researchers, cognitive psychologists, and scholars from the learning sciences affiliated with more than 50 U.S. universities and research organizations. International collaborators from Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Africa are also active in the RCN. The RCN has provided opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, and other education stakeholders to participate in the work of the various research groups.
NCRGE will continue to invest in the RCN in the coming years as funds become available. For example, RCN members are currently associated with new research projects using data provided by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Geography Assessment and the College Board's Advanced Placement Human Geography (APHG) course and program.
NCRGE continues to act as the backbone organization supporting geography education research and funding proposals. For example, the geo-computation research group has successfully applied for funding to support a research-practice partnership in Southern California. The AAG coordinates this project while Texas State University is responsible for managing the project evaluation.
NCRGE is currently developing new research proposals to build on the outcomes of the RCN. One priority is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of NAEP Geography in an effort to understand and explain varying levels of geography achievement at the middle school level. The results will be communicated to organizations that support geography teachers and curriculum developers. Another priority is to develop state-based networks of teachers trained to implement the Powerful Geography approach to geography teaching and learning, which intends to show diverse youth how geography can be applied to jobs and careers in a variety of industries.
Last Modified: 08/30/2022
Modified by: Michael N Solem
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