Welcome to DU(E-NEWS)!

NSF EDU’s Division of Undergraduate Education strives to promote excellence in undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education for all students.

All interested in recent happenings in the DUE community are welcome to visit this page, which will have primarily three categories of posts: "What’s New in DUE," Highlights, and Findings.

Please let us know what you think by sending along a message to undergrad@nsf.gov. While we aren't able to respond in detail to every e-mail, we welcome hearing from you! When you write, please include "DU(E-NEWS)" in the subject line. You are also welcome to submit content for DU(E-NEWS). Please read the content submission guidelines if you are interested in putting forward content.

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2023-09-29: "What's New in DUE"
Check out recent DU(E-NEWS) digests

Summer 2023
February 23, 2023
January 17, 2023
December 2, 2022
November 22, 2022
November 1, 2022

 

2023-01-25: "What's New in DUE"
NSF Scholarships in STEM program (S-STEM) Q&A Proposal Preparation Webinars

The American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) is hosting four webinars with NSF S-STEM Program Officers to answer questions from prospective proposers related to the solicitation requirements and proposal preparation instructions. The webinars will be held on the following dates:

• Thursday, January 26 from 3:30 - 5:00 PM ET
• Monday, January 30, from 10:00 - 11:30 AM ET
• Tuesday, January 31, from 10:00 - 11:30 AM ET
• Wednesday, February 1, from 4:00 - 5:30 PM ET

For registration, please visit the AAAS S-STEM REC page at: https://www.sstem.aaas.org/webinar

Attendees should watch the narrated slides prior to attending and thoroughly read the new solicitation NSF 23-527. Additionally, please see the Frequently Asked Questions for the latest S-STEM solicitation.

 

2023-01-13: "What's New in DUE"
IUSE Program News and Reminders

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE:EDU) program recently released a Dear Colleague Letter encouraging institutions that have not had prior support from the IUSE:EDU program to submit a proposal to Level 1 of the Engaged Student Learning track or to the Institutional and Community Transformation Capacity Building track. The full DCL can be found here.

The upcoming deadline for the IUSE:EDU program is January 18, 2023 for Institutional and Community Transformation proposals (Capacity Building and Level 1) and Engaged Student Learning Level 1. Please see the full IUSE solicitation (NSF 23-510).

Individuals who are interested in serving as a reviewer for the IUSE program in 2023 can fill out this form.

 

2023-01-11: "What's New in DUE"
NSF Scholarships in STEM program (S-STEM) Frequently Asked Questions

Updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the latest solicitation of the NSF Scholarships in STEM program (S-STEM) NSF 23-527 are now available.

This FAQ document provides answers to questions about eligibility, scholarship amount calculations, definition of low-income status for graduate students and allowable costs, evaluation requirements, etc.

If you or your colleagues want to submit a proposal and have questions, there is a high likelihood that you will find an answer in this document. For anything else, do not hesitate in contacting any of the program officers listed in the solicitation or the S-STEM leadership team.

The S-STEM Program supports institutions of higher education to fund scholarships for academically talented low-income undergraduate and graduate students and to study and implement a program of activities that support their recruitment, retention and graduation in STEM. Tracks 2, 3 and Collaborative Planning Grants proposals are due March 2, 2023, and Track 1 proposals are due March 29, 2023.

NSF Scholarships in STEM program Network (S-STEM-Net) New Solicitation

The S-STEM Program has released a new solicitation NSF 23-536 with an upcoming deadline of March 29, 2023. S-STEM-Net supports the creation of research hubs (S-STEM-Hubs) to study the conditions for the success of low-income undergraduate and graduate STEM students. S-STEM-Hubs awarded through this new solicitation will collaborate with recently awarded S-STEM-Hubs and the S-STEM Resource & Evaluation Center to create synergies and sustain a robust national ecosystem consisting of multi-sector partners supporting domestic low-income STEM students in achieving their career goals, while also ensuring access, inclusion, and adaptability to changing learning needs.

Visit the S-STEM-Net program webpage for more information.

 

2023-01-09: "What's New in DUE"
Office Hours for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) program

The National Science Foundation's HSI program supports projects that improve undergraduate STEM education and increase the rates of recruitment, retention and graduation of undergraduate STEM students at HSIs. To support our colleagues in the proposal writing process, the NSF HSI Program is pleased to announce a series of Office Hours. They are taking place on Wednesdays and Thursdays starting in January of 2023.

The latest HSI Solicitation (22-611) has a deadline of February 8, 2023 for Tracks 1 and 2. To help PIs prepare for the upcoming submission, Program Officers will be hosting a series of Office Hours. Each Office Hour will have a brief (approximately 15 minutes) presentation followed by an open question and answer period.

You and your team are invited to attend and participate. You will need to register to receive Zoom webinar links via email.

2023 Office Hours Date and Time	Presentation Topic
January 11 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST and January 12 12:00 - 1:00 PM EST	Unique Aspects of the Program and Open Question & Answer
January 18 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST and January 19 12:00 - 1:00 PM EST	Subawards and Collaborative Grants and Open Question & Answer
January 26 12:00 - 1:00 PM EST	Common Strengths of Competitive Proposals and Open Question & Answer
February 1 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST	Open Question & Answer

 

 

2023-01-03: "What's New in DUE"
ExpandAI Program Aims to Engage with MSIs

The Expanding AI Innovation through Capacity Building and Partnerships (ExpandAI) program aims to significantly broaden participation in AI research, education, and workforce development through capacity development projects and through partnerships within the National AI Research Institutes ecosystem. Click here to learn more about the ExpandAI program and its efforts to engage with minority-serving institutions (MSIs).

 

2022-11-22: "What's New in DUE"
DUE staff member Patrice Waller

Name: Patrice P. Waller Role: Program Director Discipline/expertise: Mathematics Education Programs: Noyce, S-STEM, IUSE, Racial Equity

Educational Moment of Impact: I was in the 4th grade when I truly discovered my love for mathematics. My teacher, an African American woman, instilled in us that we could do anything we put our minds to. Although not always recognized as a top performer in mathematics in grade school, my passion for mathematics continued to grow in high school where all my mathematics teachers were African American women. Their representation as successful mathematicians and their reinforcement and recognition of my ability to become mathematically literate made a huge impact on my educational and career trajectory. Representation Matters!

My View for the Future of Education: I envision a Future of Education where mathematics, a launching pad for all things STEM, is celebrated and embraced by every teacher, learner, family, and community. I envision an education system that centers student learning and makes STEM learning real, relevant, and attainable for each and every student served.

 

2022-11-21: "What's New in DUE"
Recording of Culminating Noyce 20th Anniversary Speaker Now Available

On November 2, 2022, The NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program hosted Dr. W.J. "Jim" Lewis as the culminating Noyce 20th anniversary speaker. Dr. Lewis presented his talk entitled, "The Impact of NSF Support - Nebraska's Story". A recording of the presentation can be found here.

Dr. Lewis is an Aaron Douglas Professor of Mathematics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he has served as chair of the Department of Mathematics and Director of the Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education and Director of STEM Education Research Initiatives. From 2015 to 2018 he worked at the National Science Foundation, serving first as Deputy Assistant Director and the as Acting Assistant Director for NSF's Directorate for STEM Education.

The NSF Noyce Team thanks Dr. Lewis for closing out the Noyce 20th anniversary celebration. The NSF also extends its appreciation to the Noyce community of PIs, Scholars, and Fellows who have made amazing contributions to STEM education and teacher preparation over the past 20 years.

 

2022-11-21: "What's New in DUE"
Information and Listening Session on NSF's Public Access Policy

The White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy this past August issued a memo directing the nation's major, science-funding agencies, including NSF, to ensure free, immediate, and equitable access to the products of federally-supported research. The required updates to the policy will have direct and lasting impacts on NSF stakeholders, including researchers, research institutions, scholarly societies, research libraries and the universities they support, and publishers.

NSF is holding a virtual information and listening session from 2:00 - 3:15 PM EST on November 30, 2022. Participants will be briefed on the history and driving principles of NSF’s public access policy. More importantly, this webinar will serve as a forum for NSF to hear from stakeholders, and to discuss opportunities and challenges surrounding the update of NSF's open access policy.

Please register in advance for this webinar. Please reach out to PublicAccess@nsf.gov with questions, concerns or to learn more about how to engage.

 

2022-11-21: "What's New in DUE"
S-STEM: New Solicitation Coming Soon

The Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program (S-STEM) will be releasing a new solicitation with a forthcoming deadline in calendar year 2023. The new solicitation will be posted to the S-STEM Program webpage.

 

2022-11-18: "What's New in DUE"
DUE Openings for Temporary Program Officers

DUE announces a nationwide search to fill temporary Program Officer positions. Program Officers with expertise in any NSF-relevant discipline are needed. We particularly encourage candidates with expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion research, systemic change in undergraduate education, program evaluation, discipline-based education research, online/virtual learning, AI/machine learning, data science, and social/behavioral/economic sciences. We similarly encourage applications from individuals at two-year institutions of higher education and minority-serving institutions.

Program Officers manage merit review of research and development proposals, make funding recommendations, administer awards, and interact with research and education communities across the nation. Program Officers are guided by the goals of NSF's Strategic Plan to 1) enable the United States to uphold a position of world leadership in all aspects of science, mathematics, and engineering, 2) promote the discovery, integration, dissemination, and employment of new knowledge in service to society, and 3) achieve excellence in U.S. STEM education at all levels.

Candidates must have a Ph.D. in an NSF-relevant field and six additional years of successful research, research administration, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position or a master's degree in an NSF-relevant field, plus eight or more years post award of the degree of successful research, research administration and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position. Applicants must be knowledgeable about undergraduate STEM education.
The full job announcement and instructions on how to apply can be found here. The position will remain open until filled.

 

2022-11-15: "What's New in DUE"
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Calls for Submissions

The AAAS-IUSE Initiative, which seeks to improve undergraduate STEM education by disseminating evidence-based strategies and research, is looking for blog authors and workshop presenters for the 2023 calendar year. The 2023 AAAS-IUSE blog is dedicated to promoting research on inclusive STEM ecosystems for faculty, students, and the greater undergraduate community. The AAAS-IUSE workshops serve as a space to learn, meet, and collaborate with faculty, researchers, and professionals working to improve undergraduate STEM education.

Learn more and submit a proposal by December 1, 2022.

 

The ADAPTATIONS blog advances research toward and replication of what works in the education of STEM teachers for high-need school districts through sharing of evidence-based innovations to encourage adaption and move forward collective evolution of effective preparation. The 2023 theme for the ADAPTATIONS blog is Transforming Teacher Preparation and Retention: A Focus on Equity, Research and Innovative Strategies.

Learn more and submit a proposal by December 1, 2022.

 

2022-11-02: "What's New in DUE"
Dear Colleague Letter: Noyce Program Responsiveness to the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022

NSF released a new Dear Colleague Letter that draws attention to the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 concerning the waiving of the mandatory cost-sharing requirement for future Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program proposals and awards for five years. The DCL can be found here.

 

2022-11-02: "What's New in DUE"
NSF Listening Sessions on Supporting Low-Income Undergraduate and Graduate STEM Students

The NSF Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) program is convening two listening sessions focused on the strengths, challenges and needs of low-income students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees in STEM areas and how they can be better supported. Stakeholders from higher education, industry, government, non-profits and other sectors are invited to share their insights on topics including academic and co-curricular supports, food and housing insecurity, family responsibilities, and any other issues related to the realities of this critical student population. Read more about the S-STEM Listening Sessions, including guiding questions and who should attend.

Registration link: Friday November 4 2022, 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM ET
Registration link: Monday November 7 2022, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM ET

 

2022-11-01: "What's New in DUE"
EHR is now EDU!

The names of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources and the Division of Human Resource Development have changed! The directorate will now be known as the Directorate for STEM Education, or EDU, and the division will be known as the Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM, or EES. Read more.

New EDU/DUE Solicitations

Arecibo Center for STEM Education and Research (ACSER)

The ACSER program solicits proposals for the establishment of the ACSER at the original site of the Arecibo Observatory (AO). NSF seeks to evaluate proposals that would transition the existing AO site to the new ACSER, shifting the disciplinary focus from primarily on the astronomical sciences to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and research more broadly. The full proposal deadline is February 28, 2023.

Expanding AI Innovation through Capacity Building and Partnerships (ExpandAI)

The ExpandAI program aims to significantly broaden participation in AI research, education, and workforce development through capacity development projects and through partnerships within the National AI Research Institutes ecosystem. Submission window dates are January 9 - March 13, 2023.

Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT)

The ExLENT program will support inclusive experiential learning opportunities that will increase access to, and interest in, careers in emerging technology fields for cohorts of diverse learners. The full proposal deadline is March 2, 2023. Learn more about the ExLENT program by joining the Introduction to ExLENT Webinar Tuesday, November 1, 2022, at 3:00 PM ET.

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE)

DUE recently released a revised IUSE solicitation, NSF 23-510, which solicits proposals to improve STEM teaching and learning for undergraduate students. Changes to the prior IUSE solicitation include a deadline of January 18, 2023, funding amounts, and a supplementary document requirement. Please review the solicitation for a full list of revisions. The IUSE program is hosting office hours on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, December 6, 2022, and January 3, 2023, from 3:00-4:00 PM ET. Zoom link for all IUSE Office Hours.

 

2022-10-28: "What's New in DUE"
Culminating Noyce 20th Anniversary Speaker

The NSF Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program is excited to announce Dr. W.J. "Jim" Lewis as the culminating Noyce 20th anniversary speaker. Dr. Lewis will present his talk entitled, "The Impact of NSF Support - Nebraska’s Story" virtually on November 2, 2022 at 4pm Eastern time via Zoom. Interested attendees can register for the event here.

Dr. Lewis is an Aaron Douglas Professor of Mathematics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he has served as chair of the Department of Mathematics and Director of the Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education and Director of STEM Education Research Initiatives. From 2015 to 2018 he worked at the National Science Foundation, serving first as Deputy Assistant Director and the as Acting Assistant Director for NSF's Education and Human Resources Directorate. Lewis is an elected fellow of both the American Mathematical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2015, he received the MAA's Gung and Hu Award for Distinguished Service and the AMS's Award for Impact on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics. Lewis has received the University of Nebraska's Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award and the Carnegie Foundation's Nebraska Professor of the Year Award.

Lewis was chair of the writing team for The Mathematical Education of Teachers II, co-chair of the National Research Council committee that produced Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics and Technology: New Practices for the new Millennium, a member of the AMS Task Force that produced Towards Excellence: Leading a Doctoral Mathematics Department in the 21st Century, a member of the NRC Committee that produced Preparing Teachers: Building Evidence for Sound Policy, and a member of the writing team for the Standards for Mathematics Teacher Preparation published by the Association for Mathematics Teacher Educators. Lewis earned his Ph.D. in mathematics at Louisiana State University. Over the past 30+ years, the Department of Mathematics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has made a major investment in mathematics education, emphasizing the mathematical education of teachers and active learning in the undergraduate mathematics classroom. Dr. Lewis will discuss Nebraska's story with emphasis on what has been possible because of NSF support.

NSF looks forward to hearing Dr. Lewis' story and invites any and all interested individuals to attend. The NSF also extends its appreciation to the Noyce community of PIs, Scholars, and Fellows who have made amazing contributions to STEM education and teacher preparation over the past 20 years.

 

2022-10-18: Highlights
IUSE Grantee Wins Chemical Engineering Award

Principal Investigator of IUSE award 1821578 to Washington State University, Professor Bernard Van Wie, was recently awarded the 2022 Award for Innovation in Chemical Engineering Education from the American Institute of Chemical Engineering Education Division.

He was recognized for his work in the development, deployment, and impact assessment of innovative low-cost Desktop Learning Modules that enable an experiential understanding of fundamental engineering phenomena.

More information can be found the Washington State University News. Congratulations, Dr. Van Wei!

 

2022-10-17: Highlights
IUSE Project Recognized for Outreach Activities

An IUSE project at University of Detroit Mercy is being recognized by its community for its science outreach to kindergarteners. "A Multi-institutional Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience in Genetics", award 2021146 led by PI Jacob Kagey, brought microscopes to kindergarten classrooms earlier in 2022 to teach students about the science behind fruit flies. PI Kagey started this outreach program in 2017 after he learned of some science activities being removed from his child's school curriculum. This was the outreach team's first in-person demonstration since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. More information on Dr. Kagey's outreach team's efforts can be found here.

 

2022-09-23: "What's New in DUE"
New Solicitation: Racial Equity in STEM Education

The Directorate for Education and Human Resources at the National Science Foundation released a new solicitation for the Racial Equity in STEM Education Program (EHR Racial Equity, NSF-22-634). This solicitation is aligned with the agency’s long-standing investments in the development of a diverse and well-prepared public and workforce.

Racial inequities often create barriers to STEM knowledge generation, as well as access to and participation in all aspects of STEM education, research, and the workforce. In ongoing efforts to address these disparities, NSF EHR seeks to support bold, groundbreaking, and potentially transformative projects that contribute to advancing racial equity in STEM education and workforce development through practice and/or fundamental or applied research.

Proposals funded by this solicitation will: (1) substantively contribute to institutionalizing effective research-based practices, policies, and outcomes in STEM environments for those who experience inequities caused by systemic racism and the broader community; (2) advance scholarship and promote racial equity in STEM in ways that expand the array of epistemologies, perspectives, ideas, theoretical and methodological approaches that NSF funds; and (3) further diversify project leadership (PIs and co-PIs) and institutions funded by NSF.

Prospective PIs are encouraged to send a one-page concept paper to EHRRacialEquity@nsf.gov in advance of submitting a proposal.

The submission deadline is January 17, 2023.

 

2022-09-12: "What's New in DUE"
IUSE:HSI Program Recruiting Reviewers

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic Serving Institutions (IUSE:HSI) Program is seeking proposal reviewers to serve on panels for the 2022-2023 cycle. Interested individuals can fill out the following reviewer availability survey:
IUSE:HSI Reviewer Availability Survey 2022-2023

The Division of Undergraduate Education appreciates the community of interested reviewers.

 

2022-09-08: "What's New in DUE"
NSF announces $10 million partnership with Intel Corporation to train and build a skilled semiconductor manufacturing workforce

Intel employee in clean room "bunny suit" works at Intel's D1X factory in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Credit: Intel Corporation

NSF announced a new Dear Colleague Letter: “Enhancing Engineering Technology and Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Technician Education (ETSTE).” More information can be found in the NSF press release.

 

2022-08-23: Highlights
Recording of Noyce Panel of Master Teaching Fellows Now Available

To continue celebrating 20 years of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, The National Science Foundation bought together a panel of Noyce Master Teaching Fellows from across the country to talk about their journeys to becoming teacher-leaders.

The featured panelists were:

Kari Keith, Michigan Technological University

Susie Sujin Min, California State University Fullerton

Megin Rice, Southern Illinois University

Shane Wiggan, University of Central Florida

Each panelist opened with a summary of their Noyce journey, and then Kathleen Bergin, Noyce Lead Program Officer, led a Question and Answer session. The panelists engaged in a lively discussion and answered questions from Dr. Bergin and the audience.

The recording of the panel can be found here.

The NSF looks forward to continuing the Noyce 20th anniversary celebration later this fall.

 

2022-08-18: "What's New in DUE"
IUSE and Noyce Programs Seeking Proposal Reviewers

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Program and Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program are seeking proposal reviewers to serve on virtual panels for the 2022-2023 cycle. Interested individuals can fill out the following reviewer interest surveys:

IUSE Reviewer Availability Survey 2022-2023

Noyce Reviewer Availability Survey 2022

 

2022-08-15: Highlights
Reflecting on 20 years of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

As schools around the country embark on a new year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) extends its appreciation to the Nation's teachers for their service and dedication. NSF has supported more than 12,000 teachers across the United States over the past 20 years through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, which assists undergraduate students to become experienced K-12 STEM educators and in-service STEM teachers to become teacher leaders. Noyce Scholars and Fellows are making a difference in classrooms nationwide, specifically in high-need schools.

To celebrate 20 years of this scholarship program, the Noyce Program team sat down with past and present Noyce Lead Program Officers to reflect on their time steering the program. Drs. Joan Prival, Sandra Richardson, and Kathleen Bergin shared what the program means to them and how it has shaped STEM education and teacher preparation across the country for decades.

The History

Dr. Joan Prival became the first lead of the Noyce Program in 2002. Trained as a biochemist, Prival transitioned out of the science lab and into D.C. public schools, where she also worked in education policy. Her passion for science education eventually led her to NSF, where she became a program officer and the person who spearheaded the Noyce Program.

What started out as supplements to existing NSF awards has increased over the years into a $67 million budget.

There was a need for a program like Noyce as Prival and her team understood that few high-school STEM teachers were trained in the fields they were teaching. "We also saw high turnover rates in these disciplines and a growing need for teachers in high-need schools," she said.

If more teachers were formally trained in STEM fields, STEM might play a larger role in classrooms at all grade levels. Through the Noyce Program, college students could receive scholarships to pursue STEM degrees with teacher certification and ultimately teach in high-need K-12 schools.

In the early 2000s, while many NSF programs were focusing on college-level education, Noyce produced elementary and secondary school teachers, filling an important need in K-12 education. New tracks were added over time to the program to support Teaching Fellows and Master Teaching Fellows. Noyce also supported awards to community colleges and learning assistant opportunities for undergraduates to decide if they were even interested in teaching before formally deciding on a teaching path.

By creating these new, transformative opportunities within Noyce, Prival said the program started to reach a new pool of people with STEM knowledge to produce more well-qualified STEM teachers.

The Impact

Following leadership from Prival and Dr. T. J. Murphy, Dr. Sandra Richardson led the Noyce Program until 2022. Richardson earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics and master's and Ph.D. in mathematics education. She is also a certified teacher and taught in New Orleans public schools.

After serving as an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Virginia State University, she came to NSF to become the Noyce lead.

While in this role, Richardson recalled working with institutions that had little to no pre-service STEM teachers prior to their Noyce grant but whose programs grew to upward of 15 graduates per year after receiving their Noyce award.

"Noyce has given high-need school districts, in particular, an opportunity to have well-qualified teachers in their classrooms," Richardson said.

The Noyce Program provided new opportunities for pre-service teachers with the recent release of the Noyce Research Experiences Dear Colleague Letter (NSF 21-086). This DCL funds research experiences in STEM settings for pre-service K-12 teachers and broadens participation to non-Noyce students.

"While we have NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs), we really don't have a comparable undergraduate program for pre-service teachers where the focus is on STEM research and not necessarily education research, and so that's really different," Richardson said. This opportunity was the first of its kind at NSF, and it will expose more teachers to STEM research.

The Noyce Program is continually working towards broadening its reach and engaging with students who are historically underrepresented in STEM. Richardson said there are opportunities for the Noyce Program to be more integrated within institutions that have large numbers of students from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in STEM, and in particular with teachers of color. "This is a place where Noyce could really be forward-thinking and more impactful," she said.

While strides have been made to reach a broader range of institutions, including community colleges, Tribal Colleges, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges, and other types of Minority-Serving Institutions, there is always more work to be done.

Richardson is hopeful and encouraged the Noyce community "to be mindful of what can we do now, today, this year, and next year so that we have another successful 20 years."

The Importance

The Noyce Program is currently led by Dr. Kathleen Bergin, who describes herself as a biologist by training and an educator by passion.

Bergin has been at NSF for nearly 20 years. Prior to coming to the agency, she taught high school chemistry, physics, and biology over a span of 12 years and was the Associate Director for the Center for Education at Georgia Institute of Technology. Bergin has been the Noyce Program lead four times over the last 20 years and is now back in the role.

Like many educators, Bergin had a non-traditional path to a science career, explaining how she started out as an English major but switched to science after a professor recognized her STEM talent in a freshman year biology course. "Wherever our talents lead us, that's where we should go," Bergin said.

Fostering that talent and supporting STEM educators is exactly what Noyce does, Bergin explained. "We need to nurture those and everyone we meet along the way."

But the journey isn't always that easy. Bergin explained how some STEM students who are interested in education face obstacles, including discouragement from family members and peers. But it is those outstanding STEM teachers who are influencing the next generation of learners to earn degrees in STEM disciplines. Noyce-supported teachers are invaluable for supporting STEM education and helping prepare the future STEM workforce.

"There is no day that I don't feel like it's a privilege to be doing this work," Bergin said. "I have admiration for the teachers in the field who are doing this work because they care deeply and they figure out ways to make it work." Moreover, Bergin expressed her deepest appreciation for the teachers who continue to prioritize their students during the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to have an impact on the education landscape and teacher retention.

To the K-12 STEM teachers across the country, Noyce recipient or not, NSF recognizes, appreciates and commends the work that you are doing to educate and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. The 2022-2023 school year will be filled with highs, lows, challenges and successes, and it will be one where you will make a difference in your students’ lives and the way they view, value and learn STEM.

 

2022-08-10: "What's New in DUE"
Upcoming Noyce Master Teaching Fellow Panel in Celebration of 20 Years of Noyce

To continue celebrating 20 years of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, The National Science Foundation is excited to bring together a panel of Noyce Master Teaching Fellows to talk about their journeys to becoming teacher-leaders. This virtual event will take place on Wednesday, August 17th from 4:30-5:30pm and will feature four Noyce Master Teaching Fellows from across the country.

The panelists are:

Kari Keith, Michigan Technological University

Susie Sujin Min, California State University Fullerton

Megin Rice, Southern Illinois University

Shane Wiggan, University of Central Florida

Each panelist will open with a summary of their Noyce story, and then the event will transition to a Q&A from the audience. This event is open to any and all participants, including, but not limited to, Noyce Principal Investigators, Scholars, Fellows, STEM educators, members of the teacher preparation community, and those with other disciplinary backgrounds who are interested in learning more about the Noyce Program.

Registration is required for the event. Please register here.

 

2022-07-25: "What's New in DUE"
Noyce Track 4 Book Released

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program and in recognition of the exciting outcomes of the most recent Noyce program track, Track 4: Noyce Research, the Noyce program and AAAS are excited to announce the release of Research in Practice: Preparing and Retaining K-12 STEM Teachers in High-Need School Districts.

This new Track 4 book highlights eight research projects funded by the Noyce Research Track that was created in 2015. The goal of this book is to share emerging work in the field of STEM education and teacher preparation research and spark new, innovative ideas that support inclusive STEM teaching and learning.

A digital copy of the volume can be found here.

AAAS also released a video in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Noyce program that features members of the Noyce community. The video can be found here.

The NSF extends its appreciation to AAAS for compiling and editing the Track 4 book and producing the video. The NSF also thanks the Principal Investigators whose projects were featured in the book and the members of the Noyce community who shared their stories in the video.

 

2022-07-22: "What's New in DUE"
EHR Core Research Information Session

Faculty at universities and colleges are often engaging in foundational research that could have educational implications. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has a specific solicitation for funding such efforts through the Education and Human Resources Directorate (EHR), for which the Division of Undergraduate Education is housed. We are hosting a series of webinars with the goal of getting applications from a more diverse set of Principal Investigators and Institutions for EHR’s Core Research Program (ECR). If you are interested in learning more, please consider attending one of the sessions.

Information, including how to register for upcoming EHR Core Research Program Webinars, can be found here.

 

2022-07-22: "What's New in DUE"
NSF is accepting nominations for the Alan T. Waterman Award

The Alan T. Waterman Award is the highest honor awarded by NSF and recognizes outstanding young researchers in any field of science or engineering supported by NSF. In addition to a medal, each awardee receives a grant of $1,000,000 over five years for scientific research or advanced study in any field of science or engineering that the NSF supports at the institution of the recipient's choice. NSF is accepting nominations for the Alan T. Waterman Award until September 16, 2022.

NSF seeks nominations that reflect the diversity of the United States of America. Nominees are accepted from all sources, in any field of science or engineering that the NSF supports. For information on eligibility, selection criteria, and submitting nominations, check out the Alan T. Waterman Award webpage.

 

2022-07-22: "What's New in DUE"
NSF Launches Science Happens Here Campaign

NSF is inviting members of the community to highlight their science, engineering, education, and innovation stories coming out of NSF-funded projects through the new Science Happens Here campaign. Learn more about how to engage in this social media initiative here!

 

2022-07-18: "What's New in DUE"
New IUSE: HSI Solicitation Information Session

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has been a proud supporter of the country's Hispanic Serving Institutions. The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education - Hispanic Serving Institutions (IUSE:HSI) program has supported more than 140 projects throughout the country to improve undergraduate STEM education and increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of students pursuing associate or baccalaureate degrees in STEM.

There is a revised solicitation (NSF 22-611) that has several important updates, and we will be hosting a Webinar to go over the changes, and answer your questions.

Please join us for a brief presentation on the revised solicitation, followed by a question and answer period with NSF-HSI Program Officers.

Date: Friday, July 22nd
Time: 12:30 - 1:30 PM EDT
Register: Click here to register for the Webinar.
https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_SQ2-T-I6RtOUMm1DMRO6Bw

This is a summary of the revisions to our previous solicitation:

• Track 1, Track 2, and Track 3 submissions will be due on Friday, September 30th.
• Track 1 projects may have a duration of up to three years.
• There are no limits on the number of awards for an institution in Track 1 or Track 2. Previous Track 1, Track 2, or Building Capacity awards do not limit new awards in the revised solicitation.
• Faculty research is a supported activity, however Faculty Research Plans are no longer required as supplementary documents.
• Institutional Data Narratives are required as part of the 15 page Project Description, and may not be submitted as a supplementary document.
• Letters of Collaboration or Commitment are not required for Track 1 or Track 2 proposals, but they are encouraged.

 

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, July 22nd to discuss this funding opportunity. 

 

2022-07-06: Highlights
Past Noyce Summit Plenaries Available on AAAS Website

From July 18-20, Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Principal Investigators, Scholars, Fellows, and members of the STEM education and teacher preparation community will convene for the annual Noyce Summit in Washington, D.C. The Summit will include poster sessions, workshops, and plenary presentations, and will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Noyce program. As the excitement of the Summit nears, check out the AAAS webpage for past plenary presentations from 2018, 2019, and 2020. The NSF is excited to bring together the Noyce community for the first in-person Summit in two years.

 

2022-06-24: Highlights
DUE Congratulates Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC) Winners

The Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC), led by the American Association of Community Colleges in partnership with NSF, is an annual competition that seeks to strengthen entrepreneurial thinking among community college students by challenging them to develop STEM-based solutions to real-world problems. The CCIC also enables students to discover and demonstrate their capacity to use STEM to make a difference in the world and to translate that knowledge into action.

First Place Winner: Bergen Community College, New Jersey: The ScanCan, an intelligent recycling bin capable of identifying and accepting or rejecting recyclable objects ensuring recycling companies are collecting items free of non-recyclable waste.

Second Place Winner: Front Range Community College, Colorado: The Orca oil-vacuuming and bio-filtration drone offers a solution to an issue affecting earth every day - oil spills. The Orca, inspired by the unique feeding style of whales, deploys a new method of cleaning oil spills that is both inexpensive and quick.

Third Place Winner: Columbus State Community College, Ohio: Columbus Kinesthetics’ mission is to innovate STEM education by providing an immersive way for students to learn technical skills using augmented and virtual reality applications, providing students a realistic job preview and technical workforce understanding.

Community colleges play an important role in developing America's technical workforce, in part by involving groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM education and careers. NSF invests in community college and workforce development programs through a variety of programs. Of the awards made by NSF through DUE and the Division for Human Resource Development, 1 in 5 go to two-year colleges in America.

To read the full press release on 2022 CCIC winners, click here. The CCIC is funded by Advanced Technical Education Program Award 1947516.

 

2022-06-24: "What's New in DUE"
New Solicitation: HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hubs (HSI-Net)

The goals of the HSI Program are to enhance the quality of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of students pursuing associate's or baccalaureate degrees in STEM at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). Intended outcomes of the HSI Program include broadening participation of students who are historically underrepresented in STEM, and expanding students' pathways to continued STEM education and integration into the STEM workforce.

The HSI Program released a new solicitation, NSF 22-602 that will invest in the development of infrastructure to support the HSI Program's goals. Specifically, the NSF seeks to establish the HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hub (HSI-Net) consisting of centers and hubs. Together, these Centers and Hubs will support the community of HSIs and its stakeholders. The centers should include in their activities student organizations, professional societies, nonprofit organizations, and industry entities that focus on and support HSIs.

The HSI-Net program deadline is December 15, 2022. Questions about the program can be directed to the cognizant program officers listed on the solicitation.

 

2022-06-22: Highlights
NSF Virtual Grants Conference Recordings Now Available

NSF hosted the Spring 2022 NSF Virtual Grants Conference on June 6-10, 2022 which provided insights into current issues at NSF and information about funding opportunities. Visit the Resource Center to view event presentations and YouTube recordings of the sessions including a session focused on the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) programs.

 

2022-06-22: Highlights
DUE Awardee Recognized as LGBTQ+ Educator of the Year

Dr. Luis Leyva, Principal Investigator on DUE Award 1711712, was named the 2022 LGBTQ+ Educator of the Year by Out to Innovate, an organization for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies in STEM. Dr. Leyva is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education at Vanderbilt University and is currently funded by the IUSE program for his project entitled, "Challenging, Operationalizing, and Understanding Racialized and Gendered Events (COURAGE) in Undergraduate Mathematics." DUE congratulates Dr. Leyva for this accomplishment!

 

2022-06-10: "What's New in DUE"
Mid-scale Research Infrastructure project execution plan development workshop

NSF is hosting a workshop to prepare social and behavioral science and education researchers for the submission of a NSF Mid-scale Research Infrastructure proposal. The workshop focuses specifically on development of the Project Execution Plan (PEP), which guides the project management for such a project. Workshop participants will gain an understanding of what a PEP is, what PEP requirements are for NSF Midscale proposals and how to develop an effective PEP for their project.

When: July 13, 2022 12:00 to 3:00 PM EST and July 15, 2022 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM EST

Registration: Register for the Mid-scale Research Infrastructure PEP workshop.

Real-time captions will be displayed in the Zoom application during the event. If you don't see the captions, please click the closed caption button in Zoom. To request other reasonable accommodations, please contact SBE meeting support by June 29.

For questions about the workshop contact:
Joseph M. Whitmeyer, jwhitmey@nsf.gov
Jill K Nelson, jnelson@nsf.gov
Deepankar Medhi, dmedhi@nsf.gov

Mid-scale Program webpages:
Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-2
Mid-scale Research Infrastructure-1

 

2022-05-26: Highlights
New Dear Colleague Letter (DCL NSF 21-086): Noyce Research Experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Settings for Pre-Service Teachers

Credit: California State University, Fresno Science and Mathematics Education Center Noyce Program

The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship (Noyce) program released a new DCL to support research experiences in STEM settings for pre-service K-12 teachers. This DCL supports projects intended to provide STEM research experiences that can enhance student preparation for STEM teaching and their retention as teachers in STEM fields. After consultation with and consent of a Noyce Program Director, proposals may be submitted at any time. Proposals submitted by the Noyce program's August deadline will be prioritized.

Read the full DCL here

 

2022-05-24: "What's New in DUE"
New Dear Colleague Letter (DCL NSF 22-085): Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure Incubators and Conferences for STEM Education Research with a Focus on Education Equity

With this DCL, the NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) is collaborating with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and the Walton Family Foundation to offer Incubator and Conference proposal opportunities that support the development of Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure efforts, especially those that enable research on the assets and needs of those traditionally left out of STEM and that lead to greater education equity. Through this DCL, NSF aims to conceptualize and consolidate viable infrastructure ideas to support STEM education research that will transform teaching and learning. Read the full DCL here.

NSF will conduct two webinars to answer questions about this DCL, the first of which is this Thursday, May 26, 2022.

Register in advance for these webinars:

May 26, 2022, 03:00 - 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_wsde2TuLT-GRFeybfue4AQ

Jun 14, 2022, 03:00 - 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_z3K-4n9QQluBQQ6LQEEUbQ

 

2022-05-18: Highlights
EHR Grantees Receive AACC Awards of Excellence

The American Association of Community Colleges' 2022 Awards of Excellence, which were announced earlier this month, recognized accomplishments that resulted from two EHR awards.

The award for Outstanding College/Corporate Partnership went to Miami Dade College and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It recognized results of Advanced Technological Education (ATE) award 1801024, which funded Miami Dade College to develop a certificate program and two-year degree program in cloud computing in partnership with AWS.

The Faculty Innovation award went to Karla Fuller at Guttman Community College and recognized research conducted under Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (IUSE: HSI) award 1953465. This award, on which Fuller is a Co-PI, investigates the impacts that culturally responsive pedagogy and reduced barriers for transfer students have on success in STEM for underrepresented groups.

The Division of Undergraduate Education congratulates Miami Dade College, Amazon Web Services, and Dr. Fuller for these accomplishments.

 

2022-05-16: Highlights
Recording of Inaugural Noyce 20th Anniversary Celebratory Event

On May 3, 2022, the National Science Foundation brought together long-standing Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Principal Investigators to kick off a series of events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the program. Ann Cavallo from University of Texas at Arlington and Andrè Green from University of South Alabama shared their perspectives on the history and future of STEM education and teacher preparation and highlighted their successful projects and practices. The recording of the event can be found here.

 

2022-05-06: Highlights
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

The National Science Foundation extends its deepest appreciation for our Nation's pre-service and in-service teachers. Please see the letter from NSF Director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan as we at NSF #thankateacher for Teacher Appreciation Week.

 

2022-05-02: Highlights
DUE Awardee Lara A. Thompson honored with Alan T. Waterman Award

NSF has named its awardees for this year's Alan T. Waterman Award, the nation's highest honor for early-career scientists and engineers: Jessica E. Tierney, a University of Arizona geoscientist; Lara A. Thompson, a University of the District of Columbia biomedical engineer; and Daniel B. Larremore, a computer scientist from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Winner Lara A. Thompson's research focuses on understanding and mitigating the effects of loss of balance in people. Thompson is recognized for her innovations in rehabilitation engineering and for translating her research on vestibular disorders in primates into engineering-based interventions for individuals with balance, gait and postural impairments. Thompson's DUE EAGER Award aimed to creatively recruit and retain minority pre-college and undergraduate females in Biomedical Engineering at the University of the District of Columbia, a historically Black university.

"Receiving the Waterman Award is a huge honor in that it is the most notable award in the United States for early career scientists and engineers," said Thompson. "Being the first award recipient from a historically Black college and university, and the first self-identified woman of color, while being a new mom, means so much to me."

Check out this video of Thompson describing her research on improving balance to reduce the number of falls, particularly in older individuals.

"With this award, I can take my research a step further and explore various ideas and perhaps look into rehabilitation robotics and devices for veterans and amputees, which is another group that I am really interested in," said Thompson. "I hope I can give onlookers, in particular students, a source of both optimism and inspiration that they too can be future scientists and engineers and overcome any obstacles that they may face, to never give up and to ultimately achieve their dreams and career aspirations."

 

2022-04-27: "What's New in DUE"
Informational Webinar for IUSE/Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (IUSE/PFE: RED)

Engineering Education and Centers and the Division of Undergraduate Education will host an informational webinar for a new program solicitation, NSF 22-587. This document replaces NSF 19-513. Please see more information on the program solicitation below.

Webinar Information:
When: May 11, 2022 03:00 PM - 4:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments Program (IUSE/PFE: RED)

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_CxrXdKOaScWtDWGrlDcutg

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

 

2022-04-22: "What's New in DUE"
NEW SOLICITATION: IUSE/Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (IUSE/PFE: RED)

Engineering Education and Centers and the Division of Undergraduate Education announces a new program solicitation, NSF 22-587. This document replaces NSF 19-513.

Program Goal: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (hereinafter referred to as RED) is designed to build upon previous efforts in engineering education research. These projects are designing revolutionary new approaches to engineering education, ranging from changing the canon of engineering to fundamentally altering the way courses are structured to creating new departmental structures and educational collaborations with industry. A common thread across these projects is a focus on organizational and cultural change within the departments, involving students, faculty, staff, and industry in rethinking what it means to provide an engineering program. In order to continue to catalyze revolutionary approaches, while expanding the reach of those that have proved efficacious in particular contexts, the RED program supports three tracks: 1) RED Innovation, 2) RED Adaptation and Implementation and 3) RED Two-Year. The focus of projects in all tracks should be on the department's disciplinary courses and program.

Deadline: July 18, 2022

Significant Solicitation Changes:
This solicitation includes the following significant changes:

1. A new track is introduced that targets two-year programs.
2. The budget for the innovation track is increased for proposals that include collaboration across departments at multiple institutions, by up to $1,000,000.
3. It now explicitly indicates that two-year and four-year engineering technology programs are eligible to apply.
4. It highlights the need to include a sustainability plan in the proposal.

 

2022-04-22: "What's New in DUE"
NSF Plans Retirement of Fastlane and Switches to Research.gov

As the NSF plans the retirement of Fastlane, all new proposals should be submitted using Research.gov, NSF’s platform for online grants management.

 

2022-04-22: Highlights
Celebrating 20 Years of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

On May 3, 2022, the National Science Foundation will bring together long-standing Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program Principal Investigators for presentations and conversations surrounding the future of STEM education and teacher preparation. This event is being held in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Noyce program and in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week.

The featured PIs for this event are Dr. André Green from University of South Alabama and Dr. Ann Cavallo from University of Texas at Arlington. Both Dr. Green and Dr. Cavallo have been Noyce PIs for over a decade and have extensive knowledge of the program and field of STEM teacher preparation.

The event will begin at 4:00pm E.D.T. and will run for 90 minutes. Each PI will give a brief presentation on what they have learned from Noyce, followed by a Q&A-style discussion moderated by Noyce Lead Program Officer, Kathleen Bergin.

Registration is required for this event. Please register in advance here.

This is the first event in a series that will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Noyce program. More details on future events will be announced in the coming weeks on the Noyce website.

 

2022-03-28: Highlights
S-STEM-Net Awards Four Research Hubs

The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (S-STEM) program funds projects that enable low-income students with academic ability, talent, or potential to graduate with a STEM degree and pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. The ultimate vision of the S-STEM program is that all Americans, regardless of economic status, should be able to contribute to the American innovation economy if they desire. Since its inception, S-STEM has funded over 3,000 awards benefiting over 100,000 low-income STEM students across the Nation.

Today over 500 institutions of higher education (IHE) have active S-STEM awards, creating a de-facto network of student scholars, PIs, IHEs, and industry and non-profit partners. To create a formal network of S-STEM stakeholders focused on low-income student success, last year NSF issued the S-STEM-Net solicitation (NSF 22-544). S-STEM-Net aims to build a robust national ecosystem to support domestic low-income STEM students in achieving their career goals. The first S-STEM-Net awards were made to S-STEM Hubs, which bring together investigators from multiple institutions to research common questions relevant around a particular topic or theme that is critical to the success of domestic low-income STEM students.

Four recently awarded S-STEM Hubs encapsulate several themes and goals, including:

• Supporting first-time-in college and transfer engineering students (Award 2138188, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University),
• Improving and fostering the transition of community college students to four-year colleges (Award 2138084, University of Nebraska- Lincoln),
• Researching optimal strategies for engaging STEM students at HBCUs (Award 2138273, Quality Education for Minorities Network), and
• Investigating ways to support students who have inadequate and inequitable access to food, housing, and other essentials (Award 2137824, Temple University).

These hubs include partnerships between two- and four-year colleges and span a wide geographic range across the United States.

The S-STEM Hubs are a significant addition to the DUE portfolio. DUE Division Director Rosalyn Hobson Hargraves expressed excitement about the impact these awards will have on the STEM education community, saying "The S-STEM Hubs will play an integral role in helping us realize equity and parity in undergraduate STEM education and achieve the mission of DUE: promoting excellence in undergraduate STEM education for ALL students."

 

2022-03-22: Highlights
Journal of Advanced Technological Education Releases Inaugural Issue

The Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program supports the education of technicians for the high-technology fields that drive our nation's economy. The Journal of Advanced Technological Education (J ATE) is a new peer-reviewed journal focused on technician education at community colleges. J ATE highlights new and creative instructional methods, laboratory experiments, and other educational activities in the field of technology education.

 J ATE will include:

• Articles and short communications on a variety of topics relevant to teaching and learning in technician education at all levels. This will include innovative pedagogical methods and related research.
• Articles that demonstrate new educational activities, lab experiments, instructional methods and pedagogies that can be adopted in community and technical colleges.

The launching issue of J ATE includes a letter from DUE Program Officer Celeste Carter, articles on autonomous technologies, reflections on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on technician education, a message from the journal’s founder the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, and letters from National ATE Centers in support of the journal including NCAT, InnovATEBIO, NCyTE and EARTH Center.

The journal is intended for a wide range of audiences including 2-year community college faculty, undergraduate researchers, STEM educators in grades K-12, university faculty, and industry personnel. J ATE welcomes article submissions from the technology education community and values a fair review process and open dissemination. There is no cost to publish, access, and read the journal and there are no subscription or submission fees. For members of the ATE community, publishing in a peer-reviewed technical journal like J ATE will be an excellent way to disseminate work, promote technical education programs, and share research with like-minded educators and the wider technical education community. We encourage you to submit!

 

2022-03-11: "What's New in DUE"
DUE Program Officer Eleanor Sayre

DU(E-NEWS) is excited to welcome our newest rotating Program Officer

Name: Eleanor Sayre Current Institution: Kansas State University Discipline/expertise: Physics Programs: IUSE, ATE, S-STEM, BCSER

Dr. Eleanor Sayre comes to DUE from Kansas State University, where she is a Professor in the Physics department. Her lab conducts research on how university faculty members become better at their jobs, including their pedagogical practices as well as their growing expertise in leading research labs. She is passionate about increasing access to the research enterprise to members of historically excluded groups, and building more just and equitable research communities. Outside of work, Eleanor is an avid knitter and potter.

 

2022-03-09: "What's New in DUE"
Seminar Series on the Future of STEM Education

Join the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for a DUE-funded series of seminars to continue the conversations from the symposium on Imagining the Future of Undergraduate STEM Education!

Join this seminar series as we continue to discuss the future of undergraduate STEM education, in 2040 and beyond. These seminars will allow for active participation of all attendees as they listen to short presentations and discuss in-depth their own ideas for creating student-centered learning experiences; appropriate uses of technology in undergraduate STEM education; equity, inclusion, access, and flexibility in undergraduate education; and real-world learning experiences inside and outside the classroom.

Participants are encouraged to come in pairs or small teams to facilitate taking ideas back to their own campuses.

Upcoming Virtual Seminars:

Designing Future Undergraduate STEM Learning Opportunities with Students at the Center
March 9, 2022 | 1:00pm-4:00pm ET
Register

Technology for Educating the Undergraduate STEM Students of the Future
March 16, 2022 | 1:00pm-4:00pm ET
Register

Learning in the World: Opportunities for the Students of 2040
April 19, 2022  | 1:00pm-4:00pm ET
Registration link to come

Wrap Up Seminar: Envisioning Undergraduate STEM Education in 2040 
May 4, 2022  | 1:00pm-4:00pm ET
Registration link to come

 

2022-03-01: "What's New in DUE"
Interview with Sandra Richardson

DUE recently said farewell to Sandra Richardson, Program Director with the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship and Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Programs. We asked Sandra to reflect on her time in the division, share what she has learned, and tell us about her new role at NSF as head of the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Section.

Q: The beginning of your NSF journey is quite remarkable. You became a Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation Program (LAMP) scholar for your mathematics research at Dillard University when you were a teenager. How does it feel to come full circle with your career at NSF?

Sandra: UNBELIEVABLE! NSF has played a pivotal role in my career pathway and it is truly the honor of my life to now work at NSF and help shape the national priorities to further STEM and STEM education innovation and research. As noted, during my undergraduate studies, I was a scholar in my institution’s LAMP program, which was a part of the Louisiana alliance for the now-named Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program (LSAMP), an NSF program in the Division of Human Resources in the Education and Human Resources Directorate at NSF. LAMP was my first introduction to undergraduate research, evidence-based sustained STEM engagement strategies, and participation in many of the professional conferences where I am now a frequent contributor and presenter. I am the product of good mentoring, early STEM experiences, participation in many NSF-funded programs from K-16 (and beyond), and a community of support. I bring these lived experiences with me to work every day. I know firsthand the impact and influence of NSF's mission and programs in reaching the missing millions and developing a competitive STEM workforce.

Q: From your unique perspective as a Program Officer in DUE over the last six years, what have you learned about STEM undergraduate education? What have been significant or subtle advancements?

Sandra: STEM undergraduate education is complex and multi-tiered. We focus on investing in the nation's future K-12 STEM teacher workforce, fostering connections between educational levels and between academia and industry, supporting model assessment programs and practices, retaining STEM undergraduate majors from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM, and making systemic transformations in undergraduate teaching and student learning. I am frequently asked if we have moved the needle in undergraduate education in the last x years. I believe we have but because of the complex and multi-tiered nature of the STEM education ecosystem, progress may appear nominal.

However, in examining project outcomes from many DUE-funded grant awards, I see a clear story of progress being evident. While we certainly have much work to still do, there are several promising examples of success in improving undergraduate STEM curricula, increasing use of active learning and other best practices in undergraduate STEM instruction, facilitating communication across disciplinary boundaries, educating the skilled technical workforce, and generating knowledge on retention and graduation in STEM.

Q: Do you have an individual or team accomplishments at DUE that you are most proud of?

Sandra: DUE is an incredible place to work and I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of DUE's work since 2016. Since this time, there are many DUE accomplishments that I am very proud of and that still excite me. Among these is the most recent success of our division in pivoting to serve the needs of the community in a virtual posture. While we are holding virtual panels, working across the U.S., and hosting virtual webinars, workshops, and conference presentations, we have not missed a beat in carrying out the mission of the division and agency and supporting the undergraduate STEM education community of faculty, students, researchers, and other stakeholders. Our commitments to the inclusion of all institution types (e.g., Minority Serving Institutions, two-year colleges, Primarily Undergraduate Institutions) in DUE engagements, proposal submissions and awards, and contributions to STEM education and workforce development are examples of successes that have been amplified in our transition to a virtual space but has always been a central aspect of DUE work. In my role as the former DUE Acting Deputy Division Director and Program Lead, I was fortunate to see a broad range of this impact.

Q: How has DUE prepared you for your new role as EPSCoR Section Head?

Sandra: DUE's work is critical to all other areas of EHR and NSF because of its explicit focus on undergraduate education, which is a bridge and a common thread in every aspect of NSF work. My experience in various DUE roles has afforded me the opportunity to facilitate partnerships within NSF and among academic institutions and organizations, support individuals from groups underrepresented in STEM, and promote diversity and inclusion among our institution types and locations, PIs, and disciplinary foci. These experiences will all be critical in my new role as Section Head for the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Section in NSF's Office of Integrative Activities in the Office of the Director. EPSCoR's focus on promoting scientific progress nationwide through geographic diversity is critical for effecting sustainable improvements in a jurisdiction's research infrastructure, R&D capacity, and R&D competitiveness.

DUE is grateful for Sandra's service to DUE, and we wish her the best of luck in her new role!

 

2022-03-01: "What's New in DUE"
Office Hours for EHR Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program

The National Science Foundation's EHR Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program supports projects that build investigators' capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research. Career development may be accomplished through Individual Investigator Development (IID) projects or through the development of Institutes for Methods and Practices in STEM Education Research. With the recently-revised program solicitation, the BCSER IID track now accepts proposals from investigators at any stage in their career development. Click here to review the program solicitation for ECR: BCSER.

BCSER program directors are hosting webinars and open office hours that may be of interest to members of the DUE community. The webinars and office hours are an opportunity to learn about the program and to ask Program Directors questions. Participants are welcome to drop in and out of open office hours to ask questions. Session dates and times, and the URLs for the associated Zoom videoconference sessions are at: https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/ehr-core-research-building-capacity-stem-education-research/announcements.

The next three ECR: BCSER Office Hours sessions will occur the week of March 21 from 2:00-4:00 PM EST.

 

2022-02-25: "What's New in DUE"
Office Hours for IUSE Program

The Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation is hosting a series of office hours for the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Program, in support of NSF Program Solicitation 21-579. These office hours are a chance to communicate with NSF program officers and to ask any questions you may have about the program.

Office hours will be held on the following Tuesdays from 3:00-4:00pm EST:

• March 15, 2022
• April 12, 2022
• May 10, 2022
• June 7, 2022
• June 21, 2022
• July 5, 2022

Zoom link for all office hours: https://nsf.zoomgov.com/j/1609361993?pwd=N2FmN3RudkxGQ2N6ZU1wUVBaMSt1Zz09

Meeting ID: 160 936 1993
Passcode: 534840
The next IUSE proposal deadline is July 20, 2022.

If you have any questions, please direct them to a Program Director listed on the IUSE webpage. We appreciate your interest in the IUSE Program!

 

2022-02-16: "What's New in DUE"
Office Hours for DUE Program Description Focused on Two-Year Colleges

The National Science Foundation's Program Description, Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education (PD 21-7980), seeks to advance inclusive and equitable STEM educational programs and support student success at two-year institutions. The Two-year PD welcomes a range of projects in terms of scope, size, and duration. Check out the program's webpage for more details.

Office hours for the Two-year PD will be held on:

Thursday, February 17, 2022 from 3:00-4:00 EST 
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 from 12:00-1:00 EST 
Monday, March 14, 2022 from 3:00-4:00 EST 
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 from 12:00-1:00 EST 

Registration is required for these office hours. Please register here. 

The full proposal target deadline is May 2, 2022. While there is a target date, proposals are accepted at any time.

If you have any questions, please direct them to a Program Director listed on the webpage above. We appreciate your interest in the new Program Description.

 

2022-02-07: "What's New in DUE"
DUE is Hiring a Teacher Preparation Permanent Program Director

DUE is searching to fill a permanent Science Education Administrator position (Teacher Preparation Program Director). The position announcement will remain open until February 25, 2022.

Program Directors manage merit review of research and development proposals, make funding recommendations, administer awards, and interact with research and education communities across the nation. Program Directors are guided by the goals of NSF's Strategic Plan to 1) enable the United States to uphold a position of world leadership in all aspects of science, mathematics, and engineering, 2) promote the discovery, integration, dissemination, and employment of new knowledge in service to society, and 3) achieve excellence in U.S. STEM education at all levels.

Candidates must have a Ph.D. in a STEM field or in Education with a STEM emphasis and six or more additional years of successful research, research administration, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position. Experience in teacher education at the undergraduate level, including work in STEM teacher education is also required. Among others, desirable characteristics for applicants include expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion research, systemic change in undergraduate education, program evaluation, discipline-based education research, or online/virtual learning. Application materials should be uploaded through USAjobs.gov.

DUE’s newest Program Directors were profiled in the last DU(E-NEWS) posts. Scroll down to read about these incredible additions to our team!

 

2022-02-07: Highights
Full Circle: Former CAREER Awardee Makes First CAREER Award as Program Officer

DUE Program Officer Dr. Elise Lockwood's expertise, knowledge and skills are coming full circle. Lockwood is a former DUE Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awardee who recently made her first CAREER award on the other side of the grant process. The CAREER Program is a Foundation-wide effort that provides prestigious awards to early-career faculty who have shown great potential in education, research, and mentorship and are at the forefront of advancement in their academic departments.

Lockwood earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics and immediately went on to pursue a master's in teaching at Portland State University (PSU) to become a mathematics teacher. After her first year of classes at PSU, she started a teaching assistantship, which ultimately changed her career path. The first day she got in front of the classroom, she thought to herself, "This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to be a professor." Given her positive experience in her master’s program, Lockwood decided to pursue a doctorate in mathematics education at PSU. Prior to being at PSU, Lockwood had not known that mathematics education was an area of research one could pursue, and she felt fortunate to have ended up at a university that had such a program.

While studying mathematics education, she became interested in combinatorics after having an enthusiastic professor who introduced her to the subject. Combinatorics involves solving "counting problems," which involve how many objects satisfy certain properties. Examples include counting the number of possible 4-digit numbers that have no repeated digits, or counting how many distinct ways students could be seated around a table. Lockwood explained, "combinatorics problems are often easy to state, but they can be surprisingly difficult to solve." Lockwood combined her love of general mathematics education and combinatorics to research how students learn and think about these types of problems for her dissertation. Teaching and learning combinatorics continues to be the primary focus of her research.

Following her time in graduate school, Lockwood went on to a postdoctoral research position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she worked on a wider variety of topics in mathematics education research. She received a professorship at Oregon State University while in this position, which she deferred for a year so she could finish her postdoctoral research. She wanted to focus on being the best researcher she could be, which became evident when she won her NSF CAREER award.

After submitting one previous unawarded CAREER proposal, Lockwood won a CAREER award to investigate how computing could enhance disciplinary knowledge, focusing particularly on using Python programming to support student’s combinatorial reasoning. She sought to integrate computing into her work in a way that leveraged, built upon, and complemented what she had learned about combinatorics in non-computational settings.

Whereas Lockwood has mostly accomplished the CAREER project goals, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the implementation of her findings in the classroom. She describes how important it is to be flexible when you are an investigator on an award; unforeseen circumstances can arise, and the scope of a project can evolve. In response to the pandemic, Lockwood focused on creating accessible learning materials for solving combinatorics problems in the context of computing, which was not originally in the scope of her project. She explains that despite some challenges, she is overall happy with the progress she has made on her CAREER project.

Lockwood states that the CAREER award "changed her life" and that she truly realizes the weight this award can carry for early-career professors and researchers. As a CAREER Program Officer at NSF, this is something that resonates with her strongly. Because of the impact her CAREER award had on her career advancement, she is extra excited and fulfilled to award a CAREER grant to a Principal Investigator.

In addition to being a CAREER Program Officer, Lockwood has found her short time at NSF to be exceptionally rewarding. She enjoys the interdisciplinary make-up and strong community among DUE Program Officers. There is no doubt that working at NSF will help her become a better researcher. As she continues her time as a Program Officer, she is also excited to see new performers and the breadth of projects funded by DUE.

 

2022-02-07: Highlights
ATE Award Team Member Gains Recognition for Outstanding Teaching

DUE's Advanced Technology Education (ATE) program supports the education of technicians at institutions of higher education through academic and industry partnerships. The STEM Guitar Project, a notable ATE award led by PI Thomas Singer at Sinclair Community College (SCC) in Dayton, Ohio, is gaining public attention through one of its team members. SCC's award engages students and faculty at the high school and college level in hands-on technical learning through the design and construction of electric and acoustic guitars. Matt Peitzman, technology education teacher at Pennridge High School in Bucks County, PA and faculty member on the STEM Guitar team recently received the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) Teacher Excellence Award and was featured in the February addition of the ITEEA journal Technology and Engineering Teacher. In 2021, Mr. Peitzman was also honored by Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick for his involvement with the STEM Guitar Project and outstanding teaching. Peitzman is known for his advising of the Pennridge Guitar Building Club and instruction of technology and STEM courses. "I love being part of a team and collaborating with other teachers, so STEM Guitar was a perfect fit for me," Pietzman said. "I've learned so much from so many amazing people. We all have one goal in mind and we work towards that. It's truly incredible."

 

2022-01-21: "What's New in DUE"
DUE is hiring Social Science and Engineering Permanent Program Directors

DUE is searching to fill two permanent Program Director positions: one Social Scientist and one Engineering Education Administrator. The position announcements will remain open until February 14, 2022.

Program Directors manage merit review of research and development proposals, make funding recommendations, administer awards, and interact with research and education communities across the nation. Program Directors are guided by the goals of NSF's Strategic Plan to 1) enable the United States to uphold a position of world leadership in all aspects of science, mathematics, and engineering, 2) promote the discovery, integration, dissemination, and employment of new knowledge in service to society, and 3) achieve excellence in U.S. STEM education at all levels.

Candidates must have a Ph.D. in a social science or engineering-related discipline for the respective positions, and six additional years of successful research, research administration, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position. Applicants must have expertise in undergraduate STEM education. Among others, desirable characteristics for applicants include expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion research, systemic change in undergraduate education, program evaluation, discipline-based education research, or online/virtual learning. Application materials should be uploaded through USAjobs.gov.

DUE’s newest Program Directors were profiled in the last DU(E-NEWS) posts. Scroll down to read about these incredible additions to our team!

 

2021-01-21: "What's New in DUE"

New Solicitations in DUE

Happy New Year! DUE Programs have new solicitations with deadlines in February and March, 2022.

Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) (NSF 22-527)

Program Goal: To enable low-income, talented domestic undergraduate and graduate students to pursue successful careers in promising STEM areas of strategic national need. Ultimately, the S-STEM program wants to increase the number of low-income students who graduate and contribute to the American innovation economy with their STEM knowledge.

Deadline: February 22, 2022

Solicitation Changes: The list of S-STEM-eligible disciplines, required documentation, and limits on number of submissions per institution have changed.

S-STEM potential proposers are advised to watch the narrated webinar and read the Frequently Asked Questions, in addition to thoroughly reading the new solicitation.

Scholarships in STEM Network (S-STEM-Net) (NSF 22-544)

Program Goal: To foster a network of S-STEM stakeholders and further develop the infrastructure needed to generate and disseminate new knowledge, successful practices and effective design principles arising from NSF S-STEM projects nationwide. The ultimate vision of the legislation governing the S-STEM parent program (and of the current S-STEM-Net solicitation) is that all Americans, regardless of economic status, should be able to contribute to the American innovation economy if they so desire.

Deadline: S-STEM-Net funds two types of investments: An S-STEM Resource and Evaluation Center (S-STEM-REC) and several S-STEM Research Hubs (S-STEM-Hub). S-STEM-REC requires a letter of intent, which is due February 2, 2022. The full proposal deadline for both S-STEM-REC and S-STEM-Hub proposals is March 22, 2022.

Solicitation Changes: All S-STEM-REC proposals must include a timeline and a management plan, and budget for a Center Coordinator to coordinate the day-to-day operations of the center. The S-STEM-REC maximum budget has also increased.

S-STEM-Net potential proposers are advised to watch the narrated webinar in addition to thoroughly reading the new solicitation. S-STEM-Net office hours will take place on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 from 3:30 PM to 5:00 pm EST. Register here to receive instructions by email from Zoom for joining the webinar.

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) (NSF 22-545)

Program Goal: To enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education and to increase the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of students pursuing associate's or baccalaureate degrees in STEM at Hispanic Serving Institutions.

Deadline: March 28, 2022

Significant Solicitation Changes: This revision contains new submission due dates for Tracks 1, 2, and 3.

Office hours on the new HSI solicitation will take place in February and March, 2022 on Thursdays from 3:00-4:00 PM EST and Fridays from 1:00-2:00 PM EST. Office hours registration links will be posted on the HSI webpage within the next week. Stay tuned!

EHR Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) (NSF 22-548)

Program Goal: To support high-quality STEM education research that will enhance the nation’s STEM education enterprise. ECR: BCSER seeks to broaden the pool of researchers who can advance knowledge regarding STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development. ECR: BCSER supports activities that enable researchers to expand their areas of expertise and acquire the requisite knowledge and skills to conduct rigorous research in STEM education.

Deadline: March 29, 2022

Significant Solicitation Changes:

• The Individual Investigator Development (IID) track now includes two proposal types: Investigators New to STEM Education Research and Investigators Experienced in STEM Education Research.
• The IID track is no longer limited to early- and mid- career investigators and accepts proposals from investigators at any stage in their career development.
• The Institutes for Methods and Practices in STEM Education Research (IMP) track (formerly Institutes in Research Methods) now solicits a broader range of institute topics.

 

2021-12-03: "What's New in DUE"
EHR Releases New STEM Post-Doc Solicitation

The Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) released a solicitation for a new cross-division program, the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF, NSF 22-531). The STEM Ed PRF is intended to advance the preparation of recent doctoral graduates in STEM, STEM Education, Education, and related fields to engage in fundamental and applied research in STEM Education. Both individual and institutional awards are anticipated. Individual awards have a maximum of $300,000 for a duration of up to 24 months. Awards to a single institution have a maximum of $1,250,000 and collaborative awards have a maximum of $2,500,000 to support cohorts of postdoctoral fellows. All awards must allocate a $70,000 salary annually per postdoctoral fellow for a duration of up to two years. More information on how to apply for this program can be found on the STEM Ed PRF NSF webpage, and the deadline to apply is March 1, 2022. It is encouraged to email a Program Officer listed on the webpage for any questions about the program.

 

2021-11-12: "What's New in DUE"

DUE Search for New Program Director

DUE announces a search to fill temporary Science Education Administrator (Program Director) positions. The position announcement was posted on October 20, 2021 and will remain open until available positions are filled.

Program Directors manage merit review of research and development proposals, make funding recommendations, administer awards, and interact with research and education communities across the nation. Program Directors are guided by the goals of NSF's Strategic Plan to 1) enable the United States to uphold a position of world leadership in all aspects of science, mathematics, and engineering, 2) promote the discovery, integration, dissemination, and employment of new knowledge in service to society, and 3) achieve excellence in U.S. STEM education at all levels.

Candidates must have a Ph.D. in a STEM, STEM Education, or related discipline and six or more additional years of successful research, research administration, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position; OR a master's degree in a STEM, STEM Education, or related discipline and eight or more additional years of successful research, research administration, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position. Applicants must have expertise in undergraduate STEM education. Among others, desirable characteristics for applicants include expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion research, systemic change in undergraduate education, program evaluation, discipline-based education research, or online/virtual learning. For more information on the position description, see the full job posting on the NSF website. Application materials should be emailed to duerecruit@nsf.gov.

DUE's newest Rotating Program Directors were profiled in the last DU(E-NEWS) posts. Scroll down to read about these incredible additions to our team!

 

2021-11-08: "What's New in DUE"
DUE staff members Kalyn Shea Owens and Elise Lockwood

This week DU(E-NEWS) continues to introduce our new Program Directors.

Name: Kalyn Shea Owens Current Institution: North Seattle College Discipline/expertise: Chemstry Programs: IUSE, ATE, S-STEM, 2YC-PD

Dr. Kalyn Shea Owens is a Professor and Chair of Chemistry at North Seattle College. Her PhD in chemistry combined with her postdoctoral work in chemistry education provides her with a unique background to address the transformation of STEM education at two-year colleges. Her research team designs interdisciplinary and investigative STEM curriculum, explores how early research experiences promote equity and inclusion, and investigates students' conceptions of the representational nature of chemistry.  Dr. Owens is engaged in the national effort to develop models for implementing undergraduate research experiences at two-year colleges, is a co-author of a textbook, a co-editor of an American Chemical Society book showcasing innovative STEM education projects at two-year colleges and is the recipient of two Innovation in Teaching Awards. Dr. Owens is passionate about contributing to the improvement of STEM education and enjoys inspiring students to learn and love chemistry.

Name: Elise Lockwood Current Institution: Oregon State University Discipline/expertise: Mathematics Education Research Programs: IUSE, S-STEM, CAREER, ECR, and BCSER

Elise Lockwood is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Oregon State University. Her research focuses on undergraduate students' reasoning about combinatorics, and she is passionate about improving the teaching and learning of discrete mathematics. More recently, she has investigated the role of computing within mathematics education - both within combinatorics and in other content domains. She received the 2018 John and Annie Selden Prize from the MAA, and she is a Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. She was a 2019 Fulbright Scholar to Oslo, Norway, where she collaborated with researchers at the Center for Computing in Science Education at the University of Oslo. Dr. Lockwood’s favorite part of her work is collaborating with wonderful colleagues and students, and she finds it particularly rewarding when ideas are developed and refined through rich conversations.

 

2021-11-02: "What's New in DUE"
DUE staff members Kimberly Tanner and Huihui Wang

This fall DUE welcomed new temporary Program Directors, called rotators, who make recommendations about which proposals to fund, support awards, and influence new directions in STEM education. This week DU(E-NEWS) continues to introduce our new Program Directors.

Name: Kimberly Tanner Current Institution: San Francisco State University Discipline/expertise: Discipline-based education research (DBER) or biology education research Programs: IUSE, S-STEM, Noyce, ECR, and BCSR

Dr. Kimberly Tanner is a tenured Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University. Her laboratory - SEPAL: the Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory - investigates what is challenging to learn in biology, how biologists choose to teach, and how to make equity, diversity, and inclusion central in science education efforts. As a Science Faculty with an Education Specialty (SFES), she is engaged in discipline-based education research, directs multiple K-16+ biology education reform efforts, and is deeply engaged in faculty professional development. Trained as a neurobiologist with postdoctoral studies in science education, Dr. Tanner is a proud first-generation college-going student and accustomed to she/her pronouns.

Name: Huihui Wang Current Institution: St. Bonaventure University Discipline/expertise: Cyber Physical Systems, Internet of Things, Computing and Engineering Education Programs: S-STEM, IUSE and ATE programs

Dr. Huihui Wang is a tenured Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Cybersecurity at St. Bonaventure University. Her current research interests are Cyber Physical Systems, Internet of Things, Computing Education, and Engineering Education. Dr. Wang has been awarded more than $1.8 million in grants from external funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), private foundations, and industry as either a PI or Co-PI. She is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the recipient of IEEE Region3 Joseph M Biedenbach Outstanding Engineering Educator Award (2021). Dr. Wang is the Chair-Elect (2021-2022) of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education.

 

Taking Action: COVID-19 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Challenge Announcement

NSF's Education and Human Resources Directorate (EHR) is excited to announce the Taking Action: COVID-19 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Challenge! EHR is calling on colleges and universities to submit a 3-page written narrative of their actions or action plans to mitigate the long-term negative impacts of the pandemic on the diversity, equity and inclusion of undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty in STEM higher education programs and institutions. The goal of this competition is to identify actions that institutions of higher education (IHE) have taken or will take to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM despite the long-term challenges of the COVID pandemic and to share these strategies broadly.

Eligibility: The challenge is limited to submissions from U.S.-based, public or private, non-profit, two- and four-year IHEs (including community and technical colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in the U.S. and its territories and possessions. Having a previous or current NSF grant award is not required to participate in this challenge.

Prizes: Each of the four categories will have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place cash-prize ranging from $25,000 to $10,000, and up to 10 honorable mention designees. The four categories include: STEM Undergraduate - Two-Year IHEs; STEM Undergraduate - Four-Year IHEs; STEM Graduate and Postdoctoral; STEM Faculty.

Deadline: Submissions will be accepted until January 30, 2022.

For more details visit www.nsf.gov/takingaction.

 

2021-10-18: "What's New in DUE"
DUE staff members Mindy Capaldi and Jennifer Ellis

This fall DUE welcomed six new Program Directors. These temporary Program Directors, called rotators, make recommendations about which proposals to fund, support awards, and influence new directions in STEM education. To introduce our new Program Directors, DU(E-NEWS) asked them about their educational moment of impact and view for the future of education.

Name: Mindy Capaldi Current Institution: Valparaiso University Discipline/expertise: Mathematics Programs: S-STEM, IUSE, Noyce

Educational Moment of Impact: I took a College Geometry class that included lab time to play with a geometry software program. As I made random geometric shapes and measured angles and segments, I eventually noticed a pattern. Then that pattern turned into a conjecture, which became a theorem. It was the first time I had come up with new (to me) mathematics and it was especially rewarding to share my results in a class poster session. This exploration activity stuck with me and I incorporated it into my College Geometry course about a decade later. The ultimate excitement was when one of my students developed a set of theorems and published them because of that project! All of this has reinforced for me the importance of students being allowed to explore, create, and do research.

My View for the Future of Education: As a professor, I took a journey from traditional, lecture-style teaching to more inquiry-based and active pedagogies. I believe, as research has shown, that this benefited students and created a more engaging and equitable classroom. It certainly was more rewarding and fun for me. I hope that active learning continues to spread in higher education, especially in STEM.

Name: Jennifer T. Ellis Current Institution: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Discipline/expertise: STEM Education Programs: Noyce, S-STEM, IUSE

Educational Moment of Impact: I've had several educational moments of impact throughout my academic journey. Beginning in elementary school, teachers saw something special in me and nurtured me, which continued through middle and high school. It wasn't until I got to Tuskegee University that my mother said, "Jennifer, you are really smart" after reviewing my first semester grades. Up until that point I relied on just my natural ability to navigate school but did the bare minimum and was rewarded with good grades. When I got to college, I knew that to pursue my dream of becoming a Chemical Engineer, I had to do the work. Once I made that connection and focused on learning, my educational world expanded, and I had the confidence to fulfil my childhood dreams and beyond.

My View for the Future of Education: I initially left my career working for the U.S. Department of the Army to help diversify STEM after reading an alarming report about the divide in STEM education. I initially thought pursing my doctoral studies with a focus in STEM Education would help me “fix it,” but quickly realized that this is an all-hands-on deck collaborative issue. The future of education is challenging, but due to the clear need for a strong STEM workforce and STEM literate students, stakeholders are now creating innovative approaches to better prepare students in an inclusive manner. The future for education is bright if we work on collaborative solutions that are PreK-20 focused.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts as we continue to feature our new Program Directors!

 

2021-10-06: What's New in DUE"

Considering NSF STEM Education Funding? NSF can answer your questions about solicitations, partnerships, and technical requirements

The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) invites you to join us for a free workshop series designed to provide insight on how to compete for funding in STEM education. The workshop will offer key insights into NSF and specifically EHR. Workshop participants will hear from and engage with NSF Program Officers, learn about EHR programs of interest, and gain insight on the merit review process.

Registration is open to all, though the workshop is geared toward individuals located at Asian American and Native American Pacific Island serving institutions who have yet to receive an EHR award and would like insight on how to compete for funding. We encourage you to forward the invitation to your colleagues.

WHEN: October 12, 13, and 14, 2021 from 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM EDT

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Registration is open to all, though the workshop is geared toward individuals located at Asian American and Native American Pacific Island serving institutions who have yet to receive an EHR award. This includes, but is not limited to, STEM education researchers, university STEM faculty and administrators, early career researchers, K-12 STEM educators, and informal science educators.

RSVP: The workshop will be conducted virtually via Zoom. Pre-registration is required. An agenda and more details will be provided after registration ends on October 10, 2021.

For more details regarding the workshop or to request special accommodations, please contact Catherine Prunella at cprunell@nsf.gov

 

2021-10-01: What's New in DUE"

Rosalyn Hobson Hargraves to lead the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education

The U.S. National Science Foundation welcomes Dr. Rosalyn (Roz) Hobson Hargraves, as the new division director for the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE). Hargraves is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University and previously served as an intermittent expert for NSF's Directorate for Education and Human Resources. She began her term as NSF division director for DUE on August 1, 2021.

"Rosalyn Hargraves is an inspiring leader whose career journey and research passion have prepared her well to address the undergraduate STEM education research and development challenges faced by the Nation," said Sylvia Butterfield, acting assistant director for EHR. "Dr. Hargraves' deep experience as a scholar and academic administrator will help NSF advance its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the undergraduate STEM education enterprise; inspire faculty innovation in creating effective curricular and co-curricular supports; and promote expanded pathways into STEM learning for all students."

Beyond STEM education, Hargraves' research interests also include diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education, machine learning, biomedical signal and image processing, and the role of science and technology in international development. Hargraves received her bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia. During her 25 years at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Hargraves co-founded the VCU School of Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering, and has served in numerous leadership roles, including associate vice president for inclusive excellence, the director of the Virginia Commonwealth University - University of KwaZulu Natal International Partnership, associate dean in the College of Engineering, and interim co-chair in the Department of Teaching and Learning.

Hargraves has been recognized nationally for her mentoring, teaching, leadership, and diversity initiatives. From 2019-2020 she was one of 38 academic leaders selected for the nationally renowned American Council on Education (ACE) Fellowship, the premier comprehensive leadership development program in American higher education. In 2003-2004 she served as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Diplomacy Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development (2003-2004). Among her numerous awards, she received the 2018 National Association for Ethnic Studies Robert L. Perry Mentoring Award, and in 2006 Hargraves was named Engineer of the Year by the Richmond Joint Engineers Council.

"DUE is absolutely thrilled to welcome Dr. Hargraves to the leadership team," said Butterfield. The Division of Undergraduate Education, in EHR, invests in STEM education at two- and four-year colleges and universities by improving curricula, instruction, laboratories, infrastructure, assessment, diversity of students and faculty, and collaborations.

Public Town Hall on Data Science Education: Friday October 8th

The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources invites your participation in a town hall meeting to stimulate a national conversation on the topic of Data Science in Education. This town hall meeting will explore Data Science and its impact across all levels of education from K-12 through higher education, including community colleges, minority serving institutions, and graduate institutions.

With speakers and open discussions, we will explore:

• Data Science research across disciplines and fields
• Ethical practices and approaches to Data Science
• Teaching and Learning Data Science
• Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in a 'Data Science for All' movement

The listening session will be conducted virtually via Zoom on October 8, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 3:45 PM EDT. Pre-registration is required for this event. A Zoom meeting link and password will be sent to you after your registration is confirmed.

 

2021-09-27: What's New in DUE"

2021 Virtual S-STEM Fall Forum

Join the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program for the 2021 Virtual S-STEM Fall Forum, convened by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The forum’s theme is Celebrating Student Assets and Nurturing Academic Talent for a Changing Global Workforce.  

WHEN: September 30 and October 1, 2021.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Principal Investigators, Co-Principal Investigators, Project Directors, and others in the STEM education community, including university STEM faculty and STEM education researchers. Note that being a current or former S-STEM awardee is not required to attend.

S-STEM awardees are encouraged to invite their S-STEM scholars to the Scholar Plenary on Thursday, September 30 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time. The Scholar Plenary will feature Keynote Speaker C. Brandon Ogbunu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University.

RSVP: Registration for the forum is free. Pre-registration is required for this virtual event. For more information and the registration link, visit the S-STEM Fall Forum website: https://www.s-stemfallforum.com/

The goals and objectives of the 2021 Virtual S-STEM Fall Forum are to provide attendees an opportunity and platform to:

• Disseminate S-STEM project results and impacts;
• Share innovative and evidenced-based best practices and strategies for recruiting, preparing, and retaining highly-talented, low-income undergraduate and graduate students;
• Learn about other grant opportunities and resources at the National Science Foundation and other agencies and organizations; and
• Make new connections and create strategic collaborations.

Attendees will hear from leaders in STEM education, watch videos from S-STEM projects, and attend workshops hosted by S-STEM awardees and National Science Foundation staff. Check out the forum’s tentative agenda for more details.

 

2021-07-21: What's New in DUE"

NSF is accepting nominations for the Alan T. Waterman Award

The Alan T. Waterman Award is the highest honor awarded by NSF and recognizes outstanding young researchers in any field of science or engineering supported by NSF. In addition to a medal, each awardee receives a grant of $1,000,000 over five years for scientific research or advanced study in any field of science or engineering that the NSF supports at the institution of the recipient's choice. NSF is accepting nominations for the Alan T. Waterman Award until September 20, 2021.

NSF seeks nominations that reflect the diversity of the United States of America. Nominees are accepted from all sources, in any field of science or engineering that the NSF supports. For information on eligibility, selection criteria, and submitting nominations, check out the Alan T. Waterman Award webpage.

HSI Program Office Hours in July and August, 2021

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) is holding office hours for prospective proposers. The HSI program seeks to enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education at HSIs, increase retention and graduation rates of undergraduate students pursuing degrees in STEM at HSIs, and build capacity in undergraduate STEM education at HSIs that typically do not receive high levels of NSF grant funding. Check out the HSI Program’s webpage for more details. 

For a full list of office hour dates, times, themes, and Zoom links, please visit the office hours webpage. The next office hours will be tomorrow, Thursday July 22, from 3:00 to 4:00 PM EST, and will focus on Common Weaknesses Found in Previously Submitted Proposals.

Summer 2021 office hours for the HSI Program will focus on Track 1: The Planning or Pilot Projects and Track 2: The Implementation and Evaluation Projects. The full proposal deadline for Tracks 1 and 2 is August 25, 2021. 

The submission deadline for Track 3: Institutional Transformation Projects (ITP) is February 9, 2022, and thus the office hours in July and August will only focus on Tracks 1 and 2.

Advanced Technological Education Program releases new solicitation NSF 21-598

The Advanced Technological Education (ATE Program) supports the education of the skilled technical workforce at undergraduate and secondary schools. The ATE Program aims to produce more qualified science and engineering technicians to meet workforce demands, and improve the technical skills and the general STEM preparation of these technicians and the educators who prepare them. The ATE program supports Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) that award two-year degrees in advanced technology fields and expects these IHEs and their faculty to have significant leadership roles on projects. Read solicitation NSF 21-598 for the full program details.

Some of the notable changes in the new solicitation include:

• Track 1: Small Projects for Institutions New to the ATE program has a maximum budget of $350,000 over three years.
• Track 2: ATE Projects has a maximum budget of $650,000 over three years.
• A new track, Track 3: Consortia for Innovations in Technician Education has been added.
• ATE-Coordination Network projects are no longer supported.

The full proposal deadline is October 14, 2021. Any proposal submitted in response to this solicitation should be submitted in accordance with the revised NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 22-1), which is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after October 4, 2021.

 

2021-06-08

Revision to the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship definition of high-need local education agency

The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program supports pre-service elementary mathematics and science teachers and pre-service secondary STEM teachers to become highly effective teachers and teacher leaders in high-need local education agencies (high-need LEA or high-need school districts). The Noyce program has made a recent revision to the definition of high-need LEA in solicitation NSF 21-578.

The revision was made to the Definitions of Terms under Section II: Project Description in NSF 21-578 (page 5, definition 9). In part “b” of the high-need LEA definition, there are no longer numeric percentages. The removed numeric percentages should not be considered appropriate for determining whether a school district meets the definition of high-need. If there is at least one school in a district that meets one criterion in part “a” and one criterion in part “b,” this district is considered a high-need LEA.

Proposers are responsible for identifying at least one high-need LEA that will serve as a partner in a proposal, and to provide information in their proposal that supports the claim that a proposed partner district is a high-need LEA.

The solicitation deadline is August 31, 2021.

New ECR: Core solicitation (NSF 21-588)

The NSF EHR Core Research (ECR: Core) program solicitation has been revised. The new solicitation document number is NSF 21-588. The ECR: Core program invites proposals for fundamental research that contributes to the general, explanatory knowledge that underlies STEM education in one or more of the three broadly conceived Research Areas: 

• Research on STEM Learning and Learning Environments, 
• Research on Broadening Participation in STEM fields, and 
• Research on STEM Workforce Development.

In addition to the broad Core Research Areas, ten common Research Topic Clusters are now specified in the revised solicitation. Within this framework, the ECR program supports a wide range of STEM education research activities that have potential to generate knowledge with broad relevance, aimed at learners of all groups and ages in formal and informal settings. The revised solicitation also clarifies the types of fundamental research funded, provides new descriptions of the Research Areas, adds Pilot studies as a new proposal type at Level I, and specifies information to be included in the Project Summary and Project Description.

The solicitation deadline is October 7, 2021.

 

2021-05-28: Highlights

2021 STEM For All Video Showcase #STEMvideohall

The annual STEM for All Video Showcase was held online from May 11-18, 2021. This NSF-funded event features hundreds of three-minute video presentations from federally funded projects that aim to improve STEM and computer science education. COVID, Equity and Social Justice was the theme of this year’s showcase. Click on these links to browse short and sweet films on projects funded by the DUE programs Advanced Technological Education (ATE), Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE), Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce), and Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM).

Check out these three videos featuring DUE-funded projects that received Facilitator Choice Awards:

Guitars, Rocketry, Robotics: This ATE-funded project (Award 1800955) uses unique curriculum that includes electric guitar building, rocketry, and robotics projects to prepare underrepresented students for technical STEM careers.

Leveraging This Moment to Transform STEM Education: Presented by the AAAS-IUSE initiative (Award 1937267), this video features teaching practices and resources implemented by STEM education experts in the IUSE community to improve undergraduate STEM education despite challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID Culture-Setting Unit: Extension to Developing STEM Teachers to Support Digitally-Rich Learning: This video tells the story of how five Noyce Scholars (Award 1758238) joined with other teachers to create "COVID Connects Us" (COVIDXUS), an innovative culture setting unit that focused on the science behind the phenomenon, "Why are People of Color disproportionately affected by COVID, and why does what I do in response matter?"

 

2021-05-07: Highlights
Teacher Appreciation Week

Watch Karen A. Marrongelle, Assistant Director of the Directorate for Education & Human Resources, #ThankaTeacher during this National Teacher Appreciation Week!

Click the photos to watch videos of educators funded by the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (@NoyceProgram). #ThanksNoyceTeachers

The Developing STEM Professionals as Educators and Teacher Leaders (DSPETL) Project at Georgia State.

Navid Rakei, Noyce Scholar, for the Supporting Science Teaching: The San Diego State University Noyce Scholars and Interns Program.

Lindsey Watch, Program Associate for Michigan Science Teaching and Assessment Reform (Mi-STAR) at Michigan Technological University.

Darci Merillat, Middle School Science Educator at Bay City Western Middle School in Auburn, MI.

John Kowalski, Middle School Science Educator at White Pine Middle School in Saginaw, MI.

 

2021-05-03: Highlights
Teacher Appreciation Week

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! The Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) is a dedicated champion of STEM education and strives to promote excellence in the nation's K-12 teacher workforce. For Teacher Appreciation Week and Public Service Recognition Week, DU(E-NEWS) is highlighting some of the many incredible DUE-funded educators, and the impact teachers have had on members of the DUE team. Check out the video above of Robin Wright, Division Director of DUE, highlighting the critical role teachers play in all our lives. On behalf of DUE, Robin thanks teachers for their unrelenting dedication to their students, especially given the difficulties of the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout the week, DU(E-NEWS) will spotlight scholars and teachers funded by the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce Program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and STEM professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts and experienced, exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become STEM master teachers. Noyce also supports research on the retention and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts. This Teacher Appreciation Week check out the hashtag #ThanksNoyceTeachers, and tag @NoyceProgram for posts celebrating graduating Noyce Scholars and Fellows.

Check out these videos of Victor Rodriguez, Master Teaching Fellow at Southwest High School, and Gumaro Gonzalez, Chemistry teacher at Arlington High School, describing the impact the Noyce Program has had on their teaching careers and classrooms.

Victor Rodriguez Teacher at Southwest High School San Diego, CA

Gumaro Gonzalez Teacher at Arlington High School Arlington, TX

 

2021-04-16:

Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program releases a new solicitation (21-578)

DUE's Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce) released an updated solicitation last week. The Noyce program aims to address the critical need for recruiting, preparing, and retaining highly effective K-12 mathematics and science teachers and teacher leaders in high-need school districts. To achieve this goal, Noyce supports:

• Talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers,
• Experienced, exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become teacher leaders in high-need school districts, and
• Research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.

Noyce offers four program tracks and a Capacity Building pathway. This revised solicitation has a deadline of August 31, 2021. Some of the notable changes in the new solicitation include:

• The Definition of Terms section clarifies the meaning of key terms, including STEM majors, STEM professionals, and STEM teachers.
• Degree completion requirements and allowable periods for scholarship, stipend, and fellowship support are specified.
• Requirements for Collaboration Incentives, including requirements for substantive partnership engagement and collaboration, are further specified. New Collaboration Incentives are also included.
• New allowances, scope, and requirements (including page limitations) are specified for Capacity Building submissions.
• The maximum allowable budget is increased for Track 4: Noyce Research submissions.

Read the solicitation for more information.

New Program Description: Racial Equity in STEM Education (EHR Racial Equity; PD 21-191Y)

Last week the NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) released a new Program Description on Racial Equity in STEM Education to support bold and ground-breaking projects that advance racial equity in STEM education and workforce development. This Program Description aims to:

• Advance the science and promotion of racial equity in STEM,
• Substantively contribute to removing systemic barriers that impact STEM education, the STEM workforce, and scientific advancement,
• Institutionalize effective and inclusive environments for STEM learning, STEM research, and STEM professionals,
• Diversify the project leadership (PIs and co-PIs), institutions, ideas, and approaches that NSF funds, and
• Expand the array of epistemologies, perspectives, and experiences in STEM.

Funded proposals will be led by, or developed and led in authentic partnership with, individuals and communities most impacted by the inequities caused by systemic racism. Funds come from across EHR, and contexts may include (but are not limited to): preK-12, two- and four-year undergraduate, and graduate institutions; municipal organizations; STEM workplaces; and informal STEM contexts, such as museums, community organizations, and media. 

Proposals are due on July 13, 2021 for the potential to be considered for funding in Fiscal Year 21.
Check out the webpage for the full description and future deadlines. Potential proposers are encouraged to keep an eye on the webpage for upcoming webinars.

New Dear Colleague Letter: Supplemental Funding for Postdoctoral Researchers to Mitigate COVID-19 Impacts on Research Career Progression (NSF 21-066)

EHR released a new Dear Colleague Letter calling for supplements to support post-doctoral researchers who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The DCL invites grantees with active awards in specific EHR programs (including DUE's IUSE and HSI programs) to request supplemental funds to support a new postdoctoral researcher for up to two years or a continuing postdoctoral researcher for one year. Postdoctoral researchers must be engaged in mentored STEM research or STEM education research and development. The DCL particularly aims to support researchers who are working or will work at institutions that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, including, but not limited to: Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges, Alaska Native, Pacific-islander, and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, and/or Hispanic Serving Institutions. In addition, this funding opportunity seeks to support research projects that will contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM research and STEM education research, and principal investigators who are early in their careers and/or who are still actively building their careers.

Requests will be accepted until December 31, 2021. However, for consideration for funding in Fiscal Year 2021, requests should be submitted by June 1, 2021. Check out the webpage linked above for the full letter!

 

2021-03-31: "What's New in DUE"
Workshop for NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources CAREER Applicants: Tuesday April 13th, 2021

The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) invites you to a workshop for prospective applicants for the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program. The CAREER Program offers prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. This workshop is for potential CAREER applicants to the EHR Directorate, including early-career faculty who plan to conduct research in STEM education. The workshop will be an opportunity for participants to gain a better understanding of the CAREER program, including eligibility requirements, the application process, and outcomes of past CAREER awardees. During the workshop, participants will interact with other applicants, current and former awardees, and NSF program officers.

The workshop will be conducted on Zoom on Tuesday April 13, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM EDT. Pre-registration is required for this event. A Zoom meeting link and password will be sent to you after your registration is confirmed. For more details regarding this workshop, please contact Margret Hjalmarson (mhjalmar@nsf.gov) or Tori Smith (tosmith@nsf.gov).

Read the full CAREER program solicitation: NSF 20-525.

2021-03-31: Highlights
Women’s History Month: Advancing Women in STEM

 
Image credits: (from left) Jeff Fitlow/Rice University and ATE Impacts 2018-2019
This DU(E-NEWS) highlight was composed by Virtual Student Federal Service intern Jalyn Williams.

Women are making fantastic contributions to STEM research and education but are still underrepresented in the STEM workforce relative to their proportions in the U.S. population. Undergraduate STEM education is a crucial component of the pipeline to STEM careers, but women are still receiving less bachelor’s degrees in computer science, engineering, and physical science compared to men. Below are just a few of the many DUE-funded projects that aim to improve retention of women in STEM education programs and broaden the participation of women in the STEM workforce.

Women of color are particularly underrepresented in STEM majors and careers due to compounding gender and racial biases. Despite knowledge that community colleges are a critical resource for people of color, women of color who are STEM majors at community colleges are an understudied group. The Influential Networks for Women of Color in STEM Community College Pathways project aims to fill this knowledge gap by studying the factors that lead to success in the lives of women of color STEM majors at minority-serving community colleges. The project uses national survey data and social network analysis to comprehend how student’s unique combination of economic status, cultural identity, social networks, and college experiences enable success. The project is expected to inform how two-year institutions of higher learning can improve support and retention of women of color in STEM fields. For more details on the project, check out this interview with Principal Investigators Melo-Jean Yap and Felisha Herrera Villarreal.

The Influential Networks for Women of Color in STEM Community College Pathways project is supported by DUE awards in the ECR-EHR Core Research program: 1937777.

The Building Equity for Aerospace Training project aims to meet the demand for a skilled aviation workforce by broadening the participation of students — particularly women —in aerospace technician education. To achieve this goal, investigators at Everett Community College in Washington train middle and high school educators and counselors on how to encourage all students to pursue aerospace pathways, with an emphasis on strategies that are known to improve the curiosity, retention, and accomplishment of young women. This project’s DUE Program Manager, Eric Sheppard, is an aerospace engineer and son of a Crew Chief with the Tuskegee Airmen. Sheppard commented that "the aerospace workforce has historically had low gender and racial diversity, so this project certainly addresses a real workforce gap." For more details on the Building Equity for Aerospace Training project check out this article on the Everett Community College website.

The Building Equity for Aerospace Training project is supported by DUE awards in the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program: 1902332.

The POWER Careers project helps nontraditional female students receive Associate degrees at the Energy Systems Technology and Education Center (ESTEC) at Idaho University in preparation for careers in the energy industry. This project is novel in its attempts to understand the obstacles facing older women (age 25+) in a rural area and attract these women to energy careers. The project supports students' educational and professional development through mentorship, scholarships, meetings with industry professionals, social activities, and more. The POWER project has successfully improved female enrollment and retention at ESTEC: female enrollment increased from 6% to 21% from 2014-2017, and "of the 27 women who started at ESTEC since fall of 2015, only one woman did not graduate or continue in the program." Check out this interim evaluation report of the project from 2016 for more details on the project’s objectives, results, and recommendations.

The Providing Opportunities for Women in Energy Related (POWER) Careers project is supported by DUE awards in the Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) and the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) programs: 1502015.

 

2021-03-15: "What's New in DUE"
New Program Description: Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education (PD 21-7980)

The Division of Undergraduate Education has issued an exciting new Program Description (PD) geared toward enhancing innovative STEM education at two-year colleges. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on two-year institutions, and there is a pressing need for diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. Two-year institutions are critical to the U.S. STEM workforce and contribute to the diversity of the sciences. This new program seeks to advance inclusive and equitable STEM educational programs and support student success at two-year institutions. The new program welcomes a range of projects in terms of scope, size, and duration. Check out the program’s webpage for more details.

Office hours for the new PD will be held on:

April 9th, 2021 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM ET: Link to Zoom Meeting.

April 12th, 2021 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM ET: Link to Zoom Meeting. 

Deadlines: The full proposal target deadline is May 10th 2021. Though proposals are accepted at any time, those submitted before May 28, 2021 have the potential to be considered for funding in Fiscal Year 21.

Scholarships in STEM releases new S-STEM-Net program solicitation

Last week the Division of Undergraduate Education released a new solicitation for the Scholarships in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Network (S-STEM-Net) program, NSF 21-569. The S-STEM program is dedicated to supporting domestic low-income, high-achieving STEM students through scholarships and research into effective curricular and co-curricular programs. The new S-STEM-Net program aims to build community by sharing promising practices developed by S-STEM projects, coordinating high-impact research on effective strategies to support low-income students in STEM and offering professional development for students and faculty at over 500 S-STEM sites nationwide.

The S-STEM-Net program will provide two types of awards: a S-STEM Resource and Evaluation Center (S-STEM-REC) and several S-STEM Research Hubs (S-STEM-Hub). S-STEM-REC invests in a single resource center designed to 1) facilitate collaboration between S-STEM principal investigators, administrators, students, and other stakeholders to strengthen the outcomes of the S-STEM program, and 2) construct a framework to synthesize and disseminate successful S-STEM practices, outcomes, and achievements. S-STEM-Hubs support collaborative research projects aimed at understanding how to better support low-income STEM students. They will do so by bringing together investigators from multiple institutions to address common research questions relevant to their particular S-STEM students.

Deadlines: For S-STEM-REC proposals only, a letter of intent is due by April 16th, 2021. Full proposals are due June 16th 2021.

Visit the S-STEM-Net webpage for a link to the full solicitation and NSF Program Officer information.

 

2021-02-22: Highlights

Black History Month: BIPOC in STEM

Image credits: (from left) ATE Impacts 2018-2019 book; Argonne National Laboratory; David Baillot/UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

This DU(E-NEWS) highlight was composed by Virtual Student Federal Service intern Jalyn Williams. Jalyn is currently an undergraduate student at Albright College studying Environmental Studies.

National African American History Month originated in 1915 when historian and author Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history." One of the pillars that guides Education and Human Resources (EHR) activities is broadening participation of individuals, geographic regions, types of institutions, and STEM disciplines to close achievement gaps in all STEM fields. In celebration of Black History Month, let's take a look at some DUE-funded projects that are broadening participation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

Centering Women of Color in STEM: Identifying and Scaling Up What Helps Women of Color Thrive (Award #1712531)
Program: Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE)

To stay at the forefront of discovery, the United States requires a diverse science and engineering workforce. The Centering Women of Color in STEM (CWCS) project aims to improve the underrepresentation of women of color in physics, mathematics and computing. Researchers at St. Mary's College of Maryland and Eureka Scientific, Inc. study three STEM departments at predominantly White institutions throughout the United States and England in which women of color are thriving. The project aims to identify common practices across these departments that can be applied by peer departments to support undergraduate women of color. The knowledge gained from CWCS will contribute to systemic transformation of STEM education and create a deeper understanding of the circumstances that lead to success for young women of color in collegiate environments.

The project will culminate in a meeting with participants from 11 institutions who will examine the applicability of the findings at their home institutions. CWCS research has been published in The Physics Teacher (Johnson et al., 2017; Young, 2020), and you can check out the CWCS website to keep up with the project!

Facilitating Pathways to Success for High-Achieving Pre-Collegiate African American Males in STEM (#2000472)
Program: EHR Core Research (ECR)

Much of the current research on African American male students' STEM experiences focuses on college students and those who are underachieving in STEM. Investigators at The Ohio State University and University of South Florida put a spin on this common approach by instead focusing on high-achieving high school students. The investigators are interested in how high school career academies promote viable STEM pathways for high-achieving, low-income African American male students. Researchers document student experiences, the factors that influenced their motivation to participate and achieve in STEM academies, and their family support systems that may contribute to their success. The project's findings are likely to help the STEM community pinpoint the different challenges that low-income, African American males face in high school.

The project takes place over a three-year period starting in September 2020 and is primarily conducted within four nationally dispersed urban high school STEM academy programs. Check out this article on the Ohio State University website for more information.

Sustainable Summer Bridges from Campus to Campus: Retention Models for Transitioning Underrepresented Engineering Students (#1525367)
Program: IUSE and Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM)

Lasting improvements to the production of a diverse engineering workforce begin with creating effective bridge programs that yield more engineering graduates. The Sustainable Bridges from Campus to Campus study looks to improve retention in engineering at Pennsylvania State University by conducting academically enriching bridge programs for underrepresented engineering students. The project aims to improve retention in engineering by supporting performance in gateway math courses and promote strong bonds within the student’s learning community. To evaluate how students were affected by the math-intensive bridge programs, the project considers student's grades in math courses and the quality of their academic social network (i.e., whether their peers transferred to another campus/institution or stayed throughout the year) in the semester following the bridges.

Results of the first two years of the project were presented at the 2018 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition. More information on the project can be found here.

 

2021-02-05: "What's New in DUE"

The 2021 Joint Mathematics Meeting recap

The 2021 Joint Mathematics Meeting (JMM) was held online from January 6th to 9th 2021. The JMM, hosted by the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematical Society, featured presentations from mathematical researchers and educators. Among the many presenters, Education and Human Resources Assistant Director Karen Marongelle made an appearance alongside Tie Luo, acting deputy head of the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Marongelle, who holds a PhD in Mathematics Education, discussed an exciting future for NSF under the leadership of Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. Marongelle and Luo discussed ongoing NSF developments, including the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act, which allocates $4.8 billion to NSF for research in artificial intelligence, and NSF's continuous efforts to broaden diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM.

The JMM hosted a Special Session on NSF Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) Programs with Mathematical Connections. Several members of the NSF DUE team organized and attended the session. Principal investigators (PIs) from across the United States shared outcomes of S-STEM awards geared toward supporting undergraduate students in mathematics courses. DUE Program Director Michael Ferrara remarked that the session "provided PIs an opportunity to share their projects, and included some energizing discussions about promising strategies, common challenges, and opportunities to collaborate." Ferrara observed "an amazing grassroots movement from several PIs to bring together S-STEM projects that wholly or significantly work with mathematics students ... this has the potential to be a tremendous force multiplier as we work together to serve our amazing population of S-STEM scholars through the pandemic and beyond."

Check out abstracts from the JMM S-STEM Programs with Mathematical Connections Sessions I and II.

 

2021-01-25: "What's New in DUE"
Listening session online on the potential for online learning environments: Friday January 29th

The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources invites your participation in a listening session providing an opportunity to discuss the evolving role of online learning in teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, specifically focusing on online learning environments (e.g., distance learning tools, virtual laboratories, access to museum exhibits and other out-of-school STEM education resources) to change the organization of STEM education. Please be aware that this session is not intended to make recommendations to NSF. The listening session will be conducted virtually via Zoom on Friday January 29, 2021 from 11 am-2 pm EST. Pre-registration is required for this event. A Zoom meeting link and password will be sent to you after your registration is confirmed by colleagues at the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI).

 

2021-01-25: "What's New in DUE"
Scholarships in STEM releases new program solicitation

The Division of Undergraduate Education’s Scholarships in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program released an updated solicitation, NSF 21-550, in early January 2021. The scholarships in STEM program aims to:

• increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need obtaining degrees in S-STEM eligible disciplines and entering the US workforce or graduate programs in STEM;
• improve support mechanisms for future scientists, engineers, and technicians, with a focus on low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need; and
• advance our understanding of how interventions or evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities affect the success, retention, transfer, academic/career pathways, and graduation of low-income students in STEM.

This revised solicitation has a deadline of April 7th, 2021 and in subsequent years the third Wednesday in March. Some of the notable changes in the new solicitation include:

• Collaborative Planning grant proposals towards a Track 3 Inter-institutional Consortia are now invited (up to $150,000 for up to 2 years).
• The maximum project duration has been extended from 5 to 6 years for Track 1, 2 and 3 proposals.
• All S-STEM proposals must provide information about the size and characteristics of their pool of potential scholarship applicants who meet all the eligibility requirements described in the proposal.
• A letter describing how low-income status is defined by the institution is now required as a supplemental document. This letter should come from the institution's Financial Aid Office (or equivalent) and should include affirmation that offices will support this scholarship program as described in the proposal.
• Institutions with a current S-STEM award should wait at least until the end of the third year of execution of their current award before submitting a new S-STEM proposal focused on students pursuing the same discipline(s). NSF considers the end of the third year as being the moment the third-year annual report has been approved.

It is also important to note the following changes to specific program tracks:

• Capacity building proposals (Track 1) must generate new knowledge via a robust project evaluation plan and include substantive dissemination plans, but they no longer require formal research activities. Allowable budgets are now up to $750,000 for up to 6 years.
• Single institution proposals (Track 2) must generate new knowledge via a robust project evaluation plan and include substantive dissemination plans, but they no longer require formal research activities. Allowable budgets are now up to $1.5 million for up to 6 years.

Prospective S-STEM PIs are encouraged to bookmark the S-STEM program website, which includes the solicitation and contact information for S-STEM program officers.  In coming weeks, information about webinars and program office hours will be posted there.

 

2021-01-19: "What's New in DUE"
DUE staff members Keith Sverdrup and Paul Tymann

Name: Keth A. Sverdrup Role: Program Director Discipline/expertise: Geosciences Programs: S-STEM Program Director, IUSE Geosciences Program Director

Educational Moment of Impact: I was a freshman student and uncertain of my major. One day I went to the geosciences department at the University of Minnesota and was looking at a display cabinet when a professor walked up to me and started explaining what I was looking at. He then invited me to attend the afternoon seminar and volunteered to drive me home afterward - a trip of some distance on the opposite side of town and nowhere near where he lived. He became my academic advisor and the reason I became a geophysicist. Educators who take the time to engage students can change their lives.

My View for the Future of Education: What most excites me is witnessing the incremental changes in STEM education that successfully increase the diversity of students in STEM and ultimately STEM professionals. The change can be frustratingly slow, but it is in the right direction.

Name: Paul Tymann Role: Program Director Discipline/expertise: Computer Science Programs: ATE, S-STEM, IUSE

Paul Tymann is a Program Director in the Division of Undergraduate Education in the Education and Human Resources Directorate (EHR/DUE) at the National Science Foundation. Prior to joining the NSF in January 2020, Tymann was a Professor and the former Chair of the Computer Science Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Prior to joining RIT in July 1997, Tymann started his academic career as a member of the computer science faculty at the State University of New York at Oswego in 1987. Tymann has been involved in computer science education at the high school level and served as the co-Chair of AP Computer Science Development Committee from 2011 until 2015 and has served as as the Chief Reader for the AP Computer Science Principles Exam from 2014 until 2020. He served as Vice Chair of ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education, served as symposium co-chair for the SIGCSE technical symposium in 2006 and 2013, and was a member of ACM Education Council.

Tymann has written textbooks on software development, bioinformatics, and a breadth-first overview of computer science. His research interests include CS education, bioinformatics, and high-performance computing. He enjoys teaching internationally and has taught at the University of Zimbabwe, at the University of Osnabruck in Germany, and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

 

2021-01-12: "What's New in DUE"
Listening session online STEM learning part two: Friday January 15th

Building on the great interest in the first session, this is a second iteration of the listening session held first on January 8, 2021. The first listening session consisted of over 500 attendees from a wide array of backgrounds such as undergraduate and graduate education, K-12 education, state science agencies, private companies, and non-profits. This Zoom meeting will be held on January 15, 2021 from 11am-2pm and will provide an opportunity to further stimulate discussion with respect to the evolving role of online learning in teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, specifically focusing on the identification of learning gains through online environments, including the role of new assessment approaches in measuring those gains. The agenda is still being finalized, but attendees can expect breakout sessions to facilitate smaller-group discussions and connection-building. Please be aware that this session is not intended to make recommendations to NSF.

The listening session will be conducted virtually via Zoom. Pre-registration is required for this event. A Zoom meeting link and password will be sent to you after your registration is confirmed by colleagues at the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI).

 

2021-01-08: Highlights

Discipline-Based Education Research - resources and upcoming conference

Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) is a grouping of research fields that takes an empirical approach to investigating learning and teaching that is informed by an expert understanding of disciplinary knowledge and practice (American Association for the Advancement of Science 11). DBER can be studied through the lens of Learning & Learning Environments, Broadening Participation, and Workforce Development. Through investigation of teaching methodology and learning outcomes, DBER scholars and collaborative teams identify effective strategies in STEM disciplines such as physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, geoscience, math and astronomy. The research priorities of a particular STEM discipline provide a consistent context to examine evidence-based teaching methods and learning objectives. This process of identifying best practices in STEM disciplines and refining them is at the core of DBER. Since the emergence of DBER in the early 2000's, two NSF funded workshops captured and socialized the term DBER and a subsequent publication entitled Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering quantified the status of DBER. Today DBER continues to look forward to better undergraduate STEM teaching practices.

Those interested may reference these NSF funded resources, among others:

• STEM education resources that include DBER:
• American Association for the Advancement of Science. "Levers for Change: An assessment of progress on changing STEM instruction." (2019).
• National Research Council. Discipline-based education research: Understanding and improving learning in undergraduate science and engineering. National Academies Press, 2012.
• National Research Council. Promising practices in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education: Summary of two workshops. National Academies Press, 2011.
• Upcoming virtual conference, X-DBER 2021, Hosted by University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Date: March 1-3, 2021; Registration deadline: February 21, 2021
• Abstract and poster submission deadline: January 17, 2021

 

2021-01-07: "What's New in DUE"

EHR Advisory Committee releases new visioning report on STEM Education for the Future

Recently the EHR Advisory Committee published a report entitled STEM Education for the Future. This report quantifies current challenges, actions, and successful innovations in STEM education, as well as the possibilities of the future. The report underscores the importance of STEM education for building a diverse citizenry that will contribute to a thriving, competitive U.S. economy. The Advisory Committee posed various guiding questions to stimulate thought on achieving the goals of lifelong STEM learning, equitable access to sustained success, and a strong American workforce:

• How can we incentivize higher education institutions to implement necessary change toward these goals, including adopting practices we know work?
• How can technology be used as a pedagogical tool and be a democratizing force?
• What non-traditional pathways are students taking to acquire skills, competencies, and credentials? How do these new pathways challenge higher education as we know it?
• How do people best learn STEM concepts at different life stages? How do different contexts, including where people live, affect learning? And how do we optimize content delivery to improve outcomes?

With these questions in mind, and with the goal that all Americans can become partners in the nation’s innovation economy, the STEM Education of the Future Subcommittee proposed a path for making STEM Education of the Future the cornerstone of progress and prosperity for the nation.

This post contains excerpts from the report which can be viewed in full via the Education and Human Resources Homepage.

 

2020-11-23: "What's New in DUE"
Program Description on Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education

Advances in the frontiers of biology and educational research have enabled the biological sciences communities to explore effective teaching approaches and promote student learning (NRC 2003, 2009). NSF DUE is looking to further investigate the potential relationships between the Vision and Change (V&C) principles and the current national state of undergraduate biological education, including biological knowledge, concepts, and science process skills. Accordingly, this program seeks to support projects that evaluate a combination of factors such as the awareness, acceptance, adoption, and adaptation of V&C principles and outcomes including changes in curriculum, laboratories, and student retention, completion, and learning. Collectively, results of these projects are anticipated to describe the nature and extent of V&C's use within the undergraduate biology curriculum. The projects could also describe key factors and approaches taken by the V&C community that have the potential to be useful for improving undergraduate education in other scientific disciplines or in interdisciplinary STEM education.

To view this program description in full, please visit PD 21-7412.

 

2020-11-20: "What's New in DUE"
Dear Colleague Letter on Strengthening American Infrastructure (SAI)

Critical infrastructure underpins many aspects of our lives, from purchasing a home to checking for warnings of an approaching storm. The large costs and potential benefits of infrastructure investments demand attention to the incorporation of relevant human and social factors in the early stages of design. With this in mind, NSF is looking to foster a community invested in strengthening American infrastructure by bringing together interdisciplinary teams poised to carry out potentially pathbreaking, untested fundamental research, grounded in user-centered concepts. EAGER and conference proposals submitted to this call may be considered "high risk - high reward" in that they contain different approaches, application of new expertise, or encouragement of novel disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives. NSF is particularly interested in proposals that integrate a deep understanding of human cognition, perception, information processing, decision making, social and cultural behavior, legal frameworks, governmental structures, and related areas into the design, development, and sustainability of infrastructure. Proposals are welcomed that include opportunities to broaden participation of underrepresented demographics. Submissions from Minority Serving Institutions are encouraged as well as proposals integrating participation of undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, K-12 students, industry representatives and others. Inquiries about the DCL, general inquiries, and questions about submission of SAI proposals should be directed to NSF-SAI@nsf.gov.

To view this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) in full, please visit NSF 21-019.

 

2020-11-06: "What's New in DUE"
Announcing winners of the ideas competition on Imagining the Future of Undergraduate STEM Education

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, recently announced the winners of the idea competition to inform the Symposium on Imagining the Future of Undergraduate STEM Education.

25 winners and 25 honorable mentions have been awarded. The names and titles of the winning entries are featured on the National Academies website and will be highlighted at the symposium on November 12, 13, and 19, 2020.

Applicants submitted a statement or video addressing some aspect of the symposium's focus: What should undergraduate STEM education look like in 2040 and beyond to meet the needs of students, science, and society? What should we do now to prepare?

Entries were evaluated based on their potential to contribute to and advance discussion at the symposium. Entries were also judged on originality and future orientation. 

Registration for the symposium will remain open until November 19th and may be accessed directly through Eventbrite.

 

2020-11-05: "What's New in DUE"
Deadline extension; contribute to the planning of US STEM education

The National Science and Technology Council's Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM) in coordination with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), NSF recently released a Request for Information (RFI) on STEM Education.

• The RFI on STEM Education references the Federal STEM Education Strategic Plan, released December 2018
• Your response as a member of the STEM education community is welcomed
• You may provide comments to any questions you wish, but do not need to respond to all questions
• Responses need to be submitted in a Word or PDF format per the RFI's instructions to CoSTEM@nsf.gov
• Questions can be directed to Cindy Hasselbring, Assistant Director, STEM Education, OSTP (contact information is located in the RFI)

The RFI will now close on November 20, 2020, at 11:59PM EST.

 

2020-10-23: Highlights
HydroLearn hosts virtual hackathon and hands-on workshop for co-development and sharing of authentic learning modules in hydrology and water resources

The pandemic poses new challenges and opportunities for developing innovative approaches that support the educational community. To address the growing need for online teaching resources, HydroLearn, an NSF-sponsored project, hosted a two-week a virtual workshop and hackathon for hydrology and water resource educators to participate in the development of online learning modules. The event was coordinated by a group of subject-matter experts, education pedagogy and technology experts, and graduate teaching assistants.

Following a hackathon approach, the workshop brought together 30 faculty members from 28 universities across the United Stated and one international institution. The participating instructors worked in small groups (two to three individuals) and used the HydroLearn online platform to collaboratively develop and share new learning modules. The workshop included training on the development of teaching content using research-based pedagogical approaches with hands-on content development. The participants followed a backward design approach that began with defining a set of learning objectives that students were expected to achieve by the conclusion of the module. The learning objectives were directly linked to assessment-based authentic learning tasks. Lastly, the participants developed the instructional content necessary to link the learning objectives to the assessment tasks. This backward design process is intentionally iterative to ensure constructive alignment between the learning objectives, the assessment tasks, and the educational material. Rubrics were also developed for each authentic task to define clear criteria for assessing whether the learning objectives were successfully achieved.

The hackathon produced 15 new modules. The modules cover a wide range of topics that target undergraduate and early graduate students, such as groundwater flow, remote sensing in applications in hydrology, and water planning for sustainability. Upon its completion, each module was peer-reviewed by educational and technical members of the HydroLearn team who provided actionable feedback and suggestions for revisions by the modules' authors. At the conclusion of the hackathon, a series of webinars was held to present the modules to the larger hydrology education community.

The following is a quote from one of the participants, Dr. Austin Polebitski, an associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville:

"HydroLearn was a wonderful opportunity to not only 'talk shop' with other educators about water resources but to really dig in and make engaging modules that provide real-life, virtual hands-on material for undergraduate and graduate students. Something that is particularly neat about HydroLearn is the chunk-based framework of each module, it allows students and faculty to tailor the material to their courses, making it pretty easy to implement. The pedagogical layout used, learning activities tied to the learning objectives in a clear and consistent manner, aligns well with ABET and other assessment frameworks. Overall, my experience with my cohort, and particularly my experience in working with my partner/colleague for our module was a bright spot in my COVID-19 summer."

The modules are made available for free access and use by instructors and students via the HydroLearn platform. The intent is to support the increased focus on online teaching, given the current COVID-19 situation and to serve the transition to in-class learning by harnessing ongoing efforts to develop effective digital teaching resources.

Interested in learning more about the modules developed during the hackathon, or the HydroLearn platform in general? Follow these additional links:

• List of participants and modules developed
• Youtube channel with short videos on each of the 15 modules
• Twitter handle (@hydrolearn)
• Github site hosts open source code behind HydroLearn adapted from EdX platform

The HydroLearn project is supported by collaborative DUE awards in the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program 1726965, 1725989, and 1726667.

Submitted by Emad Habib, Professor, Civil Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and PI on the NSF-sponsored HydroLearn project (habib@louisiana.edu)

 

2020-10-19: "What's New in DUE"
Identifying mid-scale infrastructure for STEM education research

The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources invites you to participate in a listening session to provide input on the nature of mid-scale research infrastructure for STEM education research. The event will be held via Zoom on Friday, October 30, 2020 from 11:00 AM-3:00 PM Eastern Time. Pre-registration is required and can be accessed via this weblink or via the NSF events page. Once you register, a Zoom meeting link and password will be emailed to you. Any current and potential NSF mid-scale infrastructure PIs, STEM education researchers, informal science educators, and STEM education specialists are encouraged to attend! Please note that this event is not intended to make general recommendations to NSF.

As a part of the listening session, NSF EHR is looking for public input on the following questions:

1. What are the most pressing questions in STEM education research?
2. Which of these questions could be addressed or could progress be made were NSF to support mid-scale infrastructure?
3. What kinds of infrastructure might be valuable in addressing or advancing research related to those pressing questions?
4. What resources might be required (in addition to the infrastructure itself) that NSF might need to support?
5. Are there any examples of mid-scale infrastructure being used to address pressing questions in STEM education research?
6. What barriers or challenges might complicate the use of mid-scale infrastructure to address these most pressing questions in STEM education research - and how might these challenges be overcome?

The IDA Science and Technology Policy Institute is facilitating this meeting on NSF’s behalf and the meeting will be recorded. Participation in this session implies consent for NSF to capture your name, voice, and likeness, and anything you say may be recorded and transcribed for NSF use. Moderators will manage participation and remove disruptive participants if necessary. Participants will be given the option to provide short written comments to complement their meeting participation. Any questions about meeting logistics can be sent to Dr. Brian Zuckerman (bzuckerm@ida.org).

 

2020-10-09: "What's New in DUE"
NSF's first virtual grants conference

Save the Date! Join the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the very first NSF Virtual Grants Conference, to be held during the weeks of November 16 and November 30, 2020.

This event is designed to give new faculty, researchers, and administrators key insights into a wide range of current issues at NSF. NSF staff will be providing up-to-date information about the proposal and award process, specific funding opportunities and answering attendee questions.

Registration will be free of charge and opens on Thursday, October 29 at 12 p.m. EST. Each conference session will have its own Zoom registration page. Please sign up only for sessions that you are able to attend. For those who cannot attend the live conference, all recorded conference sessions will be available on-demand shortly after the event. We anticipate the sessions will reach capacity very quickly, so we encourage you to register as soon as possible.

In the meantime, please feel free to check nsfpolicyoutreach.com/ for the most up-to-date information, and view recordings of sessions from last year's event. You may also contact conference organizers via email at grants_conference@nsf.gov.

 

2020-09-25: "What's New in DUE"
Calling current and prospective principal investigators interested in broadening participation

The National Science Foundation Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) is hosting a FREE Webinar on September 30, 2020 from 2:30-4:30 pm ET.

NSF program officers and staff, including DUE program officers Pushpa Ramakrishna and Abby Illumoka, will highlight current funding opportunities available in EHR focused on diversifying the STEM workforce, supporting broadening participation in STEM research, and promoting equitable STEM practices and opportunities. Programs such as: NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discovers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES), ADVANCE: Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions, Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities – Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP), Tribal Colleges and Universities Programs (TCUP), The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST), Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) and several other programs will be highlighted. NSF representatives from all four divisions in EHR will be represented.

• Division of Human Resource Development
• Division of Undergraduate Education
• Division of Graduate Education
• Division of Research on Learning

In addition, Q & A opportunities with Program Officers will be provided during the webinar.

Principal Investigators, faculty, administrators, researchers, evaluators, and other STEM and education professionals and community-based leaders interested or engaged in research and efforts to broaden participation in STEM are encouraged to attend.

Please be sure to register using this link as soon as possible.

Once you have registered, help spread the word about the webinar by forwarding this email and or the attached flyer to your STEM and broadening participation in STEM networks.

We look forward to seeing you online on September 30, 2020.

 

2020-08-31: "What's New in DUE"
Interested in telling your story or sharing research developments? Check out the DU(E-NEWS) content submission page

DU(E-NEWS) is looking to feature principal investigators, projects, and students who are actively working towards DUE's mission, "To promote excellence in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all students."

Submissions to the Highlights category of DU(E-NEWS) may include notable project developments, regional or national conferences, student scholar highlights and more. Submissions to the Findings category of DU(E-NEWS) might include major research results, papers reporting syntheses of investigations and issuance of national studies. Make sure that your story is captivating and has ties to larger initiatives or relevant stakeholders.

All those in the undergraduate STEM education community that are interested, please visit the content submission guidelines page. Content or any questions may be submitted to undergrad@nsf.gov with the phrase "DU(E-NEWS) Content Submission" contained in the subject line. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

2020-08-18: "What's New in DUE"
Vote for your favorite video in the STEM DIVE challenge

The National Science Foundation has launched the public voting for the first STEM Diversity and Inclusion Video Exhibition Challenge. We are inviting you, the public, to judge the top 12 videos of the competition. Remember you are looking for visually appealing, original, and sustainable approaches with a clear and effective message to diversifying the STEM workforce through partnerships. View all 12 videos and vote for your favorite by clicking the "Like" button on the video link. The two videos with the highest number of "Likes" will win. Judging opens August 17 and ends August 24, 2020!

Editor's note: People's choice voting for the STEM DIVE challenge has ended and the awardees have been announced. Visit the STEM DIVE challenge website to view the videos for both the expert's choice and people's choice awardees!

 

2020-08-13: "What's New in DUE"
DUE staff members Sandra Richardson and Michael Ferrara

Name: Sandra Richardson Role: Program Director, Lead PD for Noyce Discipline/expertise: Mathematics Education Programs: Noyce, IUSE, and CAREER

Educational Moment of Impact: I taught the same course at 2 different high schools and saw a distinct difference in resources available and the impact that availability of resources has on student motivation, success, and opportunity. This experience started my lifelong effort of sharing knowledge about equity vs equality in education.

My View for the Future of Education: I have several wish lists for the future of education but if I had to pick one big wish, it would be that every student (at all levels of education) deserves a qualified, pedagogical content knowledgeable, caring teacher.

Name: Michael Ferrara Role: Program Director Affiliation: University of Colorado Denver Discipline/expertise: Mathematics Programs: IUSE, Noyce, S-STEM

Educational Moment of Impact: My educational moment of impact was the first time I saw Euclid’s proof that there is an infinitude of primes, some time in high school.  It was the first "clever" proof I was exposed to, and it opened a whole house full of doors in my brain about what mathematics was and could be.

My View for the Future of Education: The digital age continues to allow us to produce, store and analyze massive amounts of data across myriad domains. I am excited about opportunities to help students learn how to analyze, interpret, and model with data so they can understand and attack issues they are passionate about.

 

2020-08-03: Highlights
Noyce program hosts first virtual principal investigator meeting

On July 14th, 2020, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in conjunction with the National Science Foundation (NSF) hosted their first virtual event for the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholars Program. As the NSF Noyce Program team set out to adapt the annual Noyce Summit for the safety of hosts and principal investigators (PIs) during the continuing pandemic, they assessed their goals for the summit, and concluded that community building is a top priority. The summit, typically taking place in person in Washington, D.C., over three days, split into two half-day virtual meetings.

For the first of two events, dubbed the "Noyce PI Summer Block Party," more than 140 Noyce PIs and co-PIs joined the meeting. Noyce lead and NSF Program Officer Kathleen Bergin's opening remarks touched on the many circumstances facing the nation, citing among them the COVID-19 pandemic and institutionalized racism. She welcomed attendees with "acknowledgement, celebration, and a challenge for recommitment," and emphasized the "importance of seizing this pivotal moment in our nation's history to support much needed and long overdue change." Bergin concluded her remarks with an invitation to each of the Noyce PIs to reflect on the strategies they have or plan to implement "to advance classrooms of justice for all students" with an emphasis on students with marginalized identities.

Throughout the day's festivities, including a welcome and orientation for new awardees, lessons-learned panels, and group conversations with NSF program officers, PIs learned from their peers and connected with one another. Following the event, one PI commented, "I just want to commend you on the whole experience. To be honest, I was dreading four hours of Zoom. You kept it moving, broke it up with different voices, and made it a very useful and worthwhile day." Another attendee expressed gratitude for the "Much needed networking as we are unable to have face to face interaction in 2020." Thanks to NSF Program Officers Kathleen Bergin and Karen Keen, as well as AAAS' Jennifer Carinci, among many others, for making this event a success.

Archived recordings of the 2020 Noyce Summer Block Party's panels and presentations can be viewed on the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Website.

The second of this year's events, the "Noyce Virtual Summit," will be held on August 5th, bringing together scholars and PIs in the Noyce Program for community presentation, resource exchange, and further community building.

This project is supported under DUE award 1548986.

 

2020-07-27: Highlights
Researchers employ Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience to study COVID-19 in real time

Dr. LaMontagne records data from students participating in research related to COVID-19.

Building a captivating course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) was the original goal. However, it was not until the COVID-19 pandemic that researchers at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) realized they had a striking opportunity to contribute to the body of research around this novel virus. Since receiving a COVID-19 RAPID grant to engage undergraduates in research on the current coronavirus pandemic, principal investigators Michael LaMontagne and Karen Alexander have hit the ground running.

The hypothesis at the center of this research is that host-microbiome interactions influence the susceptibility of individuals to contracting COVID-19. Undergraduate students developed this hypothesis in a proposal they wrote following a laboratory exercise in spring 2020. In this exercise, students identified bacteria isolated from their nostrils. A literature review carried out by the same spring cohort reported that Staphylococcus epidermis can protect their host from infection with influenza. Subsequently, the undergraduate cohort is now assessing links between the structure of their personal nasal microbiome and carriage of SARS-Cov-2. This research involves metagenomic analysis of the nasal microbiome, proteomic analysis of bacterial isolates, and RT-qPCR tests for SARS-Cov-2. Via these methodologies, students will be able to characterize their microbiome and learn how to amplify a DNA segment to test for SARS-Cov-2. The hope is that through this CURE students will learn the core microbiology skills necessary to identify different types of bacteria. Tying this to Covid-10 allows them to immediately use these skills and to contribute to understanding the biology of the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus.

A defining feature of this program is the collaboration between the nursing program at UHCL-Pearland, which has the responsibility for COVID-19 testing, and software engineering and microbiology programs at UHCL. Regarding the involvement students in the registered nursing program, Alexander noted, "it grants them the opportunity to use new skills learned in the bachelor's program especially research, leadership, and management." Another component of the grant is the creation of a virtual lab. Students in a software engineering course are developing simulations to remotely train undergraduates in microbiological methods. This process involves working in tandem with microbiology students to understand what components to develop, such as an interactive petri dish, which will enable remote education.

This undertaking to address COVID-19 took coordination and creativity among many stakeholders across academia, healthcare, and industry -- an example of how successful coalitions can be built during this unprecedented time.

UHCL partners with university and industry: metagenomic analysis via the University of North Texas Health Science Center, building capacity for high throughput COVID-19 testing via Fluidigm, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute at the University of Houston for access to high performance computational resources. It should also be noted that the implementation of the CURE curriculum was made possible via a partnership with Sam Houston State University and McNeese State University.

This project is supported under DUE award 2028400.

 

2020-07-23: Highlights
NSF awardees engage teachers in creative ways to impact virtual learning

This past spring semester, through a series of professional development workshops guided by principal investigator Padhu Seshaiyer from George Mason University, teachers from school districts across the U.S. formed teams. These teams provided critical support to teachers, which subsequently enabled them to utilize teaching techniques and be prepared for virtual classrooms. The goal of these sessions and methods was to create excitement around the subject of mathematical modeling, as it is presented in the workforce, while advancing the pedagogy teachers use in the classroom.

The mathematical modeling structure is open-ended and involves making assumptions to solve real-world problems. Central to this is the notion of failure, which is not always taught well in the classroom. This methodology allows the student to think about what they could go back and fix, acknowledging that there can be failure in processes. The ability to change things in one's assumptions and try again is the whole idea behind mathematical modeling.

One mathematical modeling technique presented to the teachers included Fermi problems. These problems are characterized by not presenting all the information, which would apparently be necessary for solving a given problem. The teachers worked on the following Fermi challenge in class during the COVID-19 pandemic: "How many purchase orders do stores need to make to supply all schools with toilet paper in Fairfax County?" Teachers were able to take this idea and engage students on different Fermi challenges. These included questions such as: "How many masks will be needed by a certain date?" and "How many lunches will need to be distributed in a certain school district?" The latter question could be further parsed out in the following terms: there are 190 thousand students, 60 thousand students are food insecure and rely on the school lunch. This information sets the stage for a robust mathematical modeling problem.

Following the Fermi session, one teacher participant said, "I especially enjoyed working with Fermi questions with my students as it tackled critical and problem-solving skills and really encouraged students to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable in estimating uncertainties!" Another teacher participant shared, "I used to think that integrating mathematics and computer science into the classroom was so much more, but now I see how simply it can be integrated into the things we're doing every day!"

Another example of an outcome of these professional development sessions was the Get2Green Twitter challenge, based on the idea of making assumptions. In the challenge, students were able to explore how small changes in their habits could scale up to larger impacts in terms of sustainability. The program manager for STEAM Integration in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), Alexandra Fuentes said,

"FCPS STEAM Integration created an activity utilizing the mathematical modeling and thinking practices Padhu taught in this course by creating a Twitter challenge activity accessible to educators division-wide, and shared it directly with families and students. The goal of the activity was to engage students in thinking through a Fermi question to help students estimate how their individual actions can add up to big changes. This supports student development of computational thinking as well as global and ethical citizenship. The activity can also serve as a model for teachers to create similar learning experiences for students."

The re-occurring theme behind these problems is the need to build a data-competent workforce, starting in elementary school. Failure is key; children generally are not afraid to make mistakes and giving them opportunities to go back and visit what they did allows them to build knowledge. This process reinforces concepts for children, including estimation, computational thinking, open-endedness, and the idea that tomorrow things may change entirely -- especially important in times such as these.

This project is funded by EHR DUE and DRL under award 1441024.

 

2020-07-09: "What's New in DUE"
Shaping upcoming symposia on undergraduate STEM education

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is convening a public symposium on the Future of Undergraduate STEM Education. This symposium, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, will bring together academic personnel from a wide array of institutions, as well as industry members, policy makers, and funders. A publication will be released following the symposium with the intent of guiding transformation in undergraduate STEM education, as well as funding priorities for NSF and others in the grant-making space.

You are invited to submit a video or statement speaking to the theme of the symposium: What should undergraduate STEM education look like in 2040 and beyond to meet the needs of students, science, and society? What should we do now to prepare?

Persons affiliated with community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and rural institutions are especially encouraged to apply to this competition. All entries must be submitted by July 15, 2020. Select videos and statements will be featured at the symposium on November 12, 13, and 19, 2020, as well as the National Academies website.

 

2020-06-30: "What's New in DUE"
NSF welcomes new director, Sethuraman Panchanathan

On June 18, 2020, the United States Senate unanimously confirmed Sethuraman "Panch" Panchanathan as the director of the National Science Foundation. He is serving as the 15th director of the NSF and brings a wealth of experience in higher education, research, and collaboration with industry. Panchanathan was previously Executive Vice President of Arizona State University's Knowledge Enterprise and Chief Research and Innovation Officer. His knowledge of the science policy arena is clear through his service as a member of the National Science Board (2014-2020).

Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan

National Science Board addresses racism in science and engineering

Following unrest in the United States (U.S.) about systemic racism, the National Science Board, the governing body of NSF, released a Statement on Racism in Science & Engineering. This statement thoroughly acknowledges and condemns the racism that exists in the science and engineering enterprise.

The statement also points to the NSB Vision 2030 report released on May 5, 2020. The report is NSB's latest strategic planning document. It underscores NSB's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM and the importance of these areas in the future growth and competitiveness of the U.S. Their charge is for the NSF to bolster programs that support underserved communities to align representation in science and engineering with that of the U.S. population.

 

2020-06-23: "What's New in DUE"
DUE welcomes summer 2020 interns

Name: Christian Kotoye Role: Future of STEM Education Intern Affiliation: Oakland University - Doctoral Research Assistant Discipline/expertise: Psychology Programs/Projects that you work on: Future of STEM Education Survey and Symposia

Educational Moment of Impact: Two years of my undergraduate tenure were spent working in a research lab investigating biases that police may have in the decision to shoot (or not) black men versus white men. After the two years working on projects in this topic, I was given the opportunity to present some of the findings we observed to a seminar on race, gender, and class within the United States. At first, I was very cautious about presenting these findings to a class, let alone one of over 100 students. However, while presenting and fielding the multiple questions that I received on the topic, I developed an affinity for teaching, especially on an issue which I am passionate about.

This experience led me to my current position as a Doctoral Research Assistant at Oakland University. I work in both the Cognition and Behavior (CAB) Laboratory, with Dr. Martha Escobar and in the Personality and Evolutionary Psychology (PEP) Laboratory with Dr. Melissa McDonald. My research is focused on examining whether self-perceived congruency with stereotypes about STEM professionals influence students' STEM identity, and whether this in turn predicts success and persistence in one's STEM major. Additionally, I am interested in furthering the investigation of intergroup conflict and bias from a social psychological perspective while also understanding the evolved psychology that underlies these phenomena. Specifically, how race and socioeconomic status drive biases in social relationships.

My View for the Future of Education: I see education evolving to reflect the different learning styles that students have, while integrating knowledge from other disciplines and methods/environments that assist students to engage with the material in a more hand-on/applied manner. Additionally, I imagine the future of STEM education to be more inclusive. Individuals from diverse backgrounds should be more involved both at the educator role and the student role.

Christian's internship was made possible through the NSF Summer Scholars program and Quality Education for Minorities (QEM).

Name: Jamie Sophia Helberg Role: Hispanic Serving Institutions Program Intern Affiliation: Pitzer College (BA), Carnegie Mellon University (MS) Discipline/expertise: Environmental Analysis and Intercultural Studies Programs/Projects that you work on: Data Analysis and Communications for HSI Program

Educational Moment of Impact: Throughout my childhood, our next-door neighbor was a retired teacher named Sal Castro. He became both a mentor and a grandfather to me, constantly motivating me to be the first in my family to graduate from college. A huge fan of college football, Sal invited me to tailgate for nearly every USC game. Each time he travelled to an away game; he would bring back souvenirs from different universities for me. He wanted me to be excited about college. He also made me promise I wouldn't stop at a bachelor's degree and eventually apply to graduate school. Sal was a humble man who spent his time teaching me to be proud of my Latina roots while seldom talking about himself. Around 3rd grade, I learned who he really was from the HBO documentary, "Walkout" which told the story of his life. Our neighbor Sal was the education activist who led the historic East Los Angeles walkouts to protest the LAUSD's discrimination against Latinx students. When I asked him about this, he brushed it off his shoulder. By the time I was in middle school, a local school was being re-named after him. I did not find out because he told me. I found out because I found a flyer advertising the school's ceremony on our sidewalk. He brushed that off too but still allowed me to attend that celebration. Losing Sal to cancer in high school was earth-shattering. How could I apply to college without him? It was his impact that aided me through that process alone. It is because of Sal that I am now the first in my family with a college degree. It is because of Sal that I am entering graduate school in the fall. I am where I am today because of a retired teacher and humble social activist who saw my potential from a young age. I am so grateful to DUE for giving me the opportunity to further his legacy by working on the HSI program, something I know would've meant so much to Sal.

My View for the Future of Education: As someone who attended a Predominantly White Institution, my hope is that one day first generation and students of color can attend college having access to mentors, faculty members and students who relate to them. My hope for the future of education is that more institutions will support minorities, academically and financially. I also hope the term "minority supporting" will evolve in a more meaningful way to truly hold institutions accountable. To achieve these goals, I believe we must reform public education to implement equity and diversity practices that will transfer into the college experience.

Jamie's internship was made possible through the NSF Summer Scholars program and Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).

 

2020-06-16: Highlights
Noyce summer interns host virtual STEM learning platform

Beginning on June 22, the University of Houston's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the Noyce STEM teacher preparation program, teachHOUSTON, introduces a virtual STEM learning platform, teachHOUSTON STEM Interactive. This online endeavor includes three weeks of STEM activities using common household items for students entering grades 6-9. A private Facebook group will combine social interactions with STEM learning by allowing students to ask questions and seek feedback. The goal of this free and open access resource is to ignite student interest in STEM and promote innovation as well as STEM literacy. This venture is timely as parents are searching for quality educational opportunities for their children while social distancing. Preservice and in-service teachers are part of lesson content teams, receiving NSF Noyce summer internships allowing them to share their love and enthusiasm for STEM, engage youth in quality STEM lessons, and gain valuable experience teaching in an online format. Researchers will study the impact of mentoring and teaching in an online format. Due to great excitement and interest, investigators plan to continue the teachHOUSTON STEM Interactive in future summers as it allows for a greater number of students to participate in STEM learning.

Students participate in hands-on STEM project during 2018 summer initiative Photo courtesy of Chris Watts, University of Houston

This project is supported under DUE award 1557309.

 

2020-06-09: "What's New in DUE"
DUE staff members Mark Pauley and Karen Keene

Name: Mark Pauley Role: Program Director Affiliation: University of Nebraska Discipline/expertise: Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Biology Programs: RCN-UBE, S-STEM, IUSE, URoL

Educational Moment of Impact: I had the opportunity to do an extra credit problem in a materials science course I was taking in my first year of graduate school. At first, I was convinced the problem was impossible to solve, given the information provided. However, after struggling with it for a while, I eventually had an epiphany and was able to come up with a solution. (And not just a solution, the correct solution!) This experience taught me perseverance, and I often think back to it when I encounter a difficult problem.

My View for the Future of Education: My vision is for every student, regardless of circumstance, to have access to a high-quality undergraduate education and for the education system to have the resources to provide it. This is a challenging problem without an easy solution. However, the projects I fund are helping to solve it.

Name: Karen Allen Keene Role: Program Director Affiliation: Purdue University and North Carolina State University Discipline/expertise: Mathematics Education Programs: Noyce, S-STEM, IUSE, ECR, HSI, CAREER

Educational Moment of Impact: I spent the first 15 years of my adulthood teaching high school math - and loved it. In 1990, I took a job at a state public high school in North Carolina - it was called the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM). NCSSM was a brainchild of a wonderful forward-thinking Governor Hunt who put education first in his plans. The school is residential and takes the best 150 students from around the state each year for their junior and senior year. I found there - a community that thought about education in ways that brought me out of a narrowed classroom focus to envisioning great forward strides in teaching mathematics - technology and active learning were tops! I was brought into the fold to participate and contribute. We wrote and published a textbook, and I presented and developed new ideas. After that, I was called to go back to grad school to become a math education researcher.

My View for the Future of Education: This is hard to say with details, but in a perfect world, education is for ALL and provides what each student needs to be successful (in STEM, or any content.

 

2020-06-02: "What's New in DUE"
NSF 20-084 Dear Colleague Letter

NSF 20-084 encourages eligible members of the STEM education research community to submit proposals to the National Science Foundation's CAREER program. The purpose of this letter is twofold: (a) to highlight, clarify, and draw attention to important information included in Program Solicitation NSF 20-525 as it relates to CAREER proposals submitted to divisions and programs within EHR; and (b) to list the divisions and programs within EHR that intend to review and fund CAREER proposals. Note that NSF has extended the deadline for CAREER proposal submission until 5:00 p.m. submitter's local time on Tuesday, August 11, 2020.

When submitting a CAREER proposal to EHR, investigators need to indicate the program that most closely aligns with their proposal's scope of work. The programs within the Division of Undergraduate Education that support CAREER proposals are below. Investigators are encouraged to read the program solicitations identified and determine the best fit for their work.

• EHR Core Research (ECR)
• Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE)
• Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program)
• Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Track 4)

 

2020-06-02: "What's New in DUE"
DUE-2020-0004 interdisciplinary program officer job announcement

The Division of Undergraduate Education is seeking a permanent interdisciplinary program officer. The position announcement is open from May 26th, 2020 to July 27th, 2020.

The responsibilities of the NSF Program Director are constantly evolving. The core duties of program officers are to oversee and ensure high-quality merit review of proposals to NSF. However, program officers adapt their specific efforts as new opportunities and new programs develop. The program Director is guided by the goals of NSF's Strategic Plan: 1) enable the United States to uphold a position of world leadership in all aspects of science, mathematics, and engineering, 2) promote the discovery, integration, dissemination, and employment of new knowledge in service to society, and 3) achieve excellence in U.S. science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education at all levels. The core strategies NSF staff employ include developing intellectual capital, strengthening the physical infrastructure, integrating research and education, and promoting partnerships.

Candidates must have a Ph.D. in a STEM discipline, plus after award of the Ph.D., six or more years of successful research, research administration, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position; OR a Master's degree in a STEM discipline, plus after award of the degree, eight or more years of successful research, research administration, and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position.

 

2020-05-19: "What's New in DUE"
DUE staff members Andrea Nixon and Sami Rollins

Name: Andrea Nixon Role: Program Director Affiliation: Carleton College Discipline/expertise: Educational Technologies, Systemic Change, and Educational Research Programs: Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE), EHR Core Research (ECR), Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship

Educational Moment of Impact: When I was in college, there was a proposal which would have reduced the number of courses that a student would take from 9 to 8 each year. The rationale was so that faculty members would have time to engage in research.

I had always thought that once an individual earned their Ph.D., that was the culmination of their learning. Surely my teachers and faculty members knew everything! I came to appreciate that the completion of an academic degrees is a starting point.

My View for the Future of Education: In a perfect world, a student's ZIP code would have no relationship to their expected educational outcomes.

Name: Sami Rollins Role: Program Director Affiliation: University of San Francisco Discipline/expertise: Computer Science Programs: Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) and Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE)

Educational Moment of Impact: I was extremely fortunate to attend a small women's college, Mills, where I had several close mentors who had a great impact on my career. I had no intention of pursuing computer science when I started college, but my introductory programming professor encouraged me to take more CS classes and here I am today.

My View for the Future of Education: Equal access, real-world problem solving, and mentorship. I believe every student should have a strong foundation in STEM education and should learn to solve the real problems that we face in the world today.

 

2020-05-12: Highlights
Innovative DUE principal investigators share research on the hill

On March 4, 2020, the United States House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology sponsored the panel and interactive showcase, "Broadening Participation in STEM."

Dr. Marrongelle and EHR principal investigators

This event featured an array of principal investigators (PIs), four of whom are currently funded by the Division of Undergraduate Education. Assistant Director for Education and Human Resources, Dr. Karen Marrongelle gave an introduction and served as the moderator. Marrongelle emphasized what promoting broadening participation entails, "It means we take a multi-faceted approach that includes quantifying the current state of participation in STEM, examining what sparks interest and what barriers exist for students to stay and thrive in STEM fields, and finally strategically supporting students and educators through formal and informal mechanisms." She later stated, "We must acknowledge and understand the barriers to student success. Barriers of bias and misperceptions - about who can be, or who looks like a computer scientist, or a statistician, or an astrophysicist - can smother that initial spark of interest." Her remarks were followed by individual PIs who gave a summary of their current education research and their investments in broadening participation.

Principal investigators from the Advanced Technical Education (ATE) Program, as well as the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Program, among others, also presented.

Dr. Anand Gramopadhye of Clemson University and Dr. Jeff Bertrand of the Center for Aviation and Automotive Technological Education shared their virtual reality modules which strengthen automotive and aviation technician education programs across the United States. This technology is vital as it opens up training in a high-tech environment to a broad array of students.

Dr. David Farmer, of the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM), who along with fellow collaborators, presented a new process that converts text into Braille, a free alternative to an otherwise time intensive and costly process. This innovation reduces barriers for students who are visually impaired, as well as a broad array of student populations as the system can also produce online and electronic publication versions at no cost.

Dr. Lara Thompson, of the University of the District of Columbia, spoke about learning biomedical concepts through research in human balance. Her IUSE-funded research centers on recruitment and retention of underrepresented student populations, specifically minority females in the Biomedical Engineering B.S. degree program, which she initiated. Her hope is to inspire a new generation of students to pursue careers in STEM.

Dr. Gloria Washington, of Howard University, shared her experience in mentoring and conducting research with her students on human-centered computing and biometrics. Her mission is "To improve the everyday lives of underrepresented and/or underserved humans through the creation of technologies that utilize human physiological and behavioral characteristics for identity recognition and/or understanding of human emotions."

Events such as this help highlight NSF-funded research conducted by diverse communities, as well as research and related activities that engage groups historically underrepresented in STEM. Projects featured in this showcase are supported under DUE awards 1700621, 1505246, 1654474, and 1914820.

 

2020-05-05: "What's New in DUE"
DUE staff members Pushpa Ramakrishna and Talitha Washington

Name: Pushpa Ramakrishna Role: Program Director Discipline/expertise: Biology, Sustainability, Biotechnology Date joined DUE: September 2017

Programs: Advanced Technical Education (ATE), Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE), Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI)

What most excites you about the future of STEM Education/where do you see it going?

I am passionate about igniting students' interest in biology and mobilizing stakeholders to bring about systemic change in biology education. It excites me to bring the excitement from the frontiers of science and technology into the undergraduate classroom and to empower students with knowledge and skills to prepare them for the workplace/higher studies and enable them to become global leaders of the future. My vision for higher education is to help every student reach their full potential in the STEM fields by developing problem solving skills and achieve her/his diverse goals as each student counts.

Name: Talitha Washington Role: Program Director Affiliation: Howard University Discipline/expertise: Mathematics Date joined DUE: August 2017

Programs: Currently on detail to the NSF Convergence Accelerator; Previously worked on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI), Accelerating Discovery: Educating the Future STEM Workforce (AD) - Data Science, Improving Undergraduate Education (IUSE) - Data Science, Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship, Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM)

What most excites you about the future of STEM Education/where do you see it going?

I aim to enhance the preparation and participation in STEM by serving the nation's science and engineering enterprise and ensuring that underrepresented groups and diverse institutions across all geographic regions are included in the scientific enterprise of the nation.

 

2020-04-27: "What's New in DUE"
NSF STEM DIVE (Diversity and Inclusion Video Exhibition) challenge

STEM DIVE competition flyer

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is looking for innovative, effective, and replicable approaches to building a diverse and inclusive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce through partnerships. As an NSF initiative with a mission to enhance U.S. leadership in STEM by facilitating partnerships, NSF INCLUDES is sponsoring to the NSF STEM DIVE (Diversity and Inclusion Video Exhibition) Challenge.

NSF invites grantees from all NSF programs to showcase, in the form of a short video (one to three minutes), how forging partnerships, networks, or alliances has contributed to an increase in diversity and inclusion in STEM. All entries must be submitted by a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on any previous or current funded NSF award. These videos will be used by NSF and its programs in various platforms (e.g. websites, fair exhibitions, printed materials) to exhibit how grantees have encouraged and supported diversity and inclusion in STEM preK-12, higher, and informal education. This challenge is also designed to attract broader interest in STEM and to inform the greater community about best practices and effective strategies for increasing diversity and inclusion, partnership and networking strategies, and dissemination approaches for growing the STEM workforce.

Up to four $2500 Experts’ Choice and up to two $1250 People’s Choice prizes awards will be given for the most compelling videos describing partnerships in the following categories: Informal STEM Education, PreK-12 STEM Education, STEM Higher Education, and STEM Alliances. Complete entries must be submitted by 6/25/2020 via e-mail to stemdive@nsf.gov.

 

2020-04-21: Findings
Math contextualization as a mechanism for student success and faculty professional development

A multi-institutional team of researchers in Wisconsin, led by PI Xueli Wang, is investigating how faculty make sense of and use professional development as part of a community of practice around math contextualization in teaching math. The project team is investigating whether and how contextualization impacts students' math-related learning experiences, motivational beliefs and educational outcomes. These researchers are developing new instruments that educators can use to assess teaching and learning in the contextualized math classroom. Specifically, the team developed interview protocols for assessing faculty experiences with professional development, survey instruments for students who have experienced contextualized math in their classrooms, as well as interview protocols to follow up with students who have responded. In addition, they developed a classroom observation protocol that operationalizes what contextualized math looks like when enacted from both the student and instructor lenses.

The project is guided by two intersecting conceptual frameworks: community of practice (Wenger, 2011) for structuring faculty professional development, and momentum for community college student success (Wang, 2017), as illustrated below:

One hallmark of this project is a partnership between University of Wisconsin-Madison and two community and technical colleges (Madison College and Milwaukee Area Technical College). With complementary research expertise and practitioner knowledge, the partnership allows for not only development and implementation of effective professional development for faculty teaching math in Advanced Technical Education programs, but also grounded faculty practices and student learning within empirical evidence and robust evaluation. Further, the relationship and mutual trust created through joint efforts have allowed educators to form a robust community of practice to advance research teaching practices and use what they have learned to improve students' motivation, learning, and outcomes in math.

Contextualize2Learn cross-institutional meeting in 2018

This project is supported under DUE award 1700625.

 

2020-04-14: "What's New in DUE"
NSF Acting Director

On March 31st, Dr. Kelvin K. Droegemeier joined the National Science Foundation to serve as acting director until Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan is confirmed as the NSF Director by the Senate. Over the past 35 years, Dr. Droegemier has led a career that has been deeply intertwined with NSF. Among many accomplishments, he has co-founded and led an NSF Science and Technology Center in addition to serving for 12 years on the National Science Board, four of which as Vice Chairman. Dr. Droegemier is also the current Director of the White House Office of Science Technology and Policy. From this position he brings a wealth of knowledge to the NSF on federal operations. Read more about Dr. Droegemier's acting appointment in NSF's News Release 20-006.

 

2020-04-07: Highlights
2020 Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM)

The Joint Mathematics Meetings, a convening of both the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America occurred in Denver, Colorado Jan. 15-18, 2020. As the conference website states, “JMM advances mathematical achievement, encourages research and educational exchange, and provides the communications necessary to progress in the field.” Highlighted speakers came from institutions ranging from Research I universities, to liberal arts schools and community colleges, covering areas such as research and development in mathematics and mathematics education. Various DUE personnel attended, including Program Officers Sandra Richardson, Karen Keene, and Talitha Washington, Deputy Division Director Lee Zia, and Program Specialist Mike Jugan.

Source: http://jointmathematicsmeetings.org/jmm

“Noyce and IUSE principal investigators at JMM” Photo courtesy of Sandra Richardson

DUE celebrates the achievements of the undergraduate math community and all the connections made at this conference. We look forward to 2021 when JMM will be held near NSF in Washington, DC!

DUE principal investigator develops groundbreaking method for Braille mathematics textbook production

Researchers supported by both the Division of Undergraduate Education and Mathematical Sciences recently announced their development of a method for creating math textbooks in Braille using “a new authoring system which serves as a ‘universal translator’ for textbook formats, combined with enhancements to the standard method for putting mathematics in a web page.”

One of the principal investigators (PIs), Martha Siegel, pursed the project being inspired by one of her students who was blind and encountered significant difficulties in procuring an accessible statistics textbook for one of her courses. “This project is about equity and equal access to knowledge,” Siegel said to Business Wire. Conversion of simple text into Braille is not a great hurdle, although it is labor-intensive. Even more challenging is rendering the structure of the book in a non-visual way and handling the conversion of mathematical formulas, graphs, and diagrams. Automating the entire process is the key advancement of the project.

“At the recent Joint Mathematics Meetings, I attended three presentations about complementary facets of this project to automate the conversion of mathematics to Braille,” DUE’s Lee Zia said of the project. “In conversation with the project leaders I learned of a new challenge they are tackling which is to convert mathematical figures such as graphs of functions into Braille. Because notational symbols, for example the labels of the axes of a graph, require a minimum amount of space on the Braille page, their original alignment on the textual page must be adjusted carefully to the Braille page so that the relation of the different parts of the mathematical figure to each other don’t inadvertently overlap.”

“Text to Braille” Photo courtesy of Lee Zia *Text to Braille summary courtesy of Nadege Aoki of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS)

 

2020-03-30: “What’s New in DUE”
National Science Foundation’s Response to COVID-19

In response to the global pandemic, the National Science Foundation has issued Important Notice No 146 regarding COVID-19. This notice conveys a personal message from the NSF Director, Dr. France Córdova, acknowledging the challenging circumstances affecting both personal and professional lives of everyone in the STEM and STEM education community.

NSF has also issued additional guidance on NSF’s implementation of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum (M-20-17), entitled, Administrative Relief for Recipients and Applicants of Federal Financial Assistance Directly Impacted by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) due to Loss of Operations. NSF has implemented flexibilities authorized by OMB from specific administrative, financial management and audit requirements contained in 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards without compromising accountability requirements.

Questions about the policies described in the NSF Guidance should be directed to policy@nsf.gov. NSF is working to update existing FAQs and other resources to reflect NSF’s new guidance and will keep the community informed at: nsf.gov/coronavirus.

 

2020-03-30: “What’s New in DUE”
NSF 20-034 Dear Colleague Letter

NSF 20-034 encourages the submission of proposals to the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE: EHR) program from institutions that have not had prior funding from the IUSE: EHR Program. Proposers are encouraged to consider submission to Level 1 of the Engaged Student Learning track of the IUSE: EHR Program. Proposals in the Engaged Student Learning track of IUSE: EHR focus directly on students or serve them through faculty professional development and related activities. Information about the objectives and expectations for the Engaged Student Learning and for Level 1 proposals can be found in the IUSE: EHR solicitation, NSF 19-601.

Upcoming deadlines: Aug. 4, 2020 and Feb. 2, 2021, then the first Tuesday in August and February thereafter.

 

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Division of Undergraduate Education (EHR/DUE)

Phone: (703) 292-8670 | Fax: (703) 292-9015 | Room: W 11100