Writing More Effective IUSE-EHR Proposals Jeff Ryan, University of South Florida Jill Singer, SUNY Buffalo State Earth Educators’ Rendezvous July 14,

Topics IUSE-EHR overview of new solicitation IUSE-EHR vs GeoPaths Defining goals and objectives Template Meet the NSF DUE Program Director Sharing Ideas IUSE-EHR program components Next steps

Topics IUSE-EHR overview of new solicitation

IUSE-EHR – New Solicitation Two tracks – Engaged Student Learning (ESL) and Institutional and Community Transformation (ICT) each with funding limits and submission deadlines Solicitation is for 2 years Program supports range of activities Evidence-based and evidence-producing Shared vision for program and recognizes disciplinary needs To read abstracts of funded projects:

Track 1 – Engaged Student Learning Design, development, and research studies that involve creation, exploration, or implementation of tools, resources, and models that contribute to engaging students Projects should lead to measurable and lasting gains Collaborations among STEM disciplinary researchers, education researchers, and cognitive scientists are encouraged Projects can be aimed at majors, non-majors, lower- and upper-division courses Exploration and Design Projects - $300K, 3 years Development and Implementation Projects – 2 levels

Track 2 – Institutional and Community Transformation Innovative approaches to substantially increase propagation of highly effective methods of STEM teaching and learning Projects intended to transform high enrollment, lower division courses or focus in multiple courses within a department(s) Faculty development activities Inclusion of academic administrators Exploration and Design Projects - $300K, 3 years Development and Implementation Projects – $3million max, up to 5 years

From a Good Idea to a Competitive IUSE Exploratory Proposal… Almost every proposal submitted to the IUSE program has at their cores a good idea! Successful proposals explain and develop those ideas as compelling projects, well-aligned with the objectives of the IUSE Program. To be competitive, even modest projects with local focus should consider ways to engage community by sharing findings, adding to knowledge base about what works (or does not).

Strands that Run Through an Entire IUSE-EHR Proposal Focus on student learning with identified outcomes and strategies for engaging students (ESL) or transforming institution or community (ICT) Discussion of how proposed project builds upon knowledge base and how it contributes to it Budget to accomplish the project and carry out the identified activities and evaluate the project

Strands that Run Through IUSE Proposal Evaluation plan that is designed to measure student outcomes and other identified project goals as well as informs the PI/project team to improve project (formative evaluation) and determine project impact (summative evaluation) Proactive plans for project dissemination and community engagement and adoption Consideration of how project might continue beyond period of NSF funding (sustainability)

Topics IUSE-EHR vs GeoPaths

GeoPaths EXTRA – Track 1: Engaging students in the geosciences through extra-curricular experiences and training activities Includes extra-curricular experiential learning, internships, field trips, and culturally-relevant or problem- based learning scenarios IMPACT – Track 2: Improving pathways into the geosciences through institutional collaborations and transfer Includes transitions from high school to undergraduate geoscience programs, 2 to 4 year institution geoscience degree programs, baccalaureate degrees in geosciences to geoscience workforce, or baccalaureate degrees (in any field) to post-baccalaureate geoscience programs

Topics Defining goals and objectives Template

IUSE Proposal Template Intended as a guide – not the proposal outline Boxes that identify information to include in proposal Some boxes require you to collect information, review the literature, identify project team and expertise, timeline for project activities, among others Idea is to ‘chunk’ or break down proposal to make it less intimidating and call attention to information many reviewers expect to read about in the proposal Boxes can be ordered any way you want

IUSE Project Ideas? Spend minutes briefly describing a project you have been thinking about doing What model(s) or strategy(ies) informs your project? How might your project contribute to the geoscience (and other) communities?

Topics Meet the NSF DUE Program Director

Keith Sverdrup, Ph.D. NSF Division of Undergraduate Education Geosciences Program Officer

Topics Sharing Ideas

In 1-2 minutes (or less) summarize the type of project you would like to do Suggestions from group about effective models/strategies for implementation Examples from the literature Sources for more information Ways to engage geoscience community Leveraging other support or resources Novel aspects of the project

Topics IUSE-EHR program components

IUSE Proposal Components to Consider Evaluation Budget Dissemination Sustainability Note: If ICT explicitly describe theory of change and how project addresses impediments to change

Pitfall #1 that Often Results in Non-competitive IUSE Proposal ‘Writing’ in a vacuum – seem to be unaware of best practices, body of literature about effective pedagogy, other efforts that inform the current project Remedy: Plan to spend several days (or more) reviewing SERC and using the pointers to other sites Plan to spend several days reviewing citations in the solicitation Plan to spend several days reading funded project abstracts

Pitfall #2 that Often Results in Non-competitive IUSE Proposal Citing the literature but not connecting to it – not clear about how the proposed project builds upon the knowledge base Remedy: Don’t just say the right things. Be very specific about how your project is informed by best practices and prior work Identify ways your proposed project will contribute to advancing the discipline and improving our understanding of what works and what doesn’t If you intend to transform your institution or the community include a discussion about institutional/community change and strategies you will use to overcome challenges to change

Topics Next steps