1. The Curry School of Education October 3, 2018
STEM Education at NSF
The Curry School of Education
October 3, 2018

2. Themes for this Presentation
NSF has a significant budget to enable a robust community of STEM education researchers.
NSF encourages interdisciplinary collaborations among STEM and STEM education researchers.
NSF recognizes the need to improve its support for early-career investigators in STEM education.
NSF seeks to improve the methodological foundations in the STEM education community.

3. Education and Human Resources Directorate
The mission of EHR is to achieve excellence in U.S. STEM education at all levels and in all settings (both formal and informal).
The annual budget of EHR is about $900M, about 2/3 of which is mandated by Congress at the program level.
Leadership transitions in EHR: A new Assistant Director and a search for Deputy Assistant Director.

4. Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
Cognitive Neuroscience
Developmental Sciences
Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics
Perception, Action, and Cognition
Science of Learning
Science of Science and Innovation Policy
Social Psychology

5. NSF Award Portfolio at Curry 2014-2018
NSF Program
NSF Directorate
AISL
Education and Human Resources
DRK-12
Economics
Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
ECR
Engineering Education
Engineering
ITEST
IUSE
PRIME*
REAL*
Robert Noyce Scholarship Program
Science of Science Policy
STEM+C**

6. Goals: Education and Human Resources
Prepare the next generation of STEM professionals and attract and retain more Americans to STEM careers.
Develop a robust research community that can conduct rigorous research and evaluation to support excellence in STEM education.
Increase the technological, scientific, and quantitative literacy of all Americans.
Broaden participation and close achievement gaps in all STEM fields.

7. EHR Support for STEM Education Research
Goal: Develop a robust research community that can conduct rigorous research and evaluation.
Themes: STEM learning, STEM learning environments, STEM workforce development, and broadening participation in STEM.
Strategic Priorities: Increase attention to methodology, improve support for early career researchers, and foster interdisciplinary research collaborations.

8. EHR STEM Education Research Programs
Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) [$63M]
Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) [$82M]
EHR Core Research Program (ECR) [$67M]
Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) [$15M]
Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) [$87M]
Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) [$5M]

9. EHR Core Research Program (ECR)
ECR began in 2013 and has subsumed PRIME, REAL, and REESE.
In 2013 NSF and IES released Common Guidelines for Education Research to provide cross-agency guidance for program officers, prospective grantees, and reviewers.
The 2017 ECR Committee of Visitors voiced concerns about reviewer attention to methodology, portfolio balance across themes, and low success rates for early career investigators.
Dear Colleague Letter: Research on Methodologies for STEM Education (NSF ).

10. Early Career Support: NSF CAREER Program
CAREER Awards by NSF Directorate
Directorate
2016
2017
2018
Total
Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE) 97
127
186
410
Education and Human Resources (EHR) 9 13 35
Engineering (ENG)
144
169
217
530
The need to build the STEM education research community.
STEM education is now a designated field for the NSF GRFP.

11. NSF 17-093 EHR Dear Colleague Letter
CAREER Proposals Submitted to the Directorate for Education and Human Resources - Suggestions for Enhancing the Quality of Proposals
Research Design and Methodology
CAREER investigators are expected to formulate research questions that are likely to yield significant knowledge relevant to core problems of STEM education. To support this goal, the proposed research methods should be detailed and carefully justified.
The Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development (NSF ), jointly developed by the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, are a useful reference to help in the preparation of CAREER proposals.

12. EHR Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Education and the NSF Big Ideas
NSF INCLUDES
Harnessing the Data Revolution
The Future of Work at the Human Technology Frontier
Growing Convergence Research
Education, Computer Science, and Technology
Computer Science for All
Cyberlearning
Education and Neuroscience
The BRAIN Initiative
Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER)

13. The NSF Big Ideas NSF INCLUDES Harnessing the Data Revolution
The Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier
Growing Convergence Research
Navigating the New Arctic
Windows on the Universe
The Quantum Leap
Understanding the Rules of Life
Mid-scale Research Infrastructure
NSF 2026

14. Education and the Big Ideas
NSF INCLUDES
Transforming education and career pathways to help broaden participation in science and engineering.
Harnessing the Data Revolution
Fundamental research in data science and engineering, the development of a cohesive, federated, national-scale approach to research data infrastructure, and the development of a 21st-century data-capable workforce.
The Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier
Understanding how constantly evolving technologies are actively shaping the lives of workers and how people in turn can shape those technologies, especially in the world of work.
Growing Convergence Research
Framing challenging research questions at inception, and fostering the collaborations needed for successful inquiry.

15. EHR: Recent Interdisciplinary Opportunities
Integrative Strategies for Understanding Neural and Cognitive Systems (NSF )
Principles for the Design of Digital STEM Learning Environments (NSF )
STEM Education for the Future (NSF )
Accelerating Discovery: Educating the Future STEM Workforce  (PD )
Interdisciplinary research; Harnessing the Data Revolution and the Future of Work at the Human Technology Frontier.
Cyberlearning for Work at the Human-Technology Frontier (NSF )
Stimulating Research Related to the Science of Broadening Participation (NSF )

16. Relevant National Academies Reports
Revitalizing Graduate Education for the 21st Century
2018 report from Board on Higher Education and Workforce and COSEPUP
NSF invests about $1B per year in graduate education
Discipline-Based Education Research
2012 report from Board on Science Education
Edited by Susan Singer; looks across physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, the geosciences, and astronomy.

17. Revitalizing Graduate Education for the 21st Century
FROM THE REPORT Funding for Research on Graduate Education “NSF and other funding agencies should issue calls for proposals to better understand the graduate education system and outcomes of various interventions and policies, including but not limited to the effect of different models of graduate education on knowledge, competencies, mind-sets, and career outcomes.” NSF PROGRAM: Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) Program, NSF

18. Questions and Discussions
Thank You!