council of academic deans from research education institutions

Council of Academic Deansfrom

Research Education Institutions

Donald E. ThompsonActing Assistant Director

NSF Directorate for Education

and Human ResourcesOctober 11, 2005

Monterey, California

National Science Foundation

In partnership with the S&E community, NSF identifies and invests inemerging areas of researchand education that offerexceptional promiseto advance knowledge

NSF’s Unique Purpose…

EHR Mandate:To Strengthen S&E Education

1950 NSF Act.

To achieve excellence in U.S. science and engineering education at all levels and in all settings, and to ensure the development of a diverse and well-prepared workforce of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, technicians, and educators; and a well-informed citizenry.

Mission

EHR Mission Is Unique to NSFDevelop the Next Generation of Science

andEngineering Professionals

Make investments at the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels, through three

strategies:

Attracting and retaining U.S. students to science and engineering;Improving the quality of the preparation of scientists and engineers; andBroadening participation in science and engineering fields.

What Are EHR’s Investment Strategies

To Achieve The Mission?

Support R&D that advances the knowledge essential for a robust and challenging S&E education experience.

Integrate research and education across the Foundation and with other federal agencies.

Attract more U.S. students to S&E and retain them in the enterprise

Broaden participation in S&E fields

4th-graders at GlenallenElementary in Silver Spring, Maryland, examineLeaves for micro-organisms. Their teacher was a 2001 PAESMT awardee

To Support our Investment Strategies,EHR Has Been….

Investing in the creation of models and methods that can improve STEM education and be adapted and adopted by a wide variety of users.

Developing a vibrant education research community that will support excellence in STEM education.

Broadening participation (individuals, geographic regions, types of institutions) in all STEM fields.

To Support our Investment Strategies,EHR Has Been…. [cont.]

Developing the technological, scientific, and quantitative literacy of all Americans so they can exercise responsible citizenship.

Leading the integration of research and education, including partnerships between EHR and other NSF directorates to connect education scholarship with fundamental S&E research so that each may amplify the other.

NSF Outcomes Must BeEvidence-Based

We need to settle on what works in science education.

Then we need to figure out why it works.

How Does EHR See Its Broader Impact?

o We build communities of learners and practitioners, expanding the base of people who interact among themselves and with NSF.

o We make investments with a view to long-term sustainability of the enterprise.

o We support intellectual developments that energize the field toward innovation.

Where is the Emphasis for FY 2006?

Undergraduate and graduate preparation of S&E professionalsInnovative curricula/materials for undergraduate S&E educationIncrease the technological, scientific, and quantitative literacy of all AmericansBroaden participation (individuals, geographic regions, types of institutions) and close the achievement gaps.CyberinfrastructureHuman and Social DynamicsInternational programs

Highlighting Connections BetweenResearch and Education

Integration of research and education is part of a solution to broader questions about: Attracting and Retaining students to

the S&E enterprise Producing scientists and engineers who

can contribute to the nation’s prosperity.

Support projects that create lasting bonds between education and science communities, moving beyond research and education as side-by-side activities.

Support long-term collaborative work, moving away from episodes of cooperation.

Support projects that establish horizontal connections between and among

disciplinary scientists scientists studying learning and teaching, and education researchers.

Scientists

Teachers

Students

Integrating Research and Education:An EHR Tool for Achieving its Special Mission

Integration of Research & Education:Using the Tool: What Are Some

Expectations ?

Meaningful collaboration among science and education communities creates a lasting nexus between discovery & innovation and teaching & learning.

Continue EHR’s unique contributions to broadening participation demographically, as well as geographically, and institutionally.

Create rigorous evaluation measures and models that enable us to understand what works and, most importantly, why it works.

EHR Programs With Integration of Research and Education

Components

Advanced Technological Education Alliances for Graduate Education & the ProfessoriateCenters for Learning and TeachingCenters of Research Excellence in Science & TechnologyComputer Science, Engineering, & Mathematics ScholarshipsCourse, Curriculum and Laboratory ImprovementEvaluative Research and Evaluation Capacity BuildingFederal Cyber Service: Scholarship for ServiceGraduate Research Fellowships

EHR Programs With Integration of Research and Education

Components [continued]

Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 EducationHistorically Black Colleges & Universities Undergrad. ProgramInformation Technology Experiences for Students & TeachersInstructional Materials DevelopmentIntegrative Graduate Education and Research TrainingInteragency Education Research InitiativeLouis Stokes’ Alliances for Minority ParticipationMath and Science PartnershipNanoscale Science & Engineering Education

EHR Programs With Integration of Research and Education

Components [continued]

NSF Director’s Award for Distinguished Teaching ScholarsResearch in Disabilities EducationResearch on Gender in Science & EngineeringResearch on Learning and EducationRobert Noyce Scholarship ProgramScience, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent ExpansionTeacher Professional ContinuumTribal Colleges and Universities

EXAMPLEEHR Programs That Integrate Research and

EducationResearch on Learning and Education (ROLE)

Established in 2000, ROLE supports basic and applied research that seeks to advance knowledge across many topics and, importantly, make substantive connections between and among fields that include: The biological basis of human learning; Behavioral, cognitive, affective, and social aspects of

STEM learning; STEM learning in formal and informal education

settings; STEM policy research and the diffusion of innovations.

Research Directorate Programs with

STEM Education Elements

ADVANCEArctic Research & EducationCenters for Ocean Science Education ExcellenceDeveloping Global Scientists and EngineersDiscovery Corps Fellowship ProgramEast Asia & Pacific Summer Institutes for U.S. Graduate StudentsEnhancing Math Sciences Workforce in the 21st CenturyGeosciences Education ProgramDept.-level Reform of Undergrad. Engineering Educ.Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research FellowshipsMinority Postdoc Research Fellowships,Bio, Soc, Behav, Eco.MPS Distinguished Int’l Postdoctoral Research Fellowships

Research Directorate Programs with

STEM Education Elements

MPS Internships in Public Science EducationNanoscale Science & Engineering EducationNSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoc FellowshipsOpportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the GeosciencesPan-American Advanced Studies InstitutePartnerships for International Research & EducationPartnerships for Research and Education in MaterialsPostdoctoral Fellowships in Polar Regions ResearchPostdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biological InformaticsResearch Experiences for TeachersResearch Experiences for UndergraduatesUndergraduate Mentoring in Environmental BiologyUndergraduate Research Centers

EXAMPLEUndergraduate Research Centers

(URCs)

expand collaborations; broaden undergraduate research opportunities with emphasis on the participation of first and second year students; and enhance capacity and infrastructure in support of and commitment to excellence in undergraduate education.

The URC program aims to support the establishment and evaluation of new models in the chemical sciences and allied disciplines that will:

Integration of Research and EducationA Brief Sample of Some of the Outcomes

In 2004, nearly 50,000 students have taken courses developed through the Advanced Technological Education program, and over 21,000 high school and community college students have attended ATE workshops. Interagency Education Research Initiative (IERI) projects are operating in over 40 states affecting over 250,000 students and involving more than 17,000 teachers.FY02 to FY04 Noyce Scholarship awards are projected to produce @1,700 new science and math teachers for high-need school districts. The projects supported by the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP) have projected that, by the end of the five-year grant period, they will be positioned to graduate an additional 1640 STEM majors annually beyond the numbers they were previously graduating before the awards.

Attracting and Retaining Students to S&E

Integration of Research and EducationA Brief Sample of Some of the Outcomes [continued]

Over 2,350 doctoral students and 2,400 faculty in 76 universities have participated in IGERT-sponsored interdisciplinary collaborations since the program’s inception.The 48 funded MSP partnerships (which include representatives from @150 institutions of higher education) are expected to reach over 140,000 teachers of K-12 math and science, and directly impact the instruction of 4.25 million students.Almost 5000 graduate students have been supported under the NSF Graduate Teaching Fellowships in K-12 Education since 1999. Since its inception in 2000, the Federal Cyber Service: Scholarships for Service (SFS) program has provided more than 540 student scholarships. Approximately 245 of these students have completed their studies and more than 85% of the SFS graduates are currently working in the Federal information assurance (IA) workforce.

Improving the Quality of Preparation of S&E Professionals

Integration of Research and EducationA Brief Sample of Some of the Outcomes [continued]

Since the inception of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), approximately 220,000 underrepresented minority students at LSAMP institutions have earned baccalaureate degrees in STEM fields. In 1996, LSAMP institutions produced 16,750 minority STEM baccalaureates; in 1998, the number increased to 20,500; and in 2003, it increased to 23,000. HBCU-UP has supported the development of STEM programs at 59 Historically Black Colleges and Universities since 1998 – 57% of the 103 HBCUs in the Nation. The HBCU-UP program currently impacts over 27,000 African American STEM students.

Broadening Participation