ECR Projects

Explore past and current fundamental STEM education research projects across the three research areas that NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program funds, as well as across ECR funding types. Other search filters draw from both NSF's data and the ECR Hub's hand coding of award abstracts.

Ninth-grade biology students create cell models using clay.

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Investigation of Undergraduate Learning Contexts Considering Ethical, Racial, and Disciplinary Identities of Students in Engineering and Computer Science.

Effective Years: 2018-2024

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. This project has the goal to investigate how undergraduate learning contexts may constrain or facilitate productive interactions between ethical, racial, and disciplinary identities of students of color in engineering and computer science. The project integrates research and education by infusing the research in undergraduate and graduate education courses and by involving undergraduate and graduate students in the work. This award is supported by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program with co-funding by the Science, Technology and Society program. ECR emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field.

By combining longitudinal ethnographic and design-based approaches, this study contributes to the understanding of how undergraduate students of color experience the culture of engineering and computer science departments, while also exploring new educational possibilities that take seriously the ethical and sociocultural potential of these disciplines. The design component of the study, by synthesizing science and technology studies perspectives along with the benefits of undergraduate research experiences, creates novel opportunities for students to explore the ethical dimensions and social justice potential of new technologies. Empirical findings from the design experiment will help identify design and pedagogical principles that jointly cultivate multiple student identities within STEM learning environments. Finally, this project contributes to the scholarly and national conversation on issues of equity in STEM education in conceptually and methodologically unique ways. Few studies have considered the role of ethical identity in the experiences of students of color in engineering and computer science or examined their experiences over a sustained period and across multiple contexts. Findings from this study will contribute to fundamental learning sciences research on identity development in STEM, as well as to the knowledge base about how to design equitable STEM learning environments.