STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Institute on Equity-Oriented Mixture Modeling for Discipline-Based Education Research Scholars

Effective Years: 2022-2026

Mixture models help researchers to identify hidden patterns and groups within population data that would otherwise appear as one blended population. Mixture modeling is a well-established tool with great potential to enrich the field's understanding of issues in STEM education. However, these methods are not common among discipline-based education research (DBER) scholars. The goal of the Institute on Mixture Modeling for Discipline-Based Education Research Scholars is to train DBER scholars in the use of mixture modeling to address pressing issues in STEM education. Mixture modeling is a powerful tool for uncovering heterogeneity in student experiences and providing a richer way of understanding the experiences of students in STEM fields. The Institute provides intensive training and mentoring to two cohorts of 10 DBER scholars. The initial training includes 10 days of synchronous and asynchronous online training with materials specifically tailored towards the DBER scholars selected for each cohort. All participants receive ongoing mentoring from the senior project staff the year following the summer training to support them as they apply mixture modeling to their own STEM education research questions and seek to present and publish their work. Throughout all Institute activities, the senior project staff will work to build an enduring learning community of DBER scholars interested in the use of mixture modeling. This project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program, which is designed to build investigators' capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research. The project is supported by NSF’s EHR Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program, which is designed to build investigators’ capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.