Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Ala Samarapungavan

Institution: Purdue University

This proposal was submitted in response to EHR Core Research (ECR) program announcement NSF 15-509. The ECR program of fundamental research in STEM education provides funding in critical research areas that are essential, broad and enduring. EHR seeks proposals that will help synthesize, build and/or expand research foundations in the following focal areas: STEM learning, STEM learning environments, STEM workforce development, and broadening participation in STEM. The ECR program is...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Nora S Newcombe

Institution: Temple University

People with strong spatial skills are more likely to show interest and success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Fortunately, spatial skills are malleable, and improvements in them are durable and generalizable. Increasing spatial skills during educational training may be one route towards increasing the STEM workforce. However, there are two gaps in current knowledge. First, existing research concentrates almost exclusively on small-scale spatial skills such as...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: James C Lester

Institution: North Carolina State University

The project is supported by the Education and Human Resources Core Research program, which supports fundamental research in STEM learning and learning environments. Reflection plays a critical role in student learning and encompasses a broad range of cognitive and metacognitive processes enabling students to (1) think critically about their learning processes, (2) integrate new information with prior knowledge, (3) form and adapt learning strategies, (4) view concepts and knowledge from...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Sidney D'Mello, Nicholas D Duran, Valerie Shute

Institutions: University of Notre Dame, University of Colorado at Boulder, Arizona State University, Florida State University

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is an essential skill in our increasingly connected and globalized world. Yet, there is a paucity of knowledge on how to define, measure, and develop this skill, especially in the context of STEM learning. A team of investigators from Notre Dame University, Florida State University, and Arizona State University will seek to discover how interpersonal interactions arise and influence CPS processes and outcomes in digital STEM learning environments. The...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Jennifer H Doherty, Kevin Haudek

Institutions: University of Washington, Michigan State University

The complex societal problems of increasing agricultural production to meet the needs of 9 billion people by 2050, and caring for an aging population with increasingly more complex neurological and cardiovascular health issues require future scientists, physicians, and allied health professionals to develop expertise in organismal physiology. In physiology, as in other disciplines, becoming an expert in a field requires the abilities to recognize, understand and effectively reason using the...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: H. L Swanson

Institution: University of New Mexico

Working memory (WM) difficulties may explain low math performance among Spanish speaking children who are English language learners (ELL). Although math difficulties have been partially attributed to cross-language transfer, oral language, linguistic complexity, and reading skill, other processes, such as WM, may play a significant role in such children's mathematics disabilities. This study will comprehensively assess three models (domain specific knowledge, phonological memory, executive...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Steven L Franconeri, Mary Hegarty, Mike Stieff

Institutions: Northwestern University, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Illinois at Chicago

A team of researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of California - Santa Barbara will investigate spatial thinking in STEM fields. Students and scientists who are talented in STEM fields also tend to a high capacity for spatial imagination -- they score highly on tasks that ask them to imagine rotations of shapes, or predict how shapes will look when they are folded. But attempts to train these abilities have not translated to...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Jennifer G Cromley

Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The project is supported by the Education and Human Resources Core Research (ECR) program, which supports fundamental research in STEM learning and learning environments. Learners are increasingly presented with scientific and math information in multiple media, such as narrated educational animations or illustrated hyperlinked websites. Some popular design principles used by developers of educational media are being eclipsed by new research, and new principles are needed to improve design,...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Elizabeth A Phillips

Institution: Michigan State University

The study will contribute knowledge about how to support students' learning and engagement in mathematics using a digital curriculum platform. The goal of the project is to study how the use of open-ended problems and "just-in-time" supports in a digital platform can promote inquiry-based mathematics learning. Increasing numbers of schools are using digital curriculum for mathematics. "Just-in-time" supports will give the students options for seeking help as they are working on an open problem...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Dan Goldhaber

Institution: American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences

There is a shortage of STEM teachers in middle and high schools and a concern about improving the efficacy of STEM teachers. Despite a tremendous investment in interventions targeted to the existing STEM teacher workforce, our nation has made little progress in identifying specific interventions that can improve STEM teacher effectiveness or increase the probability that individuals trained to be STEM teachers actually enter the public teaching workforce. By focusing exclusively on preservice...

Effective: 2017-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Ryan Baker, Bruce M McLaren

Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie-Mellon University

In this research project, a team from Carnegie Mellow University and a team from the University of Pennsylvania will use data mining techniques to explore how and why interactive erroneous examples can benefit mathematics learners. The project team will iteratively refine existing, computer-based pedagogical materials based on an analysis of log data of hundreds of students who have used those materials to learn. The work will be done with middle school mathematics students, specifically sixth...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Philip J Kellman

Institution: University of California-Los Angeles

Developmental mathematics remains a critical obstacle to college readiness, involving large majorities of community college students and disproportionately impacting groups of students who are underrepresented in STEM - minority, low-income, and first generation college students. This project aims to improve our understanding of important instructional principles emanating from cognitive science that are related to success in community college mathematics. The studies in this project aim both...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: David S Knight

Institutions: University of Washington, University of Texas at El Paso

Maintaining U.S. global competitiveness in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) industries requires increasing participation among traditionally underrepresented groups including people of color and women. Studies show creating more equal educational opportunities in the K-12 education system is an effective, socially just approach to expanding STEM participation. This study examines the impact of Texas Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (T-STEM) academies on (a) STEM...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: David Poeppel

Institution: New York University

The STEM classroom is a highly dynamic social environment where students and teachers interact face-to-face in real time. These interactions are fundamental to the learning process. Yet our understanding of the brain basis of social interactions in the classroom is very limited. This project will use novel portable electroencephalogram (EEG) technology to record brain activity from a teacher and a group of students in a high school science classroom. The goal is to investigate whether...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: David S Knight

Institutions: University of Washington, University of Texas at El Paso

Growth in the demand for workers with math and science skills places competing challenges for K-12 education. Schools are expected to prepare a new and more diverse group of leaders for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) industries, yet teachers with math and science training are increasingly valuable in the private sector. Teacher shortages, primarily in the fields of math and science, often require school leaders to fill positions with under-qualified teachers. Research is...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Julie J Park

Institution: University of Maryland, College Park

In the higher education settings for Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics (STEM), social ties and social capital contain critical resources that students need to understand through college and beyond. Deeper exploration of social capital and its impact on differing populations and how it may hinder equity in STEM education and workforce advancement is needed. The research examines the effect of social ties and social capital on key outcomes such as retention and job placement for STEM...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: RAPID/EAGER

Principal Investigator: Paul W Schultz

Institution: California State University San Marcos Corporation

Previous research has demonstrated that a strong Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) identity predicts persistence and success in STEM disciplines. Individuals identify themselves with STEM to varying degrees depending on their perceptions of STEM and their other important identities. This project will add to the tools available to researchers to measure STEM-identity, other identities, and identity balance by developing, piloting and testing a new measurement instrument and...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Andrew N Meltzoff

Institution: University of Washington

The underrepresentation of women in STEM disciplines is a societal problem with economic implications. Despite the narrowing of the gap in math performance between boys and girls in the past two decades, gender disparities still influence students' decisions to enter math-related careers. Young students' math self-concepts have been found to predict future choices in math-related domains. As early as elementary school--and in the absence of gender differences in math achievement--girls have...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Nicholas Giudice, Jenna Gorlewicz, Dr. Derrick Smith, Andreas M Stefik

Institutions: University of Maine, Saint Louis University, University of Alabama in Huntsville, University of Nevada Las Vegas

Students with disabilities often have fewer opportunities for experiential learning, an important component of quality STEM education. With continued shifts toward the use of digital media to supplement instruction in STEM classrooms, much of the content remains inaccessible, particular for students with visual impairments. The promise of technology and use of tactile graphics is an effective, emerging innovation for providing more complete access to important information and materials. Tactile...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Marvin Powell

Institution: George Mason University

The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field. To that end, this research project will collect data about the experiences, beliefs, and praxis of Black mathematics teachers from historical and contemporary perspectives to: (a) inform recruitment and retention efforts; and (b) contribute to theory building. This study is highly important since the number of Black mathematics educators choosing to teach mathematics at the...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Jenefer E Husman, Idalis Villanueva

Institutions: University of Oregon Eugene, Utah State University, University of Florida

A strong engineering workforce is critical to maintaining a dynamic and innovative United States economy. Engineering programs present considerable challenges, including the need to motivate students and the need for students to have positive attitudes toward learning. Prior research demonstrates that high motivation and positive attitudes towards learning occur when students feel in control of their own learning, place a high value on what they are studying, can regulate their anxiety, and...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Nicole M McNeil

Institution: University of Notre Dame

Individual differences in children's early math understanding are driven, in part, by differences in children's early learning environments. However, it is unclear exactly how early learning environments should be structured to support the development of children's math understanding. Lack of such knowledge is a critical problem because, without it, scientists cannot explain and predict children's understanding of foundational math concepts, and parents and educators are left to rely on their...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Schmidt

Institution: Michigan State University

The ECR (Education and Human Resources Core Research) program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field. This study will investigate student engagement in science in the interest of of broadening participation in STEM fields. This will be an important undertaking since research shows that low student engagement is a major challenge for students from subpopulations often underrepresented in STEM fields. The research will help advance...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: James A Middleton

Institution: Arizona State University

The EHR Core Research program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field. This study will investigate high school students' experiences of engagement with mathematics and their motivation to learn, and the ways that classroom instructional climates do or do not support productive engagement with mathematics. As an important effort to help improve student achievement in mathematics nationally, this study will be grounded in three...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: RAPID/EAGER

Principal Investigator: Walter Lee

Institution: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University propose to conduct exploratory research through the EHR Core Research (ECR) program to further develop and validate a survey instrument that can be used by college administrators and student-support practitioners to assess the magnitude of institutional support received by undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). An instrument to do this work does not currently exist. Such an instrument...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Cindy E Hmelo-Silver, Toni K Rogat

Institutions: Indiana University, Purdue University

A team of researchers from Purdue University and Indiana University will look at how students in group settings become engaged in learning the core ideas and practices specific to STEM disciplines. The project team will develop theory and measures for observing collaborative group engagement during complex and meaningful learning tasks in middle school biology and math classes. The project outcomes will be broadly available for examining engagement in science and mathematics practices such as...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Patrick Shafto

Institution: Rutgers University Newark

Asking questions is a common way that families and teachers support children's learning, and different types of questions influence children's exploration and understanding. Yet we still know little about the role of questioning in STEM learning. This project investigates how and why certain types of questions may be better at fostering learning. In particular, in contrast to questions asked by a person seeking to learn something new (information-seeking questions), children may learn better...

Effective: 2017-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: David M Sobel, DEENA S WEISBERG

Institutions: Brown University, Villanova University, University of Pennsylvania

One of the most important processes in scientific thinking is belief revision: the ability to change an initial hypothesis in light of new evidence. In order to do this, children must be able to do two things. First, they must be able to reason about how the world works so that they can understand the causal systems they encounter, such as what causes earthquakes. Second, children must be able to think about their own knowledge and the process of learning so that they will know whether and how...

Effective: 2017-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Barbara L Schneider

Institution: Michigan State University

The EHR Core Research (ECR) program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field. To that end, this project will extend the purpose of the College Ambition Program (CAP), a school-wide intervention designed to encourage high school students to become college applicants, particularly in STEM fields, and enroll in postsecondary school. The CAP will serve predominantly minority and low-income high school students and those with special needs...

Effective: 2017-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Russell M Gersten

Institution: RG Research Group

This proposal was submitted in response to EHR Core Research (ECR) program announcement NSF 15-509. The ECR program of fundamental research in STEM education provides funding in critical research areas that are essential, broad and enduring. EHR seeks proposals that will help synthesize, build and/or expand research foundations in the following focal areas: STEM learning, STEM learning environments, STEM workforce development, and broadening participation in STEM. The ECR program is...

Effective: 2017-2020

Funding Type: RAPID/EAGER

Principal Investigators: Michelle Miller, Chrystal Smith

Institutions: University of South Florida, University of Connecticut

Increasing the participation and success of all students interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) undergraduate degrees continues to be a challenge. This research will add to our understanding of the factors that impact the participation and success of understudied students. This is critical information for designing effective education and research programs to increase participation in STEM. This EAGER proposal will develop a survey instrument designed to gather...

Effective: 2017-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Shuyan Sun

Institution: University of Maryland Baltimore County

This proposal was submitted in response to EHR Core Research (ECR) program announcement NSF 15-509. The ECR program of fundamental research in STEM education provides funding in critical research areas that are essential, broad and enduring. EHR seeks proposals that will help synthesize, build and/or expand research foundations in the following focal areas: STEM learning, STEM learning environments, STEM workforce development, and broadening participation in STEM. The ECR program is...

Effective: 2017-2019

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Bryna R Kra

Institution: Northwestern University

Northwestern University will host a summer workshop for women undergraduates in mathematics to motivate them to pursue graduate school and mathematics research careers. The project is the third workshop organized by the investigators to address barriers that impact the proportion of women transitioning from undergraduate to graduate school and the workforce. It is modeled as an intervention based on data about the progression of undergraduate women students in mathematics, documented barriers...

Effective: 2017-2018

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Darnell Cole

Institution: University of Southern California

The University of Southern California will conduct a workshop to identify and address issues that impact career pathways for African American students in physics and astronomy. Diverse experts from Pk-12, higher education, industry, and professional societies will convene to (1) identify evidence-based approaches to mitigating barriers to African American students? academic performance and workforce participation, (2) discuss strategies for more rigorous, third-party evaluations of programs or...

Effective: 2017-2018

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Marieta Harris

Institution: Le Moyne-Owen College

The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field. This conference proposal will build on the current knowledge base and guidance from research studies about ways to improve the quality of STEM education and research for students who attend three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and one urban-based non-HBCU university. The conference will focus on ways to increase the number of African American students who...

Effective: 2017-2018

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Shari Gardner

Institution: SRI International

The Education and Human Resources Core Research (ECR) program funds fundamental research on education and workforce development in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) focused on STEM Learning and Learning Environments, Broadening Participation in STEM, and STEM Workforce Development. The convening will bring together researchers who have been funded by ECR to share their research results and ongoing studies to better inform the continuing research funded by the program....

Effective: 2017-2018

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Thomas F Shipley

Institution: Temple University

A team of researchers from Temple University and Carleton College will convene a workshop focused on educating students to be skillful users and creators of modern scientific visualizations, such as data graphs, maps, charts and diagrams. Such visualizations are now abundant in science textbooks, newspaper and magazine articles, and in scientific journal articles. In many cases, the article or chapter simply cannot be understood by reading the text alone; the visualizations carry essential...

Effective: 2016-2024

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Chia-Yi Chiu

Institutions: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Rutgers University New Brunswick

This is a Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) project. The CAREER program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers the most prestigious 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. The investigator will develop a Cognitive Diagnostic Computerized Adaptive Testing (CD-CAT) system to support the learning of introductory statistics at...

Effective: 2016-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Hal Salzman

Institution: Rutgers University New Brunswick

Science and engineering education and career trajectories will be examined in a mixed methods research study, using large, administrative datasets and fieldwork, in a collaboration of Rutgers University New Brunswick with the University of Michigan. This study of the critical choice points in the career trajectories of undergraduate and master's students in science and engineering will provide insight to researchers and educators about key factors that bring students into STEM pathways and some...

Effective: 2016-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Robert A Jacobs, Christopher R Sims

Institutions: University of Rochester, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Drexel University

This project will identify ways to improve education and training in the geosciences, building on fundamental research in cognitive science. Geoscience is a STEM discipline that is of growing importance to several national and global issues, including climate change, energy resources, and understanding earthquake activity. Expertise in geoscience depends heavily upon unconscious perceptual skills that are difficult or impossible to impart through traditional classroom education. Consequently...

Effective: 2016-2023

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Cindy E Hmelo-Silver, James C Lester

Institutions: Indiana University, North Carolina State University

This is a research project supporting a new model of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) that combines the advantages of game based learning with problem based learning. Good game based learning environments combine rich scenarios with engaging activities to serendipitously provide student learning. These learning environments also provide an opportunity for players to collaborate in reaching their game goals. Good problem based learning environments provide support for the...

Effective: 2016-2023

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Marie Coppola

Institution: University of Connecticut

There are approximately 80,000 school-age children who are deaf or hard of hearing in our nation's schools and these students typically lag behind their hearing classmates in mathematics achievement. There is a pressing need to ensure that these students learn mathematics and are able to advance academically with equal access to science and mathematics education. Recent research suggests that early language development affects young children's cognitive representations of numbers and their...

Effective: 2016-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Ming-Te Wang

Institution: University of Pittsburgh

Research has shown that, on average, African American students perform less well on STEM standardized tests, opt out of advanced coursework despite requisite ability, and choose to major in non-STEM fields in college despite relevant preparation. This project will use a combination of a primary quantitative analysis and a supplemental qualitative analysis to examine the interrelations between African American middle school students' experiences of stigma in math, developing gender and racial...

Effective: 2016-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Donald J Wink

Institution: University of Illinois at Chicago

This project examines how high school science teachers develop practices of classroom assessment in order to make instructional decisions that optimize student learning in light of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). In implementing the NGSS, teachers are faced with performance expectations that integrate cross-cutting concepts, practices and disciplinary core ideas in ways that depart from more traditional content-focused goals. The practices entail a range of science literacies...

Effective: 2016-2022

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Christopher Jett

Institution: University of West Georgia

African American male students' stories of mathematics success are critically needed in the research literature, and it is important to gain insights from African American male science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors to improve efforts to recruit, retain, and graduate these students. Furthermore, African American male students' STEM career decisions can provide insights concerning persistence and career trajectories in STEM fields. This project awarded to a CAREER scholar...

Effective: 2016-2022

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Marilyne Stains

Institutions: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Virginia Main Campus

National initiatives to improve undergraduate science education build upon decades of research on and development of effective teaching practices. These evidence-based instructional practices (EBIPs) promote students' conceptual understanding and favorable attitudes about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with the greatest impacts observed among women and members of underrepresented groups. By improving retention rates and attracting a more diverse student population to...

Effective: 2016-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Susan Cook, Kimberly M Fenn

Institutions: University of Iowa, Michigan State University

This proposal was submitted in response to EHR Core Research (ECR) program announcement NSF 15-509. The ECR program of fundamental research in STEM education provides funding in critical research areas that are essential, broad and enduring. EHR seeks proposals that will help synthesize, build and/or expand research foundations in the following focal areas: STEM learning, STEM learning environments, STEM workforce development, and broadening participation in STEM. The ECR program is...

Effective: 2016-2022

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Christina M Hartman

Institution: Utah State University

This is a Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) proposal responsive to Program Solicitation NSF 15-555. The CAREER program is a National Science Foundation-wide activity that offers the most prestigious 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. The project will investigate how literacy-based instructional strategies, as well as contextual factors,...

Effective: 2016-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Hilary C Barth, Sara Cordes

Institutions: Wesleyan University, Boston College

Humans have an innate ability to estimate quantities yet their intuitions often contain biases that interfere with learning new ways to think about quantity. Weaving together strands of psychology, neuroscience, economics, and education, researchers at Wesleyan University and Boston College shed light on the cognitive processes underlying our abilities to estimate 4 kinds of quantities: number, space, time, and probability. By comparing processes across these four distinct areas, the...

Effective: 2016-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Susan J Goldin-Meadow

Institution: University of Chicago

Students who succeed in algebra are more likely to be successful in advanced STEM courses. Students who fail algebra are more likely to drop out of high school. A team of researchers at the University of Chicago and Loyola University Chicago will conduct a set of experimental studies to explore how gesture and use of manipulatives may improve understanding of mathematical equivalence. a fundamental, pre-algebraic building block. Young children often have misconceptions about this concept??they...