Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Michelle Friend

Institution: University of Nebraska at Omaha

Researchers at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Southern Methodist University will investigate the efficacy of a Work-Learn model for providing individuals experiencing homelessness with the skills and scaffolding that will enable them to enter the job market. The research team will examine the impact of integrating micro-internships with online courses targeting computer science skills for homeless adult learners and analyze the interaction among group dynamics and learner success and...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Juan M Madera

Institution: University of Houston

Promotion and tenure decisions at universities are of critical significance to the integrity of the research enterprise because they determine the career progression of scholars and scientists. Despite significant investments in pipeline interventions to diversify academia, faculty of color and women are underrepresented in tenured and tenure track positions. Underrepresentation has important implications for the nation's prospects of developing a diverse STEM workforce. For undergraduate and...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Daniel Klasik

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

While course grades are a primary way instructors communicate with students about their academic performance, there is less research on how grades are interpreted differently by college students. As a result, differential responses to grades may affect which students pursue STEM degrees and may therefore be an important contributing factor in the well documented gender and race/ethnicity gaps in STEM degrees. Prior studies examining this hypothesis, however, have been largely limited to...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: David I Miller

Institution: American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences

This project will integrate high-quality experimental evidence on the existence of, and strategies to reduce, gender bias in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including how gender bias may intersect with other identities such as race and ethnicity. Biases favoring men could thwart women’s training and careers in STEM fields in many ways, but research also suggests promising interventions for changing biased cultures and structures. This project will synthesize...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Erin A Cech

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ideological Roadblocks to Diversifying STEM: Resistance and Allyship in STEM Diversity and Inclusion EffortsThe aim of this project is to break important ground in STEM inequality research by better understanding how powerful and privileged groups in STEM respond to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in their workplaces and professions. Despite the millions of dollars invested each year in DEI-related training, recruitment, and retention efforts, STEM fields have struggled to...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: BCSER Institute

Principal Investigator: Matthew Irvin

Institution: University of South Carolina at Columbia

The goal of the Institute for Measurement MEthodology in Rural STEM Education (IMMERSE) is to increase the capacity of researchers to measure and study key concepts central to rural STEM education research. Drawing on measurement science and a unified validity framework, the IMMERSE training will enable rural researchers in STEM, social sciences, and education to undertake empirical studies that attend to rurality. Specifically, participants in the IMMERSE experience will obtain the skills to...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Brian M Galla, Eric Kuo

Institutions: University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This project aims to serve the national interest by developing and testing a novel theoretical framework to understand and mitigate sources of disengagement and promote sources of engagement in undergraduate introductory physics courses. A premise of this project is that students under psychological threat—those who appraise demands of physics as exceeding coping resources—are more likely to disengage from physics. Critically, reducing psychological threat is suggested to boost engagement,...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Maureen A Callanan, Catherine A Haden, Gigliana Melzi

Institutions: University of California-Santa Cruz, Loyola University of Chicago, New York University

This project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. It responds to continuing concerns about racial and social inequities in STEM fields that begin to emerge in the early childhood years. The overarching goal of the project is to identify cultural strengths that support early science learning opportunities among...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: Mid-Career Advancement (MCA)

Principal Investigator: Arash Esmaili Zaghi

Institution: University of Connecticut

This project is funded by the Mid-Career Advancement program that supports opportunities for scientists and engineers to substantively enhance their research program through synergistic and mutually beneficial partnerships. This MCA project embraces a transformative approach to address the critical national need for a creative professional workforce by increasing the participation of neurodiverse students in STEM disciplines. Scientific and technological breakthroughs are crucial to address the...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Ramon Barthelemy, Charles R Henderson, Adrienne Traxler

Institutions: University of Utah, Western Michigan University, Wright State University

This project is a collaboration among the University of Utah as the lead institution and Western Michigan University and Wright State University as partners to investigate how women and gender and sexual minorities (GSM) construct and navigate their professional networks to support their post PhD physics careers. The goal is to use social network analysis with qualitative methods to characterize the professional support networks of women and GSM physicists to test the central hypothesis:...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Lester C Loschky, Minh Hoai Nguyen, N. Sanjay Rebello

Institutions: Kansas State University, SUNY at Stony Brook, Purdue University

Online multimedia instruction is expected to grow. Yet, given the tendency for students’ minds to wander and to be distracted especially during online instruction, it is important for researchers and educators to understand how to help students to stay focused on the important information while ignoring the unimportant information. This project addresses two fundamental issues: How does the online Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) instructor or educational materials...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Kylie A Peppler

Institution: University of California-Irvine

This project aims to serve the national interest by paving the way to creating a technical workforce that is able to function effectively in highly collaborative, diverse environments. Enhanced ability to nurture these skills and abilities will occur through development of measurement instruments, a novel curriculum, and research into the impacts of the curriculum. The project seeks to align with the EHR Core Research (ECR) program's intent by reflecting the interdisciplinarity of computational...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: Mid-Career Advancement (MCA)

Principal Investigator: Jamaal S Matthews

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The project examines how teachers’ culturally supportive mathematics instructional practices engage and shape adolescents’ brain networks in ways that predict their math identity, achievement, and sense of purpose over time. The investigator also will assess the neurophysiology of how critical consciousness develops in mathematics teachers. The project synthesizes neurobiological, developmental, and culturally situated perspectives to explore adolescents’ and teachers’ socio-emotional...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: Mid-Career Advancement (MCA)

Principal Investigator: Rajashi Ghosh

Institution: Drexel University

The project aims to advance the principal investigator’s research agenda on developmental relationships as mechanisms for career advancement of women and people of color. The investigator will undertake a new area of research by exploring imposter syndrome among women and minoritized students and intersectionality in STEM while also gaining expertise in latent growth curve analysis. The project aims to develop a theory on the relationship between minoritized students’ developmental networks...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Jennifer L Wessel

Institution: University of Maryland, College Park

This study aims to increase diversity in STEM academic workplaces by testing “nudge” interventions to help diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work matter in promotion and tenure decision-making. Nudges refer to deliberate changes to the decision-making context aimed at guiding people toward a particular behavior, which in this case is valuing DEI work. Many institutions have tried to reform the tenure process to reward DEI work, but there is little concrete evidence that any of these...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Brooke C Coley, Kerrie G Wilkins-Yel

Institutions: Arizona State University, University of Massachusetts Boston

To increase the diversity of the PhD-prepared workforce, understanding underlying issues affecting retention and completion of doctoral degrees is essential. Researchers at Arizona State University and University of Massachusetts Boston, propose to study the expressed needs of Black doctoral students in relation to faculty perceptions of what they are providing during advising relationships. Understanding the mental health impacts of cumulative experiences that marginalize Black graduate...

Effective: 2021-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Sandra Simpkins

Institution: University of California-Irvine

The road to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers is composed of a series of choices and achievements that begin in childhood and continue throughout life (i.e., the STEM pipeline). To understand the STEM pipeline, the field needs studies that examine educational experiences from grade school to college/occupational choices and that document what processes support or undermine the STEM pipeline during multiple developmental periods. Moreover, historical changes in...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Eshani N Lee

Institution: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park

Many students experience language-related barriers that may prevent them from fully understanding and engaging in complex science content. Although dense and technically-rich scientific language is challenging for most students to interpret, it can become a systematic barrier for English Language Learner (ELL) students when it interferes with their ability to demonstrate their science knowledge. To learn how to make science course examinations more equitable, this project will examine ways to...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Angela Calabrese Barton

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The primary objective of this study is to develop, test and refine a model to describe how youth develop knowledge within their communities using critical data practices. Critical data practices include what youth do with, in relation to, and oriented around data to learn about their world and solve new problems. For example, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, youth have engaged with data such as local COVID-19 dashboards for their schools and cities, visualizations of viral spread, and social...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Sammy L Steen Jr

Institution: George Mason University

This project aims to increase the number of Black male youth who can be successful in advanced mathematics while in public schools. The researcher will use a mixed-methods design to gain a comprehensive and culturally appropriate student perspective. The project includes the implementation of a group counseling program for Black male students beginning in seventh grade and following them through eighth grade. The researcher will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to integrate quantitative...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Omar S Lopez

Institution: Texas State University - San Marcos

Improving graduation rates of STEM majors for Hispanic students at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) will contribute to the goal of broadening participation in STEM career fields. Texas State University aims to identify links between investment inputs and success in graduating Hispanic students from Hispanic-Serving Institutions using data submitted to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). Patterns in HSI inputs that are associated with institutions that are more efficient at...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Aleata K Hubbard

Institution: WestEd

This project will explore the significance of race and equity in secondary computer science (CS) education. Despite the importance of CS across all aspects of life, there is little racial diversity in the field along the pipeline from elementary school to industry. At the secondary level, even students who are highly interested and confident in CS remain underrepresented in the field. To address this problem, researchers have created culturally responsive computing approaches to effectively...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Zerrin Ondin

Institution: Georgia Tech Research Corporation

The importance of removing barriers to accessing STEM instructional materials is paramount to broadening the representation of students with visual impairments in STEM careers. Tactile graphics are important STEM instructional aids, but they are often difficult to understand or have limited content compared to the original. This project aims to conduct a synthesis of the existing body of knowledge of student experiences with tactile graphics to develop a set of best practices and establish...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Qingxia Li

Institution: Fisk University

The project is designed to enable the principal investigator to conduct an exploratory research project while acquiring skills and competencies to conduct robust STEM education research. The research component will examine factors and experiences that impact African American students’ decision to pursue careers that require quantitative and computational skills. The mentored professional development component will provide the investigator with expertise in qualitative research design and...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Ashish Amresh

Institutions: Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University

Advancing participation in computer science is significant for meeting NSF’s goals and benefits the nation. Arizona State University aims to improve pathways in computer science for Native American tribal school students through co-developed culturally relevant computer science programming. Teachers in tribal high schools on the Navajo Nation will use real-world coding exercises that focus on communities, nature, and the arts to provide a richer understanding of computing and its...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Alexander J Stokes

Institution: University of Hawaii

This capacity-building project, administered by the University of Hawaii, is designed to develop the investigator’s knowledge and skills in STEM Education research (SER) through participation in intensive professional growth activities including mentoring by a team of experts in STEM Education research, workshops in research methods and cultural competence, and participation in SER professional conferences. In tandem with the project’s professional development activities, the investigator...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: Mid-Career Advancement (MCA)

Principal Investigator: Karla Bradley Eitel

Institution: Regents of the University of Idaho

The goal of the project is to explore Land education pedagogy and its curriculum and pedagogical innovations in the preparation of Native and non-Native educators to engage Native and non-Native students in environmental STEM education on Indigenous lands. The investigator will implement a professional development plan focused on pedagogical innovations within various teacher education and environmental STEM learning programs to (a) understand the tools and technologies that can support these...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: John Fife

Institution: Virginia State University

Interest in STEM is often shaped in middle school and understanding the STEM attitude and interest of African American middle school students would be significant in reducing barriers to STEM careers. Virginia State University aims to advance knowledge on the impacts of holistic contextual factors, such as race/ethnicity, school quality, family dynamics, gender, social supports, daily danger exposure, social status, and interpersonal competence, on STEM interest and attitudes. The project...

Effective: 2021-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Kathryn Leech

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This STEM education research capacity building project combines a research project that investigates whether parents transmit gender stereotypes about STEM to pre-school children in everyday conversations and a detailed professional development plan that enables the principal investigator to develop competencies in computational research methodologies, skill in mentoring junior colleagues, and knowledge of research on the underrepresentation of women in STEM. The research will examine whether...

Effective: 2021-2022

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: John G Kelly

Institution: Tennessee State University

In this capacity building project, the investigator proposes to replicate a research project to investigate dual process reasoning in an undergraduate physics classroom at a Historically Black College and University. Dual process theories state that when faced with a decision, students may use both an autonomous system of cognition (T1S) and a reflective system (T2S) that relies on working memory and mental simulations. The current project builds on prior research that applied the...

Effective: 2021-2022

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Tiffany A Wild

Institution: Ohio State University

The conference will convene researchers and other stakeholders to develop a STEM education research plan that will focus on STEM education of students with visual impairments. The goal is to identity and prioritize agenda topics that address the needs of this population, and to build capacity to conduct robust research focused on those needs. The conference agenda will include an analysis of gaps in the research, appropriate methodologies for this type of research, and strategies for...

Effective: 2020-2025

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Daniel L Reinholz

Institution: San Diego State University Foundation

This project will study how data visualizations may help university faculty recognize their implicit biases and promote equitable participation in their classrooms. Participation is a key part of learning, but implicit biases can result in different opportunities for different groups of students to participate in STEM classrooms. Such differences can cause inequities in learning outcomes that may lead to underrepresentation of women, students of color, and other groups in the STEM workforce. By...

Effective: 2020-2025

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Marijel C Melo

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Makerspaces are places for hands on application of STEM concepts and skills. They are stocked with high-tech tools, supplies, and equipment, such as 3D printers, to support collaborative, creative work to build things. Given their potential to support STEM learning, makerspaces are increasingly integrated into universities across the country. However, if observers watched to see who decides to take advantage of a makerspace, they would see many students stick their heads in the door, look...

Effective: 2020-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Andrei Cimpian, Brian Donovan, Catherine Riegle-Crumb

Institutions: New York University, BSCS Science Learning, University of Texas at Austin

Recent research suggests that learning about genetics during high school biology can lead to a belief that inherent differences in the genes and brains of men and women are the main causes of gender differences in behavior and intellectual abilities (a belief known as neurogenetic essentialism). This belief is implicated in lowering girls’ sense of their own STEM abilities, their feelings of belonging in STEM classes, and their interest in pursuing further education in STEM fields. The goal...

Effective: 2020-2025

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Lisa Y Flores, Rachel L Navarro

Institutions: University of Missouri-Columbia, University of North Dakota Main Campus

Slow progress has been made over the past several years to broaden the involvement of groups who are underrepresented in engineering disciplines. The number of Latinxs in particular continues to decrease at each transition point along the pathway to becoming a practicing engineer (i.e., declaring a engineering major, graduating with an engineering degree, working in the engineering field). Increased efforts across the engineering ecosystem, but specifically during the college-to-work...

Effective: 2020-2025

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Michael K Scullin

Institution: Baylor University

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 award to a scientist at Baylor University has the goal of improving STEM education at the undergraduate level by bridging the gap between...

Effective: 2020-2024

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Joi-Lynn Mondisa

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

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 awarded to a CAREER scholar has the goal to discover and understand effective, evidence-based mentoring practices and strategies that...

Effective: 2020-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Christopher S Hulleman

Institution: University of Virginia Main Campus

This study addresses gaps in the STEM utility-value interventions literature by studying the interventions in gateway community college math courses, which serve as a critical barrier or opportunity to postsecondary success. Researchers at the University of Virginia and the Tennessee Board of Regents will investigate three research questions: (1) Do customized utility-value interventions lead to improved academic outcomes compared to standard utility-value interventions or a control condition?...

Effective: 2020-2024

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Maria Ong

Institution: TERC Inc

Native students and professionals are severely underrepresented in all STEM degree programs and professions in the U.S. This underrepresentation is often overlooked in research and discussions of equity in STEM. This abstract, and this project, uses the word "Native" as an umbrella to refer to American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, First Nations, and other indigenous peoples of North America. This project will contribute to changing the conversation about Native...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Ramon Barthelemy

Institution: University of Utah

This project is a ten-year follow up to a pilot study that examined the educational experiences and career goals of 21 women graduate students in physics and astronomy. The previous study results revealed a complex tapestry of experiences with mentoring, gender discrimination, and the development of career goals that influenced the students’ ultimate outcomes. The study showed that many were considering non-academic careers because of their perceptions of work-life balance and the academic...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Qi Shi

Institution: Loyola University Maryland, Inc.

This capacity building project includes a study to examine the experiences of Latina English Learners to identify the resources and assets that impact their academic and career development and persistence in STEM. Guided by the culture wealth model and social cognitive career theory, the investigator will conduct a qualitative study using a phenomenology design to understand the meaning of these students’ experiences using three developmental milestones: interest, access, and persistence. The...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Zeyu Xu

Institution: American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences

Socioeconomic and racial gaps in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) participation can sometimes be traced back to discrepancies in mathematics skills that emerge at kindergarten entry. Importantly, children who exhibit early lags in mathematics development may also demonstrate lower growth rates in mathematics skills later. Consequently, early gaps in mathematics skills may widen over the course of schooling. How to diagnose and correct mathematics shortcomings early is a...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Gladis Kersaint

Institution: University of Connecticut

Despite efforts to broaden their participation in STEM, African Americans continue to be underrepresented in the STEM disciplines. Even after enrolling to major in STEM degrees, African Americans are more likely to switch to non-STEM majors or leave college compared to other ethnic groups. The purpose of this project through the University of Connecticut is to examine the lived experiences of African American engineering undergraduates at three predominately white institutions (PWI). The...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Sarah L Ferguson

Institution: Rowan University

The project will examine the efficacy of an intervention designed to increase self-efficacy and motivation to pursue STEM careers among rural high school students. Researchers will use a design-based approach to partner with rural school districts tointroduce students to high-need STEM career fields using virtual reality technology and career exploration modules. They will also guide students in assessing their potential fit for these fields. The researchers hypothesize that student career...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Jamie Gurganus

Institution: University of Maryland Baltimore County

In this capacity building project, the investigator proposes to develop a model for inquiry in engineering education research that accommodates a range of complementary data types, data sources, points of time, and conceptual lenses while concurrently acquiring skills in explanatory sequential mixed-methods STEM education research. The research project aims to model patterns of major behavior data among undergraduate women entering and exiting an engineering program prior to graduation,...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: BCSER IID

Principal Investigator: Simi T Hoque

Institution: Drexel University

This two-year project will analyze how adolescent girls develop as sustainable citizens as they take part in a college-based STEM summer program that offers hands-on workshops in sustainability science. As a Building Capacity in STEM Educational Research (BCSER) project, a key goal is to build the principal investigator's knowledge base and analytical expertise in STEM education research. This project aims to position the investigator to conduct longer-term research on broadening participation...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Sara Schmitt

Institutions: University of Oregon Eugene, Purdue University

The purpose of this project is to further develop, refine, and evaluate a research-based STEM learning tool (i.e. block play) that tests theories of mathematical learning. Block play is common in preschool settings and is a context in which mathematics skill development may occur. Although a growing body of work has linked block play to mathematical development, there remains little causal evidence to support these relationships. The first objective of the project is to empirically evaluate the...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Nigel Bosch, Jaclyn Ocumpaugh

Institutions: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Pennsylvania

Students in middle school and high school often use adaptive learning software as part of their math education experience. Adaptive learning software works by automatically measuring how much students have learned about the topic, as well as their learning process and experiences, and then adjusting the instruction accordingly. This project will investigate potential ways in which adaptive learning software might be biased against students from certain groups, and how such biases can be...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Edward C Fletcher Jr

Institution: Ohio State University

Research about broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is a significant priority for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Compared to their White male counterparts, African American males are commonly underrepresented in STEM. With increasing American workforce needs in STEM, more research is needed that focuses on broadening participation in STEM among historically underrepresented populations, including African American males. Much of the current...

Effective: 2020-2023

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Ravit Golan Duncan

Institution: Rutgers University New Brunswick

Currently, equity remains an elusive goal in science education. Many minority groups continue to be underrepresented in science careers, limiting their opportunities to pursue potential science trajectories and diminishing benefits to society from diverse perspectives. Science learning environments, however, often do not build on or recognize the lives of students resulting in persistent marginalization. This, in turn, can lead minoritized youth to identify negatively with science and decreases...