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.

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ECR Projects

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STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Spatial Visualization Skills and Engineering Problem Solving

Effective: 2015-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Lance C Perez, Sheryl A Sorby

Institutions: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Cincinnati Main Campus, Ohio State University

Engineers are known problem-solvers and the engineer of the future will be tasked with solving traditional problems as well as the ill-defined interdisciplinary problems faced by our society. Engineers will need to be able to think holistically about a myriad of factors and visualize a solution that solves the technical problem while satisfying cultural, environmental, societal, and economic constraints. Spatial visualization skills have been linked to success in engineering and mathematics as...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Stereotype-based contagion in Problem Based Learning Contexts and STEM Identification

Effective: 2015-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Chad E Forbes

Institution: University of Delaware

This proposal was submitted in response to EHR Core Research (ECR) program announcement NSF 15-509. As part of ECR, this project is funded by the Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE) program. GSE seeks to understand and address gender-based differences in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce participation through education and implementation research that will lead to a larger and more diverse domestic STEM workforce. This project will...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Variation in the awarding and effectiveness of STEM graduate student funding across teaching and research assistantships, fellowships, and traineeships

Effective: 2015-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Maura J Borrego, David Knight

Institutions: University of Texas at Austin, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will conduct a mixed methods research project to better understand how various mechanisms of funding - fellowships, research assistantships, teaching assistantships, etc. - influence students' pursuit of doctorates in STEM and subsequent employment. The project will produce empirical evidence and a conceptual framework to inform the improvement of graduate student funding policies and...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

A Study of Elements of Teacher Preparation Programs that Interact with Candidates' Characteristics to Support Novice Elementary Teachers to Enact Ambitious Mathematics Instruction

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Peter Youngs

Institution: University of Virginia Main Campus

Preparing large numbers of elementary teachers to enact high-quality or ambitious mathematics instruction is a central policy challenge in the U.S. While several studies have tried to identify linkages between features of teacher preparation and student achievement outcomes, few large-scale studies have addressed the relationship between teacher preparation and ambitious mathematics instruction, a more proximal outcome. To meet the need for ambitious mathematics instruction, a more robust...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Effects of diagrams and spatial skills on undergraduate students' illusions of understanding of introductory biology and geoscience texts

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Jennifer Wiley

Institution: University of Illinois at Chicago

A majority of people experience illusions of understanding when reading explanations of scientific phenomena. That is, people generally think they understood what they read better than they actually did. This self-assessment skill (referred to as monitoring) is critical in order for students to regulate their own learning and tailor their study behaviors so that they develop deep understanding of science topics. Interestingly, a number of recent studies have demonstrated that illusions of...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Enhancing Learning of Science Categories Through Guidance of Psychological Models of Classification

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Robert M Nosofsky

Institution: Indiana University

A ubiquitous component of science education is learning the key categories of each target domain. This project, a multidisciplinary collaboration of cognitive scientists, geologists, and science education researchers at Indiana University and Washington University, will take basic research findings on human learning and attempt to develop diagnostic tools that can be matched with instructional technique to facilitate the learning of scientific classifications. Rock categorization will be used...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Examining the Career Trajectories of Urban Math Teachers from a Selective Alternative Certification Program

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Andrew M Brantlinger, Laurel A Cooley

Institutions: University of Maryland, College Park, CUNY Brooklyn College

The goal of the research project is to describe the features of selective alternative teacher certification programs (ATCPs) that affect selective route mathematics teachers' (SRMT) professional pathways and to make informed recommendations to decrease the current high teacher turnover. While selective ATCPs are intended to address issues of teacher staffing and quality by recruiting high achieving graduates of the nation's most competitive colleges and career changers with impressive resumes,...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Hispanics in the Pipeline: Foundations of Persistence from Middle School to STEM Careers

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Jacquelynne Eccles

Institution: University of California-Irvine

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California-Irvine, and the University of Michigan, will examine the underrepresentation of Hispanics in STEM fields. Hispanic youth, the largest minority and fastest growing demographic group, are the most likely to drop out of the STEM pipeline before college and are the least likely to complete college STEM training. Understanding the psychosocial non-cognitive influences on Hispanic youth's educational and occupational decisions is...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Improving Performance and Retention of Engineering Graduate Students through Motivation and Identity Formation

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Cheryl Cass, Adam Kirn

Institutions: North Carolina State University, Board of Regents, NSHE, obo University of Nevada, Reno

This work is supported by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The program supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Initiating a Foundational Research Model for Secondary Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (INFORMS MKT)

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Jodie D Novak, Michael C Oehrtman

Institutions: University of Northern Colorado, Oklahoma State University

The goal of the project is to understand expert secondary mathematics teachers' knowledge for teaching exponential functions. In particular, the study examines how mathematics knowledge for teaching is used by teachers as they are teaching students' and the factors that influence their interactions with students. The project is recruiting teachers in order to observe their teaching of exponential functions units in Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, and College Algebra courses in high schools. They will...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Investigating Relationships Between Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching and High-Leverage Teaching Practices

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Tim Boerst

Institution: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

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...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Investigating the influence of informal understandings about biology on formal learning of biological concepts

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: John D Coley

Institution: Northeastern University

The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. This project will integrate research on STEM learning in developmental cognitive science and science education to investigate how cognitive aspects of informal biology facilitate or impede...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

STEM Training, Employment in Industry, and Entrepreneurship

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Jason Owen-Smith, Bruce A Weinberg

Institutions: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ohio State University

Ohio State University and the University of Michigan are investigating factors that affect graduate student pathways to non-academic careers. The interdisciplinary research team examines two research questions: (1) What are the pathways that graduate students take into non-academic careers? and (2) What is the role of their training environments, including faculty sponsors and networks, in guiding those pathways? To investigate these questions, the researchers will develop a data infrastructure...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

The Downside of Perseverance--Investigating and Moving Students Beyond Unproductive Persistence

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Ryan Baker, Neil T Heffernan, Philip Vahey

Institutions: Teachers College, Columbia University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, SRI International

The project researches persistence in mathematics learning in a computer-based learning environment (CBLE). The research investigates how a CBLE can provide the supportive help and promote the self-regulatory strategies necessary for students to be not just persistent, but productively persistent math learners. The project will focus on the middle school years, an important and vulnerable point in the school trajectory, as mathematical concepts become increasingly difficult and abstract in the...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

The Impact of Social Capital and Mentoring in Earth System Science Workforce Development

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Julie C Libarkin

Institution: Michigan State University

Researchers at Michigan State University will investigate the relationship between mentoring and career development in Earth System Science (ESS) with a particular focus on diverse populations. The researchers argue that increasing diversity in ESS can be addressed through 1) an exploration of how relationship development during mentoring impacts career satisfaction and sense of belonging, 2) an analysis of how different groups respond to mentoring, and 3) a synthesis of research findings into...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  
Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Why We Persist: An Intersectional Study to Characterize and Examine the Experiences of Women Tenure-Track Faculty in Engineering

Effective: 2015-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Ebony O McGee

Institution: Vanderbilt University

The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. As part of ECR, this project is funded by the Research on Gender in Science and Engineering (GSE) program. GSE seeks to understand and address gender-based differences in science,...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Can Student Characteristics be Used to Effectively Identify Students At-Risk in the Online STEM Environment?

Effective: 2015-2019

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Claire W Wladis

Institution: CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College

The EHR Core Research Program funds proposals that will help synthesize, build and/or expand research foundations in the following areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education: STEM learning, STEM learning environments, STEM workforce development, and broadening participation in STEM. The STEM education pipeline narrows significantly in college. Community colleges serve some of the most diverse audiences, and are increasingly using online learning as a cheaper way...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Investigating How English Language Learners Use Dynamic Representational Technology to Participate in Middle School Mathematical Practices

Effective: 2015-2019

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Tracy Noble, Philip Vahey

Institutions: TERC Inc, SRI International

The goal of the project is to bring together research about English-language learners with the use of dynamic representational technology for middle school quantitative reasoning. Dynamic representation technology allows learners to work with multiple representations of a problem simultaneously. These representations include, for example, graphs of an equation, a table of values and a simulation of the real-world phenomenon to understand concepts such as linear functions and rates of change...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Investigating Motivation and Transfer in Physical Science through Preparation for Future Learning Instruction

Effective: 2015-2019

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Timothy J Nokes-Malach

Institution: University of Pittsburgh

A critical problem in science education is to understand how students transfer their prior knowledge and experience acquired in one situation to solve novel problems in another. Not only do students struggle with conceptual understanding and transfer, but they also show declines in motivation for science during the middle school years. Prior research suggests there is great potential and opportunity to address these challenges by integrating past work on cognitive and motivational approaches to...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  

Preparing Local Talent for Jobs in the Sub-baccalaureate STEM Economy: A Study of the Marcellus ShaleNET Program and the Energy Sector

Effective: 2015-2019

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Robert Bozick

Institution: Rand Corporation

The research project will examine an industry-college collaborative model to align workforce development strategies to employment needs in a sector-specific economy. The research team will conduct a mixed-methods research study in the context of the Marcellus ShaleNET Program ? a unique partnership between the energy sector and a consortium of colleges in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia. Through this partnership, local employers have designed sub-baccalaureate credentialing...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Removing Barriers to Success in Mathematics: An Integrative Expectancy-Value Intervention

Effective: 2015-2019

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Christopher S Hulleman

Institution: University of Virginia Main Campus

The EHR Core Research (ECR) program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. This study extends prior theoretical and empirical work on STEM learning and STEM learning environments into community college classrooms in developmental mathematics....

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  
Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Teaching Struggling Fifth Graders Fractions Concepts, Procedures, and Problem-Solving: A Rigorous Efficacy Trial of a Fractions Intervention.

Effective: 2015-2019

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Russell M Gersten

Institution: RG Research Group

Learning of fractions is a significant barrier for many in further study of mathematics and thus other science, technology, and engineering disciplines. Many students identified as struggling learners of mathematics are provided with interventions that focus on simplifying the complexity and breaking up the task into small discrete pieces, which is counter to the recommendations on supporting students in learning mathematics from the mathematics education community. The rigorous, large-scale...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Tell Me About Math: A Longitudinal Training Study on the Effects of Parent-child Interactions and Parental Cognition on Children's Math Abilities

Effective: 2015-2019

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Melissa E Libertus

Institution: University of Pittsburgh

Current research suggests a relationship between the development of approximate number system (ANS) cognition in children and later mathematics achievement on standardized tests. However, little is known about the role parent-child interactions play with respect to the ANS. This study allows the field to better understand the transmission of cognitive skills like the ANS across generations. It also allows for the exploration of the potential for training for both parents and children to impact...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

The Effects of Education and Professional Development on Beginning STEM Teacher Persistence: a Longitudinal Study

Effective: 2015-2019

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Richard M Ingersoll

Institution: University of Pennsylvania

The attrition of teachers from teaching is a major public policy issue. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teachers, in particular, leave the profession even when they are making progress toward becoming excellent teachers. The project will identify both causes of teacher attrition and practices that support new teachers and contribute to persistence in the profession. The project will analyze data from the newly released nationally representative large-scale, longitudinal...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

What attributes of college biology students influence conceptual change?

Effective: 2015-2019

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Steven T Kalinowski

Institution: Montana State University

Understanding conceptual change in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is critical for helping students develop deep understandings of complex ideas and models, and thus, for supporting undergraduate students' success and persistence in STEM fields. This EHR Core Research (ECR) project in the area of STEM learning will explore how multiple factors influence college biology students' conceptual change regarding evolution by natural selection. The project team will...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

BIGDATA: EAGER: Using Big Data to Investigate Longitudinal Education Outcomes through Visual Analytics

Effective: 2015-2018

Funding Type: RAPID/EAGER

Principal Investigator: Alex J Bowers

Institution: Teachers College, Columbia University

BIGDATA: Using Big Data to Investigate Longitudinal Education Outcomes through Visual AnalyticsData science techniques have revolutionized many academic fields and led to terrific gains in the commercial sector. They have to date been underutilized in solving critical problems in the US educational system, particularly in understanding Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and increasing retention for...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

A Rational Analysis of How Teachers' Examples Constrain Learning and Inference

Effective: 2015-2017

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Patrick Shafto

Institution: Rutgers University Newark

Research has shown that both children and adults differentiate between pedagogical and non-pedagogical situations, that pedagogical inferences override factual information and impede discovery learning in children, and that pedagogical demonstrations lead to predictable patterns of inferences in undergraduates. The purpose of this CAREER project is to explore the extent to which social-pedagogical context affects learning with preschool students and undergraduates. The project will contrast...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

ASPiRe: Formative Assessment of Scientific Practices Research Practice Partnership

Effective: 2015-2017

Funding Type: RAPID/EAGER

Principal Investigator: Erin M Furtak

Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder

Classroom assessment remains a significant challenge to most school districts that decide to implement the practice standards set forth by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The Aurora Public School (APS) district is facing this challenge head-on by engaging in a research-practice partnership (RPP) with researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Through this RPP entitled ASPiRe, the two partners will engage in a long-term collaboration that is intentionally organized to...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Developing Math/Science Teacher Leadership: A Consensus Approach to Evaluating Program Quality

Effective: 2015-2017

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Jody Bintz

Institution: BSCS Science Learning

This ECR synthesis project will build consensus on the key attributes of high-quality math/science teacher leadership development programs. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The program supports the accumulation of robust...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Evaluating the Cognitive and Educational Benefits of Mental Abacus Training

Effective: 2015-2017

Funding Type: RAPID/EAGER

Principal Investigators: David A Barner, Michael C Frank

Institutions: University of California-San Diego, Stanford University

Mental Abacus is a popular mathematics technique practices primarily in Asian countries in elementary school contexts. Mental abacus students begin by learning to make rapid arithmetic computations on a physical abacus and then learn to imagine moving the beads without the physical device. Young children can then rapidly add, subtract, multiply and divide large numbers. This project will compare mental abacus teaching to two other teaching methods in order to understand how it helps first and...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Large Scale Neuron Reconstruction through Development of Crowdsourced Reconstruction Experts

Effective: 2015-2017

Funding Type: RAPID/EAGER

Principal Investigator: Zoran Popovic

Institution: University of Washington

This award is supported by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program. 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 distinguished by its emphasis on the...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  

Workforce Development: Graduate Data Science Workshop & Community Building

Effective: 2015-2017

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: David A Beck

Institution: University of Washington

The University of Washington will host a national workshop where graduate students in data science disciplines will interact to explore data science grand challenges in a collaborative environment. The project will implement a novel idea and advance the understanding of how to develop data science communities by engaging graduate students, academia, and industry. It also addresses an important national need for researchers with cross-disciplinary training in data science and serves as a...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Workshop on Advancing Data Intensive Research in Education

Effective: 2015-2017

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Andrew Bernat

Institution: Computing Research Association

While data analytics for business and entertainment have become well established, the application of data analytics to education needs research and development. Educational innovation does not have the driving force of economics generating evolutionary responses to societal and technological change, yet data-informed instructional methods offer tremendous promise for transforming American teaching, learning, and schooling. Beyond the potential to enhance student outcomes through just-in-time,...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Fundamentals of Team Science and the Science of Team Science

Effective: 2015-2016

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Stephen M Fiore

Institution: The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees

This award is for a workshop to take place just prior to the Science of Team Science annual meeting in 2015. The workshop, led by a team from the University of Central Florida, is to serve as a high-level review of the state of this interdisciplinary area of study. A synthesis of the field especially important given the advances currently being made. The interdisciplinary nature of the field is both an advantage and a challenge, for work is currently being conducted in a range of different...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  

Learning from Successful Big Data Projects

Effective: 2015-2016

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Andrew Bernat

Institution: Computing Research Association

Data intensive research for many scientific disciplines has changed the basic research methods for those disciplines. For example large plant genomic data bases have changed how research is done in plant biology where analyzing the genes in the data base becomes a critical component of plant genetics research. This workshop addresses the emerging discipline of data intensive research in education through case studies of how data intensive research emerged in other disciplines. The workshop is a...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Understanding PhD Career Pathways in STEM: Proposal for a Workshop to Develop an Instrument

Effective: 2015-2016

Funding Type: Conference

Principal Investigator: Suzanne T Ortega

Institution: Council of Graduate Schools

The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) will plan and host an intensive workshop to design an instrument for universities to be able to collect and disaggregate information on the career pathways of STEM PhD students and alumni. The project includes two preparatory meetings with key stakeholders (one focused on disciplinary societies and the other focused on graduate deans and provosts), and a workshop where participants will develop a survey instrument and a framework document to guide...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Core Systems for Learning Mathematics

Effective: 2014-2022

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Elizabeth S Spelke

Institution: Harvard University

Although human infants readily develop some capacities for representing number and geometry, children's thinking extends far beyond these capacities when they learn school mathematics. The basic concepts and skills of arithmetic and geometry that children learn in elementary school are critical for all subsequent learning and practicing of mathematics and science, but their acquisition, in relation to younger children's preexisting numerical and geometrical concepts, is not well understood. The...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Peer influences on adolescents' self-concept, achievement, and future aspirations in science and mathematics: Does student gender and race matter?

Effective: 2014-2021

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Nilanjana Dasgupta

Institution: University of Massachusetts Amherst

In the past thirty years a national debate has been brewing about the scarcity of women and racial/ethnic minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and its grave implications for the American workforce in the 21st century. From middle school through college, girls and women have performed less well on standardized tests in science and mathematics than their male peers and express less confidence and aspirations in these fields. Similar findings emerge for Black and...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Problem Solving Skills as Predictors of Success and Persistence in Biology

Effective: 2014-2021

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Paula P Lemons

Institution: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc

This CAREER project focuses on understanding problem-solving skills among biology undergraduates. The goals are to: (1) Investigate the problem solving steps of beginning and advanced biology students in the domains of protein structure and function and metabolism; (2) Determine the extent to which the use of particular problem-solving steps by biology students predicts their success and persistence in science; and (3) Apply the findings to enhance problem solving skills.Longitudinal data are...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

Broadening Participation in Engineering among Women and Latina/os: A Longitudinal, Multi-Site Study

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Lisa Y Flores, Rachel L Navarro

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

The project aims to investigate the longitudinal effects of social cognitive, cultural, personality and contextual factors on engineering students and workers satisfaction, engagement, and persistence as posited by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). The longstanding underrepresentation of White women and Latina/os in engineering majors and jobs provides the rationale for this investigation of psychological factors leading to their academic and career satisfaction, engagement, and...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Building a Framework for Developing and Evaluating Contextualized Items in Science Assessment (DECISA)

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo

Institutions: University of Colorado at Denver-Downtown Campus, Stanford University

AbstractThis collaborative project involving the University of Colorado at Denver and the University of Washington at Seattle in conjunction with Facet Innovations, will build a framework for addressing the use of contextualized items in the assessment of STEM learning. The primary goal is to systematically investigate the effects of characteristics of contextualized items on student performance to strengthen practices in science assessments, ensure fairness in science testing, and increase...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Cognitive Diagnostic Adaptive Testing for AP Statistics

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Ying Cheng

Institution: University of Notre Dame

This project, carried out by the University of Notre Dame, seeks to contribute to statistics education by developing improved methods for computerized adaptive testing. These methods use modern versions of item response theory, going beyond older versions that are commonly used in adaptive tests. Hence, the project has the potential to lead to tests that more successfully measure student knowledge and provide diagnostic feedback, as computerized testing increasing comes into wide use.The...

STEM Workforce Development STEM Workforce Development  

Early Career Transitions into STEM Employment: Processes Shaping Retention and Satisfaction

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Jennifer L Glass, Sharon Sassler

Institutions: University of Texas at Austin, Cornell University

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Cornell University are implementing a project to understand large gender differences in occupational retention among STEM graduates in early career, with a particular emphasis on investigating the roles played by employment conditions, alternative job opportunities, and workplace climate in retaining recent graduates or propelling them into non-STEM fields. Various studies report considerable attrition within the first few years of...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Exploring Potential Learning Trajectories for the Energy Concept in Middle School

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Joseph S Krajcik

Institution: Michigan State University

Energy is a critical concept in every branch of science, yet relatively little is known about how to best build students conceptions of energy over time so that their understanding becomes more integrated and more useful for making sense of phenomena. Some of the most pressing social and environmental issues that face the nation (e.g., energy conservation, climate change, biodiversity loss, and natural resource economics) are fundamentally related to energy. Recent work has shown that effective...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

How Urban Adolescents Come to Think of Themselves as Mathematicians

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Jamaal S Matthews

Institution: Montclair State University

In this CAREER award, the investigator will study how African American and Latino middle and high school students construct their sense of self-identity with and in mathematics and the role that teachers play in helping to shape those self-opinions. This is important because many students, particularly in urban settings, have a poor sense of their own potential in mathematics learning which restricts their attainment in high school and future college studies. If researchers can better...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

PEARL: Peers Engaged As Resources for Learning

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigators: Jill V Hamm, Daniel J Heck

Institutions: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Horizon Research Inc

Ongoing efforts to strengthen mathematics education in the United States have emphasized the need for students to engage and persevere with meaningful and challenging mathematics problems, and to take active and collaborative roles in problem solving. Teachers often use small group instruction to work toward these goals: small group work occurs in 70% of middle grades mathematics classrooms at least once a week, and on average, accounts for 25% of instructional time in middle grades mathematics...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Projective Reflection: Learning as Identity Exploration within Games for Science

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: CAREER

Principal Investigator: Aroutis N Foster

Institution: Drexel University

AbstractEducation stakeholders from advocates to developers are increasingly recognizing the potential of science games in advancing student academic motivation for and interest in science and science careers. To maximize this potential, the project will use science games (e.g. Land Science, River City, and EcoMUVE), shown to be enjoyable to students and proven to promote student learning in science at the middle school level. Through a two-phase process, games will be used as vehicles for...

STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Science Inquiry Using Physical and Virtual Experiments: Systematic Investigation of Issues and Conditions for Learning

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Sadhana Puntambekar

Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Both physical labs and virtual labs are often used in science teaching, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. With each providing different affordances for learning, it is often feasible to combine the two in a multitude of ways. This project will conduct a series of studies to: (1) Uncover the differential benefits of physical versus virtual labs, for learners with a range of abilities and prior knowledge, and for content of different difficulty levels; (2) Understand the...

Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

The Effects of Social Capital and Cultural Models on the Retention and Degree Attainment of Women and Minority Engineering Undergraduates

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Gladis Kersaint

Institutions: University of South Florida, University of Connecticut

The purpose of this study is to broaden understanding about how social capital and cultural models of engineering success (CMES) contribute to the retention and degree attainment of women and minority engineering undergraduates, traditionally under-represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Social capital refers to the social connections of students and the resources available through those connections. CMES refer to beliefs about how to succeed in an engineering...

Broadening Participation in STEM Broadening Participation in STEM

The Role of Academic Achievement and Social Inclusion in Broadening STEM Participation: Intended and Actual Attainment at the Intersection of Gender and Race/Ethnicity

Effective: 2014-2020

Funding Type: ECR:Core

Principal Investigator: Catherine Riegle-Crumb

Institution: University of Texas at Austin

This study makes a major contribution to the literature on disparities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education by providing new information about the STEM trajectories of boys and girls from various racial/ethnic subgroups from middle school through the end of college. Using five comprehensive, large-scale and longitudinal datasets, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin will examine differences between subgroups in intended as well as actual STEM...

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