Curriculum and Intellectual Support

Courses

Research designs and causal inference (Instructors: Steve Raudenbush, Guanglei Hong, and Ken Frank)

Measurement (Instructor: Yanyan Sheng)

Social network analysis (Instructor: Kenneth Frank)

Multilevel modeling (Instructor: Steve Raudenbush)

Causal mediation analysis (Instructor: Guanglei Hong)

Computational methods for analyzing qualitative and social media data (Instructors: Kaitlin Torphy & Jiliang Tang)

Guest Speaker Series

During each summer session, advisory board members and other guest speakers will be invited to discuss cutting-edge issues in STEM education research and conduct small group or individual meetings with Fellows. These interactions are meant to help Fellows expand their professional networks and develop leadership visions and skills.

Round-Table Lunch Discussions

During each summer session, the institute will organize round-table lunch sessions on a daily basis for community building. Each round table will be hosted by one of the instructors for discussing Fellows’ research plans, grant applications, or ongoing studies and brainstorming solutions to methodological problems that arise in these studies.

Follow-up Support

Following each summer session, Fellows will receive continuous methodological support from the project team and will maintain intellectual connections with each other as they develop new research projects or make progress in their ongoing studies. Fellows will be assigned to one of the instructors based on methodological and substantive interests. Each small group thus formed will meet to make a strategic plan for sustained engagement during the coming year. Fellows will be encouraged to stay in close touch with each other serving as peer mentors who commit to reading and commenting on draft papers and/or consulting on methodological issues that arise in the work.

Capstone Project

The institute will organize a small-scale conference in the summer of year 3, at which all Fellows will present their capstone projects and will further develop research collaborations. Fellows will have ample opportunities to transfer new methodological understanding to their own projects and obtain constructive feedback. The institute will emphasize publishing high-quality research in impactful venues and will offer individualized support throughout the process.

Timeline