The National Science Foundation has announced an award of a 3-year methods training grant ($1M) for a summer institute in advanced quantitative and computational methods for STEM education research to be housed at the University of Chicago. The project is a joint effort between Professor Guanglei Hong (PI) at the University of Chicago and Professor Ken Frank (PI) at Michigan State University. Co-PIs include Yanyan Sheng and Stephen Raudenbush at the University of Chicago and Jiliang Tang and Kaitlin Torphy of Michigan State University. Yanyan Sheng will assume the role of Executive Director for the summer institute.
The team will select a diverse cohort of 22 NSF Fellows of STEM Education Research among early- and mid-career scholars, especially those from under-represented backgrounds. The goals of this capacity building institute are (a) to introduce participants to rigorous and novel applications of advanced methods to STEM education research, (b) to provide them with continuous methodological support in research planning, data analysis, and publication, and (c) to create a community that prepares emerging scholars for taking leadership in advancing STEM education research.
Coming from different disciplines, members of the project team share the mission of developing innovative methods and incorporating new technology for advancing theory-driven and data-informed rigorous research in STEM education, especially concerning research on under-represented groups. Promoting the success of junior and mid-career researchers from these under-represented grounds will enable them to effectively serve as role models for the next generation of students from similar backgrounds. Congratulations to all on this endeavor!