RESEARCH & EDUCATION PROGRAMS - Two New NSF Solicitations Regarding STEM Education

ASPB recently learned of two NSF solicitations regarding STEM education that are of potential interest to ASPB members.

The first opportunity – entitled “Climate Change Education Partnership Program, Phase I” (CCEP-I) – was released on February 19, 2010. CCEP-I seeks to establish a coordinated national network of regionally- or thematically-based partnerships devoted to increasing the adoption of effective, high quality educational programs and resources related to the science of climate change and its impacts.  The goals are to educate the next generation of climate scientists as well as to prepare the general public to participate in informed decision-making about climate-related policies. 

Phase I awards are mainly for strategic planning, network-building, and synthesis to support potential Phase II partnerships, which will be major five-year awards to implement the plans designed in Phase I.  Phase II partnerships are expected to begin in fiscal year (FY) 2012. 

CCEP-I awardees will conduct inventories of existing climate change education resources and identify educational needs; initiate network development; convene community workshops; and begin to serve as a test-bed for development, customization and scaling up of standards-based instructional materials, professional development and training models.  Each CCEP should be organized around either geographic regions that share similar climate change impacts, or major climate impact themes (e.g., sea-level rise). All proposed CCEPs must include experts in climate sciences, experts in learning sciences, and practitioners in formal or informal education.    

Institutions may only be the lead on one CCEP-I proposal.  NSF expects to distribute $20 million over two years in this program, funding 10-15 awards, each totaling $750,000 to $1 million over two years.  Letters of intent for the program are due on April 23, 2010, and full proposals are due on May 24.  This program builds on NSF's $10 million investment in climate change education in FY 2009 that supported proposals submitted to existing NSF programs in K-12, undergraduate, and graduate education. 

See the CCEP-I program webpage. 

The second solicitation is the first in the newly-renamed Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (TUES) program, which was formerly the Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement program.  According to NSF testimony before Congress, the name change "signals strongly the intention to move beyond small-scale change" in STEM undergraduate education.  

The program still will support efforts to create, adapt, and disseminate new learning materials and teaching strategies to reflect advances both in STEM disciplines and in what is known about teaching and learning.  It will provide funding for developing faculty expertise, implementing educational innovations, assessing learning and evaluating innovations, preparing K-12 teachers, and/or conducting research on STEM teaching and learning.

However, the solicitation has new language emphasizing projects that aim to bring "about widespread adoption of classroom practices that embody understanding of how students learn most effectively.  Thus transferability and dissemination are critical aspects for projects developing instructional materials and methods and should be considered throughout the project's lifetime.  More advanced projects should involve efforts to facilitate adaptation at other sites."  Review criteria have been adjusted accordingly, with emphasis not only on enhancement of student learning but also on the ease of adaptation at other sites and efforts to facilitate such adaptation.  Emphasis on institutionalization of STEM education innovations at the investigator's own university is also increased. 

This competition will distribute $35.8 million to approximately 100 awards of varying sizes.  Proposals for smaller awards are due May 26, with proposals for larger awards due in January 2011.  See the NSF TUES program web page.