Workshop on Mid-scale STEM Education Research Infrastructure

在美国国家科学基金会正式和非正式环境学习研究部和本科教育部的支持下，该项目将通过探索中等规模的方法来改善所有学生的STEM教育，为国家利益服务。该奖项将资助一个研讨会，该研讨会将教育研究人员和其他主要利益相关者聚集在一起，探讨NSF的中型研究基础设施大理念如何促进STEM教育研究。这一“大创意”旨在通过投资开发中等规模的实验研究能力，满足科学、工程和STEM教育领域的研究基础设施需求，项目总成本为2000万至7000万美元。中等规模基础设施基金旨在支持尖端研究基础设施的开发、设计和建设，以支持科学进步。在STEM教育领域，此类投资有可能推动许多主题的研究，包括用于教育环境的技术开发、教育模式和职业道路。这项研究的结果可以帮助国家在学习生命周期的各个阶段满足日益多样化的人口的学习需求。本次研讨会的成功实施将为支持STEM教育研究所需的中等规模研究基础设施提供愿景和一系列优先事项。中等规模STEM教育研究基础设施研讨会将召集STEM研究教育专家和利益相关者就中等规模研究基础设施如何推进STEM教育的前沿以及围绕这一主题建立利益相关者社区进行交流。中等规模的研究基础设施对于如何最好地教育所有学习者有关STEM概念和技能的知识的进步是必要的。培养STEM领域的基本技能和知识对所有中小学学生来说都是必不可少的。在高等教育阶段，STEM的成功对于广泛的专业和职业道路至关重要。研究生培训既为研究人员准备了基础知识，也为下一代教师和教授做好了准备。非正式的STEM教育工作者在提供参与STEM应用和概念的机会方面也发挥着关键作用。尽管在开发有效的STEM教学实践方面，各部门取得了很大进展，但混合现实和模拟等新技术、跨学科计算应用以及跨学科教育和职业途径的激增，将为教育研究带来新的挑战和机遇。本次研讨会旨在通过提高相关研究基础设施需求的知识来推进国家的STEM教育。研讨会将召集一个跨学科专家小组，负责确定机会和差距，为中等规模研究基础设施的潜力提供信息，以推进STEM教育研究。最终的研讨会总结将详细说明潜在的项目，并确定中等规模STEM教育研究基础设施的预期近期成果和长期影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from NSF’s Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings and the Division of Undergraduate Education, this project will serve the national interest by exploring midscale approaches to improving STEM education for all students. The award will fund a workshop that brings together education researchers and other key stakeholders to explore how NSF’s Mid-scale Research Infrastructure Big Idea could facilitate STEM education research. This Big Idea aims to address research infrastructure needs of the scientific, engineering, and STEM education fields by investing in the development of experimental research capabilities in the mid-scale range, defined as $20-70 million total project cost. Mid-scale infrastructure funding is intended to support development, design, and construction of cutting-edge research infrastructure to support scientific advances. In the STEM education field, such investments have the potential to advance research on many topics, including the development of technologies for use in educational settings, models of education, and career pathways. The results of this research could help the nation meet the learning needs of an increasingly diverse population at all stages of the learning lifecycle. Successful implementation of this workshop will produce a vision and a set of priorities for the mid-scale research infrastructure needed to support STEM education research.The Workshop on Mid-scale STEM Education Research Infrastructure will convene STEM Research education experts and stakeholders to exchange ideas about how mid-scale research infrastructure can advance the frontier of STEM education and to develop a community of stakeholders around this topic. Mid-scale research infrastructure is necessary to enable the advancement of knowledge about how best to educate all learners regarding STEM concepts and skills. Developing foundational skills and knowledge in STEM is an imperative for all students in primary and secondary education. At the postsecondary level, success in STEM is crucial to a broad range of professions and career pathways. Graduate training both prepares the researchers who will advance basic knowledge as well as the next generation of teachers and professors. Informal STEM educators also play a key role in providing opportunities to engage with STEM applications and concepts. Although much progress has been made across sectors in developing effective instructional practices in STEM, the proliferation of new technologies such as mixed reality and simulations, of computational applications across disciplines, and of interdisciplinary educational and career pathways will lead to new challenges and opportunities to be addressed by education research. This workshop aims to advance the nation’s STEM education by enhancing knowledge of relevant research infrastructure needs. The workshop will convene an interdisciplinary group of experts with the charge to identify opportunities and gaps that can inform the potential for mid-scale research infrastructure to advance STEM education research. The resulting workshop summary will detail potential projects and identify anticipated near-term outcomes and long-term impacts of mid-scale STEM education research infrastructure.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.