Collaborative Research: Advanced Quantitative and Computational Methods for STEM Education Research

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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. This capacity building award initiates an institute in quantitative and computational methods for STEM education research through a collaboration between researchers at the University of Chicago and those at Michigan State University. Through launching a national campaign of recruitment, the team will select a diverse cohort of NSF Fellows of STEM Education Research among early- and mid-career scholars, especially those from under-represented backgrounds. Instructors and Fellows will critically evaluate existing STEM education research throughout six courses over the summers in year 1 and year 2. Institute training will focus on (1) research designs and causal inference, (2) measurement, (3) social network analysis, (4) multilevel modeling, (5) causal mediation analysis, and (6) computational methods for analyzing qualitative and social media data. Structured discussions of Fellows’ ongoing studies will be supplemented by guest speaker presentations and round-table discussions. Fellows will present their capstone projects and further develop research collaborations in the summer of year 3. A customized website will disseminate to the broader STEM education research community.This research institute is funded by ECR (the core research program of the Education and Human Resources directorate) and attends specifically to critical aspects in research capacity building.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.