Community Engaged Disciplinary and Educational Researchers in STEM (CEDERS)

社区从事STEM学科和教育研究人员（CEDERS）的机构队列博士后奖学金计划旨在提高STEM教育领域近期博士毕业生的研究知识、技能和实践。社区外展和公众传播是STEM研究人员工作的常规特征。然而，传统的大学与社区伙伴关系的方式看重学术专长。相比之下，社区参与奖学金（CES）鼓励更民主的过程和多种专业知识的交流。这种方法可以欢迎那些通常比学术研究人员更了解社会问题的社区的参与。因此，STEM领域的CES有望扩大STEM相关领域的参与。CEDERS计划旨在优先考虑由博士后研究员领导的教育研究项目，并与STEM研究人员和社区利益相关者合作完成。研究员项目的研究结果有可能影响STEM推广和教育的方向，这将惠及大量社区利益相关者。因此，这个项目可以直接提高STEM外展和教育的有效性，以满足社区的需求。此外，这种STEM教育工作者-STEM学科研究人员-社区伙伴关系的模式可以为其他机构的CES提供一条途径，这些机构正在努力扩大STEM的参与范围。该项目活动将整合STEM博士后发展和CES学习的最佳实践，通过以下方式提升STEM教育博士后的培训：(1)参与研究，促进STEM教育和STEM学科学者和社区合作伙伴之间的合作；(2)设计旨在促进机构和社区利益相关者之间的知识和资源互利交流的研究，以扩大PreK-16背景下STEM的参与；(3)获取资源和关系，包括参与多个团体和社区，以扩大早期职业学者的联系。整合这些方法不仅可以提高博士后进行有影响力的研究的能力，还可以提高他们在STEM教育领域的职业生涯的准备。为了体现该项目的合作性质，博士后将由STEM教育委员会和STEM教师指导，并通过个性化研究和专业发展计划提供支持。这些计划遵循了有效的模式，沿着以能力为基础的轨迹建设从事学术研究的能力，并纳入了有前途的教师发展实践。本项目由美国国家科学基金会STEM教育博士后研究奖学金（STEM Ed PRF）计划和推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划共同资助。STEM Ed PRF计划旨在提高STEM、STEM教育、教育和相关学科的近期博士的研究知识、技能和实践，以促进他们从事基础和应用研究的准备，从而提高该领域的知识。AISL计划支持以下项目：(a)促进研究和实践，考虑非正式STEM学习在STEM公平和归属方面的作用；(b)促进个人和教育在STEM方面的成功；(c)促进公众参与科学发现；(d)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(e)为有效的非正式STEM学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(f)改善社区活力；及/或(g)加强科学传播和公众对STEM和STEM过程的参与和理解。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。

The institutional cohort postdoctoral fellowship program for Community Engaged Disciplinary and Educational Researchers in STEM (CEDERS) is designed to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctoral graduates in STEM Education. Community outreach and public dissemination are regular features of the work that STEM researchers do. However, traditional approaches to university-community partnerships privilege academic expertise. In contrast, community engaged scholarship (CES) encourages a more democratic process and exchange of multiple types of expertise. This approach can welcome engagement among communities who often have more knowledge of social issues than academic researchers. Consequently, CES in STEM holds promise to broaden participation in STEM-related fields. The CEDERS program is designed to prioritize CES in educational research projects led by postdoctoral fellows and done in collaboration with STEM researchers and community stakeholders. Findings from the fellows’ projects have the potential to influence the direction of STEM outreach and education that will reach a large number of community stakeholders. Hence, this project may directly improve the effectiveness of STEM outreach and education to serve the needs of communities. Further, this model for a STEM educator-STEM disciplinary researcher-community partnership can provide a pathway to CES at other institutions working towards the goal of broadening participation in STEM on an even larger scale.The project activities will integrate the best practices of STEM postdoctoral development and CES learning to elevate training of STEM education postdoctoral fellows through (1) engagement in research that facilitates collaboration among STEM education and STEM disciplinary scholars and community partners; (2) design of research that aims for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources across institutional and community stakeholders for the purpose of broadening participation in STEM in PreK-16 contexts; and (3) access to resources and relationships, including participation in multiple groups and communities that can expand early career scholars’ connectedness. Integrating across these approaches can improve not only the postdoctoral fellows’ capacity for impactful research but also their preparedness for a professional career in STEM education. To reflect the collaborative nature of the project, postdoctoral fellows will be mentored by a committee of STEM education and STEM faculty and supported through individualized research and professional development plans. These plans follow effective models for building capacity for engaged scholarship along a competency-based trajectory and incorporate promising practices for faculty development.This project is supported by NSF’s STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) Program with co-funding from the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program. The STEM Ed PRF Program aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. The AISL Program, supports projects that: (a) contribute to research and practice that considers informal STEM learning's role in equity and belonging in STEM; (b) promote personal and educational success in STEM; (c) advance public engagement in scientific discovery; (d) foster interest in STEM careers; (e) create and enhance the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning; (f) improve community vibrancy; and/or (g) enhance science communication and the public's engagement in and understanding of STEM and STEM processes.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.