A Postdoctoral Fellowship in Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

提高学生在STEM科目中的表现对于他们未来的职业准备和21世纪基本技能的发展至关重要。政策制定者已经将支持美国学生在STEM取得成就的教育举措列为优先事项。然而，有证据表明，在提高数学和科学成绩方面仍面临挑战，特别是对于来自少数群体的学生，包括有色人种学生、低收入学生和残疾学生。为了解决这一问题，教师需要获得循证干预措施，以调整他们的教学并满足这些学生的学习需求，从而增加他们进入科学和数学课程的机会。然而，关于对这些学生进行最有效的数学和科学干预，以及影响他们有效性的条件，仍有很多需要了解。以这些学生为研究对象的高质量、全面的数学和科学干预研究综述，适合于确定最有前途的教学实践以及它们有效的条件。通过进行这些审查，我们可以确定有效的战略和技术，以改善这些学生的数学和科学成绩，促进公平和公平地获得数学和科学课程，并最终为更具包容性和更有效的教育实践做出贡献。然而，缺乏学者，特别是那些来自小规模背景的学者，在进行高质量审查以确定这些学生的循证数学和科学实践方面拥有先进的知识和技能，这仍然是一个挑战。博士后计划旨在培养具有专业知识的下一代学者，他们将重点放在K-12年级学生的数学和科学成果上，为他们进行高质量的系统评估和元分析。该计划强调情境学习研究、队列建设和网络，以准备一批博士后研究员，以获取和应用先进技术，进行高质量的系统审查和元分析，以确定以证据为基础的干预措施，以提高这些学生的数学和科学水平。他们还将探索这些干预措施的异质性来源，以了解它们有效的条件。研究员将接受以下方面的培训：进行有效的文献搜索和编码程序，使用多级建模来处理复杂的数据结构，执行多级和多变量建模，以及使用机器学习算法进行分层数据库中的文章筛选和编码。此外，学者将开发传播材料，帮助教师有效地将研究转化为课堂实践。该项目有可能对STEM教育作出重大贡献，因为它增加了来自少数族裔背景的学者的数量，他们能够对少数族裔学生进行高质量的系统审查和集中于循证做法的荟萃分析。这反过来将导致更公平和有效的教学策略，最终改善历史上代表性不足的群体的数学和科学成果。该项目由NSF的STEM教育博士后研究奖学金计划(STEM Ed PRF)支持，并由发现研究PreK-12计划(DRK-12)共同资助。STEM ED PRF计划旨在增强STEM、STEM教育、教育和相关学科的新近博士的研究知识、技能和实践，以促进他们从事基础和应用研究，促进该领域知识的发展。DRK-12计划旨在通过研究和开发创新的资源、模式和工具，显著提高K-12学前班学生和教师的科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和经验上的证明。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Improving students' performance in STEM subjects is crucial for their future career readiness and the development of essential 21st-century skills. Policymakers have prioritized education initiatives to support U.S. students' achievement in STEM. However, evidence indicates ongoing challenges in increasing mathematics and science outcomes, particularly for students from minoritized groups, including students of color, low-income students, and students with disabilities. To address this issue, teachers need access to evidence-based interventions to tailor their instruction and meet these students' learning needs, thus increasing their access to the science and math curricula. Yet, there is still much to learn about the most effective math and science interventions for these students and the conditions that impact their effectiveness. High-quality, comprehensive reviews of studies on math and science interventions focused on these students are suitable for identifying the most promising instructional practices and the conditions under which they are effective. By conducting these reviews, we can identify effective strategies and techniques to improve math and science outcomes for these students, promoting fair and equitable access to the mathematics and science curricula, and ultimately contributing to more inclusive and effective educational practices. However, a lack of scholars, especially those from minoritized backgrounds, with advanced knowledge and skills in conducting high-quality reviews to identify evidence-based mathematics and science practices for these students remains a challenge. The post-doctoral program aims to prepare the next generation of scholars with expertise in conducting high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses focused on math and science outcomes for K-12 students from minoritized groups. The program emphasizes situated learning research, cohort-building, and networking to prepare a cohort of post-doctoral fellows to acquire and apply advanced techniques for conducting high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses to identify evidence-based interventions for increasing these students' mathematics and science proficiency. They will also explore sources of heterogeneity in these interventions to understand the conditions under which they are effective. The fellows will receive training in performing effective literature searches and coding procedures, using multilevel modeling to address complex data structures, implementing multilevel and multivariate modeling, and using machine learning algorithms for article screening and coding in hierarchical databases. Additionally, scholars will develop dissemination materials that assist teachers in effectively translating research into classroom practices. The project has the potential to contribute significantly to STEM education by increasing the number of scholars from minoritized backgrounds who can conduct high-quality systematic reviews and meta-analyses focused on evidence-based practices for minoritized students. This, in turn, will lead to more equitable and effective instructional strategies, ultimately improving mathematics and science outcomes for historically underrepresented groups.This project is supported by NSF’s STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) Program with co-funding from the Discovery Research PreK-12 Program (DRK-12). 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 DRK-12 Program seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.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.