ECR: BCSER: Conference: Integrating STEM Education Research Collaboration for Regional Prosperity

为期三天的会议“整合STEM教育研究合作促进区域繁荣”将重点介绍与大堪萨斯城地区STEM教育和劳动力发展相关的主题。STEM教育的主题将包括支持学生取得成功，扩大对STEM的参与，以及发展两年制和四年制院校之间的伙伴关系。区域繁荣主题将包括确定留住STEM专业的高影响力做法，促进STEM职业发展，以及在区域利益攸关方之间建立联盟。与会者将介绍研究并相互学习，同时共同努力确定高等教育如何改善其对STEM学生成功和地区繁荣的承诺。会议将支持地方和国家的努力，以提高STEM学位的获得，使STEM劳动力多样化，并扩大中学后STEM教育的跨学科方法。会议有四个目标：1)支持STEM教育研究人员确定关键挑战、机遇和可行的解决方案，以留住STEM有志于此的学生和毕业生队伍；2)在集体影响、机构转型和以数据为基础的协作的前沿领域开展最佳实践；3)将新知识和创新应用于满足机构和社会需求的项目；以及4)为研究传播和协作解决问题提供场所。会议将召集一个“智库”(会议加网络改进社区)，由顶尖研究人员、实践者和专业人士组成，他们将协作设计、收集和分析数据。这项分析的结果将支持STEM教育的改进，以培养一支多样化的STEM劳动力队伍，从而促进地区的繁荣。最终，会议成果将提供一组可操作的数据，有助于揭开与该地区中学后自然减员有关的因素的神秘面纱，并确定可行的教育技术和教学方法，以提高STEM学生的留存率。此外，会议将开发一个一般的生态系统模型，专注于影响STEM教育研究的独特的学术、社会和文化因素。该项目通过EHR核心研究：STEM教育研究能力建设(ECR：BCSER)竞赛得到支持，该竞赛旨在培养个人在STEM学习和学习环境中开展高质量基础STEM教育研究的能力，扩大对STEM领域的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。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。

The proposed three-day conference "Integrating STEM Education Research Collaboration for Regional Prosperity" will highlight topics relevant to STEM education and workforce development in the greater Kansas City region. STEM education topics will include supporting student success, broadening participation in STEM, and developing partnerships between two- and four-year institutions. Regional prosperity topics will include identifying high-impact practices to retain STEM majors, promoting STEM careers, and building coalitions among regional stakeholders. Participants will present research and learn from each other while working together to identify how post-secondary education can improve its commitment to STEM student success and regional prosperity. The conference will support local and national efforts that increase STEM degree attainment, diversify the STEM workforce, and expand interdisciplinary approaches to post-secondary STEM education. The conference has four goals: 1) Support STEM education researchers to identify critical challenges, opportunities, and actionable solutions to retain STEM-aspirational students and graduate a diverse workforce; 2) Engage best practices on the frontiers of collective impact, institutional transformation, and data-informed collaboration; 3) Apply new knowledge and innovations to projects addressing both institutional and societal needs; and 4) Provide a venue for research dissemination and collaborative problem-solving. The conference will convene a "Think Tank” (conference plus networked improvement community) of top researchers, practitioners, and professionals who will collaboratively design, collect, and analyze data. Results of this analysis will support STEM education improvements to prepare a diverse STEM workforce that will promote increased regional prosperity. Ultimately, the conference outcomes will contribute an actionable set of data that can be useful for demystifying factors related to post-secondary attrition in the region and identifying feasible educational technology and pedagogies to improve STEM student retention. Additionally, the conference will develop a general ecosystem model focused on the unique academic, social, and cultural factors influencing STEM education research. The project is supported through the EHR Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) competition that is designed to build individuals' capacity to carry out high quality fundamental STEM education research in STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.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.