Evidence Quality and Reach Hub for the DRK-12 community

American Institutes For Research In The Behavioral Sciences, Arlington VA

Investigators

Abstract

Understanding the impact of STEM education efforts requires researchers to have cutting-edge knowledge of advanced research methods and the ability to translate research knowledge to multiple and diverse stakeholder audiences. The Evidence Quality and Reach (EQR) Hub project will work explicitly to strengthen these two competencies through focused work with the Discovery Research PreK-12 research community. The hub will develop and implement workshops and learning opportunities for researchers in the community, convene communities of practice to discuss specific research methods, and engage in individualized consultations with DRK-12 projects. These activities are designed to strengthen current and future work in PreK-12 STEM education research. This project will work at multiple levels to support the DRK-12 research community. Universal activities such as webinars will be developed and deployed to support researchers in learning about new research methods and strategies for translating research for a broad set of stakeholder communities. Collective activities will involve a small number of DRK-12 projects in discussing particular research and dissemination issues common to their work in communities of practice and via virtual workshops. Individual projects will also be offered consultations on their current work. The project will begin with needs-sensing activities that will identify important themes and areas of focus for the universal, collective, and individual work. The project will collect data about the efficacy of their endeavors through surveys, user analytics from online collaboration spaces, and interviews with approximately 10 projects per year. The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) 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.