STEM Education Organizational Postdoctoral Research Fellowships: Collaborative Research in Informal STEM Learning Environments

New York Hall Of Science, Corona NY

Investigators

Abstract

The New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), will recruit and support two postdoctoral fellows, who will spend 24 months conducting research in residence with NYSCI’s diverse staff, audiences, and local community. This fellowship program is designed to support the postdoctoral researchers as they develop and pursue independent lines of research on equitable and inclusive informal STEM learning experiences. Research training will emphasize practices for conducting research with culturally and linguistically diverse audiences and collaborative research methods that directly engage STEM practitioners and/or community members in the research process. Fellows will be mentored by both research professionals and informal STEM practitioners, including educators and program developers, exhibit designers, museum facilitators, and curriculum developers. Through mentoring and peer-to-peer collaborative relationships, postdoctoral fellows will have rich opportunities to generate new knowledge about effective, inclusive practices in STEM education, as well as to develop the skills needed to build and sustain productive, mutually beneficial partnerships with practitioners in informal STEM learning environments. Postdoctoral fellows will leave the fellowship equipped with strategies for conducting culturally responsive and practice-relevant research that they can apply to future careers. Advancing knowledge about how to support STEM learning for diverse audiences and in diverse contexts depends upon researchers’ methodological and theoretical expertise and on their ability to work competently and collaboratively with diverse stakeholders within informal STEM environments. Mastering both sets of competencies is critical to enabling early career researchers to become leaders in field-wide efforts to produce more practice-relevant and accessible forms of research. Within complex, real-world settings, the practice-based knowledge of educators, designers, and facilitators, as well as the lived experiences of community members, are integral to the success of educational environments and interventions. Training in research approaches that honor diverse perspectives and ways of knowing — across cultures, disciplines, and roles within educational institutions — can support early career researchers in developing lines of research that address issues of equity in STEM learning in responsive and impactful ways. Postdoctoral scholars will be invited to locate their existing research interests relative to two broad areas: STEM learning in informal learning environments, and broadening participation in informal STEM learning. 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.