Selected NSF Programs
in Undergraduate STEM
Education
Richard A. Aló
Directorate for Education and Human Resources
National Science Foundation
September 17, 2011
Minority Serving InstitutionsCyberInfrastructure Empowerment Coalition
www.msi-ciec.us
California Institute of Telecommunications and Information
Technology, CalIT2
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Selected Programs in DUE
Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM
TUES: NSF 10-544
STEM Talent Expansion Program- STEP: NSF
08-569 (Old)
Scholarshisps in STEM S-STEM: NSF 09-567
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science,
Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring
PAESMEM: NSF 11-xxx
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National Science
Foundation
“NSF invests in the best ideas generated by scientists,
engineers and educators working at the frontiers of
knowledge, and across all fields of research
and education. Our mission, vision and goals are designed to
maintain and strengthen the vitality of the U.S. science and
engineering.”
The NSF Structure
Organization of EHR Directorate
Directorate of Education & Human
Resources (EHR)
Division of Research on Learning in
Formal & Informal Settings (DRL)
Division of Undergraduate Education
(DUE)
Division of Graduate Education
(DGE)
Division of Human Resource
Development
(HRD)
TUES
Transforming Undergraduate Ed in STEM
Translating Learning Theory into Practice
Our broadest, most innovative program
Vision
Excellent STEM education for all undergraduate
students.
Goal
Stimulate, disseminate, and institutionalize
innovative developments in STEM education
through the production of knowledge and the
improvement of practice.
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Program Mirrors Learning Theory
Learner-Centered- learning begins with experience,
knowledge, interest and motivation that learner brings
to the setting.
Knowledge-Centered- problems can only be solved
if students have a solid knowledge base from which they
can draw
Community-Centered- Learning is usually more
effective when it occurs within a community, where
people can exchange ideas and receive feedback from
other interest participants.
Assessment to support Learning- For quality of
Learning to improve, there must be mechanisms in place
to determine just how effective the teaching strategies
are.
New Challenges, New Strategies: Building Excellence in
Undergraduate STEM education, AAAS 2010
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TUES: Four Project Types
Maximum Award Sizes
Type 1
duration: 1 to 3 years
(+ $50,000 with community college partner)
$200,000
Type 2
$600,000
duration: 2 to 4 years
Type 3
$5,000,000 duration: 3 to 5 yrs (5 if max reqst)
Central Resource Projects: 3 - 5 yrs leadership &
implementation work to increase impact of TUES
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TUES
Choice of Type Reflects
Scale of the Project
 Number of institutions, students and faculty
Maturity of the Project (Stage)
 Phase 1 may lead to Phase 2, etc.
 But prior CCLI or TUES funding is not required
Scope of the Project
 Defined by number of components, based on our
view of the cyclic nature of educational innovation
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TUES For Example, Type 1 reflects
Scope and Scale:
 One or two program components
 Limited number of students & faculty at one
institution
Expected Results:
 Contribute to understanding of effective STEM


education, typically by exploring new ideas
Can serve as basis for Type 2 project
Often motivated by an interest to apply for Type 2 later
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TUES: Types of projects
Integrate new instrumentation or equipment into undergraduate laboratories or field work
Develop materials that use a new instructional approach
embodying current understanding of how students learn
Introduce content from new research into existing course
Explore the practical aspects of using remote laboratories
Develop an instrument to assess students’ knowledge
Provide courses needed for efficient, seamless transfer
from 2-yr to 4-yr colleges in partnership with other instn
Explore or pilot internet-based approaches for faculty
professional development
Develop interdisciplinary courses on public issues
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TUES Types Reflect
Scale of the Project
 Number of institutions, students and faculty
Maturity of the Project (Stage)
 Type 1 may lead to Phase 2, etc.
 But prior CCLI funding is not required
Scope of the Project
 Defined by number of components, based on our
view of the cyclic nature of educational innovation
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Cyclic Model for Creating Knowledge and
Improving Practices in STEM Education
New
Materials
and
Strategies
Research on
Teaching and
Learning
Assess
And
Evaluate
Increase
Faculty
Expertise
Implement
Innovations
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Materials
Research
Assess
Expertise
Implement
Five Components
from the
Cyclic Model
Include one or more of these components
•
Create learning materials and teaching strategies
•
Develop faculty expertise
•
Implement educational innovations (not adoption)
•
Assess learning and evaluate innovation
•
Conduct research on STEM teaching and learning
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Materials
Research
Assess
Expertise
Component 1
Implement
Create Learning Materials and
Teaching Strategies
New materials and tools
New methods and strategies
Revised materials and strategies
Adapt and implement
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TUES: Over time, we have
increased our emphasis on
Building on and contributing to the literature
on effective STEM education
Building a community of scholars in STEM
education reform
Identifying project-specific measurable
outcomes
 Project management and evaluation
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TUES
Deadlines
Deadline For Type 1
 May 26, 27, 2011
days)
(check website for
Deadline For Type 2 and 3, and
Central Resource Projects

January 13, 2012
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Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science,
Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring
A White House Initiative on behalf of
President of the United States
Identify outstanding mentoring efforts that enhance
participation of groups (women, minorities, disabled)
that are underrepresented in STEM
Awardees serve as leaders in national effort to
develop fully nation’s human resources in STEM
Must have demonstrated outstanding and sustained
mentoring and effective guidance to a significant
number underrepresented students at K-12,
undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral levels for
minimum of five years.
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Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science,
Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring
Awardee may be
• an individual or organization
• From academia, industry, government
• Awardee
• $10,000.00 Honorarium
• Invited to Washington for
• Awards Ceremony with the President of USA
• Recognition Events
• Meetings with Leaders in Federal Sector education
and research
• Focused workshops addressing effective mentoring
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STEP
STEM Talent Expansion Program
[STEM = Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics]
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STEP
Basic Goals
• Increase the number of students
(U.S. citizens or permanent residents) in STEM
•Increase associate’s / bachelor’s degs
(established or emerging STEM fields)
•Community colleges get credit for transfers to 4year STEM programs
NSF 08-569, Letter of Intent due August 17, 2010
Full Proposal September 28, 2010
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STEP
Maximum Support Levels – Enrollment based
 $500 K for 5 years for 1- 5,000 FTE undergrads
 $1.0 M for 5 years for 5,001-15,000 undergrads
 $2.0 M for 5 years for >15,000 undergrads
One proposal per institution
(can be a partner on only one proposal)
STEP Budget
$28 million expected in FY 2010
20-24 awards expected
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STEP Some features of good proposals
Focus on Recruitment and Retention
 Set up numerical targets for each; pipeline model
Usually more than one STEM discipline
included
 avoid reducing majors in other STEM majors
STEM Faculty are PIs
Strong administrative support plus buyin from key departments.
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STEP
Successful projects might provide:
• Bridge programs that enable additional preparation
for students from HS or community colleges
• Programs to improve the quality of student learning
• Peer tutoring, learning communities
• new pedagogical approaches (e.g. mastery
learning, active learning, SENCER courses)
• Programs to encourage undergraduate research
• Student support mechanisms
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STEP
Outcomes expected:
Description of activities that will be
institutionalized from the project
Plan for continuing efforts to increase
number of STEM students & graduates
Formative assessment of progress towards
goals
Dissemination of project results to broader
community
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S-STEM NSF Scholarships in Science,
Technology, Engineering, & Math
 Goal: Provides funds to institutions to provide
scholarships to academically talented, but
financially needy, students
 Students can be pursuing associate,
baccalaureate, or graduate degrees
 Scholarships can be up to $10,000/yr - up to 4 yrs
within the limits of students official level of need.
(They can be less than $10K and less than 4 yrs)
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S-STEM Deadlines
Optional Letter of Intent: July 13, 2011
Proposal Deadline:
Aug 11, 2011
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S-STEM Major Features of Program
 Most STEM disciplines are eligible - except
Social & Behavioral sciences
 Grant size - max $600,000 (4 s-ship yrs),
(up to 7% can be spent for admin costs and
up to 8% for student support services)
 One proposal per constituent school or
college that awards STEM degrees (e.g.
school of eng, college of arts & sciences)
 Est: $50 to $70 million available in FY’09
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S-STEM Special program features
PI must be member of STEM faculty
S-ships to “natural” cohorts of students
S-STEM students are full time & are US
Citizens, Residents, Nationals, or refugees
Institution must provide some student
support structures
Optional enhancements: research
opportunities, tutoring, internships, etc.
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INSPIRE
• Support potentially transformative interdisciplinary
research that spans NSF’s programmatic boundaries.
• Create new, robust, and long–term funding
opportunities for novel ideas from the scientific
community.
• Catalyze a change of NSF culture: supporting crosscutting collaborations throughout the agency.
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INSPIRE
Proposals on any NSF-supported topic will be accepted.
Proposals may be submitted at any time. GPG compliance is
required.
Awards will generally be made to an individual PI or a small
team.
An INSPIRE 1 award will be co-funded by at least two
intellectually diverse divisions or programs.
Centralized co-funding, approved by an OIA-coordinated NSFwide group, will support up to 50% of each INSPIRE 1 award.
There will be $12.35 million in the FY 2012 OIA budget for this
purpose. If a directorate or office provides internal front-office
funds, that contribution will be matched by OIA in the same
manner as divisional or program funds.
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