Transcript Slide 1

Transforming Undergraduate
Education in STEM
What were we thinking
when we changed the
name of the program?
CCLI/TUES Conference January 2011
Potentially Transformative Research in
NSF’s Merit Review
Inclusion in Intellectual Merit criterion 2007
How important is the proposed activity to advancing
knowledge and understanding within its own field or
across different fields? How well qualified is the
proposer (individual or team) to conduct the project?
(If appropriate, the reviewer will comment on the
quality of prior work.) To what extent does the
proposed activity suggest and explore creative,
original, or potentially transformative concepts? How
well conceived and organized is the proposed
activity? Is there sufficient access to resources?
CCLI/TUES Conference January 2011
Potentially Transformative Research in
NSF’s Merit Review
NSB on Merit Review in S& E Indicators 2010
To ensure that the U.S. remains a world
leader in S&E research, the National Science
Foundation,…, should assess its two merit
review criteria…to ensure that the criteria
encourage the proposing and support of truly
transformative research,…, and should
modify…if necessary…
CCLI/TUES Conference January 2011
Transforming Undergraduate
Education in STEM
The goal:
Every undergraduate
experiences
learning science and
mathematics
as discovery and
empowerment!
CCLI/TUES Conference January 2011
Do we have excellent undergraduate
science and math education
in place?
Not exactly!
We have:
• Excellent examples of timely curriculum,
engaged pedagogy, and broadening participation.
• Models for effective dissemination of what works.
• Varied depth of evidence for what works by field.
and
• Large numbers of faculty who are unaware of
new approaches or resistant to using them
• Institutional barriers to change.
What does transformative mean in the
context of Undergraduate STEM
Education at NSF?
We will always be interested in the next excellent
idea, and in funding work that keeps instruction
aligned with advances in content.
We want to see serious address to what it will take
to bring about a cultural shift to student-centered
instruction.
Design for scale-up and widespread
implementation.
CCLI/TUES Conference January 2011