Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE)

1. Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE) Program Division of Research on Learning (DRL) Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) National Science Foundation NSF 07-595

2. REESE Synopsis • The Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE) program supports basic and applied research and evaluation that enhances science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning and teaching.  • REESE is building an interdisciplinary research portfolio focusing on core scientific questions about learning that have implications for education at all ages and in all settings.  REESE also encourages proposals concerning education research methodology and evaluation.

3. Change to Intellectual Merit Review Criterion across NSF • To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts? • Transformative research describes a range of endeavors that promise extraordinary outcomes, such as revolutionizing entire disciplines, creating entirely new fields, or disrupting accepted theories and perspective. It is research that has the potential to change the way we address STEM challenges.

4. Kinds of proposals • Topical Strands • Frontier Research • Contextual Research • Award types • Knowledge diffusion (< $250,000) • Empirical (< $1,000,000) • Large Empirical (< $2,000,000) • Diffusion and Evaluation (< $5,000,000) • Conferences and workshops • Anticipated 2008 budget: $30,000,000

5. Frontier Research • Projects seek to transform the STEM education research and policy agenda with groundbreaking theories, findings, and methodological and measurement developments. • Projects engage foundational questions about what concepts can be learned by whom, at what age, how and where that can happen, and how it can be measured. Far-reaching, longer-term advances in knowledge and theory. • Proposals are restricted to the following topics: • Neural basis for learning mathematics • Cognitive processes underlying STEM learning/teaching • Measurement, modeling, and methods • Cyber-enabled learning and teaching

6. Contextual Research • Proposals address central problems in teaching, learning, and evaluation that must be addressed in order for substantial progress to be made in STEM education. • Output of projects should have near-term, relatively direct implications for communities of researchers, developers, and analysts who are engaged in producing curricula, improving teacher education, or providing guidance to policymakers.   • A project may involve a specific curriculum or policy as a test case, but the greater value of the project should be carried by the deeper questions it engages.  (DRK12 funds the development of specific resources, models, or technologies, such as curricula.)

7. About Methods • REESE encourages research of all kinds, from initial exploration, to early testing and refinement, to more definitive summative trials of innovations in actual practice. • Whether entailing randomized control trials or not, methods must be rigorous and replicable. They should be appropriate to the questions asked. • The research design and data analytic plan must be explicitly described.

8. Award types • Knowledge diffusion(formerly called synthesis) • Small projects for the synthesis or diffusion of existing knowledge on a topic of critical importance to STEM learning. Maximum award is $250,000 for two years. • Empirical • Projects, based in the STEM disciplines, designed to collect new empirical data.  Maximum award is $1,000,000 for three years.  • Large Empirical. • Complex projects such as multi-disciplinary teams working on conceptually related projects, longitudinal studies with large samples of participants, or randomized control trials of interventions. Maximum award is $2,000,000 for five years. • Diffusion and Evaluation • Project that provides technical assistance for projects on research methods and analysis, synthesize findings across the REESE portfolio, perform special evaluative studies, and disseminate findings.  Maximum award is $5,000,000 for five years.  • Conferences and workshops • Focused projects related to the goals of the program. Usual award is under $100,000. 

9. Next REESE competition • Optional Letter of Intent: November 5, 2007 • Full Proposal deadline: January 8, 2008 • Website: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07595/nsf07595.htm • For further information: • 703-292-8650 • DRLREESE@nsf.gov

10. DRL Cycle of Innovation and Learning

11. Other sources of funding at NSF • Other programs within DRL • DRK12, ITEST, CAREER, ISE, CDI, ALT, ATE • Other divisions within EHR  • Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) • Division of Graduate Education (DGE) • Division of Human Resource Development HRD • Other directorates also fund education research