Broadening the Impacts of Scientific Research

1. Broadening the Impacts of Scientific Research Joan Peckham Professor, Computer Science Chair, Computer Science & Statistics University of Rhode Island

2. My Perspective MS – Mathematics; MS & PhD Computer Science Program Director – NSF – National Science Foundation CISE/CNS Education & Workforce Cluster – 2008-2010 REU Sites, CPATH, BPC, CreativeIT, PSLC Computational Thinking Evangelist OCI/LWD – REU Sites, CI-TEAM, CE-21, Cyberlearning, CI-TraCS, ADVANCE, GRFP, NITRD Professor - URI – University of Rhode Island Conceptual data modeling & interdisciplinary efforts In a previous life Public School Teacher of 7-12 Mathematics

3. Intellectual Merit • 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 traNSFormativeconcepts? • How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity? • Is there sufficient access to resources?

4. Broader Impacts • How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning? • How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)? • To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships? • Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding? • What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?

5. Broader ImpactsExamples (From the GPG) • Innovations in teaching and training (e.g., development of curricular materials and pedagogical methods) • Contributions to the science of learning • Development and/or refinement of research tools; computation methodologies, and algorithms for problem-solving • Development of databases to support research and education • Broadening the participation of groups underrepresented in science, mathematics, engineering and technology • Service to the scientific and engineering community outside of the individual’s immediate organization • More examples at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf

6. Proposed Changes in Broader ImpactsMerit Review Criteriawww.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2011/06_mrtf.jsp • All must be of highest intellectual merit & have potential to advance frontiers of knowledge • Collectively should advance broad set of important national goals including • Increased economic competitiveness of US & globally competitive workforce • Increased participation of women & persons with disabilities & underrepresented minorities in STEM • Partnerships between academia and industry • Improved undergraduate and pre-K-12 STEM education and teacher development • Increased public scientific literacy and public engagement with science and technology • Increased national security • Enhanced infrastructure for research and education, including facilities, instrumentation, networks and partnerships

7. Proposed Changes in Broader ImpactsMerit Review Criteria • Broader impacts may be achieved through • The research itself • Activities that are directly related to specific research projects • Activities that are supported by the project but ancillary to the research. All are valuable approaches for advancing important national goals • Ongoing application of these criteria should be subject to appropriate assessment developed using reasonable metrics over a period of time.

8. Broader ImpactsTeaching & Training • K-12 Involvement • Standards & learning objectives • Teacher training • Involvement in classroom or after-school activities • Undergraduate • Research • General education • Integration of CT into all disciplines • Professional organizations

9. Broader Impacts Examples • Mentoring • Students • Young faculty • Broadening participation • Underrepresented and underserved groups • Involvement with four year, HBCU, HIS institutions • Junior colleges • Citizen Scientists

10. Broader ImpactsExamples • Dissemination to groups outside your discipline • Other disciplines • Science museums • Press kits, multi-media presentations of your work • Policy makers - Congress and state legislatures • Interdisciplinary groups • Conferences • Research partners

11. Broader Impacts GoalsExamples • Explain science and scientific results to audiences that would not normally have access to information • Render your results useful to industry, government, classrooms, other disciplines • Develop educational materials that are useful to public schools, parents, citizens

12. Attention to Broader Impacts Strengthen Research Agenda • Analyze • Your strengths and training • Needs and interests of your research community • Outstanding and emerging problems • Opportunities for funding and engagement

13. Solicitations withStrong Broader Impacts (OCI & CISE) • REU – Research experience for undergraduates • CISE and OCI educational solicitations • CI-TEAM – Training the next gen to use and build the nation’s cyberinfrastructure • CI-TraCS – Interdisciplinary post-doctoral program in computational science • Cyberlearning – Educational research in cybertools and learning • CE-21 – Computing – Broadening and Education in K-14

14. Solicitations withStrong Broader Impacts (EHR/OIA/OISE) • TUES – Undergraduate education • ITEST –K-12 • IGERT – Interdisciplinary graduate programs • PIRE - International • ADVANCE – Research or institutional transformation

15. “Evidence-Based” is Important • Most educational and integrative programs now require evidence of outcomes to be collected and reported • All require strong project design with accompanying questions to be tested

16. Connection to Existing Literature & Practice is Important • NCWIT – www.ncwit.org • BPC - http://www.bpcportal.org • SLCs – Science of Learning Centers • Computational Thinking – • http://www.computingportal.org/CE21 • Social science literature • Educational literature • Management literature

17. Other Strategies Serve as a panelist at NSF Consider a rotation at NSF Volunteer for Education, BP, or other conference tracks Industry (Examples – Maker Faires, Geek Dinners, Consulting, Economic Development groups