Division of Undergraduate Education

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program (IUSE)

Program Description: NSF 14-7513Webinar November 22 and 26, 2013

Division of Undergraduate Education

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program (IUSE)

Program Description: NSF 14-7513

NSF STEM Workforce Priorities

• Prepare students to be leaders, teachers, and innovators in emerging and rapidly changing STEM fields

• Develop a scientifically literate populace

Both depend on the nature and quality of the undergraduate education experience

NSF InvestmentsResearch-based and research-generating approaches to: • Understand/advance STEM learning• Design, test, and study curricular change• Widely disseminate and implement best

practices• Broaden participation of individuals and

institutions in STEM fields

NSF Goals

• Develop the STEM/STEM-related workforce• Advance science• Broaden participation in STEM• Educate a STEM-literate populace• Build capacity in higher education• Improve K-12 STEM education• Encourage life-long learning

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE)

• Website:http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504976924

• Proposal Target Date: February 4, 2014

EHR Areas of Investment• Experiential learning• Assessment/metrics of learning and practice• Scholarships• Foundational education research• Professional development• Institutional change• Formal and informal learning environments• Undergraduate disciplinary research

IUSE ObjectivesNSF is seeking projects that:• Increase student retention in STEM• Prepare students to participate in science for

tomorrow• Improve students' STEM learning outcomes• Generate knowledge on how students learn

and on effective practice in undergraduate classrooms

• Broaden participation

IUSE Projects• DUE supports the improvement of the

undergraduate STEM education enterprise through funding the following:– Projects that build on fundamental research in

undergraduate STEM education and prior R&D– Research on design, development, and wide-

spread implementation of effective STEM learning/teaching knowledge and practice

– Foundational research on student learning

IUSE Projects (cont.)

• In FY14, NSF is also accepting proposals for developing “IDEAS Labs” in biology, engineering, and geosciences

• Intent: bring together relevant disciplinary and education research expertise to produce research agendas that address discipline-specific workforce development needs

What are IDEAS Labs?The process is modeled on the "IDEAS Factory" program developed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK• Goal: to develop new and bold approaches

to grand challenge questions for topics that require new dimensions of thought

• Structure: 20-30 participants are brought together for intensive interactive multidisciplinary workshops called “Sandpits”

What are IDEAS Labs? (cont.)• Workshop participants will be selected from among those

who send an Ideas Lab proposal to the February 4, 2014 target date

• Dear Colleague Letters will be forthcoming.• Selected participants are assisted by professional

facilitators who help organize the activities - along with scientific expert mentors

• Participants develop collaborative proposals through an iterative review process

• Selected teams will be encouraged to submit full proposals

NSF Merit Review Principles– NSF projects should be of the highest quality and

have the potential to advance, if not transform, the frontiers of knowledge

– NSF projects, in the aggregate, should contribute more broadly to achieving societal goals

– Meaningful assessment and evaluation of NSF funded projects should be based on appropriate metrics, keeping in mind the likely correlation between the effect of broader impacts and the resources provided to implement projects

NSF Merit Review Criteria• Intellectual Merit – the potential to advance

knowledge.• Broader Impacts – the potential to benefit

society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.

Both criteria, Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact, will be given full consideration during the review and decision-making processes. Proposers must fully address both criteria.

Merit Review Considerations • What is the potential for the proposed activity to:

Advance knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields (Intellectual Merit); and

Benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes (Broader Impacts)?

• To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative, original or potentially transformative concepts?

• Is the plan for carrying out the proposed activities well-reasoned, well-organized, and based on a sound rationale? Does the plan incorporate a mechanism to assess success?

Merit Review Considerations• How well qualified is the individual, team, or

organization to conduct the proposed activities?• Are there adequate resources available to the PI (either

at the home institution or through collaborations) to carry out the proposed activities?

Please Note: Reviewers are also asked to review Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources, Data Management Plan, and Postdoctoral Researcher Mentoring Plan

Human Subjects - IRB

• IRB exemption or approval documentation is required at the time of the award - in order to receive FY 2014 funding

• Please plan for the timing necessary to obtain institutional IRB approval

GRANT PROPOSAL GUIDEChecklist for Proposal Preparation• “Complete proposals help expedite review and

processing. To assure that research and other proposals submitted to the Foundation are complete, an administrative check should be made before mailing.”

• The GPG Checklist for Proposal Preparation can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/nsf002/apx_b.htm

Common Questions

Will there be a program solicitation or RFP for IUSE?

• There will NOT be an official solicitation for IUSE, only the Program Description

• The guidance for proposal preparation is the NSF Grants Proposal Guide (GPG)

• Grant Proposal Guide website: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf13001/gpg_index.jsp.

What is a Program Description?

• "The term "program description" includes broad, general descriptions of programs and activities in NSF Directorates/Offices and Divisions

Will there be budget limits?

• No. • The Program Description does not include

budget limits. • The project budget should be appropriate

for the proposed effort.

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504976&org=DUE&from=home

What is a target date?

• Proposals received on or before the target date will be considered for FY 2014 funding.

Are there any identified categories or tracks?

• PD 14-7513 does not describe categories or tracks.

• The Project Description (including Results from Prior NSF Support, which is limited to 5 pages) may NOT exceed 15 pages.

• Visual materials, including charts, graphs, maps, photographs and other pictorial presentations are included in the 15-page limitation (GPG Chapter II.D.ii).

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf13001/gpg_2.jsp#IIC2dii).

Is the Project Description still limited to 15 pages?

Does IUSE allow proposals of five-year duration?• Grants are normally awarded for one to three years.

The Foundation encourages PIs to request awards for durations of three to five years when such durations are necessary for completion of the proposed work and are technically and managerially advantageous (GPG Chapter Ii.C.2.a.b)

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf13001/gpg_2.jsp#IIC2a).

How many proposals may I submit?

• The Program Description does not limit the number of submissions

http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504976&org=DUE&from=home

Should the proposal have a dissemination plan?• The spread of the use of effective approaches to STEM education relies on

outreach to the community, including presentation at professional society meetings, workshops, publication, and other mechanisms.

• Investigators are expected to share with other researchers, at no more than incremental cost and within a reasonable time, the primary data, samples, physical collections and other supporting materials created or gathered in the course of work under NSF grants. Grantees are expected to encourage and facilitate such sharing.

• Under all NSF awards, investigators are expected to promptly prepare and submit for publication, with authorship that accurately reflects the contributions of those involved, all significant findings from work conducted under NSF grants.

NSF Awards and Administration Guide (AAG) Chapter VI.D.4.a contains further information: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf13001/aag_6.jsp

May I submit letters of commitment or collaboration?• ”Documentation of collaborative arrangements of significance to the

proposal through letters of commitment" can be submitted (GPG Chapter II.C.2.j.)http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf13001/gpg_2.jsp#IIC2j

• ”Any substantial collaboration with individuals not included in the budget should be described and documented with a letter from each collaborator, which should be provided in the supplementary documentation section of the FastLane Proposal Preparation Module" (GPG Chapter II.C.2.d.(iv))http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf13001/gpg_2.jsp#IIC2div)

• "

May I submit letters of support?

• Letters of support should NOT be submitted as they are not a standard component of an NSF proposal”

• See the GPG Chapter II.C.2.j. for further information:

• http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf13001/gpg_index.jsp

Can I submit a proposal prepared in response to a previous DUE program? (e.g., TUES, WIDER, or STEP)

• You could submit a proposal prepared for one of those programs to the IUSE program. However, it should be noted that the IUSE program description provides fewer restrictions and, thus, an opportunity for greater creative freedom than the previous programs.

• A stronger proposal is one for which the PI team has considered more directly the structure of the proposed project in meeting the goal of IUSE to “address immediate challenges and opportunities facing undergraduate STEM education, as well as those that anticipate new structures and function of the undergraduate STEM learning and teaching enterprise.”

Is laboratory equipment an allowed budget item in IUSE?• "Allowable items ordinarily will be limited to research

equipment and apparatus not already available for the conduct of the work. General-purpose equipment, such as a personal computer and office furnishings, are not eligible for support unless primarily or exclusively used in the actual conduct of the proposed research."

 • GPG Chapter II. C. 2. g.:

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf13001/gpg_2.jsp#IIC2g.

 

• PD 14-7513 does not specify the requirement for an internal or external advisory board

Is an advisory board (internal or external) required?

Must a project be evidence-based or evidence-generating?

• As per the Program Description:

“Proposals should describe projects that build on available evidence and theory, and that will generate evidence and build knowledge”

• If the rationale for your project and the basis and execution of its activities can be illuminated by such data or any other data or information, then you are encouraged to provide it

Do I need to present baseline data and a theory of change?

Do I need to include a Data Management Plan with my proposal?

• Yes. “Proposals must include a supplementary document of no more than two pages labeled “Data Management Plan”. This supplement should describe how the proposal will conform to NSF policy on the dissemination and sharing of research results.”

 • See the GPG, Chapter II.C.2.j:

http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf11001/gpg_2.jsp#dmp.

• See the AAG Chapter VI.D.4: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf11001/aag_6.jsp#VID4.

Do I need to include a Postdoctoral Fellow Mentoring Plan with my proposal?• Yes, if you are requesting support for postdoctoral fellows.

• “Each proposal that requests funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include, as a supplementary document, a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals.”

 • See the GPG, Chapter II.C.2.j:http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf11001/gpg_2.jsp#dmp.

 

What are the Common Guidelines for Educational Research and where can I find them?• The Guidelines were developed to “establish cross-agency

guidelines for improving the quality, coherence, and pace of knowledge development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education” (NSF 13-126)

• The Common Guidelines (NSF 13-126): http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf13126

• A related FAQ (NSF 13-127): http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13127/nsf13127.jsp

Must my proposal fit into one of the six types of education research described in the Common Guidelines?

• No.• However, if you choose to fit your

proposal into one or more of the six types, you should identify the type(s).

Who can I contact for advice on IUSE?

Biological SciencesKathleen Bergin – kbergin@nsf.gov Katherine Denniston – kdennist@nsf.gov Gregory Goins – ggoins@nsf.gov Joan Prival - jprival@nsf.gov Terry Woodin – twoodin@nsf.gov  ChemistryNiki Bennett – nbennett@nsf.gov David Brown – drbrown@nsf.gov Dawn Rickey – drickey@nsf.gov Herbert Richtol – hrichtol@nsf.gov

Who can I contact for advice on IUSE?Computer ScienceValerie Barr – vbarr@nsf.gov Jane Prey – jprey@nsf.gov Paul Tymann – ptymann@nsf.gov

Engineering Amy Chan Hilton – achanhil@nsf.gov Susan Finger – sfinger@nsf.gov Gul Kremer – gkremer@nsf.gov John Krupczak – jkrupcza@nsf.gov Don Millard – dmillard@nsf.govYvette Weatherton – yweather@nsf.gov

Who can I contact for advice on IUSE?GeosciencesAmy Chan Hilton – achanhil@nsf.gov  MathematicsJohn Haddock – jhaddock@nsf.gov Michael Jacobson – mjacobso@nsf.gov Lee Zia – lzia@nsf.gov  PhysicsJoyce Evans – jevans@nsf.gov Duncan McBride – dmcbride@nsf.gov

Who can I contact for advice on IUSE?

Social Science and Behavioral SciencesMyles Boylan – mboylan@nsf.gov Connie Della-Piana – cdellapi@nsf.gov InterdisciplinaryMyles Boylan – mboylan@nsf.govCorby Hovis – chovis@nsf.gov Herbert Richtol – hrichtol@nsf.gov Terry Woodin – twoodin@nsf.gov

Who can I contact for advice on IUSE?

Research/Evaluation/Common Guidelines for Educational ResearchMyles Boylan – mboylan@nsf.gov Connie Della-Piana – cdellapi@nsf.govDawn Rickey – drickey@nsf.gov

Questions?

• Website:http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504976924

• Target Date: –February 4, 2014