A teacher supports a boy in his classroom with computer-based learning focused on coding and programming. … [+]
Social scientists have been studying teaching and learning since the late 1890s, but much of what is known in the field is not supported by the rigorous research and testing that is standard in other fields, such as medicine. yeah. For example, despite countless studies, educators still cannot confidently say why certain learning strategies work well for some children and not for others. Is not … And while almost everyone thinks they know good teaching when they see good teaching, there is little agreement on what makes for effective teaching.
That's why this week's news of an unprecedented grant from the National Science Foundation to Rice University's OpenStax is so exciting. The $90 million award will create the infrastructure and datasets needed to answer these types of questions rigorously and reliably.
This grant represents the single largest investment in education research and development infrastructure ever made by the National Science Foundation. This will enable OpenStax to implement SafeInsights, a large-scale education research hub that fosters research into how students of all backgrounds learn most effectively while protecting student privacy. It will be interesting to see what this radical new infrastructure means for educational research.
“Telescope” of educational research and development
So what is this new tool and what makes it unique? SafeInsights is a national science cyberinfrastructure that facilitates research coordination and data usage across major digital learning apps and websites. Think of it like NASA's James Webb telescope for educational research and development. Like telescopes, SafeInsights are state-of-the-art tools that scientists and researchers cannot create alone. Rather, it is a resource created in collaboration with multiple agencies and made possible through federal funding. And like the Webb telescope, this telescope will be accessible to the research community, unlocking countless possibilities for what can be explored and discovered.
Essentially, this investment from the National Science Foundation will make educational research better, cheaper and faster, deepening our understanding of what works for which students and under what conditions. New research findings powered by SafeInsights will help develop and scale innovative tools and approaches to improve outcomes for millions of children.
NSF's Medium Grants program supports the design and implementation of critical research infrastructure, from advanced equipment to cyberinfrastructure to large-scale datasets. Projects funded by the organization respond to community-defined scientific needs and address important national research priorities. To reach its full potential, medium-sized projects include creating shared data resources and building tools that are widely used by the community.
Addressing historical issues in educational research and development
Two features make SafeInsights particularly promising in the quest to understand the predictors of effective teaching and learning. First, SafeInsights prioritizes the privacy and protection of student data. The need to protect student information while leveraging it to gain new insights has been a long-standing challenge in education research and development. With student data securely stored and studied, there are plenty of opportunities for fresh, more tailored research.
Second, SafeInsights prioritizes the inclusion of students, educators, and researchers from diverse backgrounds. For too long, education research and development has resulted in biased data, findings, and solutions that are unrepresentative of the students they seek to serve. By diversifying the actors involved in education research and development, this new infrastructure will unlock insights into what works, for which learners, and in what educational settings.
Laying the foundation for new infrastructure
Rice University's OpenStax is the first education-specific recipient of a medium-sized research infrastructure grant from NSF, but it likely won't be the last. Currently, NSF is working with his three charities to lay the foundations for a new medium-sized proposal through an incubator program. NSF, along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and the Walton Family Foundation, is soliciting proposals for his medium-sized research infrastructure incubator and conference for STEM education research focused on educational equity. I am.
Launched just last year, the program explores the development of mid-scale research infrastructure in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, particularly for students who have historically been underrepresented in STEM. We have already funded seven incubators and two conferences. As stated in the NSF invitation to submit proposals, medium-scale research infrastructure in STEM education is “a relatively new concept… because research in STEM education has traditionally been distributed and isolated. , because there is less reliance on equipment.'' But to increase the speed and scale of progress in STEM education research, a national research infrastructure is needed. ”
Here are some mid-sized incubator projects that we think have great potential. His INTERACT Incubator at Indiana University Bloomington, led by Ben Motz and Mary Murphy, is building on work with Terracotta and the Equity Accelerator to design infrastructure that will dramatically improve equity in STEM. Meanwhile, Justin Reich's team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is collecting large-scale data on teachers' “moves,” or impromptu interactions with learners, to inform educational science and intellectual development. We are developing a free and open dataset of “1 million'' teacher movements. Tutoring tools.
I am optimistic about the future of education innovation because of the significant investments NSF is making in education research infrastructure and the way the education research community has responded to this situation. If we continue to build on this momentum and develop new infrastructure in educational research and development, students will benefit from new insights into teaching and learning.
