NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Growing Convergence Research at NSF

Opportunities
Growing Convergence Research at the National Science Foundation (NSF) is one of 10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments. NSF seeks to highlight the value of convergence as a process for catalyzing new research directions and advancing scientific discovery and innovation. This Dear Colleague Letter describes an initial set of opportunities to explore Convergence approaches within four of the research-focused NSF Big Ideas:
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AEA Dialogues on Race and Class in America

Opportunities

The American Evaluation Association (AEA) will be hosting a series of national dialogues to reflect and promote positive actions on the deeply rooted, and structurally intertwined issues behind the headlines that propel racial, ethnic, and class disparities in our society. These complimentary discussions will bring evaluators, policy analysts, and applied researchers together to discern ways to proactively engage entrenched issues as the nation goes from one headline making incident to the next.

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How Do Propensity Score Methods Measure Up in the Presence of Measurement Error? A Monte Carlo Study

Publications

Considering that the absence of measurement error in research is a rare phenomenon and its effects can be dramatic, we examine the impact of measurement error on propensity score (PS) analysis used to minimize selection bias in behavioral and social observational studies. A Monte Carlo study was conducted to explore the effects of measurement error on the treatment effect and balance estimates in PS analysis across seven different PS conditioning methods. In general, the results indicate that even low levels of measurement error in the covariates lead to substantial bias in estimates of

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Innovations and Challenges in Project-Based STEM Education: Lessons from ITEST

Publications

For over a decade, the National Science Foundation’s Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program has funded researchers and educators to build an understanding of best practices, contexts, and processes contributing to K-12 students’ motivation and participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) activities that lead to STEM career pathways. The outcomes from these projects have contributed significantly to the national body of knowledge about strategies, successes, models, and interventions that support and encourage youth to pursue

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National Science Foundation STEM + Computing Partnerships (STEM+C) Program Solicitation

Opportunities

As computing has become an integral part of the practice of modern science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the STEM + Computing Partnerships program seeks to address the urgent need to prepare students from the early grades through high school in the essential skills, competencies, and dispositions needed to succeed in a computationally-dependent world.

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Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Broadening Participation Projects: Report from a National Science Foundation Workshop

Publications
Cover of Report

BackgroundThis report grew out of a workshop and follow-up session sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR). The two-day workshop and subsequent meeting sought to develop and validate evaluation practices to assess the value of NSF’s investment in broadening participation across all directorates and programs. Invited participants included NSF grantees, professional evaluators, and the policy community (which included representatives from Congress, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NSF staff, and staff from other federal

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American Evaluation Association - Evaluation 2016 Meeting

Opportunities

The American Evaluation Association (AEA) is a professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms of evaluation. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness. AEA has approximately 7100 members representing all 50 states in the United States as well as over 60 foreign countries. 

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ITEST Data Brief: Research Methods in ITEST

Publications
Image of ITEST Data Brief: Research Methods in ITEST

ITEST Data Brief Volume 3, Issue 3, September 2016The ITEST program requires that all proposals include a research component. This data brief examines the 63 projects that described their research between September 1, 2014 and August 31, 2015 as reported in the 2015 Management Information System (MIS) survey. Questions addressed include: - What kinds of study designs do projects use?- Which tools do projects use to measure outcomes?- What kinds of instruments do projects use to measure outcomes?- What data do projects intend to collect from participants after funding is over?- How do ITEST

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