CIRCL Newsletter – Issue 30, May 2018

CIRCL News

The STEM For All Video Showcase starts today and runs through Monday, May 21. The showcase features 214 short videos — 15 of which are about Cyberlearning projects (see below), including one produced by CIRCL about the Cyberlearning Community Report. We hope you join the discussion, share your ideas, and vote for your favorites. Other ways you can participate in the Cyberlearning community include:

Congratulations to Tammy Clegg and Emma Mercier for getting tenure!


Cyberlearning Videos in the STEM For All Video Showcase

Join the conversation this week (May 14-21) as 214 federally funded projects share short videos of their work aimed at transforming the STEM educational landscape. Below are the Cyberlearning videos (associated with CIRCL) in the showcase, sorted by lead presenter.

Cyberlearning videos in the showcase

Featured Perspective: Meet Danielle McNamara

Meet Danielle McNamara

Danielle McNamara is a psychology professor and Director of the Science of Learning and Educational Technology (SoLET) lab at Arizona State University.

Congratulations to Dr. McNamara for being selected as an AERA Fellow for 2018!

How did you get started in cyberlearning?

I got started in cognitive science as a graduate student. Prior to that, I had an undergrad degree in linguistics, after I had gone to France and discovered a love of language. I taught English as a Second Language (ESL) for 5 years, and got a clinical degree — and then I discovered that what I loved was cognitive science. It all kind of melded together when I started doing research that had a strong foundation of learning theories with Alice Healy, and learning about reading comprehension research with Walter Kintch. My ultimate goal always came back to improving learning in classrooms because I had been a classroom teacher.
Read more of Danielle’s perspective.


NSF Funding Opportunities: STEM+C, CRII, Convergence Research

NSF STEM + Computing K-12 Education (STEM+C) has a new program description and call. NSF is trying a new approach to requesting and handling proposals (e.g., there is no solicitation); submit a proposal by July 2, 2018 to be considered for FY18 funding.

NSF CISE Research Initiation Initiative (CRII) seeks to support independent research upon obtaining one’s first academic position after receipt of the PhD and allow the new PI to support one or more graduate students for up to two years. Proposals due August 8, 2018.

NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Growing Convergence Research seeks to identify potential future research driven by a specific problem and integrating knowledge, methods, and expertise from different disciplines. A prospectus may be submitted at any time; submit by October 15, 2018 to be considered for FY19 funding.


Other Opportunities: Gates, Ganz, CZI

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Bright Spots RFI seeks ideas for future funding. “Our ultimate goal is to dramatically improve middle years math instruction (grades 3-9), so that every Black, Latino, and low-income student deeply knows, is able to use, and enjoys math by the time they are in high school.” Short description of your idea is due by May 18, 2018.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center (JGCC) at Sesame Workshop has announced the Families Learning Across Boundaries (FamLAB) Spark Grants Program to help children and youth learn more deeply across home, community, and school settings. Grant applications due May 22, 2018.

Gates & CZI RFI: Advanced Education Research & Development Programs. The Gates Foundation and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative want your ideas about research and development to benefit students and educators. Current program areas include non-fiction writing, mathematical understanding, and executive function. Deadline: June 8, 2018.


Calls for Papers in Mobile, Data, & TEL; ELDA & Learning Innovation Summits

Reminder: The deadline to submit 1-2 page proposals to a special issue of Contemporary Educational Psychology on Mobile Learning is May 15. Guest editors Jeffrey Greene, Helen Crompton and Matt Bernacki are happy to answer questions about suitable contributions. Please submit summaries and questions about the special issue to Matt Bernacki (matt.bernacki@unlv.edu).

Call for Papers: Educational Research in a New Data Environment. The Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness (JREE) invites papers for a special issue about how education research can leverage new forms of data and new analytic techniques to learn about educational processes and effects. Abstracts due June 1; manuscripts due August 1.

Call for Papers: Interdisciplinary Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning Interventions: Sites of Knowledge, Collaborative Identities and Pedagogical Innovations. Frontier Research Topics invites papers on challenges involved in interdisciplinary and cross-sector technology-enhanced learning research. Abstracts due June 28; manuscripts due October 29.

The Education Leadership Data Analytics (ELDA) Summit will be held in New York on Friday, June 8, 2018. This event is free and open to the public. Due to limited seating, registration is required and will be accepted up to seating capacity on a first-come-first-served basis with a waiting list.

Learning Innovation Summit: Effective Digital Learning Innovation in the Sciences will be held Friday, June 15, 2018 at NASA in Mountain View, CA. The Summit focuses on real, repeatable practices implemented by leading educators from across the country. Learn more and register.


Job Opportunities: WPI, Indiana University, WGBH

Worcester Polytechnic Institute seeks a postdoctoral fellow in learning sciences to help examine the intersections of algebra problem solving, math cognition, errors and strategy use, feedback, technology, and games in learning. Lots of opportunities for log-level data analysis. Contact Erin Ottmar at erottmar@wpi.edu.

The Center for Research on Learning and Technology at the Indiana University School of Education – Bloomington seeks a postdoctoral scholar in STEM education. The position will require work across multiple projects related to the study of science education and development of computer-based science assessments.

WGBH Education seeks a Director of Strategic Development responsible for conceptualizing and researching new projects, identifying appropriate partners, helping chart strategy driving toward educational impact among underserved populations, and more. Learn more and apply.

WGBH Education also seeks a Director of STEM Curriculum & Instruction to provide leadership and vision in the ongoing planning, development, review, and evaluation of WGBH Education’s STEM early learning activities. Learn more and apply.

The University of San Diego seeks an Executive Director of the Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education who is an innovative and nationally recognized leader in the field of educational innovation, technology and equity. Apply by June 25.


Resource & Tech Corner

NSF EHR has new data management plan guidance for the scientists it supports, providing detailed directions on how to make their research results easier to replicate.

Grantees of the Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) program have produced useful resources including project evaluation reports, insights into learnings, and tools and presentations. Recent resources include the We Are A Village Evaluation Report about family engagement in early childhood, the i3 Sustainability Rubric to help grantees assess their readiness to sustain and scale, and the Scaling Up Evidence-Based Practices white paper that discusses key lessons from grantees around how to recruit schools/districts to implement new education practices, what it takes to get consistent results across diverse sites, and conditions that are critical to sustaining practices over time.

The Practical Strategies for Culturally Competent Evaluation guide provides strategies for approaching an evaluation with a critical cultural lens to ensure that evaluation efforts have cultural relevance and generate meaningful findings. Although developed for public health programs, many of its strategies and tips are applicable to education research.

Digital Promise has launched its new educator Micro-credentials platform. Micro-credentials articulate a discrete skill to support educator practice and the specific evidence educators must submit to demonstrate their competence in that skill. Researchers who engage with teachers in co-design or RPP work might consider giving teachers microcredentials to recognize their contributions.

The Learning Scientists site aims to make scientific research on learning more accessible to students, teachers, and other educators. Check out the blog, podcasts, videos, and materials for teachers and students, and follow them on twitter and facebook to learn more about resources dedicated to the science of learning.


Books & Publications

Malyn-Smith, J., Blustein, D., Pillai, S., Parker, C. E., Gutowski, E., & Diamonti, A. J. (2017). Building the foundational skills needed for success in work at the human-technology frontier. Waltham, MA: EDC. Learn more at the CIRCL eColloq Webinar about this work on Thursday May 31!

Untold Narratives: African Americans Who Received Special Education Services and Succeeded Beyond Expectations, edited by Shawn Anthony Robinson, features personal narratives of how African Americans have understood their positions within the general education and special education systems.


Share Your News

Have some news (project highlights, publications, job opportunities, etc.) that you want to share? Contact CIRCL.

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CIRCL is supported by NSF grants IIS-1233722, IIS-1441631, and IIS-1556486. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.