Ambitious Mashups: Trends at NSF and Beyond

Lead author: Sarita Pillai; Contributors: Jeremy Roschelle & Judi Fusco

Definition

Cyberlearning projects have been conceptualized and implemented in the midst of a changing educational, policy, and funding landscape. A significant influence on this community has been the evolution of NSF’s mid- and long-term research and investment priorities. In 2017, some of these priorities coalesced in the agency’s 10 Big Ideas. Among the Big Ideas, three have already had notable influence in cyberlearning projects:

  1. Harnessing the Data Revolution. Engaging NSF’s research community in the pursuit of fundamental research in data science and engineering, the development of a cohesive, federated, national-scale approach to research data infrastructure, and the development of a 21st century data-capable workforce.
  2. Convergence Research. Merging ideas, approaches, tools, and technologies from widely diverse fields of science and engineering to stimulate discovery and innovation.
  3. Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier. Catalyzing interdisciplinary science and engineering research to understand and build the human-technology relationship; design new technologies to augment human performance; illuminate the emerging socio-technological landscape; and foster lifelong and pervasive learning with technology.

A fourth Big Idea, INCLUDES, forms alliances to transform education and career pathways to help broaden participation in science and engineering. And more recently, NSF 2026 which seeks community input into foundational research areas of the future that are boundary-crossing and out of the programmatic ‘box’ and that require long-term commitment at a significant scale.

Please see the full report for additional information on how this theme changed over time in cyberlearning research and for some questions that arose as we investigated the theme.

Project Examples and Resources

Data Science Learning

  • 20 Projects
  • 5 sessions at cyberlearning convenings

Stimulating Quotes and Snippets

  • “All of the problems that face our civilization require people who are expert with data to be part of the solution. There is already a severe shortage of such people. As students in K-12 schools learn with data they will develop the intuitions, skills, and data habits of mind that will turn them into 21st century problem solvers” – Bill FInzer
  • “They are using it to answer questions, and they are providing brand-new, hyper-local data to scientists that they would never have had otherwise. Plus, rural community members are connecting with scientists and experts who can provide valuable insight into local decision making that the rural communities would have never had” – Ruth Kermish Allen

Example Project Abstracts:

Related Primers/Spotlights/Reports:

Showcase Videos and/or Gallery Posters:

Cross Connections:
Data Visualization, Smart & Connected

Exit Survey Highlights (30 total responses): Data Science Learning

  • Projects tagged as Data science education: 3
  • Project Implementation Setting:
    • 1: Formal school setting
    • 1: Formal school setting and informal learning setting (summer program)
    • 1: Workplace
  • Special populations targeted:
    • 1 data science education project targeted learners in schools with 50% or more students receiving FRPL and women/girls.
  • Project included teacher/practitioner partnerships: All 3 projects included a teacher/practitioner collaboration or partnership, indicating that these projects are actively seeking out teacher partnerships and incorporating their input into the development of project resources/products for teaching and learning data science.
  • PI proposals and awards:
    • PI received new Cyberlearning award: 1
    • PI submitted proposal to Future of Work program: 0
    • PI received an NSF award for a program other than Cyberlearning: 2 (ITEST, STEM+C, AISL)
  • Project included teacher/practitioner partnerships: 5/10
    • Only 50% of these projects included a practitioner partnership, which is a lower percentage than projects addressing other CL themes.
  • Project included 2 or more grad students on project staff: 13/17; CL projects focused on methodological approaches provide good opportunities for engaging and training grad students, with several projects employing 5+ grad students.
  • PI proposals and awards
    • PI received new Cyberlearning award: 5
    • PI submitted proposal to Future of Work program: 3 (more than projects addressing the other CL themes)
    • PI received an NSF award for a program other than Cyberlearning: 8
    • More PIs received awards from other NSF programs, such as CS for All, AISL, STEM+C, and ITEST, than CL awards.
  • Project Publications:
    • 1/3 indicated that they published project findings in scholarly journals, including: Technological Innovations in Statistics Education

    • Neuroscience

    • 20 Projects
    • 5 sessions at cyberlearning convenings

    Stimulating Quotes and Snippets

    • “All of the problems that face our civilization require people who are expert with data to be part of the solution. There is already a severe shortage of such people. As students in K-12 schools learn with data they will develop the intuitions, skills, and data habits of mind that will turn them into 21st century problem solvers” – Bill Finzer
    • “They are using it to answer questions, and they are providing brand-new, hyper-local data to scientists that they would never have had otherwise. Plus, rural community members are connecting with scientists and experts who can provide valuable insight into local decision making that the rural communities would have never had” – Ruth Kermish Allen

    Example Project Abstracts:

    Related Primers/Spotlights/Reports:

    Showcase Videos and/or Gallery Posters:

    Cross Connections:
    Data Visualization, Smart & Connected

    Exit Survey Highlights (30 total responses): Neuroscience

    • Projects tagged as Cognitive Science/Neuroscience: 2
    • Projects with staff including Cognitive Science researchers: 15
      • Given that 15 projects include cognitive science researchers, but only 2 chose to tag their projects as cognitive science or neuroscience, it appears that these researchers are working on projects that focus on other topics or themes.
    • Project implementation setting:
      • 2/2: “other” informal learning setting; lab and academic conference.
    • Special populations targeted:
      • 1/2: project specifically targeted learners in low-performing districts or schools and underrepresented minorities.
    • Project included 2 or more grad students on project staff: 2/2
      • The two projects included 2 and 4 grad students on their projects respectively, which is less than projects that focused on other themes, such as methods.
    • Project included teacher/practitioner partnerships: 0; Projects focused on cognitive science and neuroscience may be less likely to engage the practitioner perspective, even though teachers can provide valuable insights regarding teaching and learning practices.
    • PI proposals and awards:
      • PI received new Cyberlearning award: 1
      • PI submitted proposal to Future of Work program: 1
      • PI received an NSF award for a program other than Cyberlearning: 1 (CL co-funding from DRK-12)
    • Project publications: 1/2 indicated that they published project findings in a scholarly journal, including: Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

    Smart and Connected Communities

    • 5 Projects
    • 5 sessions at cyberlearning convenings

    Stimulating Quotes and Snippets

    • “Technology really drives kids interest in the project and helps them become interested in science. It’s about the environment, too….It’s also about accessibility, and providing kids with opportunities they never would have had, especially in the inner city.” – Lauren Birney
    • “It was really invigorating using the tools and the ideas that came out of the kids as a way to really changed the hearts and minds of young people.” – Andrés Henríquez

    Example Project Abstracts:

    Related Primers/Spotlights/Reports:

    Showcase Videos and/or Gallery Posters:

    Cross Connections:
    Informal

    Exit Survey Highlights (30 total responses): Smart and Connected Communities

    • Projects tagged as Smart and connected communities: 3
    • Project implementation setting: all 3 projects took place in an informal learning setting (i.e., conferences, online, homes, museum/science center, after school program); 1 project also took place in a formal school setting.
    • Project included 2 or more grad students on project staff: 1/3 (less than projects focused on other themes)
    • Project included teacher/practitioner partnerships: 3/3
    • Project publications: 2/3 projects indicated that they published project findings in scholarly journals, including: Citizen Science: Theory and Practice; CITE Journal: Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education; Learning, Media, & Technology; British Journal of Educational Technology

    Future of Work

    • 17 Projects
    • 6 sessions at cyberlearning convenings

    Stimulating Quotes and Snippets

    • “I’m seriously concerned about the wider workforce implications of AI going forward. There’s a fairly wide range of projections of what percent of jobs are automatable” – James Lester
    • “My research program has been expanded to promote, facilitate, and scaffold the effective integration of data science and computation at the undergraduate and graduate levels with the aim of strengthening the workforce… You need strong partnerships between science and engineering faculty members who are eager to change their teaching practice, or colleagues who are doing interdisciplinary work” – Ale Magana

    Example Project Abstracts:

    Related Primers/Spotlights/Reports:

    Showcase Videos and/or Gallery Posters:

    Cross Connections:
    Equity & Inclusion, TPD

    Exit Survey Highlights (30 total responses): Future of Work

    • Total projects indicating they have an explicit focus on cyberlearning in preparation for and within the context of the work setting: 20
      • 7: Design and develop future learning environments to educate/re-educate workers for new worker environments and experiences in collaboration with advanced technology.
      • 10: Support the current and future work of teachers in classrooms and other related settings.
      • 3: Support the needs of diverse workers from a broad set of backgrounds and experiences.
    • Projects tagged as Workplace: 2
      • While the majority of projects indicated an explicit focus on CL within the context of the work setting, only 2 chose “workplace” as one of their 6 tags, indicating that PIs do not feel as strongly about their projects’ connections to work/the workplace as they do to other CL topics or themes.
    • Primary participant type served by project:
      • Project 1: Undergraduate and graduate students
      • Project 2: Adults (non-students)
    • Project implementation setting:
      • Formal school setting and workplace
    • Special populations targeted: none
    • Project included 2 or more grad students on project staff: 2/2
    • PI proposals and awards
      • PI received new Cyberlearning award: 1/2
      • PI submitted proposal to Future of Work program: 2/2
      • PI received an NSF award for a program other than Cyberlearning: 0
    • Project Publications:
      • 1 project indicated that project findings have been published in scholarly journals, including: Journal of Architectural Engineering; Automation in Construction; Multimedia Tools and Applications; Information Technology in Construction; Advances in Civil Engineering