<div dir="ltr"><div><b>1) NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE):</b> The National Science Foundation has released a solicitation for the IUSE program (<a href="http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505082">http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505082</a>). If the "IUSE" acronym seems unfamiliar, this program has a genealogy that includes acronyms that may be more familiar: NSF's venerable "Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement" (CCLI) program became the "Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education" (TUES) program, and TUES was combined with the "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program" (STEP) program and the "Widening Implementation and Demonstration of Evidence-based Reforms" (WIDER) program to create IUSE. From the program solicitation:<br>
</div><div style="margin-left:40px">In FY 2015, NSF-IUSE serves as the framework for all investments in research and development that are critical for curricular improvement in undergraduate STEM education, within formal and informal learning environments. FY 2015 IUSE programs call for proposals to: <br>
</div><div style="margin-left:40px"><div style="margin-left:40px">-use and build evidence about improved STEM instructional practices; <br>-design and study innovative learning opportunities, including cyberlearning; <br>
-create, implement, and test program, curricular, course, and technology-driven models; <br>-develop, implement, and test creative approaches for adoption of education research into disciplinary teachings; <br>-develop and validate assessments/metrics for undergraduate STEM learning and instructional practice; and<br>
-conduct fundamental research on issues of undergraduate STEM teaching and learning.<br></div></div><div><br></div><div>For the previous IUSE competition (February 2014), NSF only provided a program description (just a few paragraphs) to guide proposal preparation. This new solicitation is much more extensive. The IUSE program now has two tracks:<br>
</div><div style="margin-left:40px"><i>Engaged Student Learning</i>: "This track focuses on design, development, and research studies that involve the creation, exploration, or implementation of tools, resources, and models that show particular promise to increase engagement of undergraduate students in their STEM learning and lead to measurable and lasting learning gains."<br>
<br></div><div><div style="margin-left:40px"><i>Institutional and Community Transformation:</i> "This track supports projects that use innovative approaches to substantially increase the propagation of highly effective methods of STEM teaching and learning in institutions of higher education."<br>
</div><br></div><div>Within each track, there are two tiers:<br></div><div style="margin-left:40px"><i>Exploration:</i> "These projects may seek to establish the basis for design and development of new interventions or strategies, develop strategies for the adoption, adaptation, and implementation of effective practices, or adapt and implement strategies shown to be effective at other institutions. They may also pose new interventions or strategies, and explore challenges to their adoption, with the goal of informing policy, practice, and future design or development of components in the STEM higher education enterprise."<br>
<br></div><div style="margin-left:40px"><i>Design and Development:</i> These projects "will focus on achieving propagation beyond a single institution or work to promote change across multiple STEM disciplines within an institution" or "support ambitious efforts to achieve the widespread deployment of effective instructional, curricular, and co-curricular practices in support of student engagement, learning, and retention."<br>
</div><div><div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Proposal deadlines and funding amounts vary by track and tier:<br><div style="margin-left:40px"><b><i>Engaged Student Learning: Exploration</i></b> <br>
Funding up to $250,000 over a period of up to 2 years. Proposals due October 22, 2014.<br><b><i>Engaged Student Learning: Design and Development</i></b> <br>Funding up to $600,000 over a period of up to 3 years (Level I), or funding between $601,000 and $2,000,000 over a period of up to 5 years (Level II). Proposals due January 13, 2015<br>
<b><i>Institutional and Community Transformation: Exploration</i> </b><br>Funding up to $250,000 over a period of up to 2 years. Proposals due October 24, 2014.<br><b><i>Institutional and Community Transformation: Design and Development</i> </b><br>
Funding up to $3,000,000 over a period of up to 5 years. Proposals due January 13, 2015<br></div><br>During the coming weeks, NSF will probably schedule webinars to explain the RFP, release an FAQ, etc. <b>If you are interested in being added to an IUSE email list to receive additional updates from me,</b> sign up at <a href="http://go.osu.edu/ka7">http://go.osu.edu/ka7</a> As I'm accumulating IUSE resources, I'll post them at <a href="http://go.osu.edu/IUSE">http://go.osu.edu/IUSE</a><br clear="all">
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<span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px;background:none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(187,0,0);font-weight:bold">Christopher Andersen</span><br>Director<br><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:18px;background:none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(187,0,0)">STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Initiatives</span> <br>
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