Inside IES Research

Notes from NCER & NCSER

A Night to Play and Learn

December 15, 2015 Blog Editor Funding Opportunities, NCER, NCSER, SBIR Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on Google+

By Dana Tofig, Communications Director, IES

It was an event that had the feel of an arcade, but the heart of a schoolhouse.

The Ed Games Expo on Wednesday, December 9, 2015, hosted 45 developers who are building games for learning that are designed to engage students across a variety of topics and subject matters. One-third of the games on display at the Expo are supported by the Institute of Education Sciences Small Business Innovation Research (ED/IES SBIR) program, which provides awards to companies to improve the use of technology in education.

Photo by Lauren Kleissas

(Photo by Lauren Kleissas)

"Games are inherently engaging," said Brooke Morrill, an educational researcher at Schell Games. "A student may or may not be interested in a topic matter, but it doesn't matter. They are engaged in the game."

Schell Games was demonstrating a prototype of "Happy Atoms," a game that combines hand-on resources with technology to create an interactive learning experience. Users can use create atom models with balls and sticks; similar to the way it’s been done in Chemistry classes for generations. But using an app equipped with vision recognition software, users can scan the model they've built to see what they've created or if they've made any mistakes. The app then connects to curriculum-aligned content about the molecule and how it is used in the real world.

Happy Atoms (pictured below) was a long-time pet project of the company's CEO, Jesse Schell, who is a vanguard in the educational gaming industry. However, the company didn't have funding to put a full-time team on the game's development. In 2014, Schell received a Phase I funding from ED/IES SBIR to develop a prototype and, earlier this year, received a Phase II award to further develop and evaluate Happy Atoms.

"We wouldn't be where we are without our IES funding," Morrill said.

A few tables away, the Attainment Company was demonstrating ED/IES SBIR-supported technology that is designed to build the reading, comprehension, and writing skills of special education students. For instance, Access: Language Arts is an app and software designed to allow middle school students with intellectual disabilities to read adapted versions of the books their peers are reading (like The Outsiders and the Diary of Anne Frank) while building their writing skills and even engaging in research.

 

"We know many students, especially those with autism, are motivated by technology because of the consistency it provides," said Pamela J. Mims, an assistant professor of special education at East Tennessee State University, who is working with Attainment on Access: Language Arts.  "We collected a lot of data on this and we see a lot of engagement."

Engagement is a big part of what drove John Krajewski, of Strange Loop Games, to develop ECO, another game that has received Phase I and II funding through ED/IES SBIR. Krajewski calls ECO a “global survival game,” in which students work together to build and maintain a virtual world for 30 days.

“You are trying to build up enough technology for your society, but in the process you can pollute and damage this world to the point it could die on its own,” Krajewski said. “You have to make decisions as a group about what has to be done in this world.”

In order to preserve the world, players have to pass laws that will protect resources while allowing society to continue to develop. For example, students might decide to limit the number of trees that can be cut down each day. Then, they can use graphs and data to see the impact of their laws and the health of their world. ECO not only builds an understanding about ecology and environmental science, but it builds real-world skills, like collaboration, communication, and scientific conversation and debate.

Krajewski said the funding from ED/IES SBIR not only allowed the project to be developed, but was a vote of confidence that allows ECO to be accepted in the field.

“IES has given us total runway to make this thing happen, which is awesome,” he said.

ED/IES SBIR is now soliciting Phase I proposals from firms and their partners for the research, development, and evaluation of commercially viable education technology products. You can learn more on the IES website. 

 

ED Games Expo 2015: Showcasing ED/IES SBIR-Supported Games for Learning

December 7, 2015 Blog Editor General, SBIR Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on Google+

Game-based learning is gaining popularity as more and more young people and adults play and learn from games in and out of the classroom. Well-designed games can motivate learners to actively engage in challenging tasks, master content, and sharpen critical thinking and problem solving skills. The meteoric rise and popularity of mobile handheld and tablet devices has enabled game-playing anywhere and at any time, providing expanded opportunities for game developers.

In recent years, the Small Business Innovation Research program at the Institute of Education Sciences has supported the R&D and evaluation of many games for learning.  Other SBIR programs across the Federal government are also investing in games for learning across education, health, and the military.

The ED Games Expo is an annual event. This year the Expo is showcasing 45 developers (including 15 supported by ED/IES SBIR) who created games for learning. At the Expo, attendees will meet the developers while playing games that cover a range of topics – including earth science, ecology, chemistry, math, early learning, social and emotional learning, smoking cessation, mental health, stress resilience, or cultural awareness.

Event Details

  • Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2015, from 6PM to 8PM 
  • Location: In Washington DC, at 1776, 1133 15th St. 12th floor
  • RVSP: rsvp@theESA.com
  • Note: The Expo is sponsored by 1776 and the Entertainment Software Association and is free to attend. Please RVSP to ensure entry to the event, as space is limited. 

 

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Questions? Comments? Please email us at IESResearch@ed.gov.

The Nexus Between Teaching and Research: What I Learned Working on an IES Grant

November 30, 2015 Blog Editor General, NCSER Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on Google+

 

Samuel Choo is a doctoral student at the dissertation stage in the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education, and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky (UK). In this blog post, he describes how working on an IES grant gave him first-hand experiences in planning and carrying out research in schools. He also discusses how these research experiences helped him understand the important connections between research and teaching.

How did you get started working on this IES research project?

The first I heard of IES was six years ago as a resource room teacher at a middle school. Dr. Brian Bottge, who is now my doctoral adviser, was awarded a NCSER grant to test the effects of Enhanced Anchored Instruction (EAI) on the math performance of middle school students. My school was randomly assigned to the EAI group. The project staff did a good job of teaching us how to implement EAI in our resource rooms. Soon after teaching with the new curriculum, I noticed that my students were much more motivated and engaged than they had been. In fact, they looked like they were actually enjoying math! Posttest scores showed positive results in favor of the new curriculum.

And so this experience as a teacher got you more interested in research?

Yes! The next year I applied to the UK doctoral program. I joined Dr. Bottge’s IES grant team as a research assistant where I learned how classroom-based research is planned and conducted. I had many opportunities to participate in the research experience. In my case, I helped train math and special education teachers, observed classrooms and assessed research fidelity, provided teachers with technical support, assisted in scoring tests, and worked on data entry and analysis. Project leaders also asked me to suggest revisions to the daily lesson plans based on my experiences teaching with EAI the year before.

Can you talk more about your developing research interests related to math education?

After the grant ended and after I finished my doctoral coursework, I went back to teaching in North Carolina, where I taught low performing middle school students in a Title I resource room. I ran my own pilot studies using what I had learned while teaching with EAI as both a research participant and research assistant. To help offset the cost of materials for my first study, I was awarded a $1500 Bright Ideas Grant from the North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives. Thanks to the company’s generosity, I was able to fully implement all the lesson plans developed by Dr. Bottge’s grant team.

This experience was especially important to me because it was my first try at conducting my own research with a prescribed protocol, which I had learned from working on the IES project. Posttests showed statistically significant improvement of students in the EAI group in both computation and problem solving. Based on these results, the sponsor invited me to participate in a panel discussion in Raleigh, NC. The CEOs of the company attended the event along with policy makers and school administrators from across the state. This whole process, from applying for funding to carrying out the study to reporting the results, helped me make connections between university, classroom, and community.

What have been your big takeaways from these experiences?

From the training I received as a study participant, I have become a better teacher.  From working on an IES-funded grant team, I learned a lot about how to conduct classroom-based studies. I am looking forward to designing new instructional methods and testing their effectiveness. Similar to how my students learned math in a hands-on way, I learned research methods by having the opportunity to use them in practice, and for that I am very grateful. 

How to Develop Your Career in Education Research: IES Training Opportunities

November 20, 2015 Blog Editor Funding Opportunities, Research Training Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on Google+

By Corinne Alfeld, NCER Program Officer

In honor of career development month, we would like to remind you about training opportunities funded by IES. We have invested in training programs since 2004 with the aim of increasing the supply of scientists and researchers in education who are prepared to conduct rigorous education research that advances knowledge within the field and addresses issues important to education policymakers and practitioners. These efforts are intended to lead both to the training of talented education researchers from a variety of backgrounds and to the incorporation of diverse ideas and perspectives in education research.

In this blog we describe five types of training opportunities currently offered through the National Center for Education Research (NCER) and the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) that span from undergraduate to the postdoctoral level and beyond.

Training Opportunities for Current or Future Doctoral Students
Are you a current or aspiring doctoral student wondering what training opportunities are available to you? You may be interested in applying to one of 10 training programs funded by NCER’s Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in the Education Sciences that train predoctoral fellows in interdisciplinary programs involving a number of academic disciplines (e.g., economics, education, psychology, public policy, sociology, and statistics, among others). These fellowships can be from 2 to 5 years in length depending on the training program model and typically include tuition and benefits, a $30,000 stipend, and a small research/travel fund. Fellows who complete their training program have the skills necessary to produce research that is rigorous in method as well as relevant and accessible to education stakeholders such as practitioners and policymakers.

If you are interested in becoming a predoctoral fellow, you must apply directly to one of the training programs, not to IES.  Each of the 10 fellowship programs funded in 2014-15 has its own application process and acceptance criteria. For more information on becoming a predoctoral fellow, check out this resource on Applying for a Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Research Training Program Fellowship.

 

Postdoctoral Training Opportunities
Are you finishing up your doctorate and wondering how you can get more experience in education research? Or perhaps you’re looking to return to academia through a postdoctoral position? If so, you may want to apply to one of the our programs funded under the Postdoctoral Research Training Program in the Education Sciences Program (NCER) or the Postdoctoral Research Training Program in Special Education Program (NCSER). Through these two grant programs, IES funds training programs at doctoral-granting institutions to further prepare researchers who have obtained their Ph.D.s or Ed.D.s to become scholars capable of conducting high-quality, independent education or special education research. These postdoctoral training programs provide practical, hands-on experiences; enrichment of theoretical and empirical knowledge; and opportunities for fellows to build professional skills and networks that will support working with other researchers and relevant education research stakeholders.

To inquire about postdoctoral fellowship openings, follow the hyperlinks in this section to search for currently (awarded in 2010-15) funded programs at various universities around the country. For example, here are the 2015 NCER-funded programs and 2012 NCSER-funded programs.

 

Other Upcoming Training Opportunities:

  • Undergraduate, Post-baccalaureate, and Master’s Students. If you are an upper-level undergraduate student, recent graduate, and/or master’s student, especially from a group that is underrepresented in doctoral study (including racial and ethnic minorities, first-generation college students, economically disadvantaged students, veterans, and students with disabilities), you may be interested in the Pathways to the Education Sciences Research Training Program (Pathways). Established in 2015, the Pathways program funds training programs at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and institutions of higher education that partner with MSIs. These training programs will provide fellows with education research experience and professional development to prepare them to pursue doctoral study in the education sciences or in fields relevant to education research.

Up to five Pathways training programs will be awarded to MSIs (and their partners) in 2016. These new programs will begin recruiting fellows in 2016 and 2017, so keep your eyes and ears open for more information about where and how to apply!

 

  • Early Career Education Researchers. Are you an early career researcher at your first appointment? If so, you may qualify for and be interested in one of our programs that target early career researchers in statistical and research methodology (NCER) and special education (NCSER).

Look for upcoming training opportunities for early career researchers in future Request for Applications for training grants (CFDA 84.305B and 84.324B) and statistical and research methodology grants (CFDA 84.305D).

 

  • Active Researchers Looking to Improve Their Methodological Expertise. Are you a current researcher (e.g., at a university or research firm) who would like to add tools to your methodological toolkit or further refine your skills with such tools? If so, then the Methods Training for Education Researchers Program may be for you.

If you are interested in methodological training, sign up for the IES Newsflash for announcements of upcoming workshops or periodically check our list of IES-funded workshops.

 

If you have questions about our training programs, please contact Corinne.Alfeld@ed.gov.

 

The IES Investment in Mathematics and Science Education Research

November 9, 2015 Blog Editor General, NCER, NCSER Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on Google+

By Christina Chhin, NCER Program Officer and Rob Ochsendorf, NCSER Program Officer

Here is a common question we receive at IES: “What has IES funded in the areas of mathematics and science?” Given that both NCER and NCSER have dedicated “Mathematics and Science Education” research topics, you would think it would be an easy question to answer. That is until you see that both NCER and NCSER also support projects focusing on math and science through other research topic areas, including programs such as Cognition and Student Learning, Early Learning Programs and Policies, Educational Technology, and Effective Teachers and Effective Teaching. To help answer this question, IES has just released a compendium of research grants focusing on mathematics or science funded between 2002 to 2013. This compendium is part of a series of documents intended to summarize the research investments that NCER and NCSER are making to improve student education outcomes in specific topical areas.

As noted in the compendium, between 2002 to 2013, NCER and NCSER has funded over 300 projects focused on mathematics or science education, with 215 of them being instructional interventions (e.g., packaged curricula, intervention frameworks, and instructional approaches), 75 professional development programs, 165 educational technologies, and 65 assessments in math and science. The math and science compendium is a useful tool for a wide array of education stakeholders, as it not only provides brief descriptions of each project, it also is categorizes each project into sections based on content area, grade level, and intended outcome.

Picture of the cover of "A Compendium of Math and Science Research Funded by NCER and NCSER: 2002–2013"

So, how does the investment in mathematics and science that NCER and NCSER have made compare to other education research investments? Between 2002 and 2013, NCER and NCSER funded more than 1,110 education research grants, so research on mathematics and science makes up approximately a third of the research centers' total investment.  The compendium shows that NCER and NCSER have made significant contributions to STEM education by supporting rigorous, scientifically valid research that is relevant to education practice and policy focused on mathematics and science education; however, there is still room for growth. For instance, the compendium makes apparent that NCER and NCSER have funded few projects focusing specifically on geometry or earth and space science in grades K to 12. NCER and NCSER have come a long way in helping to support high-quality mathematics and science education research and will continue to do so to help address the gaps and needs in the field. 

Do you have a research project that will address some of these identified gaps? If so, be sure to sign up for IES Newsflash or follow us on Twitter, so that you will receive notice when our new Requests for Applications are released. 

Questions? Comments? Send us an email at IESResearch@ed.gov.