About the series
NSF has a long history of supporting K-12 computer science education. For example, in FY 2017, NSF issued a new program solicitation called Computer Science for All Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships (CSforAll:RPP). In anticipation of continuing these investments in FY 2018, we intend to hold two workshops, much like those held before last year’s solicitation, to provide technical assistance to RPP teams in formulating their activities. Designed by the Research + Practice Collaboratory, these 1.5 day workshops will engage teams with different models of RPPs, strategies and tools for forming and maintaining RPPs, and data collection and analysis approaches well-suited to RPPs. Additionally, cognizant NSF program officers will discuss the solicitation and criteria for competitive proposals. This hands-on workshop will provide teams time to work on research questions, designs, and proposals.
Teams can apply to both workshops but will be accepted to only one. Eligible teams will be accepted on a rolling basis. Capacity is limited. Notifications of acceptance will start on January 15th.
Team Composition
Teams should send 3-4 individuals, representing a diversity of roles, including the CS education lead (could be from a district, state, school, network, or other) and an education researcher/learning scientist who plan to co-lead the RPP proposal. Appropriate education researchers might study, for example, school improvement efforts, student learning, teacher preparation and development, and other issues of implementation and learning relevant to your CS implementation effort. Other team members may include, for example,
- Educators such as professional development providers, pre-service teacher educators, and teachers,
- Administrators district staff and coaches, school building leaders, and assessment developers, and
- Community stakeholders including non-profit organizations, industry partners, informal learning organizations, and collective impact efforts such as the STEM Learning Ecosystems, or STEMx organizations.
- Evaluators who will focus on formative and or summative evaluation.
Because not all teams will have identified a research partner before the meeting, individual researchers can apply to attend. If accepted, they will have the opportunity to learn more about RPPs, help attending practitioners to better understand the potential role of educational research in their efforts, meet with project teams with shared areas of interest, and come to a better understanding of the role of CISE and EHR in funding efforts in computing education. Individual applicants should describe their research questions and focus area in their applications.
The Research + Practice Collaboratory
The Research + Practice Collaboratory is funded by the National Science Foundation. The Collaboratory builds and studies research-practice partnerships, designs events that bring researchers and educators together to tackle pressing problems in STEM education, and creates professional resources that build on perspectives of both research and practice. The Collaboratory works across both formal and informal settings.
A Call for Participation is at https://sites.northwestern.edu/cs4allworkshop/
Venues: Workshop #1: University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA (February 5-6, 2018) & Workshop # 2: Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (March 1-2, 2018)
For more information about the workshop: https://sites.northwestern.edu/cs4allworkshop/
