STEM-C Partnerships: Computing Education for the 21st Century (STEM-CP: CE21)

The STEM-C (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, including Computing) Partnerships program is a major research and development effort of two NSF Directorates, the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), which supports innovative partnerships to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. STEM-C Partnerships combines and advances the efforts of both the former Math and Science Partnership (MSP) and the former Computing Education for the 21^st Century (CE21) programs. It is critical that our nation maintain a competent, competitive and creative STEM workforce, including teachers. Therefore, NSF aims to inspire and motivate the next generation of that workforce, while ensuring that it has the skills, competencies, and preparation to be successful. As we transition to a global, knowledge-based economy that is often driven by information technology and innovation, it is increasingly important that STEM workforce preparation includes a strong foundation in computing. Thus, the STEM-C Partnerships program addresses both the need for advances in K-12 STEM education generally, as well as the need to elevate the inclusion of computer science education.

From MSP, STEM-C Partnerships embraces any of the STEM disciplines—within the natural sciences, mathematics, engineering, or computer science—and maintains its commitment to institutional partnerships and opportunities for funding of Targeted proposals in one of four focal areas: Community Enterprise for STEM Teaching and Learning, Current Issues Related to STEM Content, Identifying and Cultivating Exceptional Talent, and K-12 STEM Teacher Preparation. From CE21, STEM-C Partnerships adds a discipline-specific focal area on the teaching and learning of computing and computational thinking, a strong commitment to broadening participation in computing, an emphasis on in-service teacher professional development, and support for the implementation of computer science courses at the high school level. It is expected that the merging of the MSP and CE21 programs will strengthen both and serve as a model for future incorporation of discipline-specific concerns into programs focused more broadly on STEM.

The STEM-C Partnerships program supports Partnerships that promote effective K-12 STEM education, building knowledge of teaching and learning in ways that deepen understanding and stimulate further exploration of STEM education in both in- and out-of-school settings. The Partnerships’ cross-disciplinary teams call upon the expertise and research perspectives of learning scientists, including cognitive scientists, educational, developmental and social psychologists, social scientists and education researchers, as well as STEM, discipline-specific teachers, faculty, researchers, and scientists. The Partnerships provide the context and environment for the effective preparation, professional development, and ongoing support of K-12 teachers. Changes at the undergraduate level related to the preparation of K-12 STEM teachers are an implicit expectation of the work; in this way, the STEM-C Partnerships is a K-16 endeavor. Projects are encouraged to look at scalable models of effective learning and professional development mediated, perhaps, by evolving computational devices and advances in cyberinfrastructure, as well as ongoing developments in models, resources, tools, and their applications to learning, content, delivery, and pedagogy. The program supports transformative research and its use by varied research, development, and implementation communities. The needs of a particular Partnership related to advancing the teaching and learning of any of the STEM disciplines at the K-12 level should drive the focus of the Partnership’s work. The inclusion of computer science, computational thinking, computational science or computing in K-12 STEM instruction is welcome, but not required.

All STEM-C Partnerships projects serve as models that have a sufficiently strong evidence/research base to improve STEM education outcomes for all students. The STEM-C Partnerships program requires institutional commitment to evidence-based teaching and learning which improves the achievement of all students studying STEM, with particular attention to educational practices that are effective for groups underrepresented in STEM—women, minorities (African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islander territories), and students with disabilities.

STEM-CP: CE21

Through this STEM-CP: CE21 solicitation, NSF seeks to support three types of awards. Broadening Participation and Education in Computing (BPEC) awards aim to build a rich knowledge base on the effective teaching and learning of computing skills and concepts, with particular attention to educational practices that are effective for students from underrepresented groups. CS 10K awards aim to develop the knowledge and evidence-based foundation needed to support the teaching of introductory rigorous, academic computing courses in high schools. STEM-C Partnerships Computer Science Education Expansion (CSE-Expansion) awards aim to expand the work of previously funded NSF MSP Partnerships to increase the number of qualified computer science teachers and the number of high schools with rigorous computer science courses.