Jiliang Tang awarded an NSF grant

Abstract 

This project seeks to initiate an institute in quantitative and computational methods for STEM education research through a collaboration between researchers at the University of Chicago and those at Michigan State University. Core members of the project team are leading experts who have developed cutting-edge quantitative and computational methods and have directly contributed to STEM education research. Through launching a national campaign of recruitment, the team will select a diverse cohort of 22 NSF Fellows of STEM Education Research among early- and mid-career scholars, especially those from under-represented backgrounds. The goals of this institute are (a) to introduce participants to rigorous and novel applications of advanced methods to STEM education research, (b) to provide them with continuous methodological support in research planning, data analysis, and publications, and (c) to create a community that prepares young scholars for taking leadership in advancing STEM education research. Instructors and Fellows will critically evaluate the existing STEM education research throughout six courses over the summers in year 1 and year 2: (1) research designs and causal inference, (2) measurement, (3) social network analysis, (4) multilevel modeling, (5) causal mediation analysis, and (6) computational methods for analyzing qualitative and social media data. Structured discussions of Fellows’ ongoing studies will be supplemented by guest speaker presentations and round-table discussions. Fellows will present their capstone projects and further develop research collaborations in the summer of year 3. A customized website will disseminate to the broader STEM education research community