NSF: Enhancing STEM Education through STEM-C Partnerships: Computing Education for the 21st Century

This NSF grant program focuses on advancing K-12 STEM education with a specific emphasis on computing and computational thinking. The program supports innovative partnerships between education and computer science sectors to improve teaching and learning in STEM disciplines, aiming to cultivate a competent and creative STEM workforce. It merges Math and Science Partnership (MSP) and Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) efforts, offering funding in areas like community STEM teaching, exceptional talent cultivation, and K-12 teacher preparation. Projects are expected to enhance STEM education outcomes and promote inclusivity in computing education for underrepresented groups, ultimately contributing to a stronger evidence-based foundation for effective STEM instruction.

Opportunity ID: 249393

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General Information

Document Type::	Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number::	14-523
Funding Opportunity Title::	STEM-C Partnerships: Computing Education for the 21st Century
Opportunity Category::	Discretionary
Opportunity Category Explanation::
Funding Instrument Type::
Category of Funding Activity::	Science and Technology and other Research and Development
Category Explanation::
Expected Number of Awards::	26
Assistance Listings Number(s)::	47.070 — Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement::	No
Version::	Synopsis 1
Posted Date::	Dec 19, 2013
Last Updated Date::
Original Closing Date for Applications::	Mar 18, 2014
Current Closing Date for Applications::	Mar 18, 2014
Archive Date::	Apr 18, 2014
Estimated Total Program Funding::	$ 10,000,000
Award Ceiling::	$1,000,000
Award Floor::	$200,000

Eligibility

Eligible Applicants::

Others (see text field entitled “Additional Information on Eligibility” for clarification)

Additional Information on Eligibility::

*Who May Submit Proposals: Proposals may only be submitted by the following:
-Non-profit, non-academic organizations: Independent museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies and similar organizations in the U.S. associated with educational or research activities.
-State and Local Governments: State educational offices or organizations and local school districts.
-Universities and Colleges – Universities and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) accredited in, and having a campus located in, the US acting on behalf of their faculty members. Such organizations also are referred to as academic institutions.

Additional Information

Agency Name::	National Science Foundation
Description::	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 21st 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.
Link to Additional Information::
Grantor Contact Information::	If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact:

Version History

Version	Modification Description	Updated Date
Synopsis 1

Package Status

Below are CLOSED Opportunity Package(s) no longer available for this Funding Opportunity:

Package No: 1

Assistance Listings:	47.076
Competition ID:
Competition Title:
Opportunity Package ID:	PKG00191257
Opening Date:	Dec 19, 2013
Closing Date:	Mar 18, 2014
Agency Contact Information::	Janice Cuny
Who Can Apply::	Organization Applicants
mendatory_forms	SF424 (R & R) [V1.2] Project/Performance Site Location(s) [V1.4] Research And Related Other Project Information [V1.3] Research And Related Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) [V1.2] Research & Related Personal Data [V1.2] Research & Related Budget [V1.1] NSF Cover Page [V1.3]
optional_forms	R & R Subaward Budget Attachment(s) Form [V1.2] NSF Deviation Authorization [V1.1] NSF Suggested Reviewers [V1.1] NSF FastLane System Registration [V1.3]

Packages