CEISMC Awarded $3.5 Million NSF Grant
Georgia Tech's CEISMC was recently awarded a 5-year, $3.5 million grant by the National Science Foundation, as part of NSF's Discovery Research K-12 program. CEISMC's director Richard S. Millman, and Senior Research Scientist Marion Usselman, along with CETL Director Donna C. Llewellyn and Georgia Department of Education Science Program Manager Juan-Carlos Aguilar are leading up the program, entitled "Science Learning: Integrating Design, Engineering and Robotics (SLIDER)."
The SLIDER project is a collaborative effort involving the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC), the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), the School of Psychology, the School of Biomedical Engineering, and the College of Computing at Georgia Tech; the State of Georgia Department of Education; and three Georgia school systems: one urban, one rural, and one suburban. The project is developing and implementing a rigorous eighth grade physical science program that utilizes engineering design, LEGO™ robotics and mechanics, and a problem-based learning approach to teach mechanics, waves, and energy.
The project seeks answers to these research questions: Can research-based physical science instructional materials that use problem-based inquiry learning in the context of engineering design scenarios empower a broad range of middle school learners to learn physical science content and reasoning skills? Can these educational materials lead to increased engagement, motivation, aptitudes, creativity, and interest in STEM fields; if so, does this effect persist as students move into high school? Do students engage with the materials differently depending upon their gender, race, socioeconomic status, prior academic achievement level, or location (urban, suburban, or rural)?
In the process of answering these primary questions, additional questions being addressed include: How should the learning be assessed in the classroom and how does this assessment impact student performance? What instructional materials and professional development are necessary to prepare teachers to deliver this type of instruction effectively in their classrooms?
Three geographically disparate schools (Swainsboro Middle School in Emanuel County, and Bear Creek Middle School and East Cobb Middle School in Fulton County) with strong school leadership and an existing track record of robotics use are participating in the project. In each school, two teachers will utilize LEGO™ kits and storage units to fully support instruction in their physical science classes. The SLIDER instructional materials will consist of contextualized, problem-based challenges that require students to design, program, investigate, reflect, and revise their products or solutions.
SLIDER will contribute to the knowledge base on the effectiveness of using engineering design and robotics in K-12 education, and it will impact K-12 physical science education by providing a research-based and thoroughly tested set of instructional materials for use by teachers. These materials will be designed to help attract more students, particularly those previously underrepresented in STEM, into technical fields and careers. The project also impacts the educational research workforce by training graduate students, undergraduate students, and postdoctoral researchers in the theory and methods of educational research and evaluation.