This project creates an Internet Web presence for the Innovation through Institutional Integration (I-3) community and for the broader STEM community that is interested in NSF's integrative, innovative and institutional endeavor that is I-3. I-3 projects represent multiple synergistic, collaborative efforts focused on the integration of education and research, educational critical junctures, promotion of a globally engaged workforce, broadening participation, as well as research and evaluation. These projects engage faculty, administrators, and other higher education stakeholders in thinking strategically about the creative integration of NSF-funded projects, as well as endeavors funded by other federal and non-federal entities.
The I-3 website creates an online venue that connects all I-3 efforts and enables each project to share its goals, description, models, and resources with each other and with the broader STEM community. Further, it enables NSF's I-3 effort as a whole to more effectively disseminate its solicitation language, research, and achievements to current and prospective grantees, researchers, administrators, and policy makers.
In addition to the online effort, this project, in collaboration with a stakeholder-advisory committee, will plan and execute a face-to-face conference on innovation in higher education. The conference will address central themes of the I-3 program that focus on developing new models for integrating STEM research and education within higher education, and on innovative policies that promote increased collaboration and synergy within and between institutions to promote new research endeavors. This conference will bring together leaders in the field, and will be videotaped and archived on the website to enable broader participation and dissemination.
This work, orchestrated by TERC, a private non-profit organization in Cambridge MA, includes:
- Expeditiously building a broadcast website presence for NSF's I-3 initiative. - Engagement with the community to learn more about its potential needs for collaboration and communication. - Integration of expanded interactive capabilities that meet the needs expressed by the community. - Execution of a face-to-face conference on innovation, which will be videotaped and archived on the site. - Addressing the issue of site sustainability through an integrated content management system that will enable NSF to add, edit, and delete content.
The resources that will be posted on the site, as well as the associated I-3 innovation conference, will deepen the dialogue on many facets of innovation and institutional integration, as well as the processes and policies that promote it within higher education, within the I-3 community, and beyond.
Through this grant, TERC, a non-profit in Cambridge, MA, created a website and online venue to support projects awarded through the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Through Institutional Integration (I3) track. In addition, they planned and executed a face-to-face conference for leaders of these NSF funded projects. The website http://nsf-i3.org made the I3 track more visible to stakeholders, an important objective since the track was embedded within nine NSF programs and hence lacked a unified web presence. It enabled projects to learn of the work of related efforts, and facilitated the sharing of resources and highlights. Likewise the face-to-face conference further deepened the dialogue between university administrators and STEM leaders within and across projects. The conference focused on sharing innovations that successfully enhanced the student STEM undergraduate experience. The website provides the following major features: A "Project Finder" to enable users to search an interactive map and learn more about each of the 31 projects. A "People" section, which provides a portfolio of PIs and co-PIs associated with each project. A "Resources" section, which has relevant resources related to innovation and education as well as project related resources that emerged from the funded work of I3 projects. A "Spotlights" section, which features press releases and news clippings highlighting achievements and outreach efforts of I3 projects. A conference section, which provides a complete archive of the 2014 conference facilitated by this project. It includes slides and videos of presenters and panels, renditions of posters presented at the conference, and extensive proceedings. The face-to-face conference, entitled "Improving the Undergraduate STEM Experience" was held on March 13th-14th, 2014 at the National Academies of Science in Washington, DC. The conference was designed to capture and distill best practices and lessons learned from institutions that had demonstrated capacity to create and sustain innovative programs, and to offer participants time to learn about those best practices, network with others, and explore future funding opportunities. Collectively, National Science Foundation I3 projects have developed programs that have influenced the student STEM experience, broadened participation, and addressed critical junctures. This conference provided an opportunity to share innovations that have had an impact and have been sustained both from I3 projects and from other exemplary programs across the country. Twenty-five I3 projects were represented at the conference. Each project was invited to send both a university administrator and a STEM leader. This resulted in a rich mix of Deans, Provosts, Vice Presidents, Vice Chancellors, and STEM faculty representing an array of STEM disciplines. Additional participants/presenters came from AAAS, HHMI, Helmsley Trust, Learning Spaces Collaboratory, NRC, and the Sloan Foundation. Six NSF program officers also took part. The conference addressed the following major themes: Broadening participation in STEM Evaluating the effectiveness of innovations in higher education Restructuring of STEM introductory courses Administrative practices and procedures that impede or facilitated innovations in STEM learning and teaching, and, Envisioning physical environments that promote STEM learning communities, innovation, and collaboration. Shirley Malcom, head of Education and Human Resources Programs at AAAS, provided the keynote address entitled "Transforming STEM Education: Where Gladly will They all Learn," which set the tone for the conference that addressed broadening participation in STEM. To view a video of the keynote go to: http://nsf-i3.org/conference/videos/sm_keynote Five thought leaders led interactive breakout sessions with participants. Daniel L. Goroff, Vice President and Program Director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, facilitated an interactive session entitled" Generating Evidence Requires Plans, Not Just Data." Jay Labov, Senior Advisor for Education and Communications, National Research Council, led a session on "Restructuring Introductory Undergraduate STEM Courses." Jeanne L. Narum, Principal, Director, Independent Colleges Office, facilitated a breakout session on "Learning Spaces and Undergraduate STEM Learning Communities." Nancy Shapiro, Associate Vice Chancellor for Education and Outreach, University System of Maryland, and M.J. Bishop, Ph.D., Director, Center for Innovation and Excellence in Learning and Teaching, University System of Maryland, led a session addressing "How Administrative Policies and Practices Impact STEM Innovation." Cynthia Baurle from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ryan Kelsey from the Helmsley Trust, and Susan Singer from NSF participated in a funder’s panel that addressed their visions for future innovation in higher education. In an interactive poster session and other breakout sessions, I3 administrators and STEM faculty shared innovative work taking place on their campuses, evaluation plans, and lessons learned. To see project posters go to: http://nsf-i3.org/posters/ Conference proceedings and videos http://nsf-i3.org/conference/videos were disseminated by being shared with multiple online communities of practice including http://nsf-i3.org, http://hub.mspnet.org/ and www.igert.org . Conference attendees rated the conference very highly. In a post-conference survey respondents were pleased with the diversity of topics addressed, they appreciated the time to network and learn from others in their field, and learned valuable lessons from sharing innovations happening on each others campuses.
