New Grants and Partnerships
Grants
Texas Woman’s University
The National Center is supporting a new NSF-funded project (#2345355) titled “HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Green Chemistry: Advancing Equity, Relevance, and Environmental Justice” (SENCER Ambassador Nasrin Mirsaleh Kohan PI) This collaborative initiative between TWU and three non-profit organizations— National Center for Science and Civic Engagement, Habitable (formerly known as Healthy Building Network), and Beyond Benign—aims to deepen student understanding of green chemistry, promote interest in chemistry among students, and empower faculty from other institutions to implement green chemistry curricula effectively. Here is a presentation describing the project.
Texas A&M San Antonio
NCSCE is providing professional development support for the NSF project (#2247898) Addressing Water Security: towards Student Retention, Improved Relevance, and Increased Readiness (NCSCE Deputy Director Davida Smyth PI) San Antonio is one of the fastest-growing regions in the nation and represents an urban center whose natural resources are struggling to keep up with the demand. In Texas, total water demand is predicted to increase by 17% between 2020 and 2070. Texas A&M University-San Antonio (TAMU-SA) is a burgeoning Hispanic-Serving university, with a rapidly increasing enrollment despite decreasing national trends. It has a unique water resources program that aims to generate graduates capable of responding to the region’s water security challenges. This project will help increase student recruitment to this signature STEM program supportive of diverse students, including those currently employed in the water sector, to tackle water-related issues in the region. Importantly, this project will generate data that will be broadly useful in understanding factors that can increase enrollment in these types of degrees across the country. This data will be of use to other programs with a focus on water across the country as well as those serving a post-traditional student population.
SENCER and the Mobile Summer institutes on Scientific Teaching
A collaboration between the Mobile Summer Institutes on Scientific Teaching (MoSI) and the Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) began with the NSF funded project (#2121447)Facilitating Widespread Implementation of Teaching Strategies Known to Promote Student Success throughout a State System of Colleges (Michelle Withers, PI; Eliza Reilly, co-PI) Its goal was to accelerate the adoption of evidence-based teaching throughout the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The goal of this project was to use a multi-pronged, multi-level system approach to changing teaching culture and behavior in the largest, most diverse post-secondary school system in the nation. Building on the success of this grant, an new proposal was submitted to NSF this summer to provide 5 years of professional development for SUNY faculty focused on high impact practices and inclusive pedagogies, including CURE’s, VIP’s, and backward design.
Liberating Art of Science-Preparing Students for Science and Society in the 21st Century
SENCER is collaborating in a new NSF conference grant (Gordon Uno, PI) that intends to convene a workshop of thought leaders across a variety of scientific disciplines and educational contexts to develop a model for science literacy that addresses contemporary challenges such as climate change, emerging infectious diseases, and science misinformation and disinformation. NCSCE served as host for the products of an earlier iteration of this project, with essays and reflections by prominent STEM reform leaders.