NC State Education Researchers Receive $1.5 Million NSF Grant to Implement Science Learning Environments

NC State University researchers will receive a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant for a three-year project entitled A Learning Environment to Support Comprehension Monitoring with Informational Science Text. NC State College of Education Professor John Nietfeld is the principal investigators; and James Minogue, an associate professor in the College of Education, serves as a Research Associate, and Marc Russo, an assistant professor in the College of Design, serves as a co-PI on this project.

This project proposes to advance knowledge in how to assist students in monitoring their comprehension and subsequently improving their strategies for understanding STEM informational texts.

The goal of Missions with Monty is to develop a game-based learning environment to improve fifth graders’ comprehension monitoring skills and science content knowledge using informational texts. The program will function within a self-regulated learning framework and include three key curricular units — ecosystems, Earth and human activity from molecules to organisms — that align with Next Generation Science Standards.

Missions with Monty aims to increase understanding of how to create digital learning environments that promote science literacy. Participating in the project are highly diverse schools in Wake County, North Carolina, that include large numbers of minority, international, English as a Second Language and economically-disadvantaged students.