NC State College of Education Awarded $2M in Research Funding July-September, 2020

Faculty and researchers at the NC State College of Education, including the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, were awarded $2,070,123 to support 13 projects from July 1 to Sept. 30, 2020. Total amounts reflect only the funding that was directly awarded to College of Education faculty and researchers.

Learning Analytics in STEM Education Research (LASER) Institute

This $993,150 grant funded by the National Science Foundation aims to increase the capacity of researchers to understand and improve STEM learning and learning environments through the use of new sources of data and analytical approaches. The project places a specific focus on preparing scholars from underrepresented groups in STEM to understand methodologies, applications and ethical issues of learning analytics related to STEM education and gain proficiency in “R,” a popular, free software environment for statistical computing and graphics, to apply computational analysis techniques using real-world data from STEM contexts. Shaun Kellogg, Ph.D., director of research and evaluation at the Friday Institute is the project’s principal investigator. Shiyan Jiang, Ph.D., assistant professor of learning design and technology, and Hollylynne Lee, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and statistics education, are co-principal investigators.

Cognitive Labs, Focus Groups and Professional Development for the Innovative Assessment Pilot

This $281,849 grant funded by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction will support the Innovative Assessment system through the provision of professional learning for educators and conduct applied research to support continuous improvement. The project will develop a blended professional development program to support teachers, coaches, principals and district leaders as well as create a multi-year implementation plan for delivering and supporting professional learning and communication resources and evaluate the professional development program. Shaun Kellogg, Ph.D., director of research and evaluation at the Friday Institute, is the project’s principal investigator. Shayla Rexrode, a research scholar at the Friday Institute, is the co-principal investigator.

EAA AeroEducate Activity Development Proposal 

This $179,994 grant funded by the Experimental Aircraft Association aims to plan and develop aeronautical experiences that inspire, engage and sustain students’ interests in aviation as they explore pathways that could ultimately lead to expanded career opportunities in the field. Kevin Sutton, Ph.D., assistant teaching professor of STEM education, is the project’s principal investigator.

Code.org Regional Partner K-12 Program

This $171,600 grant funded by Code.org will support the Friday Institute in providing professional learning programs for in-service teachers to prepare to teach introductory computer science courses in middle and high schools and to integrate computer science concepts in K-5 classes. David Frye, Ph.D., senior director for computer science initiatives at the Friday Institute, is the project’s principal investigator.

AccelNet: International Collaboration to Accelerate Integration of Engineering, Plant Sciences, and Agricultural Research

This $94,616 grant funded by the National Science Foundation will facilitate the independent evaluation of the Accelerate Integration and Agricultural Research using Artificial Intelligence (Ai2EAR) Network-of Network’s project activities, goals and outcomes. Shaun Kellogg, Ph.D., director of research and evaluation at the Friday Institute, serves as senior personnel on the project.

A Longitudinal Examination of Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) in North Carolina Public Schools

This one-year, $72,918 grant funded by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction facilitates the fourth year of an ongoing project to examine the use of positive behavior intervention and support in North Carolina schools. Studies for the 2020-21 academic year include analysis of the Facilitated Assessment of MTSS-School Level scores on the FAM-S related to daily attendance rates and chronic absenteeism, overall school academic performance, end of grade testing performance and disciplinary events. Ed Sabornie, Ph.D., professor of special education, is the principal investigator. The total amount of funding awarded for this project, including funding to partners at the College of Sciences, is $136,651. Cathy Crossland, Ph.D., professor of special education, and Emily Griffith, Ph.D., a research associate professor in the College of Sciences, are co-principal investigators.

Collaborative Research: Improving Undergraduate Education in Civil & Building Engineering through Student-centric Cyber-physical Systems: Bringing Real-world Problems to Classrooms

This $59,939 grant funded by the National Science Foundation aims to bring real-world problems in civil engineering into classrooms to provide hands-on experiences for students.The project will validate proposed interactive learning tools that promote physical interaction among students and instructors and can improve students’ understanding of civil engineering concepts. Han Kook, of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering is the principal investigator, Tamecia Jones, Ph.D., assistant professor of STEM education in the College of Education, and Jason Patrick, of the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, are co-principal investigators.

Coaching Support for Remote Learning

This $59,856 grant funded by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction will create a cohort opportunity for instructional coaches that will help them build their capacity to support teachers during remote learning. The project will design student-centered, blended learning environments that apply to remote learning as well as in-person classrooms. Patricia Hilliard, Ph.D., a research scholar at the Friday Institute, is the project’s principal investigator.

The Undergraduate Network for Increasing Diversity of Ecologists (UNIDE) Evaluation

This $54,297 grant funded by the National Science Foundation will enable the Friday Institute to provide evaluation services for a proposed research coordination network that aims to build a sustainable and interdisciplinary network of ecologists, educators and social scientists to tackle the need to address how cultural and social barriers impact human diversity in environmental disciplines. Shaun Kellogg, Ph.D., director of research and evaluation at the Friday Institute, is the project’s principal investigator.

NNCI: North Carolina Research Triangle Nanotechnology Network (RTNN)

This $31,290 grant funded by the National Science Foundation allows the RTNN to strengthen the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure network in the areas of social and ethical implications of nanotechnology, environmental impacts of nanotechnology and education and workforce development through interaction with industry and community colleges in the Research Triangle area. Gail Jones, Ph.D., Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor of science education, serves as senior personnel on the project.

Pathway to Practice NC – The Innovation Project Collaboration: Effectively Serving Diverse Science and Mathematics Residency Teachers in High Needs NC School Districts

This $28,000 grant funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund will enable the creation of webinars to introduce interested participants to the Pathway to Practice program and application process as well as allow for the collection of applications for Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Scholars and enable support for progress in Pathway to Practice and edTPA submission. Alison Winzler, director of NC Teach, is the principal investigator.

Improving Early Literacy at Scale Through Personalized Diagnosis

This $22,636 grant sponsored by Harvard University will facilitate the analysis of data collected from a randomized control trial literacy intervention study that was implemented in Charlotte-Mecklenburg School and allow for the development of curriculum content and assessment measures for literacy intervention. Jackie Relyea, Ph.D., assistant professor of literacy education, is a co-principal investigator.

Tailored Approaches to Reduce Distress and Improve Self-management for Veterans with Diabetes (TARDIS)

This two-year, $19,978 grant funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will enable the examination of diabetes distress among veterans and develop a nurse-led intervention that provides tailored content based on a veteran’s diabetic distress domain-specific profile. Associate Professor Susan Barcinas, Ph.D., is the principal investigator.