2 Projects from College of Education Faculty Recognized With Awards at the NSF’s 2021 STEM For All Video Showcase

Two projects from NC State College of Education faculty were recognized with awards during the National Science Foundation’s STEM For All Video Showcase, which was held virtually from May 11-18.

“Supporting Equitable Participation and Access,” the presentation from Assistant Professor Jonee Wilson, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Temple Walkowialk, Ph.D., was one of 10 videos selected by the panel of 287 presenters to receive the Presenter’s Choice Award.

Their video highlights a new measure that is being developed to capture practices that support traditionally underserved students in gaining access to and more equitably participating in rigorous mathematical activity in elementary and middle school classrooms.

The measure is being developed as part of the Validation of the Equity and Access Rubrics for Mathematics Instruction (VEAR-MI) project, which is funded by a four-year, $2.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

“The STEM for All showcase was a great opportunity to give and receive feedback on the work we are doing. Just under 300 different projects participated so we got a chance to connect and interact with a wide-range of people and a variety of teams working on different research questions,” Wilson said. “It is an honor being selected for the Presenter’s Choice Award, especially since it was awarded by our peers and it was only given to a select few of us. The award along with all of the comments, questions, and likes that we received during the showcase indicate that the work we are doing in developing and validating these rubrics is making a substantial contribution to the field.”

“Innovation Challenges for Middle School Mathematics in a Digital Learning System: Student Participation Impact on Achievement, Affect, and STEM Career Interest,” the presentation from Assistant Professor Erin Krupa, Ph.D., and College of Education Research Associates Michael Belcher ’20PHD and Josh Mannix ’23PHD was one of 24 videos selected by a group of 69 judges to receive the Facilitator’s Choice Award.

Their video highlights the Design & Pitch Challenges in STEM — a curricular framework that situates middle grades mathematics learning in entrepreneurial pitch competitions.

The research focuses on how entrepreneurship can increase students’ excitement and interest in STEM to support rich mathematics learning. STEM challenges help students understand that their cultural experiences are integral to creating ideas that can address problems in their communities and empower students to enact change using math.

“We were grateful to be selected among many of the other great videos. It was a very challenging year for my research team to not be able to go into schools and work directly with students and teachers, we had to transition all our work to a virtual format. I am very proud of my team and honored to be recognized by the facilitators,” Krupa said.

The STEM For All Video Showcase annual online event featured more than 270 three-minute video presentations from federally funded projects that aim to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and computer science education. The theme for this year’s event was “COVID, Equity & Social Justice.”

During the seven-day online event, practitioners, researchers, administrators, policy makers and the public at large were able view the videos, post to discussion boards related to each video and vote for the videos that are most effective in conveying the creative work being done.