January 2023
As part of commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Institute of Education Sciences, AERA is amplifying stories from the field of education researchers whose work and accomplishments have been positively impacted by IES funding. In this month’s AERA Highlights, we feature two distinguished AERA members whose work has been supported through IES funding.
Danielle McNamara, professor of psychology, director of the Science of Learning and Educational Technology Lab, and executive director of the Learning Engineering Institute at Arizona State University, detailed how support from IES supported the trajectory of her research related to natural language processing and intelligent tutoring. This funding has led to her involvement in the Digital Learning Platforms network, which as part of current grant funding, “provides the means for researchers to conduct empirical studies within the ASU learning ecosystem.”
“IES has taken the chance on many firsts, particularly in the technology realm,” McNamara wrote.
Michael Gottfried, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, described the impact that IES funding has had on his research to understand disparities in educational pathways for underrepresented students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and specifically in career and technical education (CTE).
“Based on having had IES funding, I believe policymakers can use this work to better understand (a) the landscape of which students are over- or under-represented in STEM-CTE courses; (b) the effects that these courses have on students’ pathways; and (c) how these pathways are carved out for different groups,” Gottfried wrote.
AERA invites additional members who have received or been involved in IES research or training grants to share their stories on the impact that IES has had in education research, policy, and practice by using the hashtag #IESat20 (and #EdResearchMatters). AERA members are encouraged to share their stories on social media using #IESat20, and with AERA if they would like the association to amplify the stories, by emailing communications@aera.net and govrelations@aera.net. IES has also put together a stakeholder toolkit for use on its 20th-anniversary web page.