October 2015
Evan K. Heit (National Science Foundation) |
Outstanding early career scholars and researchers gathered in Washington, D.C., for the AERA Grants Program Fall Research Conference on October 8–10. This invited conference featured papers from scholars funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported AERA Grants Program and the AERA-Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) Dissertation Fellowship supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The AERA Grants Program is directed by a Governing Board of senior scholars and researchers, who also participated in the conference.
The research conference is part of the professional development and research capacity building activities AERA provides to early career scholars. Evan K. Heit, director of NSF’s Division of Research on Learning, discussed the agency’s role in and support for quantitative research on STEM education. NSF continues to align its support of research that advances STEM and the overall knowledge development. The Governing Board and the early career scholars engaged in a dialogue with Heit to better understand NSF research priorities and concerns.
The dissertation students and early career scholars are addressing important education research issues and questions on topics such as STEM participation, equity in education, and the social context of education. Each of the studies uses large-scale, federally funded data sets such as the Educational Longitudinal Study, High School Longitudinal Study, and the U.S. Census. Other studies use the MET data to examine classroom experiences. The table below lists the early career scholars and their program.
The Governing Board interacted and worked with the grantees throughout the conference and provided feedback on the papers presented. Governing Board member Barbara Schneider (Michigan State University) opened the conference with a discussion on developing a research agenda using the large-scale datasets.
Ongoing dialogue between the Board and the early career scholars addressed topics such as setting research priorities, navigating research support, and research and publishing productivity. Board members Heather Hill (Harvard University), Marta Tienda (Princeton University), and Margaret Burchinal (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) participated and provided additional mentorship during the entire conference.
“AERA is deeply committed to this kind of activity that brings together new members of the research community with other more experienced researchers and scholars. The work these scholars are doing is important, at all levels, and may have far-reaching implications for the education of students,” commented Felice J. Levine, AERA Executive Director and Grants Program Principal Investigator.
An important result of building the research infrastructure is the abundance of solid research that is produced by awardees of the program. The research presented during this conference was supported by the AERA Grants Program under NSF Grant DRL-0941014. The Governing Board has selected these individuals based on the quality of the research and the topic being investigated. These presenters represent only a small number of the highly qualified and successful awardees who have been supported by the AERA Grants Program.
Fall 2015 Research Conference -- Graduate Students and Early Career Scholars |
Grantee |
Fellowship Program |
Doctoral Institution |
Melinda Adnot |
AERA MET Dissertation Fellowship |
University of Virginia |
Jessica Alzen |
AERA MET Dissertation Fellowship |
University of Colorado, Boulder |
Rachel Ayieko |
AERA Grants Program |
Michigan State University |
Kri Burkander |
AERA Grants Program |
Michigan State University
|
Kaisheka Juree Capers |
AERA Grants Program |
Texas A&M University |
Frank Christopher Curran |
AERA Grants Program |
Vanderbilt University |
Murat Demirci |
AERA Grants Program |
University of Virginia |
Elizabeth Dyer |
AERA MET Dissertation Fellowship |
Northwestern University |
Serena Hinz |
AERA Grants Program |
Vanderbilt University |
Rebecca Hinze-Pifer |
AERA MET Dissertation Fellowship |
University of Chicago |
Brian Holzman |
AERA Grants Program |
Stanford University |
Jamie Humphrey |
AERA Grants Program |
University of Colorado, Boulder |
Akisha Jones |
AERA Grants Program |
University of Delaware |
Megan Kuhfeld |
AERA MET Dissertation Fellowship |
Harvard University |
Se Woong Lee |
AERA Grants Program |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
Amy Li |
AERA Grants Program |
University of Washington |
Kathleen Lynch |
AERA Grants Program |
Harvard University |
Alyn McCarty |
AERA Grants Program |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
Tinia Merriweather |
AERA MET Dissertation Fellowship |
Fordham University |
Hannah Miller |
AERA Grants Program |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
Joel Mittleman |
AERA MET Dissertation Fellowship |
Princeton University |
Soojin Park |
AERA Grants Program |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
Guan Saw |
AERA Grants Program |
Michigan State University |
Kevin Schaaf |
AERA MET Dissertation Fellowship |
University of California, Los Angeles |
Adela Soliz |
AERA Grants Program |
Harvard University |
George Spencer |
AERA MET Dissertation Fellowship |
Harvard University |
Siri Warkentien |
AERA Grants Program |
Johns Hopkins University |