New National Science Foundation STEM Education Solicitations DRK-12 & REAL

Informalscience.org posts funding opportunities for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education research and development on our Calendar. This month, two solicitations from the National Science Foundation were released: Discovery Research K-12 (DRK-12): The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of STEM by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models, and tools (RMTs). Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretic and empirical justification for proposed projects. Teachers and students who participate in DRK-12 studies are expected to enhance their understanding and use of STEM content, practices, and skills. Resources for DRK-12 proposers or current PIs are available from the Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE). Research on Education and Learning (REAL) : The Research on Education and Learning (REAL) program places an emphasis on the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to (a) understand, (b) build theory to explain, and (c) suggest interventions (and innovations) to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning, and participation. The program supports advances in research on STEM learning and education by fostering efforts to explore all aspects of education research, from foundational knowledge to improvements in STEM learning and learning contexts, both formal and informal, from childhood through adulthood, for all groups, and from the earliest developmental stages of life through participation in the workforce, resulting in increased public understanding of science and engineering. The REAL program will fund research on: human learning in STEM; learning in STEM learning environments; and broadening participation in STEM.