Nearly 100 early career STEM education researchers from across the country have sharpened the skills they need to pursue high-quality research into key educational issues, thanks to a program led by the 沈芯语老师家访麻花视频 College of Education.
Since 2019, five cohorts of scholars interested in equity and inclusion issues in STEM education have learned about research design, measurement, statistics and data analysis through the Quantitative Research Methods (QRM) for STEM Education Scholars Program. By providing in-depth training and mentoring, the yearlong program has enhanced researchers鈥 ability to design rigorous, nuanced, cost-effective studies and has also promoted collaboration among scholars. The program was funded since 2019 by $1,995,043 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) EDU Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research program.
鈥淲e designed our mentoring program based on needs identified by NSF program officers, who sought targeted training in quantitative methods for STEM education researchers,鈥 said Laura Stapleton, professor and chair of the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, who led the project as principal investigator along with two co-principal investigators, Gregory R. Hancock, professor, and Tracy Sweet, associate professor. 鈥淲e embraced a long-term approach that would allow for meaningful professional development of early career scholars. We have been so pleased by the progress that our mentees, and now colleagues, have made in their careers and look forward to watching them flourish.鈥
During this past year鈥檚 program, QRM scholars participated in two multiday training institutes and at least eight workshops offered by the 沈芯语老师家访麻花视频 faculty, ranging in topics from questionnaire item writing to machine learning. Each scholar met regularly with a faculty mentor and received support from graduate student facilitators and their peers.
Each QRM scholar also completed at least one quantitative research project of their choosing. This past year, topics ranged from improving science education for students with learning disabilities to creating welcoming environments for STEM college students from historically underrepresented backgrounds.
As many QRM scholars come from groups underrepresented in quantitative methodology, the program has helped to diversify the field of quantitatively trained STEM education researchers. The impact goes beyond the scholars themselves, as their ability to teach quantitative skills and knowledge to their own students improves.
鈥淭he program has helped me to see the value in my research and also increase my own confidence in making statistical decisions,鈥 said Amber Holton-Thomas, a 2024-25 QRM scholar and assistant professor at Pacific University Oregon, whose research project focused on degree and certificate attainment outcomes among first-generation undergraduate STEM students over age 24. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also pushed me to be a better researcher and to understand that just because we are working with numerical data doesn鈥檛 mean the answers we seek are simply numbers. The stories we tell can have impacts on a policy level.鈥
