Graduate

Since 2009, the NSF has required that all grant applicants requesting funding to support postdoc researchers submit a one-page statement describing how postdoctoral trainees will be mentored, but research on professional development among postdocs and early career academics is far from vast—most studies of mentoring systems have tended to focus on youth, K–12 teacher induction, or private-sector businesses—even while recognition of its importance is growing.

Visit the Mentoring Spotlight for more resources at http://cadrek12.org/spotlight/mentoring.

The goal of the Electronic Teacher Guide project (NSF # 0918702) was to redesign the print teacher guide for the genetics unit of Foundation Science: Biology (NSF #0439443) as an exemplar of a cybertool that would support the implementation of the curriculum and enhance its educative impact. The completion of this goal required collaborative interactions among curriculum developers, technology designers, software developers, researchers and evaluators. The five year collaboration was characterized by major challenges relating to communication, geographical distance, and culture.

From the perspectives of Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs), this study examines the design and implementation of a simulated teaching environment in Second Life (SL) for prospective teachers to teach algebra for diverse learners. Drawing upon the Learning-for-Use framework, the analyses provide evidence on the development of student avatars in construction and role-playing activities. The study reveals challenges, procedures, and suggestions for future simulations. This study also calls for research efforts toward preparing mathematics teachers for cultural diversity.

Videos

Videos can be a powerful way to tell a story about your work. And they do not need to be big budget productions to be successful. Use the tips below to create an effective video about your work.

Recording:
A recording of the webinar is available at: http://edc.adobeconnect.com/p92vq7bkx5e/

Webinar Recording:
http://edc.adobeconnect.com/p3qr9x4upr5/

The future strength of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) K-12 education research and development efforts depends in part on the development of promising early career researchers and developers—including doctoral students, post-docs, and first time principal investigators (PIs)—who can grow into R&D leaders and form an impactful R&D workforce.  Unfortunately, there is little written on the needs and supports related to early career professional growth in the NSF’s Discovery Research K-12 program (DR K-12).  Early career researchers and developers in the program have n