Allyson Kennedy: Welcome everyone. We're just gonna give a couple of minutes so people can continue to log on and then we'll get started.
Allyson Kennedy: Okay, I'm seeing the numbers sort of level off. So I think
Allyson Kennedy: we're at a sort of critical mass where we can get started. Thank you all for joining us today for the
Allyson Kennedy: computer science for all program. Webinar. This is information and guidance about the new solicitation. Nsf, 24. Dash 5, 5 5 cs. For all research and research practice partnerships. This is a program that is jointly supported by 2 directorates at Nsf, the directorate for computer and information, science, engineering or size and the stem education directorate or Edu
Allyson Kennedy: so my name is Alison Kennedy, and I am from the size director, and I'm also the size lead for the program.
Allyson Kennedy: I'll I'm joined here today by phone phone Kur, who is my colleague in Edu, who leads the Edu side of the program as well as Jeff Forbes. Another size program officer that supports the program Margaret. General Morrison is not able to join us today, but she is another program officer from Edu. Our contact information is on the slide here. So you can feel free to reach out with any questions after this after the webinar.
Allyson Kennedy: And we also have a team email there at the bottom of the screen. So if you send an email to that, if you're not sure which of us to reach out to. We will all get that
Allyson Kennedy: before we get into some of the details about the program some important dates to keep in mind. So the current deadline for this year is June 4, th at 5 Pm. Your time next year the deadline will be February 12, th and then after that it will be the second Wednesday in February.
Allyson Kennedy: So since the last solicitation, there's been a few changes that we'll talk about today. The 1st is that the contact information for the program officers has been updated. So the slide I just shared a couple of slides ago. The eligibility of who can submit proposals has changed a little bit, and we've added some information in the description of the small Rpp. And the research strand projects
Allyson Kennedy: so in terms of eligibility. The types of institutions that can apply, there are 3 groups. The 1st is institutions of higher education, so these can be 2 or 4 year universities, including community colleges that are accredited in and have a campus in the Us.
Allyson Kennedy: The second group are nonprofits and non academic organizations. So this would include things like museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies, and other similar organizations. They must be located in the Us.
Allyson Kennedy: And the 3rd group are tribal nations. So any American, Indian, or Alaskan, Alaskan native tribe, ban, nation, Pueblo, village, or community, that is federally recognized by the Secretary of the interior is eligible for this program.
Allyson Kennedy: Note that these are the institution types. There are no restrictions on who can serve as pi as long as they are coming from one of these types of institutions.
Allyson Kennedy: So let's start out with some of the program goals.
Allyson Kennedy: So the overarching goal of this entire program is to provide all us students with the opportunity to participate in computer science and computational thinking education in their schools at the Pre K through 12 level. So this is formal school settings
Allyson Kennedy: in order to reach the All in the Cs for all. This program also aims to address under representation in computing. So any proposal for this program must address in a significant way the longstanding under representation of many groups in computing relative to their participation in Pre. K. 12, post, secondary education and or the workforce. You can find a lot
Allyson Kennedy: of national statistics at Nsf's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics particularly want to point you toward the diversity and stem report. The most recent one has.
Allyson Kennedy: Some more numbers about underrepresentation in computing fields.
Allyson Kennedy: Okay, so let's dive into the the different project strands. I'm gonna 1st talk about the research practice partnership strands and then I'll hand it off to Fung. Fun to talk more about the research strand.
Allyson Kennedy: So there are a few principles shared principles of research practice partnerships although the strategies about how they are implemented can really vary depending on the goals but what they do share in common is that they're long term collaborations that require diversity of expertise. So starting with a really well organized and intentional team that includes researchers and Pre. K. Through 12 practitioners, those practitioners, including, you know, teachers, administrators, and counselors.
Allyson Kennedy: But the team can also include other community members, foundations, policy and industry partners as well.
Allyson Kennedy: The main activity of an Rpp is the engagement of research with practice. So all team members are sharing participation in the rigorous research about problems of practice, and they work together to iteratively define and refine their shared goals, research questions, metrics and implementations the outcomes of Rpps are meant to drive toward educational improvement and equitable transformation.
Allyson Kennedy: Some key elements of Rpps are that they again, feature engagement of research with practice as the lead activity.
Allyson Kennedy: they should strengthen organizational capacity to reliably produce valued computer science and computational thinking outcomes for students.
Allyson Kennedy: They should build efforts to succeed when they're implemented at scale. And and, as I mentioned before, involving a range of stakeholders, in different stages of inquiry, research, and that these are translated into practical use.
Allyson Kennedy: For this program, we encourage proposals from teams that are in the early stages of Rpp formation as well as in the more advanced stages, and particularly this year, we're really interested in encouraging folks to think about early stages of Rpp formation.
Allyson Kennedy: The program is divided into 3 strands with the different focus on different grade levels. So the Pre K through 8 strand focuses on integrating computer science and computational thinking into existing courses.
Allyson Kennedy: The high school strand focuses on preparing and supporting teachers to teach standalone computer science courses. So the main focus there is Pd, though it is also possible per for projects to adapt or enhance instructional materials as well.
Allyson Kennedy: And then the 3rd one is the K through 14 pathways Strand, and this one focuses on really developing the types of supports and policies needed at the district and school level to incorporate computer science and computational thinking across grades. And you'll notice the 14 there. So there is a little flexibility to build into early se post secondary experiences, but building on pre k through 12.
Allyson Kennedy: There are 3 funding levels for the Rpp strands.
Allyson Kennedy: and they all have sort of different expectations and levels of impact. So the small stre, the small proposals are 300 K for up to 2 years, and these are really meant to support that initial team formation and the steps to build a well integrated rp.
Allyson Kennedy: the impact level of a small is expected to be at the district level.
Allyson Kennedy: A medium Rpp is a million dollars for up to 3 years, and this these are meant to support scaling of a promising approach by an already established Rpp team. You do not have to have had a small from this program to apply for a medium. But you should have evidence of an existing team and prior success. We expect medium proposals to have a state or regional impact.
Allyson Kennedy: And then, finally, the large proposals are 2 million dollars for up to 4 years, and these are meant to support widespread scaling of a strong Rpp team with a lot of evidence based approaches. And we expect these to have a national impact
Allyson Kennedy: for any of the Rpp strands. At any proposal size we expect a few things that the the proposals to address so one proposal should clearly delineate the computer science or computational thinking content that will be taught
Allyson Kennedy: the proposal should address working with communities that support the full spectrum of diverse computing talent. So addressing under representation of of groups and groups who are underserved in computing including the relevant literature and plans of action and metrics.
Allyson Kennedy: the proposal should document, if
Allyson Kennedy: and or how the approach can or will be scaled, or has been already.
Allyson Kennedy: it should specify jointly developed research questions and specify the investment of all of the partners in the Rpp team.
Allyson Kennedy: It should provide work plans for implementation, improvement, data, collection analysis and use. So really, all aspects of the Rpp. Cycle.
Allyson Kennedy: and it should draw from the Rpp. Literature in assessing the quality of the partnership and articulating plans for success.
Allyson Kennedy: Here are a few selected resources about developing and managing maintaining an Rpp. These are in the solicitation. As well. So and you'll have access to this Powerpoint, so you can. Follow up on those.
Allyson Kennedy: Okay. I am now going to hand it over to Feng Fung to talk about the research Strand and Fung Feng when you're ready for me to to change a slide. Just let me know.
Fengfeng Ke: Okay, yeah. Oh.
Fengfeng Ke: so thank you. Everyone. My name is Fong Bunker. I am a program officer from the division of Dio in Edu. So for the research fund of the Cs. For all the major purpose is that the project will be designed to support
Fengfeng Ke: and contribute to the development of in evidence informed knowledge base, and that will illuminate how learning in the domain of computer science best occurs, and how it can be supported most effectively for diverse students under different circumstances.
Fengfeng Ke: So because of that we really propose that the research, strong proposal should have very clear understanding about the literature that it's related to or governing Cs and Ct. Education. And then you should also have a clear research playing with very specified research questions that will motivating the C re contributing or knowledge building based on the empirical research or potentially the synthesis research.
Fengfeng Ke: And then it will also potentially trying to highlight the best practices for teaching and learning, of computing, especially for diverse students under different circumstances. So for this current solicitation, the funding level or the budget limit is 750 k. Up to 3 years.
Fengfeng Ke: So, as we mentioned a little bit the scope of research projects, is actually to really to enrich the knowledge base governing how students learn computing throughout their education pathway. And again, the Cs for all has been focusing on Pre. K, 12 and pass way. So when we talk about the house students learn computing, we don't really include the students who are post the secondary.
Fengfeng Ke: such as university or college students, we focus on K, 12 K 12 students
Fengfeng Ke: and prioritize a clear relationship between research and practice. And just like the other proposals, the proposals for Rpp, the clear relationship between research and practice is also highlighted in research. Strand.
Fengfeng Ke: You possibly don't need or require you to have in long term practitioner partnership, but it's always a great strength or idea to think about the practice. When you study, or will you develop the evidence from research
Fengfeng Ke: and the research firm project support the participation of the full spectrum of diverse computing talent, including groups that have been traditionally underrepresented or underserved in computing.
Fengfeng Ke: And we also encourage the research that will focus on synthesizing or demonstrating knowledge of the relevant literature that potentially roots of under representation so potentially, you could do metanysis or the other kind of systematic review kind of research to really delineate the evidence that will contributing to the knowledge
Fengfeng Ke: about the roots of under representation, or the design knowledge of intervention or potentially both. And the plan that explore ways of improving representation, or maybe the assessment development or educational measurement development that help to create clear metrics and methodologies for documenting outcomes of learning or outcomes of professional development in Cs and Ct, I also welcome or appreciate it.
Fengfeng Ke: and the topics are typically taught in courses that require
Fengfeng Ke: prerequisite calls for in computer science are not intended to be focused for the Cs for all, again, because we focus on Pre. K. 12 and pathway. So if some of the course were that require the prerequisite knowledge of Cs and Ct, they may be considered, but they are not the focus of this program.
Fengfeng Ke: And then they are some of areas research that you can consider. But of course, the this list is not thorough. It just suggested some of the questions or research areas that we think can be integrated into the Cs for program. So, for example, how students learn Cs or Ct as a literacy, just like how they learn or develop the literacy of reading and writing.
Fengfeng Ke: and how Ct. Can be supported, and what developmental trajectory will ct look like? How computing compute competencies are learned in contacts of Stm disciplines, in other words, is, how can we integrate the CS. Or Ct. Into the contacts of Stm. Learning in a much more effective, engaging, and learn adaptive manner will be part of the research area that we will want.
Fengfeng Ke: And the study focusing on longitudinal impacts of Ct or Cs education experience in Pre. K, 12 or pause way, in other words, is K. 14 will be also appreciated. Especially given advances like AI, so potentially, if you have the AI augmented AI powered
Fengfeng Ke: or AI enhanced project that it's related to Cs and Ct. Education or experience in Pre. K, 12 or pause that will be part of the research area to be considered.
Fengfeng Ke: and how Ct. Development can be framed in ways that invite value and viewed on students, diverse, cultural and linguistics, resources or assets would also be appreciated and welcome in Cs for all. And then another potential area as what educators need to know and how they learn instructional abilities.
Fengfeng Ke: Alright, I think that's with the research front.
Allyson Kennedy: Great. Thank you. Feng, Fung.
Allyson Kennedy: The last bit of information we want to share today is some sort of logistics and details about preparing your proposal.
Allyson Kennedy: So for any Nsf. Proposal, you should look at the proposal and award policy and procedures. Guide the pap G. We have Updated it. So the most recent version is 24 one. This document provides a proposal, preparation and submission guidance. So it's sort of a handbook of everything you need to know about submitting a an Nsf proposal describes a review process and the criteria
Allyson Kennedy: it outlines why proposals might be returned without review or otherwise not accepted, and it also describes how to withdraw, return, or, if a proposal is declined.
Allyson Kennedy: if you have an Nsf forward already, it also contains information about guiding and managing your award
Allyson Kennedy: for 2024. There were a couple of new updates to note. So if you have a post, Doc researcher or a graduate student on your proposal, you will need to provide a mentoring plan as a as an additional document.
Allyson Kennedy: and there have been some changes to the formatting for biographical sketches.
Allyson Kennedy: Another thing to be aware of as you're putting a proposal together is a new effort. Called educate AI. This is a multi directorate effort to really enable educators to make high quality audience appropriate AI educational experiences. And the goal here is to make these available nationwide at the K 12 community college for your college
Allyson Kennedy: graduate students and adults interested in formal training. And AI, that is the effort as a whole.
Allyson Kennedy: As a 1st phase, we have a dear colleague letter that focuses on pre k. 12, and undergrads. So relevant to this is the imitation of proposals that might advance inclusive AI education for Pre. K. 12, in response to the Cs for all solicitation. So basically, we are encouraging you to think about AI as a topic area within the scope of the Cs for all program.
Allyson Kennedy: a couple of things to note about the actual proposal itself. So in your project summary. You have 3 sections the overview intellectual merit statement and broader impact statement
Allyson Kennedy: the very 1st line of your overview in the Project Summary should include the proposal strand and size to which you are applying.
Allyson Kennedy: and then your overview must also include a list. And I mean like a bulleted list of project elements that include again, the size class
Allyson Kennedy: proposal, Strand the school districts or other institutions involved in the project. So who are the Rpp partners.
Allyson Kennedy: for the Rpp strands. And then who are the who are involved in their research strand projects and the intended populations to be served by the project activities.
Allyson Kennedy: If you are writing a proposal that is responding to that, educate AI, Dcl. You should also include, educate AI with a colon before your project title
Allyson Kennedy: now in the project description, and this is the full body of of your proposed activities. Just some notes about what to include there. So the the main part of this narrative is your merit. Is these, merit review criteria. So addressing the intellectual merit or the potential for your project to advance knowledge in the field
Allyson Kennedy: and broader impacts, which is the pre the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific societal outcomes for this solicitation. There are also 2 additional criteria that you must answer. So the proposal must address these 2 questions. Does the proposal identify the characteristics and needs of the intended population to be served?
Allyson Kennedy: And does the proposal include specific plans or strategies for addressing or accommodating the particular needs of participants of the intended populations. So if your proposal does not include these 2 criteria, it will be declined.
Allyson Kennedy: So make sure you address those
Allyson Kennedy: some other elements that should be in your project. Description for all projects should have a an evaluation plan that's for any Rpps Strand project and the research Strand. This can be an external review panel or advisory board, or can be a complete 3rd party evaluator.
Allyson Kennedy: All projects must also have a dissemination plan to just to disseminate the work to a broader audience
Allyson Kennedy: for medium and large Rpp proposals. There must also be a work plan for the implementation data collection analysis, improvement in use.
Allyson Kennedy: So d lots of details there.
Allyson Kennedy: and it should also, they should also describe the capacity of management and administrative structures to administer the activity. So a bit of a higher bar. Indicating how the work will be implemented.
Allyson Kennedy: For research proposals. As Fung Feng mentioned, there should be a very clear research plan. In the project description.
Allyson Kennedy: Also, don't forget the data management plan. This is an additional document. That website. There has the Nsf guidance for what should be included in a data management plan as well as director at specific requirements. So if your proposal is going to size or edu. You might want to look on there to see if there are any specific
Allyson Kennedy: requirements.
Allyson Kennedy: Okay? So I wanted to just conclude here with an overview of sort of the process once you've submitted a proposal. So you have a sense of the timeline here. So from the announcement of the opportunity. There are 90 days that that is posted live, during which time you you should be preparing your proposal.
Allyson Kennedy: You submit your proposal either through grants.gov or research.gov
Allyson Kennedy: and once it is at Nsf, the program officer will begin the merit review process.
Allyson Kennedy: This could be a panel review process. So panel. So we convene a panel of experts. That provide recommendations. It could be ad hoc, a combination of those things and or internal evaluation as well.
Allyson Kennedy: From there it goes to the program officer who makes an analysis and their recommendations.
Allyson Kennedy: After that it will go to our supervisors. So at the division level, who will concur with the recommendations that have been made by the panel and the program officer. So if the proposal is decided to be declined. Then at that level it will. That declination will go directly to the organization.
Allyson Kennedy: If the proposal is recommended for award, it then goes up to the division of grants and agreements who do their own set of review and processing, and then they communicate with the organization once that is ready to be awarded. If you are a new awardee, meaning you haven't received Nsf funding in the past 5 years. There might be some additional communication from the division of grants and agreement if it gets to that step.
Allyson Kennedy: So the overall overall timeline. Here is 90 days of proposal preparation. 6 months upon receipt to Dd concurrence, and then about 30 days for dga to review and process should it be recommended for award.
Allyson Kennedy: So we'll stop there, and we will look at the Q. And A. And answer your questions.
Allyson Kennedy: Jeff. I know you've been sort of answering these
Allyson Kennedy: as we've been presenting? Are there some that you want to just share out loud? Or
Allyson Kennedy: should we move to the open questions.