Dear STEP Community,
Over the past 9 months, the STEPping into the Future Working Group on STEP Central (http://stepcentral.net/groups/374#.VIdJuoewHis) has been working to collect and compile the critical elements and lessons learned from the STEP program so that others may continue and build on those successes. We have now completed this paper, and turn again to the broader STEP Community for the last and most important part of this effort: your endorsements.
The replacement of the NSF STEP program by the IUSE program (Improving Undergraduate STEM Education), was the catalyst that motivated the STEP Community to identify, capture, and articulate critical elements from the STEP program we would like to see supported by IUSE. To that end, we crafted a white paper entitled “STEPping into the Future: Impacts of NSF STEP Program Funding on the National STEM Enterprise”. This paper lists five critical STEP priorities we recommend that NSF support when making IUSE funding decisions:
1) Adapting and implementing sustainable and potentially scalable best practices and projects, including support for scaling up at the institution and across institutions.
2) Forming and sustaining partnerships and community networks, that build and maintain relationships and disseminate results, particularly venues like the STEP grantee meeting and STEPCentral (soon to be STEMCentral).
3) Supporting creative new laboratory course and curriculum development, including funding for equipment.
4) Focusing on students, including diversity and inclusion, which complement workforce needs.
5) Recognizing the resource limitations of small institutions when assessing the education research component of the project.
Before we share these recommendations with the NSF, we request your support so that our recommendations may have the greatest possible impact. If you agree with the recommendations, please give us your endorsement by signing this "petition".
You can read the full text of the white paper here: http://stepcentral.net/groups/posts/1216/#.VIdJaoewHis
We deeply appreciate your support of this effort to promote
the critical and successful strategies and funding priorities that have been so
successful in the STEP program.
Thank you for considering
this request for support!
Sincerely,
STEPping Into the Future White Paper Working Group
Updates
December 22, 2014
been reading through all the feedback on the white paper and it is wild to see how much we all agree on these priorities. i am putting together a final version now to make sure our recommendations for iuse are as strong as they can be.
December 22, 2014
im honestly blown away by how many people have backed this white paper so far. it feels like we finally have the momentum we need to show the folks at the nsf that our work matters.
32 Comments
Our STEP grant is why we now have a sustained and institutionally funded STEM Program
We recently had our final external/internal advisory board meeting and they were amazed at the student centered pedagogy we had developed and implemented. We have also disseminated a large number of results from our 5-year projects and the white paper is spot on with our findings.
I worked for 7 years creating and implementing community building activities suchas a bridge program, freshmen class, and peer emtnroing society. The retention and graduation rates of those students was consistently 6-8% higher than their peers. I highly endorse these rrecommendations.
The NSF STEP grant that we received has helped us build a rigorous Engineering program that feeds UT Dallas' Engineering Department. It has played a critical role in my institution's success. I fully support the new IUSE progam and look forward to participating.
Fantastic job by the Working Group! The summary points are outstanding. The original purpose of STEP is perhaps more important today than it was when implemented some 10 to 12 years ago. The new IUSE Program will have an even greater impact by continuing to support elements of the STEP Program.
Endorse the STEPping into the future white Paper
I am a member of a team that was awarded an IUSE grant. I concur with the recommendations made in this white paper, particularly those relating to the common guidelines and IUSE. Our team of 7 faculty from 5 different STEM disciplines based our IUSE proposal on ideas that we were deeply committed to implementing in our classes. The common guidelines and our own lack of formal training in pure education research made us question whether our project would be a good fit. I am concerned that similar considerations will discourage others.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via . Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
By signing, you accept iPetitions Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
Dear STEP Community,
Over the past 9 months, the STEPping into the Future Working Group on STEP Central (http://stepcentral.net/groups/374#.VIdJuoewHis) has been working to collect and compile the critical elements and lessons learned from the STEP program so that others may continue and build on those successes. We have now completed this paper, and turn again to the broader STEP Community for the last and most important part of this effort: your endorsements.
The replacement of the NSF STEP program by the IUSE program (Improving Undergraduate STEM Education), was the catalyst that motivated the STEP Community to identify, capture, and articulate critical elements from the STEP program we would like to see supported by IUSE. To that end, we crafted a white paper entitled “STEPping into the Future: Impacts of NSF STEP Program Funding on the National STEM Enterprise”. This paper lists five critical STEP priorities we recommend that NSF support when making IUSE funding decisions:
1) Adapting and implementing sustainable and potentially scalable best practices and projects, including support for scaling up at the institution and across institutions.
2) Forming and sustaining partnerships and community networks, that build and maintain relationships and disseminate results, particularly venues like the STEP grantee meeting and STEPCentral (soon to be STEMCentral).
3) Supporting creative new laboratory course and curriculum development, including funding for equipment.
4) Focusing on students, including diversity and inclusion, which complement workforce needs.
5) Recognizing the resource limitations of small institutions when assessing the education research component of the project.
Before we share these recommendations with the NSF, we request your support so that our recommendations may have the greatest possible impact. If you agree with the recommendations, please give us your endorsement by signing this "petition".
You can read the full text of the white paper here: http://stepcentral.net/groups/posts/1216/#.VIdJaoewHis
We deeply appreciate your support of this effort to promote
the critical and successful strategies and funding priorities that have been so
successful in the STEP program.
Thank you for considering
this request for support!
Sincerely,
STEPping Into the Future White Paper Working Group
Updates
December 22, 2014
been reading through all the feedback on the white paper and it is wild to see how much we all agree on these priorities. i am putting together a final version now to make sure our recommendations for iuse are as strong as they can be.
December 22, 2014
im honestly blown away by how many people have backed this white paper so far. it feels like we finally have the momentum we need to show the folks at the nsf that our work matters.
32 Comments
Our STEP grants allowed the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences to increase its 5-year graduation/6-year continuation rates by 10 percentage points, providing the evidence to convinence the university to sustain the best practices identiied in the STEP grants. rates
Our STEP grant is why we now have a sustained and institutionally funded STEM Program
We recently had our final external/internal advisory board meeting and they were amazed at the student centered pedagogy we had developed and implemented. We have also disseminated a large number of results from our 5-year projects and the white paper is spot on with our findings.
I worked for 7 years creating and implementing community building activities suchas a bridge program, freshmen class, and peer emtnroing society. The retention and graduation rates of those students was consistently 6-8% higher than their peers. I highly endorse these rrecommendations.
The NSF STEP grant that we received has helped us build a rigorous Engineering program that feeds UT Dallas' Engineering Department. It has played a critical role in my institution's success. I fully support the new IUSE progam and look forward to participating.
Fantastic job by the Working Group! The summary points are outstanding. The original purpose of STEP is perhaps more important today than it was when implemented some 10 to 12 years ago. The new IUSE Program will have an even greater impact by continuing to support elements of the STEP Program.
Endorse the STEPping into the future white Paper
I am a member of a team that was awarded an IUSE grant. I concur with the recommendations made in this white paper, particularly those relating to the common guidelines and IUSE. Our team of 7 faculty from 5 different STEM disciplines based our IUSE proposal on ideas that we were deeply committed to implementing in our classes. The common guidelines and our own lack of formal training in pure education research made us question whether our project would be a good fit. I am concerned that similar considerations will discourage others.
Help this petition grow
Share it with friends to help reach 100 signatures.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via .
Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
Signing with Google or Facebook verifies your signature instantly — no email needed.
By signing, you accept iPetitions Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
Our STEP grants allowed the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences to increase its 5-year graduation/6-year continuation rates by 10 percentage points, providing the evidence to convinence the university to sustain the best practices identiied in the STEP grants. rates