Ideas Lab Fostering Transformative Approaches to Teaching and Learning:

Data-Intensive Research to Improve Teaching and Learning

By Andrew Bernat, CRA Executive Director

NSF has announced a new funding opportunity to explore using large data sets to improve STEM teaching and learning environments (RFP 13-565) that will be of interest to many CRN readers.

But this new activity includes a radically different funding mechanism - participation in an Ideas Lab workshop which is designed to foster novel, transformative, multidisciplinary approaches (and proposals). Participants in the Ideas Lab workshop will build interdisciplinary teams solely eligible to submit proposals for a majority of program funds. 

The Ideas Lab workshop will be held October 7-11, 2013. Applications for the workshop are due August 19, 2013. Workshop participants will develop multidisciplinary collaborative proposals through a real-time and iterative review process, and be eligible to submit full proposals.

The goal of the Ideas Lab is to foster novel, transformative, multidisciplinary approaches that address the use of large data sets to create actionable knowledge for improving STEM teaching and learning environments (formal and informal) in the medium term, and to revolutionize learning in the longer term.

CRA will be organizing the Ideas Lab.
For more information visit: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13565/nsf13565.htm