Q & A with Frank Fernandez, Ph. D., Assistant Professor in the School of Human Development and 
Organizational Studies in Education
What roles does higher education fulfill in society? How does higher education work as a social institution? In what ways do diverse groups have different experiences with higher education as a social institution?
Q & A with Rob Moore, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning
My research broadly attempts to answer, “What is happening in digital ecologies?” By digital ecologies, I mean any learning environment that is integrating technology. This would include a face-to-face classroom that is using PollEverywhere or Kahoot for engagement; or a massive open online course where tens of thousands of students are engaged in asynchronous discussions; or an online graduate-level course. As we are seeing advances in technology and online learning, understanding learner experiences within these digital ecologies is critical to ensuring that we are creating positive learning experiences. My research looks at the experiences of learners and the tools and resources being used by the learners. Are the tools being used in the way that the instructor intended? Are they producing the outcomes that the instructor wanted? To answer these questions, I leverage techniques including cluster analysis and multilevel modeling that allow me to ask questions such as, “How is learning supported in the environment?” or “How are learners engaging within the environment?” By using this human-centered approach, my research can identify ways to map learner outcomes to the effective design and delivery approaches within these ecologies.
This Institute of Education Research (IES) blog is part of a guest series by the Cost Analysis in Practice (CAP) project team and provides guidance for developing a timeline that aligns the steps for planning a cost analysis with the data collection process for each year of an evaluation study. The Cost Analysis in Practice (CAP) Project is a 3-year initiative funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to support researchers and practitioners who are planning or conducting a cost analysis of educational programs and practices.
In this Institute of Education Research (IES) guest blog, IES-funded researchers discuss how they were able to quickly change to a remote data collection plan when COVID-19 disrupted their initial research plan.
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) received $100 million through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to respond to the overwhelming learning challenges posed by COVID-19. In a recent blog, IES Director Mark Schneider provides an update on how IES is using those funds to invest in research grants, gather data through the School Pulse, and make sure that the information IES generates about accelerating learning is translated into forms that are usable.
In the coming weeks, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) will announce its plans to partner with the National Science Foundation (NSF) on two Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institutes. Recently, NSF has announced more of these institutes. IES will be announcing a special education and an accelerated learning institute. These two AI institutes will be jointly funded with both IES and NSF contributing $10 million each. IES is funding one of these institutes with American Rescue Plan (ARP) money and the other with regular appropriations.
For the first time since the COVID-19 shutdown, Institute of Education (IES) Director Mark Schneider attended a mostly in-person conference—the ASU+GSV Summit, held in San Diego. In a recent blog, he describes how the conference highlighted some of the challenges we can expect as we begin to recover from the pandemic. He expounds on these challenges for those contemplating when to rejoin the conference circuit, and he shares some of his takeaways from the summit and the implications for education research.
The UF Informatics Institute is hosting a virtual seminar series presented by the AI Research Catalyst Fund 2020 Awardees. The seminars began on September 1. Registration is required for each seminar. Please visit https://informatics.research.ufl.edu/ufiievents/ to register.
Wednesdays, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm via Zoom
Upcoming seminars in September include the following:
UFIT has announced that Jiang Bian will be the keynote speaker at the Fall 2021 HiPerGator Symposium. Dr. Bian, associate professor and director of Cancer Informatics and UF’s e-Health core, will speak about the collaboration with NVIDIA researchers to create GatorTron™. This is a virtual event via Zoom. Calls for presenters and general event registration is now open.
UF’s diverse collection of scientific centers and cores will unite offering a unique opportunity for UF faculty and staff to network with colleagues and drive discussions behind important topics. Registration is now open. An in-person event is currently planned but could change to virtual as the date approaches.
On August 24, 2021, UF senior leaders discussed research integrity and ethical decision making, with an introduction from President Fuchs. Panelists discussed their experiences as researchers, leaders, and citizens and the impact of ethical decision making in their daily lives. They also discussed the importance of integrity and its role in achieving excellence at UF and beyond. In case you missed it, view the leadership roundtable online.
Registration is open for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Fall 2021 Virtual Grants Conference. This virtual conference will be broadcast live on Zoom during the week of October 4–8, 2021.
To register for this free event, visit the conference website. Note: You will need to register for each Zoom session. Also, please only register for one concurrent session per time block. For those who cannot attend the live conference, all recorded conference sessions will be available on-demand shortly after the event and posted on the NSF website and YouTube page.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is pleased to announce that it will offer an NSF Proposal and Award Policy Update webinar to the research community. There is no cost to participate. This Zoom webinar will provide an overview of significant changes and clarifications to the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 22-1) that will take effect on October 4, 2021. Registration is now open.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has enabled a number of enhancements for proposals submitted in Research.gov, FastLane, and Grants.gov. In addition, the updated NSF-approved biographical sketch and current and pending support SciENcv and fillable PDF formats that fall under the revised Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 22-1) will be available to preview by September 17, 2021.
NSF also has announced enhanced NSF Funding Opportunity Search functionality and revamped program pages on nsf.gov and beta.nsf.gov, the new version of the NSF website. NSF is building the new nsf.gov website in small, iterative pieces using the beta.nsf.gov platform to improve how information is presented for use by various audiences.
Each year, the National Science Board (NSB) honors individuals and organizations with its prestigious Vannevar Bush Award and Public Service Award. The NSB is now accepting nominations for its 2022 honorary awards through September 13, 2021.
