Posts

Technical Writer Expanded Services

The OER is always seeking to improve its faculty support services. In accordance with this goal, we have expanded our Technical Writer services to include editorial supports needed for non-proposal and faculty-related activities.

 

We are excited to announce these new services and our Technical Writing Support form on the OER website. Completing this form is required to receive support and alert our Technical Writers. Once your request is received, you will be contacted by the designated Technical Writer. Audrey serves SESPECS, AZCEES, and LC. Piper serves SHDOSE, STL, PKY, and PIN. Please direct any questions to Audrey (avilaihong@coe.ufl.edu) or Piper (piperlowinger@coe.ufl.edu).

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NIH Extramural Nexus January Issue Topics

The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Extramural Nexus January Issue  covers several topics and tips, including Data Management Sharing (DMS) plans and samples, timelines, and revisiting funding opportunity announcements (FOAs). NIH recommends that DMS Plans do not include hypertext in the DMS Plan attachment, and provide sample DMS plans to act as guides. The January Issue also released a new podcast episode focusing on timelines to keep in mind when preparing an NIH grant application. Lastly, due to FOAs having multiple due dates each year, NIH recommends revisiting the FOA within 30 days of the application due date to remain aware of the latest requirements before finalizing the application.

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Revised NSF Proposal Formats

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently updated the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support formats to better align with the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 23-1). Submissions must use the revised formats to better align with the PAPPG, effective for proposals due on or after Monday, January 30th, 2023. The forms are available in the SciENcv system and on the NSF Policy Office website.

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NSF Prize Challenge for Innovative Learning Technologies

The National Science Foundation (NSF) launched a $6 million prize challenge for the development of innovative learning technologies for K-12 students, titled the Visionary Interdisciplinary Teams Advancing Learning (VITAL) Prize Challenge. The challenge comprises four steps: concept paper, discovery round, semi-final round, and final round, with the focus on providing interdisciplinary teams the funding and training to build K-12 learning technologies at the speed and scale for adoption nationwide. Applicants can choose one of three K-12 technology translation tracks – Rapid and Continuous Learning Assessment, Mathematical Literacy to Promote a Future STEM Workforce, or Other Innovations in Translational Learning Technologies.

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New Policy Surrounding Employment of Graduate Students

As announced by Provost Glover this past summer, all Ph.D. students are to be appointed at .50 FTE (half-time, 20 hours per week). The Graduate School has revised the “Principles for Employing Graduate Students at the University of Florida” document to reflect the policy change. The updated document contains information on the types of employment, eligibility, compensation, and FTE and waivers that should be considered when hiring graduate students.

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U.S. Department of Education Fiscal Years 2022-2026 Strategic Plan

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a strategic plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026. In this plan they outline six areas of research to strengthen the nation’s education system:

Focus Area 1: Address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, educators, and faculty.

Focus Area 2: Promote equity in student access to educational resources, opportunities, and inclusive environments.

Focus Area 3: Support a diverse and talented educator workforce and professional growth to strengthen student learning.

Focus Area 4: Meet students’ social, emotional, and academic needs.

Focus Area 5: Increase postsecondary value by focusing on equity-conscious strategies to address affordability, completion, post-enrollment success, and support for inclusive institutions.

Focus Area 6: Effectively manage federal student aid programs.

These areas have been selected with the needs of every student in mind, especially as it concerns the effects of COVID-19 on education. Within each of these areas, there are anticipated problems, largely including the availability of data and the effects of COVID-19 on evidence building activities. The Department of Education is focused on “ the development of novel evidence-based strategies, adaptations of those strategies in response to emerging evidence of promise, and the application of successively more rigorous evidence building techniques to evaluate the capacity to improve student outcomes” (p. 91). We suggest considering the Department’s strategic plan when writing future proposals. You may access the full plan here.

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Forecasted Notice of Funding Opportunity for Secondary Analyses of Head Start Data Grants

The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) plans to solicit applications in 2023 for Secondary Analyses of Head Start Data grants. These grants aim to support researchers using secondary analyses of Head Start data to address key questions relevant to Head Start’s programs and policies. To view the estimated application date and further information on the grant opportunity, follow this link.

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UF Research Promotion Initiative

UF’s Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing (SCM) is accepting submissions for its Research Promotion Initiative (RPI). The RPI supports researchers by sharing works that have been accepted but not yet published to be featured on UF news and social media platform, as well as pitched to external media organizations. Additionally, winners of the RPI will receive a funding award of $1,000 for research-related activities. Research from all areas is invited to apply, and research related to artificial intelligence is strongly encouraged to enter. Every two weeks, the RPI committee selects a winner to be highlighted on UF news and marketing channels. Entries that are not selected for the funding award may still be considered to be promoted by SCM and/or the applicant’s college or unit communications office.

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Research Spotlight: Elyse Hambacher

Q & A with Elyse Hambacher, Ph. D., Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Teaching & Learning

What research are you currently working on?

My current research focuses on the development of educators’ critical social justice literacy and how teaching for social justice is operationalized in education settings. I am the Principal Investigator of a Spencer Foundation grant that examines how justice-oriented White teachers and administrators in one predominantly White school district engage with concepts of race, anti-racism, and whiteness. Our research team is working on several manuscripts related to this project.

Read more →

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Research Spotlight: Christopher Anthony

Q & A with Christopher Anthony, Ph. D., Assistant Professor in the School of Special Education, School Psychology, & Early Childhood Studies

What research are you currently working on?

I always have several projects in progress, but the one that I’m most excited about involves developing better assessment tools for measuring what we call academic enablers. Academic enablers are skills, attitudes, or behaviors that aren’t academic skills, but are critical for fostering learning and growing in the classroom and beyond. I focus on four in particular: classroom interpersonal skills (e.g., whether a student can work effectively with peers to complete a class assignment), academic engagement (e.g., whether a student can attend and participate in class), motivation (e.g., whether a student can persist in the face of academic challenges), and study skills (e.g., whether a student can strategically organize materials to more efficiently learn and remember academic content).

Read more →

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Research Spotlight: Helena Mawdsley

Q & A with Helena Mawdsley, Ph. D., Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education

What research are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on the motivation and achievement of the college student population in our post-pandemic climate. I am investigating college student reflection on their academic motivation during and after the Covid-19 pandemic to learn if their motivation levels changed during these periods. Additionally, I ask, What do the students believe accounts for the change? I conducted a study titled “’Back to Normal’: Undergraduate perspectives on regaining motivation during the Covid-19 pandemic,” which will be presented at AERA.

I am also interested in the impact of experiential learning on course motivation. Does engaging in an experiential service-learning project outside the classroom correlate with a high level of motivation for that course? I collected data on student motivation during the pandemic when students could not engage in service-learning and then after the pandemic when service-learning resumed. My study called “The impact of service learning on student motivation” will be proposed at the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) meeting this spring.

Read more →

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