august-2020

SEIRI welcomes Dr. Snehasis Mukhopadhyay as Associate Director

Dr. Snehasis Mukhopadhyay is a Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science, and the Associate Director of the STEM Education Innovation Research Institute (SEIRI) at IUPUI. He has previously served as Associate Chair of the Computer and information Science department at IUPUI.

He received his Ph.D. from Yale University, and a Master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He received a CAREER award from the NSF for integrating research and education. He has continuously received research funding from government agencies including NSF, NIH, NOAA, and USDA. He has twice received the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Awards (TTA) in the years 2014 and 2017.

He was recognized and honored in the year 2020 at an event titled “Celebration of Teaching and Engaged Learning” by the Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor of IUPUI for having “an important and meaningful impact”. He has provided extensive professional services including being an NSF Review panelist on multiple occasions and being the General Chair of the 2016 ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge management (CIKM).

SEIRI Also Welcomes Danka Maric, Research Associate

Danka Maric joins SEIRI as a Research Associate. She received her MA in Cognitive and Social Processes from Ball State University and her BS in Psychology from IUPUI. Areas of interest include social cognition, evaluations of women in male-dominated fields, gender parity in male-dominate fields, and quantitative analysis. We are glad to have Danka as part of our team.

2020 SEIRI Seed Grant - Submission Deadline October 1, 2020

The 2020 STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute Seed Grants Request for Proposals submission deadline is October 1, 2020.

The STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute (SEIRI) at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is pleased to announce the 2020 SEIRI Seed Grant (SSG) competition. The goal of this competition is to facilitate and support STEM education innovation and research at IUPUI. Specifically, this opportunity provides faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments with funding to develop, implement, and evaluate the impact of pedagogical innovations across multiple IUPUI STEM courses.

As a long-term goal, this grant is intended to enable faculty competitiveness for external funding with agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), Spencer Foundation, and the National Institute for Health (NIH), or other internal funding such as the IUCRG. As such, we strongly encourage that interested STEM faculty partner with an educational research or design expert within fields related to the learning sciences, such as (but not limited to) IUPUI's Department of Psychology or School of Education.

Logic model workshop - October 29, 2020, 1:00-2:30 pm

SEIRI is offering a workshop on development of Logic Models for educational projects. The workshop is especially for faculty interested in applying for federal funding from NSF under the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) track, for a SEIRI Seed Grant, or for a CEG offered by CTL. This will be on ZOOM. Registration deadline 10/23/2020.

Register for this workshop

Congratulations

The following two SSG teams recently received funding from the IUSE Program at NSF

   Robert Weissbach(PI), Collaborative Research: Writing Assignment Tutor Training in STEM, an Interdisciplinary Approach to Enhance Student Writing in Engineering Fields, $364,477. The research was based on their 2018 SSG project titled, “Writing Support in STEM Education: Replication and Expansion of a Model to Improve Writing Support Tutor Training”. Award ID 2013467.

   Gautam Vemuri (PI), Normalizing Computational Methods in the Undergraduate Physics Curriculum, $295,647. The research was based on their 2017 SSG project titled, “Normalizing Computational Methods in the Undergraduate Physics Curriculum”, with Yogesh Joglekar as the PI. Award ID 2021209.

Kim Nguyen (PI) has received a supplemental award of $235032 from NSF for the Center LSMRCE to organize at least six STEM Career events in two years at a number of Eaton Corp. Innovation Centers across the country. Award ID 1826626.

Saptarshi Purkayastha (PI), Measuring learning gains in man-machine assemblage when augmenting radiology work in artificial intelligence, $826,795. This grant builds on the work performed as part of a 2017 SSG project titled "Online Guided Inquiry Learning in Health Information Management" with Purkaryastha as the PI. Award ID 1928481.

2020 SEIRI Seed Grant Symposium

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Register for this symposium

Are you interested in implementing cPLTL in your online classes?

If you are interested in an individual consultation with Dr. Pratibha Varma-Nelson, please contact Sheila Summers, ude[dot]iupui[at]emmusehs, to set up an appointment. Below is a brief description of cPLTL, as well as the link to more information. https://cpltl.iupui.edu/

cPLTL is the “cyber” evolution of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) to an online format. PLTL is a model of teaching that preserves the lecture and replaces recitation in science courses with a weekly two-hour session. During these interactive sessions (workshops), six to eight students work as a team to solve carefully constructed problems under the guidance of a peer leader.

cPLTL methods engage students as active participants in online activities that involve complex problem solving, working collaboratively, communicating effectively, and fostering self-directed learning through. These interactive workshops create space where students relate abstract concepts to real-world examples, situating content in a relevant context. These deep learning experiences emphasize critical thinking and understanding the “how” of science which aligns with the knowledge, skills, and abilities expected in upper-level STEM coursework and the twenty-first century workplace.

Document camera for active learning or group learning online

Dr. John Nelson recently published an "Instructable" demonstrating the use of a low cost laptop camera replacement module to make a laptop document camera system for video conferencing. https://www.instructables.com/id/5-Laptop-Document-Camera-for-Video-Conferencing/

Document cameras used in online meetings cost $60 to $150 from online retailers. With the sudden COVID-19 related transformation from in-person learning to remote learning over the internet has come a high demand for document cameras. These cameras permit a student or coworker to demonstrate their work during a class or business meeting.

The high cost prevents widespread use in K-12 and the demand for document cameras has outstripped supply even for colleges and universities, driving prices up.. Document cameras are an integral part of cPLTL (cyber Peer-Led Team Learning cpltl.iupui.edu) developed by Dr. Varma-Nelson during her tenure in the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Our recommended reading is courtesy of Dr. Snehasis Mukhopadhyay about artificial intelligence in education.

Pedro, F., Subosa, M., Rivas, A. and Valverde, P., 2019. Artificial intelligence in education: Challenges and opportunities for sustainable development, Working Papers on Education Policy, Education Sector, UNESCO.

If you have something you would like to see added to the SEIRI Newsletter, please contact Sheila Summers, ude[dot]iupui[at]emmusehs, , and let her know. We would like to include information you feel is beneficial to you.

Thank you for reading our newsletter. Feel free to contact us with suggestions. If you have speakers in STEM education, please let us know and we will be glad to include them. Please check our website at seiri.iupui.edu for more information.