The RISE Postdoctoral Training Program in Mathematics Education: Inclusive STEM Education rooted in an Integrative Theory of Learning

The RISE Postdoctoral Training Program will train a cohort of postdoctoral scholars in STEM Education research using a framework based on the RISE principles (Nasir et al., 2021). The RISE principles hold that learning is: Rooted in basic biological and cognitive processes; Integrated with socioemotional and identity development; Situated in and shaped by social and cultural contexts; and Experienced as embodied and socially coordinated. Guided by these principles, the research and education training plan features five key components: (1) individualized mentorship; (2) research apprenticeships with existing projects that address one or more of the RISE principles; (3) support for independent research according to fellows’ interests and guided by their primary and secondary mentors; (4) interdisciplinary training; and (5) development of professional competencies, including publishing and grant writing. The program integrates cutting edge science on effective mentorship with the mentoring team’s interdisciplinary expertise in the learning sciences and STEM education. The program will nurture a cohort of emerging researchers committed to serving underrepresented communities who are prepared to both push the frontiers of inclusive STEM education and to train future researchers. The program features a theory-driven, resource-rich, cohort-based approach, offering customized mentored experiences to ensure the engagement and retention of diverse researchers participating in community-engaged research. The proposed program rests upon the proposition that a generative path towards creating more equitable STEM learning outcomes requires recognizing that extant views of learning limit widely held beliefs and visions about what can be learned, who can learn, and importantly, how learning occurs. The program will thus leverage combined insights from interdisciplinary studies of the science of learning as detailed in the RISE framework. The work will be driven by a core of established, highly productive math education and math cognition researchers with interdisciplinary yet complementary expertise who manage a large slate of existing projects with which postdoctoral fellows can engage. Moreover, the project will enlist support from UW–Madison’s nationally recognized institutes for promoting effective mentor training and community-engaged STEM research. In sum, the RISE Postdoctoral Training Program will marshal an array of expertise and resources to nurture a cohort of new researchers from diverse backgrounds who are prepared both (a) to push the frontiers of inclusive STEM education and (b) to achieve sustained impacts by ensuring greater participation in STEM by successive generations of learners from diverse groups. This project is supported by NSF’s STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) Program with co-funding from the Discovery Research PreK-12 Program (DRK-12). The STEM Ed PRF Program aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. The DRK-12 Program seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.