Progress 03/01/19 to 02/29/20
Outputs
Target Audience:In May of 2018, the two-day, national, invited Innovating Teaching and Learning in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus: Toward a National Collaborative for Food, Energy, & Water Systems Education (NC-FEW) conference was held in Washington, D.C. One of the goals of the conference was to recruit participants from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to promote crossdisciplinary collaboration. We achieved this goal, with 45 participants representing a wide range of fields, including science education, earth science education, agricultural education, environmental education, teacher education, environmental science, biology, physics, psychology, and natural resources. Though wide-ranging, all participants were engaged in education and education research in the FEW-Nexus, making this conference an important step toward establishing a collaborative that can facilitate opportunities to strengthen educational components of INFEWS projects through capacitybuilding and collaboration. Throughout the conference, participants expressed interest in continued engagement with each other and identified new spaces for collaboration with people outside their own disciplines. Furthermore, conference activities illuminated the potential for such a collaborative to generate theory from practice by identifying commonalities that arise in multiple contexts, develop research instruments and approaches that can be used across contexts, and facilitate crossdisciplinary communication and collaboration to strengthen knowledge and skills of individual members. After the conference, data on group cohesion and the desire to strengthen collaborations was gathered via a follow-up survey. The majority of respondents indicated that they wanted to continue being involved in a formal manner. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?*4 other session proposals have also been submitted for future conferences Forbes, C.T., Campbell, T., & Roehrig, G. (2020, January). Educator Preparation in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus: Building Capacity for Research through Transdisciplinary Networks. Session presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE), San Antonio, TX. Forbes, C.T., Scherer, H., Wang, H-H., Millenbah, K., Sintov, N., & Li, C. (2019, October). A national collaborative for research food, energy, & water education. Poster presented at annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Phoenix, AZ. Forbes, C.T., Lie, C.., Busch. K.C., Stevenson, K. (2018, October). A National Collaborative for Food, Energy, and Water Education Research. Invited panel symposium at the annual meeting of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), Spokane, WA. Forbes, C.T., Scherer, H., Wang, H-H., Millenbah, K., Sintov, N., & Li, C. (invited, 2018, June). A national collaborative for food, energy, & water education. Poster presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the National Network of STEM Education Centers (NSEC). Forbes, C.T., Scherer, H., Li, C., Millenbah, K., Sintov, N., & Wang, H-H. (2018, July). Building a National Collaborative for Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW): Insights from a national conference. Poster presented at the Earth Educators Rendezvous (EER), Lawrence, KS. Forbes, C.T. (invited, 2017, June). A national collaborative for food, energy, & water education: Opportunities and strategic visioning. Invited presentation at the 2017 annual meeting of the National Network of STEM Education Centers (NSEC). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?n/a
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The conference held in May, 2018 was funded through the APLU's Network of STEM Education Centers Research Action Cluster grant program, the USDA-NIFA Higher Education Challenge grant program, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Virginia Tech. Participants were recruited through an invitation letter that was sent to several professional societies, such as the American Association for Agricultural Education, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, and North American Teachers and Colleges of Agriculture, to attract participants who share similar interests. After participants expressed interest in the conference, we distributed a survey to gather information from the potential participants, including areas of expertise and research interests. Forty-five individuals participated. The program involved 1) facilitated small- and whole-group discussions; 2) a structured poster session; 3) keynote talks given by experts at NSF, USDA/NIFA, NSEC, and the White House Office of Science and Technology; and 4) time for networking. Primary deliverables from the conference included identification and elaboration of core themes spanning FEW-Nexus-based education research and educational programming spanning postsecondary, K-12, and informal/non-formal contexts. Participants completed a survey before and after the conference. As a result of the conference, we now have collaboratively-generated priority areas in which to focus further work to advance educational programming and education research in the FEW-Nexus. Goal 1.Articulation of a shared vision and outcomes for FEW education efforts across post-secondary institutional contexts Through interaction with a transdisciplinary group of peers, and guidance from the project leadership team, conference attendees contributed input on NC-FEW's vision and proposed outcomes. The participants were presented with visioning information prior to and at the beginning of the conference. This was the information reflected in the original project proposal. As part of the pre-conference survey, participants provided feedback on pre-stated NC-FEW vision, goals, and objectives. This information was summarized and distilled by the project team. During the first half of the first day of the conference, conference working groups revolved around 7 priority themes that were foregrounded as critical for both FEW-Nexus-based educational programming and research, including: systems thinking; argumentation and evidence-based reasoning; citizen science; contextualized and localized issues; equity and environmental justice; decision-making, STEM literacy, and civic engagement; and interdisciplinary training. Goal 2.Alignment of existing FEW education programs and outline new programs with potential to achieve these outcomes Later in the first day of the conference, working groups were reorganized to focus on educational contexts (postsecondary, K- 12, informal/non-formal). In the revised working groups, these seven themes were further articulated and we took first steps in identifying and developing principles that represent a common understanding of common goals, priorities, and strategies for FEW Nexus education. Of particular importance were systems thinking, justice/equity/inclusion, inter-/multi-/trans-/postdisciplinarity, and context and scale (local to global). All of these issues are central to learning within the FEW Nexus, as this context necessitates that learners engage with real-world, societally-relevant, wicked problems. Participants explored educational standards put forward by an array of disciplinary communities and 'cross-walked' these standards with the 7 priority themes as they aligned with their educational contexts. Goal 3.Articulation of methods and measures for outcome-based evaluation of FEW education programs In conference activities on the second day, participants built upon their work in support of Goals #1 AND #2 identifying and summarizing key research relevant to the 7 priority themes within the bounds of their educational contexts. Through this work, they identified key needs for future research on FEW-Nexus-based education and education research. Goal 4.Enhance capacity for national network of FEW educators and education researchers The outcomes and products of the conference contributed to Goal #4. We also applied and were granted a 5-year Multistate Research group (NC1207) around NC-FEW beginning October 1, 2018. These activities laid the foundation for development and submission of a 5-year, $750k NSF INFEWS RCN proposal in fall, 2018. The proposed project would provide support to continue building the NC-FEW community and position it for impact. It involved over 20 participants from the May, 2018 conference as PIs and Senior Personnel. The proposal was funded by NSF. The project leadership team just submitted responses to questions from NSF on May 24, 2019. We are hopeful that this proposal will be funded.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Forbes, C.T., Scherer, H., Wang, H-H., Millenbah, K., Sintov, N., & Li, C. (2019, October).��A national collaborative for research food, energy, & water education.� Poster presented at annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Phoenix, AZ.
|
Progress 03/01/18 to 02/29/20
Outputs
Target Audience:In May of 2018, the two-day, national, invited Innovating Teaching and Learning in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus: Toward a National Collaborative for Food, Energy, & Water Systems Education (NC-FEW) conference was held in Washington, D.C. The conference was funded through the APLU's Network of STEM Education Centers Research Action Cluster grant program, the USDA-NIFA Higher Education Challenge grant program, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Virginia Tech. Participants were recruited through an invitation letter that was sent to several professional societies, such as the American Association for Agricultural Education, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, and North American Teachers and Colleges of Agriculture, to attract participants who share similar interests. After participants expressed interest in the conference, we distributed a survey to gather information from the potential participants, including areas of expertise and research interests. Forty-five individuals participated. The program included 1) keynote talks given by experts at NSF, USDA/NIFA, NSEC, and the White House Office of Science and Technology, 2) time for networkingand 3)facilitated group discussions/workshops. One of the goals of the conference was to recruit participants from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration. We achieved this goal, with participants representing a wide range of fields, including science education, earth science education, agricultural education, environmental education, teacher education, environmental science, biology, physics, psychology, and natural resources. Though wide-ranging, all participants were engaged in education and education research in the FEW-Nexus, making this conference an important step toward establishing a collaborative that can facilitate opportunities to strengthen educational components of INFEWS projects through capacity-building and collaboration. Throughout the conference, participants expressed interest in continued engagement with each other and identified new spaces for collaboration with people outside their own disciplines. Furthermore, conference activities illuminated the potential for such a collaborative to generate theory from practice by identifying commonalities that arise in multiple contexts, develop research instruments and approaches that can be used across contexts, and facilitate cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration to strengthen knowledge and skills of individual members. After the conference, data on group cohesion and the desire to strengthen collaborations was gathered via a follow-up survey. Approximately 90% of respondents indicated that they wanted to continue being involved in a formal manner. Thus, we are now well positioned to move these efforts forward. Primary deliverables from the conference included identification and elaboration of core themes spanning FEW-Nexus-based education research and educational programming spanning postsecondary, K-12, and informal/non-formal contexts. Through reviewing the work that participants were already engaged in, as described in their pre-conference survey, we identified seven themes that served as the basis for working groups at the conference: systems thinking; argumentation and evidence-based reasoning; citizen science; contextualized and localized issues; equity and environmental justice; decision-making, STEM literacy, and civic engagement; and interdisciplinary training. In the conference working groups, these themes were further articulated and we took first steps in identifying and developing principles that represent a common understanding of common goals, priorities, and strategies for FEW Nexus education. Of particular importance were systems thinking, justice/equity/inclusion, inter-/multi-/trans-/post-disciplinarity, and context and scale (local to global). All of these issues are central to learning within the FEW Nexus, as this context necessitates that learners engage with real-world, societally-relevant, wicked problems. As a result of the conference, we now have collaboratively-generated priority areas in which to focus further work to advance educational programming and education research in the FEW-Nexus. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Forbes, C.T. (invited, 2020, August). Sustainability Education in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus. Invited presentation at Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) Webinar Series. (Virtual presentation due to COVID-19) Forbes, C.T. (invited, 2020, April). Research on education in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus: Opportunities and challenges for STEM educators and education researchers. Invited presentation at the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Teacher Development, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. (COVID-19 related cancellation) Forbes, C.T. (invited, 2020, April). Education research in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus: Transdisciplinary opportunities for geography education. Invited presentation at the 2020 meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) session Transformative Research in Geography Education. (COVID-19 related cancellation) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1.Articulation of a shared vision and outcomes for FEW education efforts across post-secondary institutional contexts Through interaction with a transdisciplinary group of peers, and guidance from the project leadership team, conference attendees contributed input on NC-FEW's vision and proposed outcomes. The participants were presented with visioning information prior to and at the beginning of the conference. This was the information reflected in the original project proposal. As part of the pre-conference survey, participants provided feedback on pre-stated NC-FEW vision, goals, and objectives. This information was summarized and distilled by the project team. During the first half of the first day of the conference, conference working groups revolved around 7 priority themes that were foregrounded as critical for both FEW-Nexus-based educational programming and research, including: systems thinking; argumentation and evidence-based reasoning; citizen science; contextualized and localized issues; equity and environmental justice; decision-making, STEM literacy, and civic engagement; and interdisciplinary training. Goal 2.Alignment of existing FEW education programs and outline new programs with potential to achieve these outcomes Later in the first day of the conference, working groups were reorganized to focus on educational contexts (postsecondary, K- 12, informal/non-formal). In the revised working groups, these seven themes were further articulated and we took first steps in identifying and developing principles that represent a common understanding of common goals, priorities, and strategies for FEW Nexus education. Of particular importance were systems thinking, justice/equity/inclusion, inter-/multi-/trans-/postdisciplinarity, and context and scale (local to global). All of these issues are central to learning within the FEW Nexus, as this context necessitates that learners engage with real-world, societally-relevant, wicked problems. Participants explored educational standards put forward by an array of disciplinary communities and 'cross-walked' these standards with the 7 priority themes as they aligned with their educational contexts. Goal 3.Articulation of methods and measures for outcome-based evaluation of FEW education programs In conference activities on the second day, participants built upon their work in support of Goals #1 AND #2 identifying and summarizing key research relevant to the 7 priority themes within the bounds of their educational contexts. Through this work, they identified key needs for future research on FEW-Nexus-based education and education research. Goal 4.Enhance capacity for national network of FEW educators and education researchers The outcomes and products of the conference contributed to Goal #4. We also applied and were granted a 5-year Multistate Research group (NC1207) around NC-FEW beginning October 1, 2018. These activities laid the foundation for development and submission of a 5-year, $750k NSF INFEWS RCN proposal in fall, 2018. involved over 20 participants from the May, 2018 conference as PIs and Senior Personnel. The proposal was funded by NSF.
Publications
|
Progress 03/01/18 to 02/28/19
Outputs
Target Audience:In May of 2018, the two-day, national, invited Innovating Teaching and Learning in the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus: Toward a National Collaborative for Food, Energy, & Water Systems Education (NC-FEW) conference was held in Washington, D.C. One of the goals of the conference was to recruit participants from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration. We achieved this goal, with 45 participants representing a wide range of fields, including science education, earth science education, agricultural education, environmental education, teacher education, environmental science, biology, physics, psychology, and natural resources. Though wide-ranging, all participants were engaged in education and education research in the FEW-Nexus, making this conference an important step toward establishing a collaborative that can facilitate opportunities to strengthen educational components of INFEWS projects through capacity-building and collaboration. Throughout the conference, participants expressed interest in continued engagement with each other and identified new spaces for collaboration with people outside their own disciplines. Furthermore, conference activities illuminated the potential for such a collaborative to generate theory from practice by identifying commonalities that arise in multiple contexts, develop research instruments and approaches that can be used across contexts, and facilitate cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration to strengthen knowledge and skills of individual members. After the conference, data on group cohesion and the desire to strengthen collaborations was gathered via a follow-up survey. The majority of respondents indicated that they wanted to continue being involved in a formal manner. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Forbes, C.T., Lie, C.., Busch. K.C., Stevenson, K. (2018, October).A National Collaborative for Food, Energy, and Water Education Research.Invited panel symposium at the annual meeting of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), Spokane, WA. Forbes, C.T., Scherer, H., Wang, H-H., Millenbah, K., Sintov, N., & Li, C. (invited, 2018, June). A national collaborative for food, energy, & water education. Poster presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the National Network of STEM Education Centers (NSEC). Forbes, C.T., Scherer, H., Li, C., Millenbah, K., Sintov, N., & Wang, H-H. (2018, July). Building a National Collaborative for Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW): Insights from a national conference. Poster presented at the Earth Educators Rendezvous (EER), Lawrence, KS. Forbes, C.T. (invited, 2017, June). A national collaborative for food, energy, & water education: Opportunities and strategic visioning. Invited presentation at the 2017 annual meeting of the National Network of STEM Education Centers (NSEC). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are awaiting word on the status of the INFEWS RCN proposal, which will largely determine the future direction of NC-FEW. We will hold the first annual meeting of the NC-FEW Multistate Research group (NC1207) in September, 2019. We will analyze results of the pre/post-conference survey of participants and have had preliminary discussions with book publishers about an edited book highlighting the work of NC-FEW and its participants, which we will continue to explore as a pathway to dissemination.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The conference held in May, 2018 was funded through the APLU's Network of STEM Education Centers Research Action Cluster grant program, the USDA-NIFA Higher Education Challenge grant program, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Virginia Tech. Participants were recruited through an invitation letter that was sent to several professional societies, such as the American Association for Agricultural Education, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, and North American Teachers and Colleges of Agriculture, to attract participants who share similar interests. After participants expressed interest in the conference, we distributed a survey to gather information from the potential participants, including areas of expertise and research interests. Forty-five individuals participated. The program involved 1) facilitated small- and whole-group discussions; 2) a structured poster session; 3) keynote talks given by experts at NSF, USDA/NIFA, NSEC, and the White House Office of Science and Technology; and 4) time for networking. Primary deliverables from the conference included identification and elaboration of core themes spanning FEW-Nexus-based education research and educational programming spanning postsecondary, K-12, and informal/non-formal contexts. Participants completed a survey before and after the conference. As a result of the conference, we now have collaboratively-generated priority areas in which to focus further work to advance educational programming and education research in the FEW-Nexus. Goal 1.Articulation of a shared vision and outcomes for FEW education efforts across post-secondary institutional contexts Through interaction with a transdisciplinary group of peers, and guidance from the project leadership team, conference attendees contributed input on NC-FEW's vision and proposed outcomes. The participants were presented with visioning information prior to and at the beginning of the conference. This was the information reflected in the original project proposal. As part of the pre-conference survey, participants provided feedback on pre-stated NC-FEW vision, goals, and objectives. This information was summarized and distilled by the project team. During the first half of the first day of the conference, conference working groups revolved around 7 priority themes that were foregrounded as critical for both FEW-Nexus-based educational programming and research, including: systems thinking; argumentation and evidence-based reasoning; citizen science; contextualized and localized issues; equity and environmental justice; decision-making, STEM literacy, and civic engagement; and interdisciplinary training. Goal 2.Alignment of existing FEW education programs and outline new programs with potential to achieve these outcomes Later in the first day of the conference, working groups were reorganized to focus on educational contexts (postsecondary, K-12, informal/non-formal). In the revised working groups, these seven themes were further articulated and we took first steps in identifying and developing principles that represent a common understanding of common goals, priorities, and strategies for FEW Nexus education. Of particular importance were systems thinking, justice/equity/inclusion, inter-/multi-/trans-/post-disciplinarity, and context and scale (local to global). All of these issues are central to learning within the FEW Nexus, as this context necessitates that learners engage with real-world, societally-relevant, wicked problems. Participants explored educational standards put forward by an array of disciplinary communities and 'cross-walked' these standards with the 7 priority themes as they aligned with their educational contexts. Goal 3.Articulation of methods and measures for outcome-based evaluation of FEW education programs In conference activities on the second day, participants built upon their work in support of Goals #1 AND #2 identifying and summarizing key research relevant to the 7 priority themes within the bounds of their educational contexts. Through this work, they identified key needs for future research on FEW-Nexus-based education and education research. Goal 4.Enhance capacity for national network of FEW educators and education researchers The outcomes and products of the conference contributed to Goal #4. We also applied and were granted a 5-year Multistate Research group (NC1207) around NC-FEW beginning October 1, 2018. These activities laid the foundation for development and submission of a 5-year, $750k NSF INFEWS RCN proposal in fall, 2018. The proposed project would provide support to continue building the NC-FEW community and position it for impact. It involved over 20 participants from the May, 2018 conference as PIs and Senior Personnel. The proposal is current 'pending' with NSF. The project leadership team just submitted responses to questions from NSF on May 24, 2019. We are hopeful that this proposal will be funded.
Publications
|