May 2017
AERA member Tina Grotzer, Principal Research Scientist in Education and faculty member at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, participated in the 23rd Annual Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) Hill Exhibition on May 16. The yearly event is a major showcase of research and education projects supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
More than 300 people attended the exhibition titled “Investments in STEM Research and Education: Fueling American Innovation.” France Córdova, NSF director, and Joan Ferrini-Mundy, NSF’s Acting Chief Operating Officer, also attended and heard from researchers representing the breadth of the scientific community about their NSF-funded work.
Grotzer provided demonstrations of the EcoXPT curriculum, which provides students a virtual world where they can use evidence to test hypotheses that lead to an understanding of causal interactions in biological ecosystems. Emerging findings indicate that EcoXPT has helped students engage in deeper learning. Additional information on the curriculum and some of the findings related to student engagement in science is available on the poster Grotzer displayed.
In addition to presenting her research, Grotzer visited staff of congressional offices in the Massachusetts delegation, including Sen. Edward Markey (D), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), and Rep. Katherine Clark (D). Grotzer also met with staff of the House Science Committee.
EcoXPT is supported by the NSF Education and Human Research Directorate. Grotzer serves as a co-Principal Investigator on the project with Chris Dede, also with the Harvard Graduate School of Education.