Our Research

We work with STEM education researchers and innovators to create change.
Efforts to improve undergraduate STEM teaching methods have generated many great ideas and materials, but few have caught on and achieved widespread use. Funding agencies are noticing the lack of propagation in funded projects and are calling for change:
“transferability and propagation are critical aspects for IUSE-supported efforts and should be addressed throughout a project’s lifetime by ensuring attention to designing for use in a large variety of institutions.” - National Science Foundation, IUSE Program Solicitation
If you aren't sure how to address transferability and propagation in your proposal or project, you are not alone. Very few developers currently do this in their proposals, because, in large part, they aren’t sure how.
As a team we have worked with a variety of education developers in different stages of their projects and analyzed many grant proposals. Through our work, we have identified a few common mistakes we repeatedly see project teams make:
  • Mistake No. 1: Concentrate on dissemination by telling.
  • Mistake No. 2: Ignore the literature on change and adoption of innovations.
  • Mistake No. 3: Focus on product development and ignore multiple factors that will hinder adoption.
  • Mistake No. 4: Wait until near the end of the project to begin work on promoting adoption.

We offer workshops and written products that leverage our research and other change literature.

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