>Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2009 08:07:00 -0500
>Reply-To: "John Baek" <johnybaek@...>
>
>Hi all,
>
>I would appreciate your help in distributing the
>following Call for Papers. Submission Deadline
>is April 30, 2009.
>
>Thanks,
>John Baek
>
>-----------------------
>
>CALL FOR PAPERS
>
>2020 Vision: The Next Generation of STEM Learning Research
>
>Science Education is seeking papers for a
>special themed section as part of an
>international initiative to articulate research
>frameworks that reflect current understandings
>of STEM learning. Submission Deadline: April
>30, 2009
>Special Themed Section
>
>
>Science Education has a long tradition of
>publishing theoretical and philosophical
>articles that seek to push the boundaries of
>learning research on science, technology,
>engineering and mathematics (STEM). In 2009
>Science Education will publish a special themed
>section specifically designed to broadly explore
>the need for new research frameworks in STEM
>learning research. The goal of this special
>section will be to examine the opportunities,
>challenges and barriers to developing
>cross-cutting research questions and paradigms
>that better reflect an understanding of STEM
>learning as lifelong, life-wide and life-deep
>and to propose a range of new visions for
>possible future research directions. This
>supplemental issue of Science Education is part
>of a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded
>initiative 2020 Vision: The Next Generation of
>STEM Learning Research, designed to initiate a
>critical international conversation about the
>current state of STEM learning research
>frameworks, an iterative process of input,
>debate, synthesis and dissemination which will
>help to inform the next generation of STEM
>learning research.
>
>
>Background
>
>
>In an increasingly scientific and technological
>world the need for a science knowledgeable
>citizenry, individuals who understand the
>fundamentals of STEM ideas and think critically
>about these issues, has never been greater.
>There is growing appreciation across the broader
>STEM education community that STEM learning is
>part of the daily lives of citizens, not only
>regularly occurring in schools and in
>after-school programs, but also in informal
>settings like museums, science centers, zoos and
>aquariums, at home with family, in the
>workplace, during leisure time when children and
>adults participate in community-based activities
>and across a wide range of digital media This
>blurring of the boundaries of where, when, why,
>how and with whom people learn, along with
>better understandings of learning as a
>personally constructed, life-long process of
>making meaning and shaping identity, has
>initiated a growing awareness in the field that
>the questions and frameworks guiding STEM
>research should be reconsidered in light of
>these new realities.
>
>
>Since STEM learning is a lifelong and cumulative
>process, it is critical that research
>frameworks, designs and approaches cut across
>time, settings, socio-cultural groups, content
>and modes of learning and investigate multiple
>contexts and media, rather than historical
>approaches that have viewed learning within
>limited temporal, spatial, subject matter and
>socio-cultural contexts (e.g., the 3rd grade
>classroom, the college introductory physics
>course or 5th grade school field trip to a
>science center).
>
>Although a few innovative STEM research efforts
>are trying to accommodate these new realities,
>we believe the field could significantly benefit
>from a broadly inclusive, far-reaching dialogue
>on this issue. Authors wishing to submit
>articles for this special section should address
>the following question:
>
>
> Given the rapidly changing landscape of
>STEM education, including the blurring of
>boundaries related to when, where, why and with
>whom STEM is learned and efforts to integrate
>traditional disciplines within the social,
>natural, and physical sciences, what research
>questions and approaches should STEM learning
>researchers utilize in order to more
>successfully frame, understand and improve
>lifelong STEM learning in the 21st century?
>
>
>
>The audience for this special 2020 Vision themed
>section will be the STEM learning research
>community, broadly defined. Just as the
>boundaries of what, where, when, how and why
>STEM learning occurs is broadening and
>expanding, so too are the boundaries of who is
>involved in the STEM learning research
>enterprise. Historically, STEM learning
>researchers were predominantly academic
>researchers, most residing in Colleges of
>Education. The STEM learning research community
>now includes an ever growing number of cognitive
>scientists and neuroscientists, scientists
>working within disciplinary departments, as well
>as academic, governmental and NGO researchers
>focused on understanding free-choice learning
>environments such as public television, science
>centers, community-based organizations and new
>media. Many research frameworks also now
>embrace the importance of more meaningfully
>involving practitioners from a wide range of
>STEM learning settings in the research process.
>This richness and diversity has both strengths
>and weaknesses ­ the diversity has helped to
>break down traditional disciplinary boundaries,
>pushing on the frontiers of knowledge in STEM
>learning, but it can also be challenging as
>investigators cross into unfamiliar domains,
>perhaps unaware of previous research findings
>and not entirely understanding the culture and
>values of different learning communities.
>
>
>A major goal of this initiative, and in turn
>this special call for papers, is to help build
>bridges across diverse research communities in
>order to foster dialogue and synergies, making
>particular efforts to bridge the differences
>between those historically focused on specific
>aspects of early childhood, K-12, higher
>education and informal settings. We also hope
>to discuss strategies for beginning to break
>down silos between science, technology,
>engineering and mathematics content
>professionals, and build meaningful connections
>between research and practice within and across
>these diverse learning communities.
>
>
>Examples of re-defined research frameworks might
>include questions, designs and approaches that:
>
>
> 1. Question what STEM content is actually
>worth learning; given the vastness of STEM, is
>it possible or even worthwhile for an individual
>to have a working understanding of all STEM
>topics.
>
>
>
> 2. Rethink the coordination and integration
>of STEM content and pedagogy in ways that more
>accurately reflects learning as a lifelong
>process that occurs across settings (e.g., K-12,
>higher education, informal), situations (school,
>work and leisure time) and time frames.
>
>
>
> 3. Frame STEM learning within the broader
>socio-cultural contexts of an entire lifetime.
>
>
>
> 4. Address issues of equity and access to
>STEM understanding, not only within the limited
>sphere of schooling, but also across the myriad
>realities of a lifetime of learning, e.g. why
>might individuals engage in STEM learning (or
>not) over their life time, including issues of
>social stratification, agency, social structure
>and interaction, cultural background and
>identity.
>
>
>
> 5. Engage practitioners from across the
>learning landscape in the research enterprise,
>both in framing research questions and in the
>conduct of the research, including teams of
>researchers/practitioners representing expertise
>from across a broad range of contexts, content,
>age ranges, etc. 
>
>
>
>Articles should build on relevant literature and
>be no more than 40 double-spaced pages in
>length, including references.
>
>
>This is an open call for papers and all
>submissions will be reviewed through the
>standard Science Education peer review process.
>We envision accepting three to six articles.
>Editors for this paper set are John H. Falk,
>Oregon State University and Lynn D. Dierking,
>Oregon State University (Learning Science in
>Everyday Life Section Co-Editors) and Joseph
>Krajcik, University of Michigan and Maria
>Varelas, University of Illinois at Chicago
>(Learning Section Co-Editors). Questions should
>be directed to Falk at:
>falkj@....
>
>
>This special Science Education themed paper set
>is one component of a U.S. National Science
>Foundation-funded initiative by the same name.
>In addition to this special themed section, the
>2020 Vision: The Next Generation of STEM
>Learning Research initiative includes three
>other components: (1) an international
>invitational conference that brings together
>leaders from across the STEM learning research
>community (August 16-18, 2009); (2) an
>interactive website, designed to consolidate,
>synthesize, debate, and disseminate potential
>research frameworks, questions and approaches
>that might more effectively address the changing
>world of STEM learning; and, (3) a series of
>town hall meetings at relevant national and
>international STEM learning research meetings.
>The ultimate goal of the initiative is to ensure
>that the STEM learning research community asks
>more valid research questions, which it is hoped
>will yield more robust insights, which in turn
>should contribute to the improvement of future
>STEM research, evaluation and practice efforts.
>
>NOTE: Manuscripts for this Special 2020 Vision
>Theme Section should be submitted online.
>Information regarding the preparation of
>manuscripts and directions for online submission
>is available at:
>http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/32122
>
>For online submissions, submit files at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/scied
>
>Upon submission, please indicate in a cover
>letter to the editor that you would like the
>manuscript to be considered for publication in
>the STEM Learning 2020 Vision Paper Set.
>
>--
>As of 2/13/09, I will no longer be at CAISE.
>Inquiries about CAISE should be directed to
>Wendy Pollock, wpollock@.... Starting in
>mid-March, please contact me through the
>Department of Science and Math Education at
>Oregon State University, where I will serve as
>assistant professor of free-choice learning.
>Until then, I can be reached at my personal
>email, johnybaek@....
>
>John Baek, PhD
>Manager
>CAISE | Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education
>1025 Vermont Ave NW, Suite 500
>Washington, DC 20005-6310
>http://insci.org
>(202) 783-7200 x139
>(202) 783-7207 (Fax)
>jbaek@...
>
>---
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>


--
Dr. Keith S. Taber
University of Cambridge Faculty of Education

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