Dr. Amanda Merritt serves as Co-PI and community and connection lead for the Center. In these roles, she will steer the design of activities to facilitate networking and reciprocal exchange between STEM education researchers and professionals. 

Read below for Dr. Merritt’s thoughts on how the Center fosters connection between researchers and practitioners. 

What value does the Center bring to the PreK-12 STEM education field? 

The Center provides the formal PreK-12 STEM education community a space to communicate, collaborate and examine the practices, strategies, and mindsets that influence PreK-12 student outcomes. Without opportunities to network and share what really works to positively impact students, evidence from educational research is irrelevant. 

How does the Center help bridge the gap between research and classrooms? 

One of the goals of the Center is to foster meaningful connections between research and practice. Much of the evidence from PreK-12 STEM education research cannot exist without schools and classrooms in which teachers, instructional coaches and leaders are implementing innovative strategies to improve student learning. Likewise, PreK-12 educators need to know what practices have evidence that they will meet students’ learning needs. Research and practice must be woven together to advance both. 

What hopes do you have for how NSF-funded researchers will benefit from this Center? 

The translation of PreK-12 STEM educational research and evidence-based practices occurs along a continuum. This implies movement of ideas back and forth between researchers and schools. Unfortunately, too often the movement of ideas ends when research is published in a peer-reviewed academic journal that very few Prek-12 education practitioners read. We hope to be able to work with NSF-funded researchers so that the impact of a study doesn’t end when its results are published, but that becomes only one step in translating knowledge to practice. 

"One of the goals of the Center is to foster meaningful connections between research and practice...Research and practice must be woven together to advance both."

-Dr. Amanda Merritt, Co-PI

How will the Center be able to support early career STEM education researchers who are new to NSF? 

The process for selecting, applying for, and conducting research through NSF can be a daunting experience, especially for researchers new to NSF. The Center will provide resources to help early-career STEM education researchers navigate this process and connect with more experienced researchers who have been successful at receiving and managing NSF funding.

What excites you most about this work? 

I love the idea of fostering community amongst researchers and practitioners. The two fields must be connected if PreK-12 students are going to have meaningful learning experiences that prepare them for the American workforce of the future.