Background & Activities

Background

Rob Linsenmeier and Ann F. McKenna launched NCEER in 2007.  Ann McKenna is now the Vice Dean of Strategic Advancement for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State, and is a professor of engineering in the Polytechnic School, one of the six Fulton Schools. The goal was to provide a common home for the many independent engineering education research efforts at Northwestern, and in particular to help sustain these activities after the conclusion of the VaNTH Engineering Research Center (ERC). The VaNTH ERC, a collaboration between Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Texas at Austin and the Harvard/MIT Health Sciences Technology center, ran from 2000-2008. An ERC is among the largest-scale projects funded by NSF, and VaNTH was the only ERC ever dedicated to education research.

Activities

NCEER engages in a variety of activities:

  • We regularly host events with external and internal speakers. 
  • We also produce an occasional newsletter, distributed by email to NCEER scholars and posted to the news page
  • We maintain a list of active online resources for STEM education research on our online resources page.

All these activities are in the service of our main mission, which is to make connections and nurture education research collaborations among faculty in various centers, projects, and disciplines.

Additional Information

Please feel free to email NCEER for any of the following reasons:

  • If you have a project with an education component (for example, a CAREER award or a research grant with an education component). NCEER would be glad to consult or provide assistance.
  • If you intend to apply for an education research award, or have an idea for a new education research study. NCEER can provide assistance and support.
  • If you already have an active education research project and are not already recognized as an NCEER Scholar.
  • If you would like to join the NCEER mailing list to be notified of NCEER events and receive the newsletter and other notices.
  • Or if you have any other needs or questions related to STEM education research.