On May 10, 2025, the National Science Foundation (NSF) celebrates 75 years of empowering discovery, innovation, and learning. For generations, NSF has supported the ideas and people that have shaped STEM education, research, and opportunity in America. But this milestone is more than a celebration—it’s also a moment for reflection. The gains we’ve made through […]
What does learning about artificial intelligence have to do with learning math? A group of enthusiastic middle and high school students are finding out, thanks to a new supplemental program offered this spring at the Florida Virtual School! As an extension of their Algebra 1 course, students are learning to build an AI model that […]
At the Concord Consortium, we believe that science education should reflect the dynamic, uncertain, and inquiry-driven nature of science itself. In our recently published study in the International Journal of Science Education, we explore how middle and high school students engage in hurricane science by interacting with the very tools scientists use to reason about […]
In the Isles of Ilkmaar, a fictional multiplayer game featuring an archipelago of diverse and magical biomes, middle school players are both data creators and data scientists. Our goal in the National Science Foundation-funded Isles of Ilkmaar project is to spark interest in data science among middle school students. A map of the Isles of […]
Tracking progress and giving thoughtful feedback to a classroom of 20 or 30 students in real time as they move through online curriculum can foil even the most heroic of teachers. Teachers are left wondering where their students are in an activity and if they are producing quality work. Our Class Dashboard—included in most of […]
Joe Polman is the Associate Dean for Research and a Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Kate Miller is a Research Associate. Cynthia McIntyre is the Director of Communications. Over the course of two years, our National Science Foundation-funded Contextualizing Data Education via Project-Based Learning (DataPBL) project co-designed addenda to four middle school English […]
Trang Tran is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Joe Polman is the Associate Dean for Research and a Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Kate Miller is a Research Associate. Cynthia McIntyre is the Director of Communications. A new National Science Foundation-funded study investigated how interdisciplinary, project-based learning can […]
We are delighted to announce two Tinker Fellows in 2025. The theme for this year’s Robert F. Tinker Fellows Program, which aims to promote innovation, creativity, and cross-disciplinary conversations, focuses on innovations in artificial intelligence, data science education, and STEM models and simulations. Devan Walton plans to develop a prototype interface that reimagines how students […]
From climate reports to historical datasets about income or education level, data influences how we understand and interact with the world around us. While math and science classrooms often shoulder the responsibility of teaching data skills, social studies classrooms are uniquely positioned to offer a context-rich and interdisciplinary approach to data literacy. At its core, […]
We’re thrilled to announce an updated release of the Rocks & Tectonics module! This module revolutionizes the teaching of the traditional rock cycle by connecting rock formation to plate motion and the tectonic conditions under which rocks form. The new version of the Rocks & Tectonics module incorporates new interactive feedback mechanisms designed to support […]