Pepperdine GSEP Receives Grant from National Science Foundation (NSF)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $100,000 grant to Pepperdine’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology, for a critical research workshop on next-generation science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning environments.

In looking for guidance in structuring research strategically around learning technology and education in the future, NSF set aside one million dollars for synthesis and design workshops that would create complementary strategy papers to address and guide future federal research investments.  Following an intense national competition for funding, Pepperdine joins nine other universities nationwide, each awarded $100K, to contribute to this strategic effort. Other recipients include the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Georgia Tech, University of Arizona, University of Washington, Carroll University, the University of Central Florida, and Stanford University.  Pepperdine’s project will be led by Prof. Eric Hamilton of the Graduate School of Education and Psychology,

Next May, Pepperdine will convene approximately 25 internationally prominent leaders in future learning environments.  It will first host a series of webinars in early 2019 that will culminate in the in-person workshop, to be held on the Malibu campus.  The workshop will focus on collaborative learning teams over the internet representing schools working together across cultural, economic, and national boundaries in ways that will likely prove routine in future education.

The focus is similar to an international STEM makerspace project currently overseen by Dr. Hamilton called the International Community for Collaborative Content Creation (IC4).  With participants from the United States, Kenya, Finland, India, Iran and Namibia, the IC4 Project explores how learning, collaboration, and culture influence each other when students work together globally on STEM–themed media projects in after school or other informal learning environments.  A video overviewing the project can be seen here.  For more information about the IC4 project, visit ic4.site. 

During this academic year, Dr. Hamilton is on leave and serves in the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) International Bureau of Education in Geneva, Switzerland.