This document is NSF 03-033 and can be found on the NSF web site at
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/nsf03033.htm
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230
March 6, 2003
Dear Colleague,
The Office of Polar Programs (OPP) and the Directorate for Education and
Human Resources (EHR) would like to call your attention to an
opportunity to request NSF support for projects that integrate polar
field research and education.
OPP and EHR jointly encourage proposals for well-designed, creative
education projects that immerse K-12 teachers in polar research
experiences and that offer structured support to effectively transfer
those experiences into classrooms and communities. An opportunity to
propose such a project currently exists through the Teacher Professional
Continuum http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/esie/programs/te/te.asp (TPC)
program, which is managed by the Division of Elementary, Secondary and
Informal Education (ESIE). The required pre-proposal deadline for the
TPC program solicitation
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf03534/nsf03534.htm, NSF 03-534, is May
19, 2003.
Proposals are encouraged from partnerships among researchers, educators,
curriculum developers, informal education centers, media centers and
other centers of science research and education expertise. Potential PIs
should examine the TPC program solicitation
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf03534/nsf03534.htm to ensure that their
project design meets all TPC program requirements. In addition,
interested PIs are encouraged to contact OPP program officers (Guy
Guthridge, gguthrid [at] nsf.gov, or Renee Crain, rcrain [at] nsf.gov to discuss
field support that OPP could provide and ESIE/TPC program officers
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2003/nsf03534/nsf03534.htm to discuss
educational aspects such as effective classroom and community transfer
of polar research experiences.
A forerunner project supported by OPP and EHR, Teachers Experiencing
Antarctica and the Arctic http://tea.rice.edu/tea_aboutus.html (TEA), is
scheduled to end its current 5-year project grant
https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/servlet/showaward?award=9904860 on March 31,
2004. OPP, EHR and the research and education communities have valued the
TEA project as a pathway to improve science education through teachers'
experiences in scientific inquiry, as a conduit for reciprocal exchange of
experience and knowledge between researchers and educators, and as a
foundation for a growing community of students, educators, researchers and
the general public that is engaged in science teaching and learning. A
future project may build on this valuable experience base to integrate
research and education while significantly contributing to the knowledge
base on science teaching and learning.
We look forward to reviewing innovative and competitive proposals that join
polar science with science education reform.
Sincerely,
Karl Erb
Director, Office of Polar Programs
Judith Ramaley
Assistant Director, Directorate for Education and Human Resources