National Academies Seeks Comments on Indicators for Undergrad STEM Education
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NAS) Board on Science Education (BSE) seeks comments on its draft report, Developing Indicators for Undergraduate STEM Education. An expert panel, the Committee on Developing Indicators for Undergraduate STEM Education, was convened to develop national indicators for monitoring the quality of undergraduate STEM. The Committee proposes “a conceptual framework of goals and objectives for improving the quality of undergraduate STEM.” A two-phase study, the Committee now seeks input as it prepares to develop indicators. A series of questions for consideration can be accessed on BSE’s website. In addition, a one-day public meeting is planned for October 6, 2016 to allow the Committee to obtain additional input. Input received will inform the second phase of the study, which includes development of “a report which includes the committee’s conceptual framework for an indicator system, a brief review of existing approaches to monitoring STEM in higher education, descriptions of key constructs that need to be measured, a set of indicators and potential data sources.” Further, the Committee is also asked to specify additional areas of research needed to develop appropriate measures. The deadline to provide feedback to the Committee is October 14.