Research Findings: Engineering play is a new framework for understanding constructive block building as a design process. The current study examined associations between engineering play with wooden unit blocks and mathematics and spatial skills of children with and without disabilities. Participants included 110 preschoolers (44% female; 25%…

The international mobility of academics is one of the key mechanisms through which university internationalization occurs; yet, fewer studies have investigated the impact that it has on academics' teaching, research, and service. This study investigates the relationship between short-term international mobility and changes in academics' research…

Engineering has gained considerable traction in many K-12 schools. However, there are several obstacles or challenges to an effective approach that leads to student learning. Questions such as where engineering best fits in the curriculum; how to include it authentically and appropriately; toward what educational end; and how best to prepare…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to share the content and early results from an interdisciplinary sustainability curriculum that integrates theory and practice (praxis). The curriculum links new topical courses concerning renewable energy, food, water, engineering and social change with specialized labs that enhance technological and…

Researchers have begun tracking a group of high ability high school students from high school into college study. These students indicated an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) content areas, and specifically ocean sciences, through participation in a regional or national academic competition in high school--The…

This brief document reports on Federal support to individual universities and colleges both for science/engineering (S/E) and non-S/E activities. The study, the only source of data on total Federal obligations to individual academic and nonprofit institutions, is carried out annually by the National Science Foundation (NSF), as a result of a…

Presented is a collection of abstracts of selected technical reports, journal articles, and other documents resulting from research supported by the directorates of the National Science Foundation. Reports are grouped by sponsoring directorate: Biological, Behavioral and Social Sciences; Engineering; and Scientific, Technological and Industrial…

A consensus has developed among U.S. solar researchers that the solar-powered cooling of buildings is an important topic. Most solar heating systems are technically simpler, and more highly developed, than solar cooling devices are. The determination of the best design concept for any particular application is not a simple process. Significant…

This issue brief presents data illustrating the diversity across federal agency support in the science and engineering fields as emphasized in their funding of both academic research and science and engineering graduate students. Funding data show that changes in the balance of academic research funding across agencies are likely to affect both…