About the Center

We envision a world in which evidence from research and wisdom from practice guide all learning experiences. The Center mission is to conduct applied research with a broad range of partners and nurture communities toward improved systems of STEM learning for all. 

The center was established in 2012 to work across campus to enhance OSUs capacity in STEM learning research, and to strengthen the impact of this research on the practices of teaching and learning. Within the context of OSU,“STEM” includes the natural, physical and social sciences; technology; engineering; and mathematics as single disciplines or in any combination, and extends to the integrative STEM disciplines of forestry, agriculture, fisheries, (veterinary) medicine, and health sciences. The Center is unique among STEM center counterparts around the country in its focus on research and its commitment to understanding learning and engagement across all settings (in and out of school) and across the lifespan for all audiences. These audiences range from young to old learners, laypeople to STEM professionals, and occur within both formal educational and free-choice learning contexts. 

The research focus of the center includes a diverse suite of research and evaluation efforts focused on how people with diverse backgrounds and life circumstances build knowledge and understanding about STEM, develop identities as STEM learners and dispositions to engage with STEM-related issues, and ultimately build capacity to apply that knowledge and understanding to their daily and professional lives. Our STEM learning research also includes the study of methods, institutions, media, and people who play a role in mediating learning (e.g. schools, museums, magazines, teachers, etc.) and therefore includes research and evaluation of STEM education and science communication. 

Within OSU, the Center serves as a neutral broker for a diverse and decentralized community of those who engage in STEM learning research within our university by functioning as a central hub and institutional support structure. Externally, the Center serves as a representative for OSU’s STEM learning research at the state, national and international levels. Major initiatives at the center include 1) institutionalization of tools and capacities to expand the societal benefit or ‘broader impacts’ of the OSU research enterprise as related to the Center’s mission, 2) redefining and modeling undergraduate success, and 3) leading research in both Free-choice and formal learning arenas. You can learn more about our research and projects here.

Updated 9/11/2018