The Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program seeks to advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning opportunities for the public in informal environments; provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and engage the public of all ages in learning STEM in informal environments.
The AISL program supports six types of projects: (1) Pilots and Feasibility Studies, (2) Research in Service to Practice, (3) Innovations in Development, (4) Broad Implementation, (5) Literature Reviews, Syntheses, or Meta-Analyses, and (6) Conferences.
Project Summary – 1 page
Following NSF instructions – Each proposal must have a summary of the proposed project not more than one page in length. The Project Summary should be:
- Written in the third person, informative to other persons working in the same or related fields, and, insofar as possible, understandable to a scientifically or technically literate lay reader. It should not be an abstract of the proposal.
The Project Summary consists of three sections:
(1) Overview
The first sentence must identify the AISL project type: Pilots and Feasibility Studies, Research in Service to Practice, Innovations in Development, Broad Implementation, or Conferences, Literature Reviews, Syntheses, or Meta-analyses, or Conferences. For Literature Reviews, Syntheses, or Meta-analyses, indicate which kind is being proposed.
The Overview includes a description of the activity that will result if the proposal is funded and a statement of objectives and methods to be employed.
(2) Intellectual Merit: a statement on the intellectual merit of the proposed activity
The statement on intellectual merit should describe the potential of the proposed activity to advance knowledge building.
(3) Broader Impacts: a statement on the broader impacts of the proposed activity.
The statement on broader impacts should describe the potential of the proposed activity to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.
The AISL priorities (e.g., strategic impact, knowledge building, innovation, collaboration, infrastructure and capacity building, and broadening participation) may be a part of either Intellectual Merit, Broader Impacts, or both.
