National Science Foundation Informal Science Education Program
NSF's Informal Science Education program supports innovation in "anywhere, anytime, lifelong learning," through investments in research, development, infrastructure, and capacity-building for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning outside of formal school settings. The NSF ISE program is one of several grant programs in NSF's Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL).
Resources
Gathered here are links to information about the ISE program useful to those applying for and carrying out ISE -funded work.
- Informal Science Education Program —An overview of the NSF ISE program and links to abstracts of recent ISE awards.
- Current ISE Solicitation—Background and guidelines for submitting proposals to the ISE program.
- Framework for Evaluating Impacts of Informal Science Education Projects — Originating from a March 12–13, 2007 workshop about informal science education evaluation, this book offers background about NSF’s evolving reporting requirements and advice from evaluators working in the field about how to gather evidence about impacts of projects supported by the ISE program.
- NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide—Included here are the general NSF Grant Proposal Guide (Part I) and the Award and Administration Guide (Part II), which includes documents used to guide, manage, and monitor the award and administration of NSF grants and cooperative agreements .
- NSF Merit Review Process—Read this for a better understanding of the NSF merit review process.
- Prospective New Awardee Guide—This guide will help your organization prepare documents required by NSF to conduct administrative and financial reviews of your organization.
- The 2010 User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation
- Instructions for ISE OPMS Impacts and Indicators Worksheets
- ISE OPMS Impacts and Indicators Worksheets