Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL)

Overview

The Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program is the only NSF program that exclusively invests in research and practice on how people learn STEM outside of formal education. The AISL Program is committed to funding research and practice, with continued focus on investigating a range of informal STEM learning (ISL) experiences and environments that make lifelong learning a reality. This AISL solicitation specifically seeks proposals that center equity and belonging, and further the well-being of individuals and communities who have historically been and continue to be excluded, under-served, or underrepresented, due to gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability status, neurodiversity, geographic location, and economic status, among others, as well as their intersections. The solicitation encourages proposals from institutions and organizations that serve public audiences, and specifically focus on public engagement with and understanding of STEM, including community STEM; public participation in scientific research (PPSR); science communication; Intergenerational STEM engagement; and STEM media.

The informal STEM learning field comprises a broad community of STEM education researchers, practitioners, learning organizations, associations, and communities who seek to understand the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal experiences and environments. Almost any environment can support the self-directed nature of informal STEM learning. This vast array of learning environments creates an opportunity to understand how learners can be supported to develop interest and learning, and to bridge across interest areas and settings. The contexts of AISL investments may include everyday activities, such as cooking (chemistry) or tracking personal health and screen time data (data visualization); or self-directed experiences such as stargazing (astronomy), creating mini games (computer science), or birdwatching (ornithology). Informal STEM learning can also happen in intentionally designed experiences and environments, such as, but not limited to: 

• exhibitions and programs in museums, zoos, aquaria, botanic gardens/arboreta, planetariums, nature centers, parks, libraries, homes, community centers, and other environments; 
• science communication; 
• traditional or intergenerational knowledge sharing, such as Story Circles; 
• community and participatory science; 
• radio, television, film, media programs or series, or podcasts; 
• Do-It-Yourself (DIY) or maker initiatives; 
• opportunities for the public to engage in research, including crowdsourcing and Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR); and 
• online and other digital experiences (e.g., games, simulations, social media). 

A proposal funded by the AISL Program should be of interest and utility to public audiences, such as individuals and communities; informal STEM practitioners (AISL Goal #4 below provides a broad definition of practitioners); educational, scientific, and/or community-based researchers; and other stakeholders, such as STEM education leaders, community leaders (communities may include local, tribal, shared identities, common interests), decision-makers, and policymakers.

AISL GOALS FOR PROPOSALS

• Goal #1: Learning STEM in Informal Experiences and Environments (required of all proposals)
• Goal #2: Advancing the Knowledge Base of Informal STEM Learning (required of all proposals)
• Goal #3: Equity, Belonging, and Broadening Participation (required of all proposals)
• Goal #4: Intentionally Community/Practitioner Driven
• Goal #5: Professional Capacity Building & Informal STEM Infrastructure
• Goal #6: Support Learners' Participation in and Understanding of STEM practices

Limits for funding requests of AISL proposals under this solicitation are as follows: 

• Project Type 1: Synthesis: from $100,000 to $500,000 with duration of 2 to 3 years; 
• Project Type 2: Conferences: from $75,000 to $250,000 with duration of 1 to 2 years
• Project Type 3: Partnership Development and Planning: from $50,000 to $150,000 with duration of 1 to 1.5 years
• Project Type 4: Integrating Research and Practice: from $250,000 to $2 million with duration of 2 to 5 years
• Project Type 5: Research in Support of Wide-reaching Public Engagement with STEM: from $1 million to $3.5 million with duration of 2 to 5 years