The Alaska Space Grant Program (ASGP), a participant in the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, invites applications from U. S. citizens for STEM Education Fellowship Award stipends. STEM Education Fellowship Awards of $2,500 will be awarded through a competitive process. Awards support education projects fostering the vision of NASA by encouraging career goals in STEM disciplines, strengthening the nation’s STEM workforce and engaging Americans in NASA’s mission. Students are encouraged to incorporate NASA education materials in all classrooms including visual and performing arts, social studies, health and physical education, and the humanities.
Eligibility
Stipends available under this announcement are limited to elementary and secondary teacher education students attending Alaska institutions of higher education.
While all qualified students are encouraged to apply, women and individuals from underrepresented groups, specifically, Alaska Natives, Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. Students who received awards in past competitions may apply and receive awards for subsequent competitions.
Project requirements
Applicants are asked to design an integrated STEM resource unit plan or a thematically aligned set of five lesson plans that introduces K-12 students (in any targeted elementary or secondary grade level) to science, technology, engineering or math concepts. The resource unit plan or set of lesson plans must leverage the impact of NASA's advances, discoveries, and/or challenges as a source of inspiration and inquiry for K-12 students. It is also recommended that the unit or set of lesson plans integrate real-world examples found in Alaska. The unit or set of lesson plans will include key science/math concepts, generalizations, and inquiry-based science/math activities appropriate for the grade level addressed. Awardees will provide ASGP with a complete, revised copy of the unit or set of lesson plans for inclusion on the ASGP website (spacegrant.alaska.edu) to be shared with other educators in Alaska.
For NASA education resources see https://www.nasa.gov/education/resources
Application Documents
- Online Application Form
- Letter to Potential Student Proposers
- Letter to Potential Mentors
- 2018 NASA Strategic Plan
- Student Tracking
- Application Template
Dates | Deadlines
Application Deadline
All application materials, including supporting documentation, must be received at the ASGP office by the stated deadline. Applications received after the deadline will be reviewed on a first come first serve basis until all the funds have been awarded.
- September 15 for Fall Semester Applications
- December 1 for Spring Semester Applications
Award Announcement Dates
Applicants will be notified of award decisions by email. The awards will be made payable to the student directly. Award information will be reported to the appropriate Office of Financial Aid and may affect the student's financial aid package.
- October 15 for Fall Semester Applications
- January 1 for Spring Semester Applications
Eligibility and U.S. Citizenship Requirement
Awards are open to students who meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Enrolled at an Alaskan institution of higher education during the period of the award.
- Education majors doing a classroom practicum as part of initial teacher licensure or as a graduate student in Education as part of a M.Ed. or M.A.T. degree.
- Good academic standing.
- U.S. Citizen.
Review | Selection Process
The ASGP office evaluates the eligibility of all applications received. Qualified applications will be reviewed by the individual institutions that make recommendations for funding to the ASGP Director based on the quality of the applications as reflected in the review criteria. The final award decision will be at the discretion of the ASGP Director. Preference may be given to women and individuals from under-represented groups.
Review Criteria
Applications are ranked based on the following criteria:
- Proposed project merit
- Strength of mentorship collaboration
- Scholastic achievement
- Relevance to NASA
Requirements
Award recipients agree to:
- Students should plan to present a poster at the annual Alaska Space Grant Symposium. The Symposium is typically in mid to late April. Please contact the ASGP office for location and dates. Travel costs will be provided by ASGP.
- Within one month of teaching your unit/lessons in the classroom, you will need to submit to ASGP a final report on the unit you taught. Each of the questions below can be answered in a paragraph or two.
- What do I think the students learned?
- How do I know this?
- What went well and why?
- What I would do differently and why?
- What I learned about NASA as an education resource?
- Have your classroom teacher/mentor teacher certify that you did complete the unit/lessons by having him or her sign your final report and provide comments on the experience.
- Notify ASGP of any changes in mailing address, e-mail address, or telephone number for purposes of progress reports.
- Additional survey/questionnaire documents will be sent periodically to student awardees via email to conduct longitudinal tracking of students supported by ASGP funding. The longitudinal tracking survey/questionnaire in an on-line document and the email message sent to the student will give instruction on how to access it. This will also assist in improving the quality of the Consortium’s student award program.
- Grant permission to release and/or publish requested recipient information to NASA or other appropriate parties.
- Acknowledge Alaska Space Grant Program support in any presentations or publications that the student develops as a result of his/her Space Grant-supported research project. This acknowledgement should state that:"This material is based in part upon work supported by NASA through the Alaska Space Grant Program (80NSSC20M0070).”
- Awardees must make themselves available for interview by a writer for inclusion into the Alaska Space Grant Program newsletter.
Funding Awards are subject to availability of NASA funding.
For More Information Please email us at uaf-spacegrant@alaska.edu or call us at 907-474-6833.