Add as a preferred source on Google


NSF Funds STEM Reskilling Courseware Research

The National Science Foundation has announced five awards to universities to develop and study open source platforms to train and reskill workers in STEM fields.

  • By Sara Friedman
  • 09/24/19
businessman reaching toward stem icons

The National Science Foundation is launching a new initiative to help train and reskill workers in STEM fields through the development of open source learning platforms at five universities. The Production Engineering Education and Research (PEER) award recipients will each receive approximately $2 million to create online courseware to teach "key STEM skills."

The University of Southern California, Purdue University, Northeastern University, the Colorado School of Mines and Oregon State University were selected for the program. PEER is funded by a $10 million gift from The Boeing Company.

The program was founded to create tools to teach "vital STEM skills" through online micro-certificates at the community college, undergraduate, graduate and professional levels. Each of the awardees will also study the effectiveness of online courseware to determine what platforms work best with learners at various skill levels in a number of different environments.

In addition, the NSF initiative will fund three conferences to bring together experts from academia, industry, nonprofits and governments to focus on challenges and opportunities in strengthening lifelong STEM education efforts.

More information on the PEER program can be found on NSF's website.

About the Author

Sara Friedman is a reporter/producer for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe covering education policy and a wide range of other public-sector IT topics.

Friedman is a graduate of Ithaca College, where she studied journalism, politics and international communications.

Friedman can be contacted at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @SaraEFriedman.

Click here for previous articles by Friedman.


Featured

  • cybersecurity book with a shield and padlock

    NIST Proposes New Cybersecurity Guidelines for AI Systems

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology has unveiled plans to issue a new set of cybersecurity guidelines aimed at safeguarding artificial intelligence systems, citing rising concerns over risks tied to generative models, predictive analytics, and autonomous agents.

  • glowing crystal ball with network connections

    Call for Opinions: 2026 Predictions for Higher Ed IT

    How will the technology landscape in higher education change in the coming year? We're inviting our readership to weigh in with their predictions, wishes, or worries for 2026.

  • Hand holding a stylus over a tablet with futuristic risk management icons

    Why Universities Are Ransomware's Easy Target: Lessons from the 23% Surge

    Academic environments face heightened risk because their collaboration-driven environments are inherently open, making them more susceptible to attack, while the high-value research data they hold makes them an especially attractive target. The question is not if this data will be targeted, but whether universities can defend it swiftly enough against increasingly AI-powered threats.

  • conceptual graph of rising AI adoption

    Report: AI Adoption Rising, but Trust Gap Limits Impact

    A recent global study found that while the adoption of artificial intelligence continues to expand rapidly across industries, a misalignment between perceived trust in AI systems and their actual trustworthiness is limiting business returns.