Victor Lee Recognized with CAREER Award

Utah State University assistant professor Victor Lee is the recipient of the prestigious 2011 Faculty Early Career Development CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. 

The learning sciences researcher and cognitive scientist from the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences was awarded NSF’s most competitive grant program for early career development of junior faculty.  CAREER Awards are a given in recognition of demonstrated excellence in research, teaching and the integration of education and research.

The award is for $650,000 over five years.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be given this opportunity to focus on and develop my research program while also improving as a university educator,” said Lee. “The university and the local community have been terrific collaborators, supporting the work that I have been pursuing. I truly hope the research I do can positively impact students in the community and the university as a whole.”

This CAREER project involves a program of educational research in which the investigator will build on the research using state-of-the-art physical activity sensor devices as tools for students to collect and analyze data about themselves. The project investigates how embodied and familiar data can be used to improve children’s understanding of elementary statistics and data analysis processes.

“The program of research involves introducing a new class of technologies that I refer to as Physical Activity Data (PAD) devices, such as heart rate monitors or accelerometers, into elementary schools,” said Lee. “Over five years, I will be working with local schools and students to explore the potential of these devices and software tools for learning about elementary statistics and ways of posing and answering personally meaningful questions. My work will encourage schools to think about cutting-edge ways of conceptualizing how we use technology for teaching and learning. Part of my job is also to train educators and the next generation of education researchers.”

Graduate students who are training to be researchers in educational technology work with Lee where they get hands-on experience in designing, conducting and sharing research. He also uses data from his research as real cases to study principles of teaching and learning in his classes.

“Dr. Lee is passionate about helping students to learn more effectively and in more motivating ways by tapping into emerging technologies,” said Mimi Recker, department head of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences. “The prestigious award from NSF will support Dr. Lee’s innovative research program, help attract and fund high quality doctoral students, as well as support the development of new seminars for graduate students at USU. The impact of Dr. Lee’s research is broad, in that it will greatly inform our understanding about how students learn and think with data. The award will also help support the development of instructional interventions designed to foster student learning.”

Currently, Lee is working with Recker, Andrew Walker, associate professor in the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, collaborators at University of Colorado Boulder, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and University of Utah on a project to study the impact of a web-based service that connects high school Earth sciences teachers with high quality digital resources to use in their teaching, which is also funded by NSF. At the same time, he is working with a team of leading scientists from across the country to explore new ways of studying what students know using tools from interaction studies. The project is funded by the American Educational Research Association.

The Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences is based in Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services. This is the third CAREER award made to a faculty member from the department. Drs. Brian Belland and David Wiley were previous recipients.

“These young faculty members add tremendously to the reputation of the department, college and Utah State University,” said Recker.  

Related links:

USU Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Services

USU Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services

Contact: Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Services, 435-797-2694
Writer: Nadiah Johari, nadiah.johari@aggiemail.usu.edu