[ACT-R-users] ONR intelligent tutoring opportunity that comes as a surprise to me

[Susan Chipman]

        In the past a call like this -- focused on middle school -- would
have been taboo at ONR.  I would think basic electricity and electronics
might be the best topic because of the Phase II requirement for use in Navy
training.  Basic electricity and electronics is the largest single topic in
Navy training.

 ONR Announces Multimillion-Dollar 'STEM Grand Challenge'

Office of Naval Research
Corporate Strategic Communications
875 N. Randolph St., #1225-D
Arlington, Va. 22203.1771
Office: (703) 696.5031
Fax: (703) 696.5940
Email: onrcsc at onr.navy.mil
Web: www.onr.navy.mil
Facebook: www.facebook.com/officeofnavalresearch

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 15, 2011*

By the Office of Naval Research

ALEXANDRIA, Va.— Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Nevin
Carr<http://www.onr.navy.mil/en/About-ONR/Leadership/carr-nevin-cnr.aspx>announced
an incentive plan to award up to $8 million for ideas aimed at
boosting K-12 education in the sciences during a June15-16 conference in
Alexandria, Va.

“Today’s approaches to training and education must seek new innovative ways
to sustain America’s position as a global technology leader,” Carr told the
more than 650 government, academia and business leaders gathered at the
Naval Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) forum.

“I wouldn’t begin to pretend that the Navy is going to solve the country’s
STEM problem…there are others out there working very hard to do that,” Carr
continued, “but we also want to make sure we are all intersected in a way
that we can get the most out of the collective.”

The challenge is one of many efforts the Navy has developed to encourage
students, parents and teachers to pursue STEM education and careers. Through
its STEM initiatives, the Navy seeks to increase the talent pool of future
Sailors, naval scientists and engineers.

The Navy will award up to $1.5 million to each Phase One selectee. Teams
will compete to advance to Phase Two. In the second stage, up to two teams
will be awarded as much as $1 million each to extend their Phase One success
to a Navy training challenge for another year. The technologies will be
designed to meet students’ individual learning style.

ONR will issue the proposal as part of its Long-Range Broad Agency
Announcement for Navy and Marine Corps science and technology efforts.
Contract awards are expected in fiscal 2012 and ONR officials anticipate
multiple awards for Phase One.

In Phase One, participating Grand Challenge teams must develop an
intelligent tutor, a system that uses computers and provides direct
customized instruction to augment the classroom and serve as an aid for
teaching middle to high school STEM curriculum. Teams will be evaluated on
how well they demonstrate significant student improvement in retention,
reasoning and problem solving, at an affordable cost. Based on these
results, up to two teams will be selected to advance to Phase Two.

In Phase Two, selected team(s) must adapt their “tutor,” or software, to
effectively address Department of the Navy-specific training audiences and
criteria. The winning team will be able to demonstrate a tutor that cost
effectively produces significant improvements similar to its Phase One
effort.

For more details on the STEM Grand Challenge, contact Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Cohn
at joseph.cohn at navy.mil or Dr. Ray Perez at ray.perez at navy.mil.
About the Office of Naval Research

The Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR) provides the
science and technology necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps'
technological advantage. Through its affiliates, ONR is a leader in science
and technology with engagement in 50 states, 70 countries, 1,035
institutions of higher learning and 914 industry partners. ONR employs
approximately 1,400 people, comprising uniformed, civilian and contract
personnel, with additional employees at the Naval Research Lab in
Washington, D.C.





KEYWORDS: Office of Naval Research, ONR, science, technology, engineering,
mathematics, STEM, Naval STEM Grand Challenge,  Rear Adm. Nevin Carr, chief
of naval research, Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Cohn, Dr. Ray Perez, intelligent tutor.



 [image: Image - CNR Carr at Naval STEM Forum]

Office of Naval Research
Corporate Strategic Communications
875 N. Randolph St., #1225-D
Arlington, Va. 22203.1771
Office: (703) 696.5031
Fax: (703) 696.5940
Email: onrcsc at onr.navy.mil
Web: www.onr.navy.mil
Facebook: www.facebook.com/officeofnavalresearch
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/pipermail/act-r-users/attachments/20110624/2fb764a2/attachment.html>