Research on Innovative Technologies for Enhanced Learning (RITEL)

Questions

1. What are the key requirements for RITEL?

   Projects must:

   • focus on early-stage research, with exploratory and future-oriented components;
   • synergistically advance research in both the learning and computer sciences, with an interdisciplinary team that has expertise in both areas; and,
   • clearly articulate the intended contributions to both learning and computer sciences and how these will be integrated through the project activities.

2. What is meant by exploratory early-stage research?

   RITEL is an incubator program for researching project ideas that are unproven and may not work. The primary focus must be on research, not development. We encourage projects that have an element of risk. For example, this could include researching an emerging technology that has rarely been applied to teaching and learning and/or researching a highly novel design concept with the potential to transform teaching and learning. Prior pilot data may be included if used to motivate the research questions, but projects should not focus on scaling or refining existing systems. Please also see Q7 "What does RITEL not fund?"

3. What is meant by future-oriented research?

   Successful RITEL proposals should have goals that go beyond applying knowledge to a novel issue or immediate teaching and learning challenge. Instead, they should anticipate future emerging technologies and learning needs, aiming to generate knowledge that researchers and practitioners will need to make the best use of technology for teaching and learning in the future.

4. What is meant by synergistic research that advances both the learning and computer sciences?

   The focus of the problem should be aligned with an identified learning need and grounded on theoretical foundations of learning in the specific context. There should also be research questions about how advancing computer science technology supports the learning need/problem. Synergistic research could be design-based in nature and should be highly interdisciplinary (e.g., involving the collaborative engagement of multiple disciplines) in advancing the learning technology research.

   One way to show that a proposal “advances both” computer and learning sciences would be to aim for contributions that appear in interdisciplinary venues of interest to both computer and learning scientists.

   Because interdisciplinary research is a key requirement for the RITEL program, proposals must include a 1-page Collaboration and Management plan to describe activities for scientific integration across the project team. This plan should specify how team members from different disciplines will collaborate on project tasks and contribute to shared research outputs.

5. What is meant by research that advances learning?

   RITEL projects should advance learning research regarding knowledge about principles, processes and mechanisms of teaching and/or learning in the context of a technology-based innovation. This could include research by learning scientists, education researchers, educational psychologists, and cognitive, behavioral and/or social scientists. For teaching, this could include new teaching processes and approaches (e.g., andragogy and pedagogy), relevant to how the proposed technology will be situated in an educational setting.

   This research must lead to generalizable knowledge about learning that is beyond a specific system, application or intervention.

   Projects that focus on evaluating the effectiveness of a technology-based system or a curriculum/teaching intervention are not in scope for RITEL. Please also see Q7 "What does RITEL not fund?"

6. What is meant by research that advances computer science/engineering?

   The technology research in RITEL should advance fields involving computer science, information science, and/or engineering. Proposals should explicitly identify the novel computer science challenges that projects aim to address and how these contribute to advancing the field. Projects that simply use existing technologies (e.g., LLMs) without contributing to advances in computer science are not responsive to this program.

   For example, research could include (this list is not inclusive):

   • Artificial intelligence techniques, such as improvements to the underlying architectures and training methods of large language models (LLMs), machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and explainable and trustworthy AI;
   • Human-computer interaction, such as immersive and virtual environments, multimodal interfaces, multi-agent systems for collaborative learning, and human-AI co-creation and collaboration;
   • Learning analytics and educational data mining, such as multimodal sensing, algorithmic advances in real-time adaptive feedback, personalized learning system architectures;
   • Quantum computing approaches relevant to learning systems.

7. What does RITEL not fund?

   With its strong focus on future-oriented exploratory research, the program does not fund:

   • Incremental improvements to or deployment of existing technologies. Projects that simply use existing technologies (e.g., LLMs) without contributing to advances in computer science are not responsive to this program. Please also see Q6, "What is meant by research that advances computer science/engineering?"
   • Evaluations or assessment studies of learning tools or applications. Projects that primarily focus on evaluating the effectiveness of a technology-based system or curricular intervention, even if the technology is novel, are out of scope – unless they produce generalizable theoretical insights into learning mechanisms, processes, or principles. Please also see Q5 "What is mean by research that advances learning?"
   • Adaptations of existing learning technologies to new domains, settings or learners.

8. What are some examples of funded projects?

   See recently awarded projects in the NSF award search.

   Three reports may be useful in understanding the goals and impact of previously awarded projects: 1) Ambitious Mashups (from 2020) describes how funded efforts combined multiple emerging technologies to expand the frontiers of learning; 2) Cyberlearning Community Report provides examples of past projects, including advances in both the learning sciences and computer sciences; and 3) Partnerships for Change: Transforming Research on Emergent Learning Technologies explores the role of partnerships.

   These reports and awards may reflect earlier iterations of the program (e.g. RETTL, Cyberlearning) which have similar but not identical goals to RITEL. Please use them to understand the breadth of ideas, but not as templates for proposal scope or structure.

9. How can I receive feedback on whether my research idea is a good fit?

   After reviewing the above resources, a 1-2 page project summary may be submitted to the RITEL program RITEL-Program-Inquiries@nsf.gov and we will provide feedback on whether the project aligns with the program’s scope.

   Please include a description of:

   1. the learning challenge (and associated research that advances our general understanding of learning);
   2. the computational advance(s) (and associated foundational research in computer science);
   3. the synergy between them; and,
   4. the exploratory and early-stage nature of the work.