Current & Recent Projects

CommHEAT
Dr. Ulrike Passe and team were awarded an NSF grant to use empirical data and participatory processes to develop models that increase predictability of extreme heat-related indoor conditions. A community-focused microclimate-informed indoor heat emergency alert (CommHEAT) system will personalize community heat-related emergency management capacity. RISE will conduct formative and summative evaluations that determine the extent to which project objectives were attained. Read More
DMACC Advanced Technological Education (ATE)
The NSF awarded Dr. Julie Gonzalez and her team at DMAAC an Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant to increase the number of skilled technicians in the workforce to meet employer needs, including direct outreach to underrepresented students and activities connecting students with industry representatives, and to modernize and expand the scope of the DMACC Biotechnology program curriculum, using advanced techniques to ensure iterative evaluation and improvement. RISE's evaluation examines the development and execution of the project and assesses the degree to which goals and targeted outcomes are achieved. Read More
National Resource Center for Nutrition & Aging
Dr. Sarah Francis and her research team at Iowa State University were awarded a grant by the National Resource Center for Nutrition & Aging to support the nationwide nutrition and aging network for research, assessment and evaluation. RISE works with Dr. Francis' team to provide statistical support and data analysis. Read More
MSRI Incubator
Dr. Ben Van Dusen was awarded an NSF MSRI grant to gather information on how to ethically and sustainably collect quantitative data for online database. RISE is working with Dr. Van Dusen on facilitating 8 working groups over the 2 year grant period. This qualitative study includes facilitation support, transcript review and dissemination of the data collected in the working groups. White papers will be written and shared with the participants as well as the MSRI grant stakeholders. Read More
CSAC (Computer Science As Career) Scholars Program – NSF S-STEM Track 3
Texas A&M Commerce is supporting an NSF S-STEM grant for engineering transfer students. This grant offers a scholarship to students who qualify. RISE is working with faculty at Virginia Tech University to conduct a mixed-methods evaluation. This includes data collected for NSF tracking purposes, a STEM identity and efficacy measurement scale, and interviews with scholars at TAMUC. Read More
Women in Ag Extension and Outreach
Cori Hyde, at RISE, has partnered with the Women in Ag extension and outreach program at Iowa State since 2015. Several projects include RME, USDA, and NIFA grants focused on farm finances, business management, risk management, and education programing. Pre-post surveys are commonly used for courses, surveys after events such as conferences, and focus groups to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of women are a few examples of how data is collected for the evaluation of the programs. Read More
Annie’s Project
Annie's Project is a national non-profit designed to educate and empower women in agriculture. The program offers 6-week courses focused on the business management of farms and ranches. RISE has partnered with Annie's Project for more than 10 years, providing feedabck on knowledge and behavior changes of participants. Pre and post course surveys are desgined to gather changes in knowledge as a result of course particiaption. Over the years, several different analysis of the data show that there has been an overall positive change in knowledge and behaviors to improve farm finances and business management. Read More
Computer Science for All
The Computer Science for All (CSforAll) program introduces computer science programming to students through the use of software, such as Scratch/ScratchJr and the CoCo platform,… Read More
Undergraduate Research Programs
RISE conducts the evaluations of a number of undergraduate research programs, including NSF-sponsored REU programs, on an annual basis with the goal of evaluating student learning, program satisfaction, and challenges encountered in the program. Read More
The Global Perspective Inventory (GPI)
The Global Perspective Inventory (GPI) is a web-based assessment of individual experiences and development of a global perspective. The GPI measures how students think, view themselves as people with cultural heritage, and relate to others from other cultures, backgrounds and values. Read More