Project Grant 2541238

The National Science Foundation Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings awarded California State University, East Bay Foundation, Inc. $506,149 on September 1, 2026, under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to conduct research on multivariable interactive thinking (MIT) in science education.

The research examines cognitive barriers to learning multivariable causal systems—complex, interactive systems where causes produce different effects depending on context—through a series of six studies involving young children, middle- and high-school students, and adults. The investigators will map the developmental trajectory of fundamental MIT elements including representations of continuous and categorical variables, multicausal models, and mental operations involved in reasoning about main, simple, and interactive effects. The project will develop and test scaffolded interventions to improve learning through mental simulation, explanation-generation, and interactive learning experiences with complex systems.

The award period runs through August 31, 2031, with work performed in Hayward, California. The research addresses a documented major obstacle to STEM learning: the inability to grasp multivariable causality, which manifests across science disciplines from biology (photosynthesis rates responding to CO2 concentration in temperature-dependent ways) to psychology (rewards affecting task performance differently depending on task type).