The Automated Analysis of Constructed Response (AACR) research group has received two National Science Foundation grants totaling $5.7 million, funds that will utilize computer software to analyze student writing in science and engineering classes. The goal is to help retain more students who are enrolled in the so-called STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The two grants include $5 million for five years to develop a website where student exam answers can be analyzed; and an additional three-year, $718,000 grant to assist instructors in the use of the software.The AACR research group is a multi-institutional collaboration including MSU, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the University of Maine at Orono, the University of Georgia, the University of South Florida and Western Michigan University.Read the MSU press release at: http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2013/57-million-nsf-grants-seek-better-ways-to-assess-stem-learning/