- About CELTUA
- Calendar and Events
- Full and Part-time Faculty and Staff
- Grad and Undergrad Students
- Grants and Awards
- Overview
- Past Recipients and Project Summaries
- E. Phillips Knox Teaching Award
- Small Grants to Improve Teaching
- Grants for Graduate Award Holders to Improve Teaching
- Visiting Teacher-Scholar Grants
- Summer Fellowships for the Improvement of Instruction
- Department / Program Grants for the Significant Improvement of Instruction
- Learning Assessment / Course / Curriculum Effectiveness Grants
- Faculty Exchange Relocation Grants
- Engaged Learning and Top 25
- Assessment
- Publications and Library
- Consulting and Resources
Learning Assessment / Course / Curriculum Effectiveness Grants
| description: | This grant supports individual or departmental development and implementation of ways to measure and increase student learning and course effectiveness. |
| amount: | The amount of a grant for an individual is up to $1,000, and for a department or program up to $3,000. |
| eligibility: | Full-time, tenure-track faculty and departments or programs may receive this grant only once every three years. Programs or departments are encouraged to apply as a unit. |
| selection: | CELTUA selects the recipients. |
| submission: | Please send an electronic copy of your proposal (Microsoft Word document) to CELTUA <celt@muohio.edu> and a hard copy original with signatures via campus mail to CELTUA. |
| due date: | There are two rounds. Applications are due October 15 or May 17. Recipients will be announced in mid-December and mid-June, respectively. |
Purpose and Description
This grant may fund internal or external consultants, be used to purchase materials, or provide time to explore ways of measuring student learning and/or course or curriculum effectiveness. For example, proposers might assess the effectiveness of student portfolios as measurements of intellectual development or consider ways of testing the ability of courses to achieve liberal education goals. One of the best measures of teaching effectiveness is student learning, and this grant enables individuals and departments to examine and improve the teaching/learning connection.
Eligibility
In addition to the eligibility requirements in the box above, individual recipients must remain on the Miami instructional staff during the academic year following the grant period. Two or more faculty may jointly submit proposals for a single grant: specify division of payment in a separate memo included with the proposal. If the department grant will support a faculty member to develop a project during the summer, this activity must occur during at least a specified six-week period within the summer session, and the individual must agree to have no administrative or instructional duties and to devote full time to the project during this period. If the department grant will support a faculty member to develop a project during the summer, this activity must occur during at least a specified six-week period within the summer session, and the individual must agree to have no administrative or instructional duties and to devote full time to the project during this period. If the grant will support a project you develop during the summer, this activity must occur during at least a specified six-week period within the summer session, and you must agree to have no administrative or instructional duties and to devote full time to your project during this period.
Follow-Up
Recipients must agree to submit a preliminary report about project activities and results to the Provost by September 14, 2010, and a final report to the Provost by September 14, 2011. Both reports must include results and outcomes of the evaluation and impact of the solution to the problem posed in the proposal. These reports will be available for reading by members of the University community. Recipients are encouraged to present a paper on or a discussion of their project at a Lilly Conference.
The Proposal
Print out the cover sheet which is online. CELTUA staff are available to consult.
Your proposal should be as specific and clear as possible. It must not exceed four typed pages (single- or double-spaced), printed on one side of page only, be in 12-point font, and should follow this format and include this information:
- Problem. Describe the need or problem your project addresses and why it is a need or problem. Include sufficient background information to define the problem for a general university audience.
- Context. Cite the literature relating to this project. Have solutions been tried, or are they under investigation elsewhere (e.g., at other universities), and with what result?
- Proposed solution. Describe the exact work to be undertaken and how it aims to solve the problem. Explain the steps from initial preparation to implementation.
- Innovation. Tell in what ways this project involves a new and/or experimental approach.
- Anticipated impact. Indicate the potential impact of the project on student learning. Identify the groups affected by the project. In what ways will those groups be helped?
- Evaluation and assessment. Tell how you intend to determine the success of your project and how you plan to measure its impact on student learning. Historically, this has been the weakest section of most proposals. We encourage you to contact the Office of Assessment for assistance with this part of your proposal. Beverley Taylor, Coordinator of Assessment, (9-3239 or taylorba@muohio.edu) will be happy help you.
- Progress and timeline. Outline any initial work accomplished to date. For example, proposed course revisions should have preliminary departmental endorsement. Outline a timetable for project completion.
- Use of funds. State how you plan to budget the individual or department/program grant account: salary and fringe benefits, travel, supplies, etc. Present a line-item budget. Include fringe benefit dollars if Miami salary is part of your request.
- Extent. Indicate the extent to which this project goes beyond one’s usual preparation for teaching.
- Additional funding (optional). If your project requires funding beyond the $3,000 or $5,000 award, identify the source and status of the additional funds.
- Other support. If you require audiovisual materials or technical support (or other academic support services), include a memo stating approval of that support from the appropriate consultant.
- Supporting materials (optional). You may include one set of supporting materials as part of your proposal, such as student evaluations, department program review, software, etc.
- Recommendation and comments of department chair. CELTUA will thoughtfully consider the recommendations and comments of your department chair.
Selection Criteria
The selection criteria include problem/need: the degree to which the problem is a significant pedagogical need; context: the quality of the review of the literature and of current activities elsewhere; appropriateness of solution: the appropriateness of the project’s approach to solving the problem or meeting the need; innovation: the degree to which the solution of the problem is innovative; impact: the potential impact of the project on student learning, evaluated in terms of the breadth of the project, i.e., its general usefulness within a course, department, or the University; evaluation and assessment: the appropriateness and effectiveness of the proposed evaluation of increased student learning, impact of the project, etc.; advance planning: the extent of advance preparation for the project; extent: the degree of involvement in project activities beyond those normally expected of Miami faculty; and clarity and comprehensiveness of the proposal.
Selection Procedure
At least one week prior to the first evaluation meeting, each CELTUA member will receive the applications. At the first meeting, each application will be discussed. CELTUA members must be present for the discussions at this first meeting in order to vote in the selection process. CELTUA may direct its chair to obtain additional information about some proposals.
Recent Recipients
- James Moller and Amit Shukla, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering; "Integrating Computational Methods in Engineering."
- James L. Cherney, Communication; "Assessing Egocentric Criticism and Improving Critical Pedagogy: Evaluating Techniques to Encourage Student Learning of Critical Thinking and Writing Skills."
- Lee Knisley Sanders, Senior Associate Dean, Hamilton and Alana Van Gundy-Yoder: "Assessing Learning Objectives and Student/Faculy Satisfaction within the Saturday Select Program."
- Megan Gerhardt, Management; "Self Management Skills Training."
- Jeff Sommers, English, Middletown; "Self Dieted Learning (SDL) in Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Literature Courses
- Muriel Blaisdell and Joseph Dorsey, Interdisciplinary Studies; "Assessment of Reflective Learning Through Portfolio Development and Content Writing in and Interdisciplinary Course on Colonialism and Globalization"