Grants through the CTLS are intended to provide financial support for full-time faculty in a variety of ways including the purchase of materials or resources, funding for conference attendance and presentations, and for the redesign of courses or engagement in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Proposal deadlines are midnight, October 15 and February 15 of each academic year. Contact Jessica Rogers (CTLS Grants Committee Chair) if you have questions or concerns.
- Recipients of these awards may be asked to share their experiences with other faculty through break-out sessions at faculty conferences, semi-annual lunch and learns, or other selected venues.
- Electronic submissions only – see below.
Four funding options are offered: 1) Pedagogy-related travel grants, 2) General travel grants, 3) Materials grants, and 4) Research and Development Awards
- Pedagogy-related travel grants funded by the QEP are awarded to faculty to support attendance at conferences that focus on teaching, or ones that have a strand that does so–either discipline specific or related to higher education in general. Funding would cover conference registration fees, travel, meals, and lodging up to $1,000.00 per grant.
This grant proposal will call for:
- Applicant’s name
- Name, date(s), and location of the conference or event
- A description of the conference and sessions related to pedagogy that are offered
- A description of how attendance at the conference will contribute to your scholarship of teaching (scholarship of teaching involves an inquiry approach to implementation in which you use the results to improve what goes on in the classroom)
- A description of how attendance at the conference will benefit students, especially as you work to design classroom environments that support academic tenacity in students
- A budget justification including specific expenses and projected costs
| Pedagogy-related Travel Grant Rubric | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 1 | Score |
| The conference has a strong pedagogical focus and I have the potential to learn a great deal about best practices in teaching | The conference offers some sessions related to pedagogy and I have the potential to learn about best practices in teaching | The conference has no (or very little) pedagogical focus | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how my participation in this conference will contribute to my scholarship of teaching | I provided a description of how my participation in this conference will contribute to my scholarship of teaching | My description of how this conference will contribute to my scholarship of teaching was unclear or unrelated | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how my participation in this conference will benefit students, especially related to learning environments that foster academic tenacity | I provided a description of how my participation in this conference will benefit students, with some emphasis on learning environments that foster academic tenacity | My description of how this conference will benefit students was unclear, or it was unrelated to learning environments that foster academic tenacity | |
| My budget description was detailed and accurate | My budget description was vague or inaccurate | ||
| Total | |||
Have you or will you receive any other funding for this travel/project/product request? No
Name, date(s), and location of the conference or event. The 2018 Teaching Professor Conference: Cutting-Edge Learning for Exceptional Educators, May 31 to June 3, 2018, Atlanta, Georgia.
A description of the conference and sessions related to pedagogy that are offered. The conference presents proven ways to improve teaching and learning in the classroom. The sessions include learner-centered course design, engaging students more, keeping teaching fresh, teaching with technology, feedback and grading that promotes learning. It also includes faculty development.
A description of how attendance at the conference will contribute to your scholarship of teaching (scholarship of teaching involves an inquiry approach to implementation in which you use the results to improve what goes on in the classroom). Learning about the most recent pedagogical research will help me provide new methods for engaging my students actively in learning. Creating curiosity in my students will generate new and exciting experiences in learning in and out of the classroom. I teach xxxxxx courses in the xxxxxx which means that I teach both face-to-face and online. Teaching xxxxxx courses are different than most lecture classes in that we are teaching students skills. When teaching these skills, I want to encourage my students to be creative in their learning whether online or in the classroom. I want them to be able to try new things, evaluate them as to effectiveness, and make necessary adjustments as they go. Doing so will help them attach new learning to their current knowledge and, thus, making the learning experience personal to him or her.
This conference will teach me new and interesting ways to challenge my students to be tenacious, lifelong learners, and not fear learning new things.
A description of how attendance at the conference will benefit students, especially as you work to design classroom environments that support academic tenacity in students. Engaging younger students requires new, innovative ways of utilizing technology effectively. I want to utilize technology as efficiently as possible as well as stay abreast of the newest technology. I teach hybrid courses (face-to-face and online) and it is critical that I use it as effectively as possible to create students with tenacity. For example, students are very familiar with apps and apps create an atmosphere of fun learning. How can I employ students’ use of apps in the classroom that creates curiosity and tenacity?
I want to instill tenacity in my students so they can pursue, persist and grow!
A budget justification including specific expenses and projected costs. Conference registration $679 (prior to 3-16-18) + $430 (preconferences) + $575.20 (flight) + $60 (taxi to and from hotel) + $575.16 (hotel) + $100 (meals) = $2419.36.
General travel grants are not restricted to pedagogy-related conferences and would cover conference registration fees, travel, meals, and lodging up to $1,000.00 per grant. Preference will be given to those who are presenting at the conference.
This grant proposal will call for:
- Applicant’s name
- Name, date(s), and location of the conference or event
- A description of how attendance at the conference will contribute to your scholarly work
- A description of how attendance at the conference will benefit students
- A description of how attendance at the conference will benefit the LCU community at large
- If presenting – a description of how your presentation will promote LCU at the international, national, state, or local level
- A budget justification including specific expenses and projected costs
| General Travel Grant Rubric | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 1 | Score |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how my participation in this conference will be of scholarly benefit to me in my role at LCU. I will benefit to a significant degree. | My description of how this conference will be of scholarly benefit to me in my role at LCU was unclear or unrelated. I will not benefit much from attendance at this event. | My description of how this conference will be of scholarly benefit to me in my role at LCU was unclear or unrelated. I will not benefit much from attendance at this event. | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how my participation in this conference will benefit students. Students will benefit to a significant degree. | I provided a brief description of how my participation in this conference will benefit students. Students will benefit to a moderate degree. | My description of how this conference will benefit students was unclear, or it was unrelated to students. Students will not benefit much from my attendance at this event. | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how my participation in this conference will benefit the LCU community at large. The LCU community will benefit to a significant degree. | I provided a brief description of how my participation in this conference will benefit the LCU community at large. The LCU community will benefit to a moderate degree. | My description of how this conference will benefit the LCU community at large was unclear, or it was unrelated LCU. The LCU community will not benefit much from my attendance at this event. | |
| If presenting - I provided a detailed and compelling description of how my presentation promotes LCU at the international level. | If presenting - I provided a detailed and compelling description of how my presentation promotes LCU at the national level. | If presenting - I provided a detailed and compelling description of how my presentation promotes LCU at the state or local level. | |
| My budget description was detailed and accurate. | My budget description was vague or inaccurate. | ||
| Total | |||
Have you or will you receive any other funding for this travel/project/product request? No
Name, date(s), and location of the conference or event? Christian Scholars’ Conference, Nashville, TN, June 3-5, 2020, ww2.lipscomb.edu/csc
A description of how attendance at the conference will contribute to your scholarly work. My work at LCU includes both building the linguistics program and teaching all the linguistics courses. The opportunity to both organize the linguistics session at the CSC and to present a paper as part of the same session will help me produce linguistic research, communicate about my research to other scholars, and learn from them about new trends in the field. I will also learn about the newest ways in which linguistics can be applied to other disciplines, which will help me design appropriate course content and assessments for my students as I prepare them for linguistic work in multiple fields.
A description of how attendance at the conference will benefit students. Producing new linguistic research helps me be a better learner, which in turns helps me guide my students better through their learning process in my classes. In addition, attending the CSC will help me develop new ideas both for my research and for the classroom. Two of the papers in the session will be on technology use in language instruction, an area that I would like to incorporate in my LIN 4302 Second language and culture acquisition in the fall 2020.
A description of how attendance at the conference will benefit the LCU community at large. My attendance at the CSC will benefit the LCU community by increasing the presence of LCU scholars who participate in national conferences. LCU will also gain visibility by being associated with the organization of the linguistics session for the second year in a row. Finally, what I will learn at the CSC will be used in further developing the linguistics minor and our courses at LCU, which will benefit our students and the quality of our academic programs.
If presenting – a description of how your presentation will promote LCU at the international, national, state, or local level. My attendance at the CSC as both a linguistics session organizer and a presenter will provide more visibility for LCU among other universities, as well as more visibility for our linguistics program. The LCU linguistics program is unique among our sister schools, and it can help us promote LCU and possibly recruit more students who are interested in this discipline.
A budget justification including specific expenses and projected costs
Estimated registration: 200.00
Estimated airfare: 650.00
Estimated hotel: 650.00 (3 nights)
Estimated Car Rental (car rental for trip to/from airport, and daily trips between the hotel and Lipscomb University): 320.00
Meals not included in the conference: 150.00
Approximate total cost: $ 1970.00
My husband plans to present at the CSC as well. If we both go, the price per person would be lower as we can share the hotel room and the rented vehicle.
This grant provides funding needed to purchase materials that have the potential to enrich the classroom and create a learner-centered environment for students, or for resources that support scholarly activity up to $750.00 per grant.
This grant proposal will call for:
- Applicant’s name
- A description of the materials or resources that you wish to purchase and how they will be used
- A description of how these materials will contribute to your teaching or scholarly endeavors
- A description of how these materials will benefit students
- A budget justification including specific expenses
| CTLS Materials Grant Rubric | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 1 | Score |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of the materials/resources I need and how I will use them in my teaching or scholarly endeavors. | I provided a brief description of the materials/resources I need and how I will use them in my teaching or scholarly endeavors. | My description of the materials/resources was unclear, or the materials were unrelated to teaching or scholarly work. | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how using these materials will contribute to my teaching or scholarly endeavors. It will contribute to a significant degree. | I provided a brief description of how using these materials will contribute to my teaching or scholarly endeavors. It will contribute to a moderate degree. | My description of how these materials will contribute to my teaching or scholarly endeavors was unclear or off-target. It will not contribute much. | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how using these materials will benefit students. It will benefit students to a significant degree. | I provided a brief description of how using these materials will benefit students. It will benefit students to a moderate degree. | My description of how these materials will benefit students was unclear or off-target. It will not benefit students much. | |
| My budget description was detailed and accurate. | My budget description was vague or inaccurate. | ||
| Total | |||
Have you or will you receive any other funding for this travel/project/product request? No
A description of the materials or resources that you wish to purchase and how they will be used? I would like to purchase the following item
LogiTech webcam, C922 Pro Stream Webcam, Model #960-001087, $99.99 at Best Buy (this is the best price I have found so far)
I will use this webcam to assist in the following:
- Host LifeSize conversations with students and faculty colleagues
- Record videos for my classes (either in this season of distance learning or for students who are absent from face-to-face class meetings in the future)
- Participate in faculty training sessions and meetings
- Participate in off-site interviews
- Participate in off-site conference or scholarly meetings
A description of how these materials will contribute to your scholarly endeavors. First, a brief description of need. All of us were thrown into distance learning suddenly, and I was ill equipped to respond. My office computer and my home computer do not have microphone or video capabilities. I do not personally own either. Due to the overseas travel of a family member, our family was quarantined for 14 days, and therefore could not borrow these items from colleagues on campus. I have become acutely aware of how important both of these items are for the work I do every day. I have been able to temporarily borrow both a microphone headset and a camera, but this loan is temporary. As a teacher and a scholar and the director of the University Writing Center, it is critical that I have a visible presence with the colleagues and students with whom I interact. In the last two weeks, I have needed these materials to do the following:
- Host daily virtual meetings with University Writing Center student consultants through LifeSize
- Host daily virtual meetings with each of my classes through LifeSize
- Participate in weekly meetings with my department through LifeSize
- Participate in training sessions offered through EquipLCU through LifeSize
- Record narration for PowerPoint presentations with VidGrid
- Serve as a faculty representative/team member for two faculty interviews and six faculty team consultations
I would not have been able to participate in and contribute to any of the above situations without audiovisual tools, and moving forward, I would like to be able to know that I have the tools I need to lead and communicate with my employees in the University Writing Center, to communicate with my classroom students, and to communicate with my colleagues. The scholarship of teaching is crucial to what we do at LCU, and given these unprecedented times, I want to be prepared to offer my best to my students, whether we are meeting face-to-face or are meeting online.
A description of how these materials will benefit students. It is crucial to be able to effectively communicate with the students I lead and teach.
Written communication is a tool I currently have, and it is a tool that works well. However, there are times when a "face-to-face" conversation is crucial and serves the students more effectively. Owning a web camera will allow me to continue to participate in virtual conversations with the students in my classes, with my student employees who serve in the University Writing Center, and with the students who I consult in the University Writing Center. One of the things that this season of distance learning has forced me to do is to move our Writing Center services online. While we will never give up our physical location or face-to-face consultations, we will permanently add online services to our "menu" of resources in the Fall 2020-Spring 2021 academic year, and audiovisual tools will be a crucial part of that service.
A budget justification including specific expenses. I am requesting funding for the following item:
LogiTech webcam, C922 Pro Stream Webcam, Model #960-001087, $99.99 at Best Buy (this is the best price I have found so far).
This stipend supports faculty in their efforts to redesign courses or create curricula to include research based strategies that are learner-centered, or to support faculty who are involved in scholarly work related to pedagogy including research or publication endeavors. Awarded at $1,500.00 each.
This application will call for:
- Applicant’s name
- A detailed description of 1) the course and course curriculum that you want to change, or 2) the scholarly work in which you are involved
- An annotated bibliography (with 3 – 5 resources) that reflects the research that supports the changes to your curriculum or the scholarly work in which you are involved
- The goals of the project and specific plans for progress and completion
- A description of how completing this project will
- contribute to your scholarship of teaching
- benefit students, especially as you work to design classroom environments that support academic tenacity in students
- benefit the LCU community, including other faculty or departments
| EquipLCU Research and Development Award | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 1 | Score |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of the course/curriculum that I want to improve, or the scholarly work in which I am engaged. It is clear that these endeavors will contribute to implementing learner-centered instruction in my course(s) | I provided a description of the course/curriculum that I want to improve, or the scholarly work in which I am engaged. These endeavors have the potential to contribute to implementing learner-centered instruction in my course(s) | My description of the research or development project was unclear, or unrelated to creating a learner-centered environment in my course(s) | |
| The research cited in my annotated bibliography strongly supports the course or curriculum changes I intend to make, or the scholarly work in which I am engaged | The research cited in my annotated bibliography supports the course or curriculum changes I intend to make, or the scholarly work in which I am engaged | It is unclear how the research cited in my annotated bibliography is related to my project, or it is off-target | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of the goals of the project and how I intend to accomplish them. The goals reflect a strong pedagogical focus with great potential to enhance learning environments that foster academic tenacity | I provided a description of the goals of the project and how I intend to accomplish them. The goals reflect a pedagogical focus with some potential to enhance learning environments that foster academic tenacity | My description of the goals of the project and how I intend to accomplish them is unclear, or the goals are off-target with little to no potential to enhance learning environments that foster academic tenacity | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how this project will contribute to my scholarship of teaching | I provided a description of how this project will contribute to my scholarship of teaching | My description of how this project will contribute to my scholarship of teaching was unclear or off-target | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how this project will benefit students, especially related to learning environments that foster academic tenacity | I provided a description of how this project will benefit students, with some emphasis on learning environments that foster academic tenacity | My description of how this project will benefit students was unclear or off-target | |
| I provided a detailed and compelling description of how this project will benefit the LCU community, including faculty or departments | I provided a description of how this project will benefit the LCU community, including faculty or departments | My description of how this project will benefit the LCU community was unclear or off-target | |
| Total | |||
Have you or will you receive any other funding for this travel/project/product request? No
A detailed description of 1) the course and course curriculum that you want to change, or 2) the scholarly work in which you are involved Background and Objective: “Biological Discipline Communication” and “Scientific Analysis and Reasoning Skills” represent two of the three overall outcomes that the Natural Sciences Department assesses annually for the programs/majors within the department. These outcomes are primarily assessed by student performance in their Senior Seminar capstone course (BIO4102 or NRC4200), along with assignments and projects in other upper division biology courses. The skills comprising these outcomes represent key components of the scientific process with which a student graduating from our department should competent and practiced. Examples of these skills include, but are not limited to, collecting, interpreting, and summarizing primary literature sources, organizing and analyzing data, developing research questions and hypotheses, mature scientific writing skills, and presenting data in a professional manner. Through multiple years of assessment, we have recognized that students need to receive a thorough, comprehensive introduction to these skills at a much earlier stage in their education. They are introduced to skill sets in lab and lecture courses, but they do not have opportunities to combine and hone these skills until later in their education path. Courses that require projects related to the assessment outcomes can rarely afford sufficient time to instruct students in the necessary skills for the given project, allow students to practice these skills, and provide opportunity for feedback and revision, given the other curricular demands of the courses. This relies on students self-teaching some needed skills or learning them in other supporting courses. A more cohesive system could be constructed in which students are provided a dedicated time to learn and practice skills related to the scientific process early in their coursework, then could further hone these skill in other courses and specific projects, and finally demonstrate their mastery of the scientific process in their senior capstone project. To this end, my objective is to develop a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) that will provide sophomore students with a rigorous platform to learn and practice specific skills related to scientific reasoning and scientific communication, while better preparing them to excel in their upper level courses.
Course Design: The National Science Foundation (NSF), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, and many other groups have organized panels, studies, and consortiums to understand needs and implement changes in biology education that would attract, retain, and better prepare students for STEM careers (1). A common theme among their findings is the importance of emphasizing the scientific process and methods of discovery in undergraduate curriculum. They also stress the importance of increasing student exposure to undergraduate research experiences, as these have a strong positive influence on student learning and outcomes (2,3). Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE’s) are a relatively new, but rapidly growing instruction method that is intended to help fulfill this need. The definition, scope, scale, objective(s), and implementation of CUREs vary widely between sources and practitioners. However, the overall intention is for CUREs to be a compromise between traditional or inquiry based instruction and an internship style project where a student works in a one on one relationship with a mentor. The CURE that I am designing will be based on the criteria defined by the CUREnet group and outlined in Auchincloss et. al. (4). According to them, a CURE should: 1) use scientific process such as designing hypotheses, selecting methods, analyzing data, identifying artifacts, variation, and outliers, and communicating results, 2) be discovery based in which the work addresses a novel question where the outcomes are unknown to even the instructor, 3) be relevant and contribute to scientific knowledge, 4) require collaboration between students and between students and instructor, and 5) involve iteration in which the course evolves and builds on knowledge that is generated by the course and through successive generations of the course. Each of these components is not unique to a CURE, but rather the combination of these components should result in a unique and powerful learning experience for students.
My intention is to begin offering a course in the fall of 2019 entitled “Biological Inquiry and Communication” that will be structured as a CURE to teach the scientific process. The initial course version will be structured around a research project that involves examining the chronic effects of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) on algae growth. CECs are a large and growing list of chemicals that are known to exist in the environment but have unknown or poorly defined ecological effects. CEC examples include, but are not limited to, food additives such as artificial sweeteners, pharmaceuticals such as antidepressants, industrial chemicals such as flame retardants, and personal care products such as sunscreen ingredients. These chemicals enter the environment through treated wastewater or other human activities. When the toxicity of a CEC has been assessed, it is generally done by acute measures that quantify the effects of high concentrations on model organisms, such as algae, over short time frames (24-72 hours). These conditions do not mimic what occurs in the environment, i.e. much lower concentrations over long time periods. Therefore, this project will test the effects of CECs over longer periods of time (weeks), rather than days. This project is an extension and expansion of work done by one of my research students, Ethan Fulton. Ethan has conducted several experiments to examine how sucralose, a CEC that is the active ingredient in Splenda®, affects the growth of algae. He grew various species of algae in media containing increasing concentrations of sucralose for four to six weeks, and then quantified the differences in algae growth between the concentrations. He did find that the compound inhibited growth, albeit at higher concentrations than are currently found in the environment. However, the results of his growth experiments differ from published studies of short-term algae growth experiments with algae. Therefore, this provides preliminary evidence that warrants further investigation.
Students in the course will be divided into pairs or groups of three depending on enrollment. The groups will begin their research by choosing a CEC from published lists/databases, barring a minor subset of CECs that are too toxic, require a DEA license to purchase, or are inherently too costly to use in the quantities needed for the experiments. They will then have to research published literature to find background information about their compound and what is known about its ecological effects. They will also need to identify important chemical properties of their compound such as the solubility in water and temperature stability. Using this information, they will begin to design their experiment by determining the concentration range of the chemical that they want to test, based on its chemical properties, its reported concentration in the environment, and any available toxicology data. Students will begin the experiment by making the specific dilutions of their chemical into algae media and inoculating the media with a set number of algae cells. Then, the cultures will be incubated for approximately four weeks. After this time, the biomass (amount of algae growth) will be determined by the concentration of chlorophyll and the dry weight of the algae. If their compound effects algae growth, then the biomass would decrease as the concentration of their chemical increases. During the intervening four weeks, the students will also set up replicate experiments and create additional experiments of their choosing by changing one or more variables in the experimental system. Students will then have to process the recorded biomass data, analyze it by performing basic statistics, and generate graphs and tables to display their experimental results. The project will culminate in the students producing a paper that is formatted in the style of a research publication. They will also make and present a poster presentation that will be presented to and evaluated by multiple faculty. At each stage in the course, students will be given instruction and assignments/activities that introduce them to each skill, and provide them with opportunities to practice before applying the skills to their research project.
Implementation and Assessment: My intention is to implement and optimize this course as a multi-year exploration into the process of constructing a CURE. This course is intended for sophomore students who have completed Majors Biology II and/or General Chemistry II (CHE1308/CHE1108), but will initially be open to more advance students. I am focusing on this cohort because these students will have already received some instruction and practice in scientific skills through their freshmen level classes, but they will just be beginning to enter upper division courses. My intent would be to offer the course as a Special Topics course for three consecutive fall semesters. This time frame would allow the initial two cohorts of students to complete their upper division coursework and their senior seminar course. The assessment of the CURE would primarily be based on the performance of these initial two cohorts of students in their upper division course work. If the CURE is meeting its intended objectives, then students who took the course should exhibit overall higher performance than their peers who had not taken the course. I will also attempt to implement or develop assessment tools to measure competencies within the CURE and their perceptions of the experience. Based on student performance, the CURE content and research project can be successively modified prior to the beginning of a new cohort of students. If the course is meeting its objectives after the first three years, then it can be converted from Special Topics to a permanent course and fully integrated into the curriculum. If the students participating in the CURE do not show appreciable improvement compared to peers, then the CURE research topic may need to be significantly altered or abandoned. I have chosen this research project to initiate the CURE because it gives students a wide range of CEC’s to choose. Many of these CECs are chemicals that they have likely encountered before or personally use. It is my expectation that the students will take greater ownership in the research if they are given a degree of freedom in choosing the topic (their particular CEC), and if it has some direct relationship to themselves. Additionally, the work focuses on a topic that is of public interest and could make important contributions toward a better understanding of CECs in general. Internally, their work also has connections to other ongoing research in our department involving a large multi-year project that is observing how treated wastewater affects Lake Arrowhead, Texas.
1. American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011) Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education. Washington, DC
2. Linn, M. C., Palmer, E., Baranger, A., Gerard, E., and Stone, E. (2015) Undergraduate research experiences: Impacts and opportunities. Science 347, 7
3. Russell, S. H., Hancock, M. P., and McCullough, J. (2007) The pipeline - Benefits of undergraduate research experiences. Science 316, 548-549
4. Auchincloss, L. C., Laursen, S. L., Branchaw, J. L., Eagan, K., Graham, M., Hanauer, D. I., Lawrie, G., McLinn, C. M., Pelaez, N., Rowland, S., Towns, M., Trautmann, N. M., Varma-Nelson, P., Weston, T. J., and Dolan, E. L. (2014) Assessment of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences: A Meeting Report. CBE-Life Sci. Educ. 13, 29-40
An annotated bibliography (with 3 – 5 resources) that reflects the research that supports the changes to your curriculum or the scholarly work in which you are involved1) Auchincloss, L. C., Laursen, S. L., Branchaw, J. L., Eagan, K., Graham, M., Hanauer, D. I., Lawrie, G., McLinn, C. M., Pelaez, N., Rowland, S., Towns, M., Trautmann, N. M., Varma-Nelson, P., Weston, T. J., and Dolan, E. L. (2014) Assessment of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences: A Meeting Report, CBE-Life Sci. Educ. 13, 29-40.
This publication represents a summary of work and meetings from the CUREnet group. It accomplishes three things. First, it attempts to reach a common definition on what defines a CURE. Second, it compares and contrasts CUREs with other methods of laboratory instruction (traditional, inquiry based, and internship). According to their definition, a CURE should involve scientific process, be discovery based, be relevant to a “bigger picture”, and be iterative. Discovery implies that students and professor are embarking on a question with unknown outcome. This requires students to have a level of reasoning to interpret data and place in a framework. Iterative means that the CURE can evolve and adapt to changing needs based on student’s data. In terms of assessment it is interesting that students appear to gain many of the same benefits at students participating in one-on-one research internships.
2) Corwin, L. A., Graham, M. J., and Dolan, E. L. (2015) Modeling Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences: An Agenda for Future Research and Evaluation, CBE-Life Sci. Educ. 14, 13.
The objective of this work is to attempt to produce a conceptual model for understanding how students benefit from CUREs. The used literature searches to identify probable, possible, and proposed positive outcomes for CURES. Outcomes were also identified as short, medium, or long term. Outcomes were organized into mini models, and mini models integrated together to identify common point or “hubs”. Through this process they identified a collaboration-and communication mini-model, a ownership mini-model, and a knowledge and skills mini-model. When combined, these models represent a large model with multiple feedback loops and connections between mini-models. The value of this overall model is they subdivide into early, middle, and late phases that should be used to evaluate a CURE at different stages of developments. Evaluating certain things too early may misrepresent what is or is not working in a CURE depending on its maturity.
3) Linn, M. C., Palmer, E., Baranger, A., Gerard, E., and Stone, E. (2015) Undergraduate research experiences: Impacts and opportunities, Science 347, 7. Provides a literature review of what is known about the impacts of participation in undergraduate research. It places emphasis on the mentors role in helping students to progress from developing knowledge to developing an identity in science. They point out a relationship between research experiences and development of persistence in science. It also draws comparisons between typical undergraduate research experiences and course based experiences. Interestingly, it points out information that concepts introduce through research may be fragmented or isolated and that more work should be done to integrate to a knowledge framework to benefit students.
The goals of the project and specific plans for progress and completion The primary goal of this project is to create a CURE that will improve student comprehension of the scientific process. Then, evaluate its success by comparing the performances of students who do and do not participate in the CURE in upper level science classes and in their senior capstone project. A secondary goal of creating the CURE is to enhance undergraduate research within the department. Students who participate in the CURE could continue their work after the conclusion of the course, or gain confidence from this process to undertake other research efforts. Currently, the syllabus for the course has been drafted and submitted to the department chair and dean for approval. Pending its approval, I will coordinate with other advisors in the department to advertise the course to students and enroll a cohort of students when open enrollment begins in March. The goal will be to enroll twelve to sixteen mostly sophomore students for the initial course offering. This summer I will dedicate several weeks to backwards designing the components of the CURE. Ethan has done considerable work in developing the methods used in his algae research, and that will be used in the CURE. However, more work is needed to further optimize the procedures and scale up the experiments to meet the demands of several students. I will also be assembling the didactic materials and exercises that will correspond to the components of the CURE. I will also be exploring various CURE assessment tools that have been published and modifying them for use in the course. The inaugural CURE would then begin in the fall semester of 2019 and continue for two additional fall semesters. In the intervening times, I will be working with other faculty in the department to collect data on the students who have and have not participated in the CURE. Our annual program assessments outline what projects in which classes assess the outcomes related to the goals of the CURE. Therefore, this will guide the collection of student data from these courses to draw comparisons and conclusion about the CURE. Depending on the findings from the initial cohorts of students, a decision will be made to adopt the class into the curriculum and require it for students, further modify the CURE to increase student gains, or begin testing another approach to accomplish the effect in students.
A description of how completing this project will: A) contribute to your scholarship of teaching B) benefit students, especially as you work to design classroom environments that support academic tenacity in students C) benefit the LCU community, including other faculty or departments I expect that this project will be beneficial on multiple levels. Data indicates multiple short, medium, and long-term benefits for students who participate in CUREs (and research in general), spanning develop of technical skills to increased resilience. In the short-term, students that participate in the project should be more prepared and perform better in their upper division courses. Ideally, this project will induce students to continue their research or participate in other research projects, providing them additional opportunities to enhance their portfolio of skills and accomplishments while at LCU. Hopefully, this would translate into long-term benefits for these students even after their graduation. I fully expect that data generated by students participating in the CURE will eventually result in novel observations about CECs that can be presented and published. Additionally, collection of student performance and assessment data could yield a publishable example of a successful CURE that can be implemented or expanded by others. To my knowledge, this would be the first time that a CURE such as this has been attempted at LCU. Therefore, this project should at minimum provide insight or hindsight that can be used by others in making curriculum adjustments internal or external to my department.
Instruction I provided a detailed and compelling description of the course/curriculum that I want to improve, or the scholarly work in which I am engaged. It is clear that these endeavors will contribute to implementing learner-centered instruction in my course(s) (5 pts)
Curriculum The research cited in my annotated bibliography supports the course or curriculum changes I intend to make, or the scholarly work in which I am engaged (3 pts)
Goals I provided a detailed and compelling description of the goals of the project and how I intend to accomplish them. The goals reflect a strong pedagogical focus with great potential to enhance learning environments that foster academic tenacity (5 pts)
My Scholarship I provided a detailed and compelling description of how this project will contribute to my scholarship of teaching (5 pts)
Student Benefit I provided a detailed and compelling description of how this project will benefit students, especially related to learning environments that foster academic tenacity (5 pts)
Community I provided a detailed and compelling description of how this project will benefit the LCU community, including faculty or departments (5 pts)
Total 28