Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) -- University  of Michigan

Investigating Student Learning Grant

2008

Deadline for Submission:
4 p.m. on Tuesday, January 22, 2008

ISL Application Cover Sheet in MS Word Format

INTRODUCTION

For the 2008-2009 academic year, CRLT will award monies from the Investigating Student Learning (ISL) Grant to faculty who wish to investigate aspects of student learning in their courses or programs. 

Grant awards of $3,000 are available to individual faculty members. Grant awards of $4,000 are available to faculty member-graduate student teams. 

Investigation of student learning is becoming more common on campuses as part of a body of work known as the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).  Successful SoTL projects have three attributes: 1) they are inquiry based – posing questions about problems or issues in teaching and learning, exploring practices that promote, deepen, or otherwise improve learning; 2) they use methods appropriate to the discipline to find answers to questions posed; and 3) they are designed to be made public so that results can inform the work of colleagues and the discipline more broadly. Investigating Student Learning Grant projects will be expected to have these three attributes.

CRLT staff will be available to consult with ISL Grant applicants as they develop their proposals, and with grantees as they carry out their projects and prepare results for dissemination. Expectations of grant winners include:

• Attendance at a one-day Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Symposium at U–M (to be held on May 7, 2008)
• A follow-up consultation mid-project (December 2008 or January 2009) with a CRLT consultant; and
• A poster presentation at a Provost’s Seminar on Teaching (to be held spring 2009).

The following list of research categories and questions provides examples for projects eligible for ISL Grant funding. Please note that this list is designed to be illustrative, not exhaustive.

Examination of the effectiveness of particular pedagogical strategies

• How does the use of groups or teams affect student learning of basic content and critical thinking skills?
• How do curricular/course/pedagogical innovations affect student retention and persistence, both overall and by sub-groups of students?
• How are student attitudes, knowledge, and dispositions affected by courses that focus on race, ethnicity, gender, or other aspects of multiculturalism or diversity?
• How does the infusion of a specific new instructional technology (e.g., clickers, interactive websites, online discussions, or blogs) affect student learning of course content or student skill development?

Description of the characteristics of particular types of learning

• What are the characteristics of novice and expert learners in your field?
• How do students in a particular discipline develop their understanding of key concepts or principles and with which ones do students struggle?
• How do students with different learning styles approach course material?
• How do students develop complex skills important to the discipline, such as critical reading, interpretation of primary source documents, or problem solving?
• What are the major misconceptions/preconceptions students struggle with in a course?

Documentation of learning that occurs in innovative or novel pedagogies or course designs

• What type of learning occurs in interdisciplinary courses that brings together disparate subject areas?
• How do students learn in courses that use technology to alter the basic course structure (e.g., replacing live lecture with podcasting and using lecture time for other purposes, distance or on-line courses)?

ELIGIBILITY

The competition is open, on the Ann Arbor campus of the University, to all tenured and tenure-track faculty; clinical instructional faculty; and Lecturers who have continuing appointments and course development responsibilities (i.e., an assignment from the dean, chair, or designee to develop a new course or significantly revise an existing course). Grants may be made to individual faculty members, or to teams of faculty members and up to two graduate students who wish to undertake a joint project. All faculty members listed on the Application Cover Sheet must meet eligibility requirements.

PROPOSAL CONTENT

An applicant should prepare a brief three-to-five page proposal, along with the cover page.  The proposal must include information on the following aspects of the project:

Research question(s) to be investigated. State the specific question(s) you hope to investigate in your project and provide a clear explanation of the significance of the question for teaching and learning in your discipline.

Methodology. Describe how you will approach the question. What types of activities will you undertake? What evidence of student learning will you collect? How will you analyze these data? We are open to methods and evidence relevant to your discipline, such as (but not limited to) quantitative analysis of student assignments (tests, papers, other assignments); qualitative analysis of informal classroom assessment methods (minute papers, journal entries, response papers); or studies involving interviews, surveys, or focus groups. Please note that use of student ratings data alone will not be considered sufficient.

Implications. Describe how your findings will inform future iterations of your course/curriculum, and discuss the broader implications of your results (for your department, your discipline, or university teaching and learning more broadly).

Dissemination. Beyond participation in the Provost’s Seminar on Teaching, explain how you plan to share the results of your work with colleagues at U-M and beyond.  This sharing might include plans for publication, conferences, or work within your department.

Timeline. Indicate the projected timeline for the various phases of your project.

If a graduate student or graduate students will be on the application please indicate the role that s/he or they will play in the project.  NOTE: CRLT grant monies cannot be used for Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) salaries or the tuition portion of a Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA) appointment.

DEADLINES

E-mail and printed proposals are due to CRLT by 4:00 p.m.
on Tuesday, January 22, 2008.

FUNDING DECISIONS

The review of proposals will be carried out by members of the CRLT staff, with final funding decisions made by the CRLT Advisory Board, composed of faculty from across campus.  Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Clear definition of the question to be investigated,
• Use of appropriate methods,
• Feasibility of the project,
• Potential impact of project,
• Plans for dissemination, and
• Specification of graduate student collaboration (if applicable).

Awards will be announced by April 2008. ISL grant funded projects will need to abide by University of Michigan IRB guidelines established for CRLT classroom research projects.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

You may submit proposals by email or in printed form.

An electronic copy of the Application Cover Sheet is available at the top of this page.

E-mail proposals:

Applicants should complete the (1) application cover sheet and (2) a copy of the proposal.  Lecturers should have their department chairpersons sign the cover sheet (Section 8).

The applicant should then send the completed cover sheet and proposal via email to crltgrants@umich.edu by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 22, 2008.

Printed proposals:

Applicants should complete the (1) application cover sheet and (2) a copy of the proposal.  Lecturers should have their department chairpersons sign the cover sheet (Section 8).

The applicant should then deliver the complete cover sheet and proposal to CRLT, 1071 Palmer Commons, zip: 2218 by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 22, 2008.

ASSISTANCE WITH PROPOSALS

Please contact Mary Wright (mcwright@umich.edu;734-936-1135) or Mary Piontek (mpiontek@umich.edu; 734-615-4617) at CRLT for more information about the application guidelines or assistance with proposals.

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