Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Grants

Office of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculties

Deadline: Friday, February 20, 2004

The Purpose:

This award program supports new or ongoing studies into issues of teaching and learning as part of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) initiative at Indiana University . It supports faculty members' efforts to improve and better understand teaching and learning through their own in-depth, contextualized, and evidence-based study.

The Award:

This research grant is for $1,500 (typically $1000 upon receipt of the award and $500 upon presentation at a campus-wide SOTL forum). If joint awards are made, recipients will share $1,500. Recipients are also expected to attend at least two meetings with other award recipients and resource consultants (to be scheduled after awards are announced) and to formally disseminate the results of their instructional development project to other IU faculty.

Eligibility:

Full-time IU Bloomington faculty members are invited to submit proposals for SOTL grants for the Academic Year 2003-2004. Projects involving collaboration among faculty members and among faculty members and graduate students are especially encouraged.

Criteria for Awards:

Grant applications will be evaluated on the quality of proposed scholarship and its potential contribution to the advancement of teaching and learning. Though the scholarship must be research-based, the basis may be broadly defined to include classroom research, research of the existing literature, or other unconventional forms. Projects may involve acquisition of new information from students, faculty, and other interested parties, or they may involve scholarly interpretation of and reflection on existing information. Projects may be qualitative, quantitative, or combine elements of both. The grant requires systematic investigation of effects, interpretation of results, and dissemination to peers both within Indiana University and beyond in an appropriate scholarly publication or presentation.

The most potentially useful scholarship transfers to different contexts, contributes to existing knowledge, and contains broad implications for teaching in different disciplines. Proposed projects connect to significant strands in the literature on teaching and learning. While potentially valuable to teaching practice, the type of contributions found in entirely anecdotal teaching articles will not meet the suggested standard of scholarship.

Applications will be evaluated for the creativity, uniqueness, and soundness of approach, the scholarly products to be delivered, the potential impact of the results, and the scholars' potential to serve as a resource for others in the SOTL community. Inherent in the grant award is the obligation to share knowledge and expertise. Grant recipients will be expected to participate in one or more SOTL related activities such as (but not limited to):

• leading interest groups in topics related to the research project.
• facilitating seminars to mentor or support new researchers.
• presenting the work as part of the SOTL event series.
• publishing the results of the project.

Grant recipients will be expected to deliver a public report on their projects by the end of academic year 2004-2005. Upon completion of a project, grant recipients will be expected to submit a one-page summary of the project for posting on the web.

Guidelines for Proposals:

In no more than four, single-spaced pages, please include:

• the question you propose to investigate and how it advances the scholarship of teaching and learning; and the method you plan to use and an explanation of why you have chosen this approach.
• preliminary results (if any), anticipated results, and overall expectations.
• the impact of your study on undergraduate or graduate teaching and learning.
• the potential contribution to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning initiative at IUB -- i.e. your plan to share your knowledge and expertise with others in the SOTL community.
• milestones and timelines for the research project and a plan for disseminating the results of the research.
• the commitment of additional funds or resources required to implement the proposal (if applicable).
• In addition to this document please attach:
• a curriculum vita.
• any other documentation you think may be helpful.

The Review Process:

A faculty committee will review the applications. Awards will be announced by March 26, 2004.

Please send the complete application package as an email attachment to smiths followed by "@indiana.edu" or to:

Moya Andrews
Vice Chancellor for Academic A ffairs and Dean of the Faculties
Bryan Hall 111