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TIME SENSITIVE
Due April 20, 2012
Fresno State Teaching Innovations Academy Minigrant
Overview and Application
Invitation: Title V, in collaboration with the Deans’ Council, invites faculty to participate in an
institutional program that will explore ways of increasing the quality, effectiveness, and learning
experience of undergraduate students. Faculty teaching large enrollment, multi-section, or especially
challenging courses are strongly encouraged to participate, however, faculty teams from any department
or program are invited to apply to take part in this summer’s Teaching Innovations Academy. During
the Academy, faculty will re-envision and restructure a course in ways that will enhance student learning
using active learning methods, technology, and other innovations. Stipend funds and tablet computers
will be provided by Title V. Technical support will be provided by Technology Innovations for Learning
and Teaching staff.
Project Teams: Teams of two or three faculty members per course will work with a support team that
includes an instructional designer and assessment facilitator. Individual faculty members teaching a high
enrollment or especially challenging course will also be considered. Part time faculty members may
participate as part of a team, but each team must have at least one full time faculty member. Also
instrumental in your team’s success will be your department chair and college dean who will have active
roles. The 2012 Academy will be limited to a maximum of 10 teams.
Problem Statement: Large enrollment or multi-section courses on our campus are being placed under
continuing stress to serve more students with fewer resources. This stress is exacerbated by the
following constraints:
Current teaching practices often fail to help faculty develop new strategies to cope with
increasing class size without increasing their daily teaching and class support activities.
Many faculty members, for various reasons, would like to incorporate newer technologies into
their teaching, but are unfamiliar with the resources available and how to leverage specific
technologies for the greatest benefit.
Fresno State is beginning to evaluate course redesign models that demonstrate effective practices
while preserving or enhancing student learning and student/faculty satisfaction. More
information is needed to determine best practices for our campus.
Proposed Solution: There is a growing body of research, from a variety of disciplines,
demonstrating that course transformation increases student learning, provides students with quality
learning experiences, improves the use of learning spaces, and reduces the cost of instruction. Fresno
State’s Teaching Innovations Academy is modeled on the successful work of the National Center for
Academic Transformation (NCAT), www.thencat.org, and successful efforts around the country
including Carnegie Mellon, the University of Massachusetts, Portland State University, and Chico
State. The NCAT website includes case studies and examples to study in preparation for our own
Teaching Innovations Academy.
Purpose: The purpose of the Teaching Innovations Academy is to provide an intensive learning and
planning experience with fellow faculty and support staff. Together we will transform a part of your
selected course that will improve student learning and engagement.
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Project Objectives:
Demonstrate innovative and pedagogically sound practices to enhance student learning outcomes
in a variety of course formats.
Pilot a redesigned course that incorporates the use of technologies and innovative instructional
practices.
Implement, under normal circumstances, successful pilot models across all sections of the
course, within one year of the newly redesigned course roll-out. Collect data on the effect of
faculty and staff resources, workload, attitudes, and teaching methods required to support the
new model.
Collect data to evaluate the effect of the course transformation on student learning.
Explore ways in which the above information can be leveraged by faculty into various research
projects or publications.
Collect data to evaluate the fiscal impact of the course transformation.
1) Application & Selection Process
ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY to your college dean by
April 20, 2012. Deans will forward proposals they recommend to the Director of Academic
Technology & Innovation for participation in the summer 2012 Teaching Innovations Academy.
Selection of faculty teams and notification will be made by April 25, 2012. A Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) will follow acceptance along with a technology needs assessment survey.
2) Preparation
By May 4, 2012, the individual teams will meet with Teaching Innovations Academy project leaders
(Rudy J. Sanchez, Sue Yang, and Scott Sailor) to prepare a project plan with committed objectives
and to begin a dialog regarding assessment goals and strategies.
3) Timeline & Implementation
Teaching Innovations Academy sessions will meet in a hybrid manner from June 4 - 15.
One-third of the $5,000 team stipend will be paid in June 2012. The other two-thirds will be paid
when the transformed course is piloted in August 2012. (The second part of the stipend will not be
paid if the course is not launched in August 2012.)
Each member of the faculty team will receive a tablet (16GB, Wi-Fi, iPad”3” or 16GB, Wi-Fi,
ASUS Eee Pad) in mid-May. Academy participants are encouraged to become familiar with their
new tablets prior to the start of the Academy. Instructional designers and other staff will be
available for team and individual consultation on how to use tablets in a university setting.
Summer 2012 is designated for learning, planning, and course development with your teams.
Early Fall 2012 will include a lunch/meeting with the Deans for teams to outline what course is
being transformed and the course transformation strategies you have and what components you
will pilot in the Fall 2012 semester.
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Fall 2012 is for teams to further develop course delivery and assessment techniques, and pilot
elements of the redesigned course, as agreed upon with their Chair, Dean, and the Director of
Academic Technology and Innovation.
The course transformation will be assessed using tools developed by the faculty and support team,
combined with student outcomes including grade distributions.
Teams will be invited to present at a teaching and learning event during the 2013 calendar year to
share transformation results and lessons learned.
In January 2013, teams will present their transformed course to the Deans, Chairs, and the
Academy community (staff, fellow Academy participants).
In Spring 2013, teams will implement modification of the transformed course.
4) Assessment & Follow-up
Teams will submit a short written summary report, including assessment outcomes, by June 1, 2013 to
their Dean, the Director for Academic Technology and Innovation, and the Title V Director.
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Application for Fresno State Teaching Innovations Academy Minigrant
Submit electronic application by April 20, 2012 to your chair and dean.
Instructor 1
First Name: Last Name:
Department:
Best Contact Phone: Best Contact email:
Instructor 2 (if applicable)
First Name: Last Name:
Department:
Best Contact Phone: Best Contact email:
Instructor 3 (if applicable)
First Name: Last Name:
Department:
Best Contact Phone: Best Contact email:
Name of Dean: Name of Chair:
Target Course Information
Course Number:
Course Title:
During which term(s) is this course normally offered?
Estimated number of students served each term this course is offered:
Estimated number of sections offered each term:
Estimated number of instructors who teach this course each term:
What is the average percentage of students who earn at least a C in this course?
If you do not know, please leave the item blank.
Which type of students typically enrolls in the target course? Select all that apply.
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st
Year GE
2
nd
Year Major/Minor
3
rd
Year Certificate
4
th
Year Other
Please select a term
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Please briefly respond to the following items.
Why are you interested in redesigning this particular course?
Visit the NCAT Web site (www.thencat.org) and look over their resources.
Familiarize yourself with the 6 NCAT Models (www.thencat.org/PlanRes/R2R_ModCrsRed.htm), and
the Course Redesign Checklist (www.thencat.org/PlanRes/R2R_ChList.htm).
Indicate which NCAT Model you think you will use. (We realize this may change.)
How do you think you will transform this course, and how do you anticipate assessing student outcomes?
Electronic Signatures
By typing my name below, I certify that have read and understand the content of this application.
Instructor 1
Instructor 2
Instructor 3
Department Chair
Dean
After completing the application, please save the file using the following naming convention:
2012AcademyInvitationApplication<insert your last name>.pdf
For more information on completing this application, contact Rudy J. Sanchez, 278.2344, rjsanchez@csufresno.edu.