Developing submissions for the UQ
New Staff Start-up and
New Staff Start-up (SoTL) and
Early Career (SoTL) grant schemes
Workshop: May, 2010
Clair Hughes
Clair.hughes@uq.edu.au
Ext. 52456
With acknowledgement of material generously provided by Mia O’Brien and Kelly Matthews
UQ funding for teaching and learning
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Advanced Concept Teaching Space (ACTS) Innovative Development Fund
•
Early Career Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grants
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New Staff Start-up Grants - Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
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Resteach
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Support of Visiting Teaching and Learning Presenters
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The University of Queensland Teaching Fellowship Scheme
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UQ Strategic Teaching and Learning Grants
Session overview
• Background and essential features of the UQ New Staff Startup and Early Career Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
(SoTL) grants
• Over view of SoTL
• Application requirements and criteria
• Examples of successful applications
• Developing your own ideas
• Evaluation and dissemination
• Some cautions
• What next?
New Staff Start-up SoTL Grants
•
The aims of the Scheme are:
– to encourage new members of TF staff to identify and develop an area of
professional learning in SoTL that is relevant to their current and intended role; and
– to provide limited seed funding as a means of generating future support from
competitive internal and external grant schemes.
–
Funding available: Maximum combined total of $12,000 per grant per applicant, by
the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Faculties, and TEDI. Total allocation at
the recommendation of the relevant Faculty.
•
Eligibility: staff members appointed to a TF position since introduction in 2007.
Applications from 2011 onward will need to meet standard timeframe - normally, within
12 months of their appointment to a Teaching Focused position.
•
Application closing date: Friday, 28 May 2010
Early Career SoTL Grants
•
The aims of the Scheme are:
– to encourage new members of staff, and existing staff members transferring to a TF
position, to engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL);
– to identify teaching and learning issues, within or across disciplines, and facilitate an
approach to addressing these issues;
– to initiate the development of a project or program that could later attract external
funding (e.g. from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council);
– to support, on a competitive basis, high quality teaching and learning projects of
modest financial cost.
•
Funding available: a maximum of $15,000 per project
•
Eligibility: An Early Career Scholar (ECS) is someone who is, at the time of application,
within his/her first eight years of teaching employment in either a teaching-focused or
similar appointment at another university, allowing for uninterrupted, stable academic
development.
•
Application closing date: Friday, 3 September 2010
Eligible activities
• Early career
– Research and administrative assistants
– Other research and development costs
– Travel expenses
– Seminars and related activities.
• Funds will not support general curriculum renewal
at UQ – projects must be new initiatives or
innovative and or collaborative extensions to
existing curricula
• See guidelines for budget items not supported
Scholarly Teaching and
Scholarship of teaching
Scholarly teaching
•
Scholarly teaching in a discipline involves all of the following:
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striving for a high level of proficiency in stimulating students and fostering their learning in a
variety of appropriate ways,
–
being familiar with the latest ideas in one's subject,
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being informed by current ideas for teaching that subject,
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evaluating and reflecting on one's teaching practice and the student learning which follows.
The scholarship of teaching
The scholarship of teaching develops from a basis of scholarly teaching in a discipline but is not the same
as excellent teaching. It involves exploring, testing, practicing and communicating improved pedagogies,
learning processes, curricula, policies and learning materials. It meets the following additional criteria in
the context of promoting student learning:
–
It requires high levels of discipline-related expertise.
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It requires an understanding of who the learners are, how they learn and what practices are most
effective in the context of the discipline (pedagogical content knowledge)
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It breaks new ground and is innovative
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It can be replicated and elaborated
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It is documented and subjected to peer review
•
See UQ Report at http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching-learning/index.html?page=65733
Characteristics of SoTL Projects
• Focus on improvement/enhancement of student learning
• Focus on disciplinary-specific teaching and learning
• Framed often as an ‘intervention’ or innovation (but not
necessarily) for example:
– Change in teaching approach and practice
– Change/elaborate learning activities
– Modify curriculum/assessment
– Provision of resources to students
– Teaching/learning designs that facilitate disciplinary-specific
practice/thinking
• Provides evidence of outcomes/impact of intervention
• Implications for teaching and learning elsewhere…
Criteria: New Staff Start-up
• The proposal demonstrate an understanding of the nature of SoTL
within the university context?
• Does the proposal identify an area of Sotl that is relevant to their
current and intended role in the discipline in which they teach?
• Will the anticipated outcomes contribute to the SoTL of the
discipline? How?
• Will the anticipated outcomes be applicable to other disciplines
within the T&L spectrum?
• Are the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses
adequately developed, rarely integrated and appropriate to the aims
of the proposal?
• If the proposed budget appropriate?
• How will the proposed project lead to an application for external
funding for future work?
Criteria: Early Career
• Excellence is the primary criterion to be awarded the grant, both in
terms of the project and the investigator/investigator team strong, as
well as
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The applicant/s contribution to scholarship of teaching and learning
The capacity of the applicant/s to embed the outcomes of the project to
the benefit of the University
The significance of the issue to be addressed
The extent to which the project is innovative and creative, and grounded
in scholarly literature
The extent to which the project activities are feasible, bearing in mind
the expertise, track record, and productivity of the applicant/s
Extent to which the outcomes could form the basis of an application to an
external agency
The appropriateness of the evaluation strategies
The extent to which the budget is justified and appropriate
New Staff Start-up
application
Project title and summary
• TITLE
– A clear encapsulation of the project (e.g. An
investigation of how student awareness of task
cognitive demand influences achievement)
– Consider an acronym (e.g. charM)
• SUMMARY
– A plain language summary of the issues to be
addressed, significance and expected outcomes
(approx 100 words)
Summary sample A
• Recently there has been strong impetus to encourage
undergraduate science students to develop the attributes of
‘being a scientist’ by promoting scientific and research skill
development. However, creating effective and equitable
methods to assess the development of these skills remains
difficult, particularly when coupled with large class sizes. This
project aims to develop innovative and effective assessment
practices to explicitly evaluate these skills in students in a
large class setting. It also aims to improve the curriculum
design process by supporting the expansion of the expertise in
assessment practices of teaching-focused, discipline-based
academics. This should enhance the students’ satisfaction by
demonstrating the value placed on the development of these
skills.
Summary sample B
• The current 1st year practical experience contains ‘traditional
labs’ and a limited opportunity for students to do
undergraduate research. In this project, the introduction of
guided inquiry will be explored to investigate whether a range
of experiences best meets the needs of a diverse cohort. The
project will develop a guided inquiry-based practical for both
XXXX1111and XXXX1111 and determine the extent of students’
gain in their understanding of the Nature of Science.
• If the project is successful, teaching practice would be
modified across 1st year chemistry, which could enhance
student learning and outcomes.
D1: Aims and background
• Aims and background to the project
• Information about recent international SoTL
progress in the relationship of this proposal to work
in the field generally
Aims & Background: Example A
Project Aims
•
•
To facilitate correction of alternate conceptual models possessed by students through
active learning experiences and effective teaching practices in chemistry.
To enhance the development of cognitive skills by students through the explanation of
transformations between symbolic, microscopic and macroscopic representations of
chemical phenomena
.
Background
•
As students make transitions between the secondary to the tertiary context, between
individual courses or even between modules in a course they tend to ‘box’ concepts. We
compound this process by organising chemistry courses around traditional sub-disciplines
such as organic or physical chemistry or in themes such as thermochemistry or bonding.
One of the challenges in teaching chemistry is to encourage students to both recognise
their existing knowledge and conceptual understanding and then apply it in new learning
situations (Schraw et al, 2006).
•
•
We have increasing evidence that students possess a diverse range of alternate
conceptions to key ideas. Concept inventories are well established instruments for
gauging the extent of alternate conceptions (Mulford & Robinson, 2002) and we have
incorporated a number of questions in a survey of the prior learning experiences of our 1st
year chemistry students in 2008 and 2009. Significant alternate conceptions in ideas that
students were assumed to have acquired at a novice level were evident. Our data
mirrored the outcomes reported for 927 general chemistry students in the US (Mulford &
Robinson, 2002). To address the diversity in conceptual models we will explore the
development of cognitive skills in the explanation of transformations between symbolic,
microscopic and macroscopic representation of chemical phenomena (Chittleborough &
Treagust, 2008; Treagust et al, 2003; Kozma & Russell, 1997). To become proficient in
these transformations, students must be able to recognize, organize and apply the
underlying concepts. Students will be presented with a range of activities both as
individual and group tasks framed in contexts that challenge their existing conceptual
models of chemical principles and encourage reflection on discrepant ideas. These
activities will be embedded in lectures (clicker questions), collaborative group tasks and
laboratory experiences through instructional design based on inductive T&L practices
(Prince & Felder, 2007).
Outcomes of this project will be measured in terms of the extent of conceptual change.
D2: Significance and innovation
D4: National benefit
• Significance and innovation
– Important questions or problem to be addressed
– Contribution to the SoTL in a discipline and novel and
innovative characteristics of aims and concepts
– How proposal will advance own teaching and learning
profile/program and lead to external grant application of
(nominated) external funding agency
• National benefit
– Expected outcomes and likely impact of the proposed
project
– How SoTL project might result in improvements in the
outcomes for teaching and learning for Australia
Example A
• The development of problem solving capabilities and mastery of inquiry-based
learning processes are essential aspects of life-long learning for university
graduates. Recent surveys of graduate employer groups sited these skills amongst
the top 5 most valued skills in new employees (DEST, 2008). While there are many
forms of academic skills programs already in existence within the US, few are
currently in use within the Australian higher education context. The development
and piloting of this seminar will provide an evidence-based template for student
learning seminars in Australian health science settings that may be translatable to
other professional learning contexts.
•
Moreover, the opportunity to trial and evaluate a tailored version of these seminars
provides me with an opportunity to contribute to, and potentially lead innovation
in, current approaches to clinical practice education in Australia. This project will
enable me to translate my experience as a clinical supervisor into an area of
disciplinary scholarship. I plan to extend upon this project by coordinating and
leading an interdisciplinary version of this seminar with colleagues within clinical
psychology, occupational therapy, and social work education settings.
Example B
•
Undergraduate science education in Australia is rapidly expanding and
attracts students with a wide range of educational experience and ability.
As class sizes increase the opportunities for staff to identify and support
individual student’s difficulties and misunderstanding wanes. The preand post-test tools that this project will develop to detect misconceptions
in physics will be an efficient tool applicable to large first year science
courses across the country. Moreover this process provides an evidencebased mechanism that can inform and shape existing approaches to first
year physics curriculum, teaching and assessment.
•
At present physics teaching is dominated by the use of traditional
textbooks and the teaching of ‘principles’ and formula. I aim to use the
outcomes of this project to contribute to a shift to more experiential and
student-focused models for learning physics. For this project I will draw
upon my recent experience within the Graduate Certificate of Higher
Education, in which I investigated the kinds of troublesome knowledge my
students encountered within first year physics labs…
Example C
• While adult education has a strong research presence within the
literature (see for example Billet, 2008;Fenwick, 2008;), the role
of community-service in the teaching and learning professional
competencies and the development of students’ sense of social
justice is unexamined.
• Because community-based learning has become a priority within
the adult education field, it is important to ensure our approaches
to developing appropriate skills and abilities in future
professionals are effective. This project will develop a process to
engage and support these abilities by embedding students in an
authentic community-based setting. This will provide an
opportunity to link these skills to the competencies required of
professional associations and employer groups…. As well as
expanding existing work on service learning, this project will
provide me with a basis for leading a sector-wide curriculum
redevelopment in collaboration with program convenors from
other universities in Australia.
D3: Approach and methodology
• Outline of conceptual framework (list references in
D5) design and methods
• Demonstration that these are adequately
developed, well integrated and appropriate to the
aims of the project
Early career grant
application
C2: Issues to be addressed
• Discussion of
– issue to be addressed
– including clear statement of the research
questions/hypothesis
– significance in the context of T&L practice
• Information about the theoretical/conceptual
framework to which your project contributes, or
from which it arises (list references in C8)
C3: Activities and timeline
• Detailed plan of activities to address project issue(s)
• Relationship between planned activities and:
– investigator expertise
– appropriateness to the specific challenges addressed
– intended outcomes
• Evidence that you are primary originators of project activities
• Detailed timeline, including explanation of any concurrent
academic activities for the period of the grant
Overview of research plan/activity
The research will be undertaken in four stages:
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Literature review with
focus on:
o Innovative teaching
and learning tasks
with assessment
potential
o Innovative
approaches to
outcomes
assessment
Interview with individual
and/or teaching teams
reporting innovative
teaching and assessment
practice, collection of
teaching and assessment
artefacts to investigate the
nature of effective
approaches to the
assessment and influences
that have fostered
assessment innovation.
Data analysis
and
interpretation
and initial
theorising of the
nature of
innovative
approaches to
assessment and
influences that
have fostered
assessment
innovation.
Documentation
& final
dissemination
through report,
conference
presentation and
journal articles.
Selection of
interviewees - two
from each of UQ,
Wollongong and La
Trobe – selected
because they are the
partners in the current
Priority Project
submission of which I
am a member.
Interviews with students
who have undertaken
innovative assessment
tasks to investigate
awareness of graduate
attribute development and
passive/active role in the
assessment process.
Overview of timeline, activity and activity purpose
2010
Phase
2011
Activity function
Dissemin
ation
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√
√
√
√
√
Pilot
√
√
Phase 4
√
M
Phase 1
Literature review
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J/
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N/D
Develop
ment
Evaluatio
n
Activity
√
Analysis of SGP data
√
Group interviews
√
Phase 2
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Resource development
Consultation
Development of guidelines
√
Phase 3
Staff professional
development
Collection of data
Revision of resources
Preparation of publication and
conference presentations
√
√
√
C4: Collaboration
• Identification of issues, either within disciplines or
across other disciplines, affected by the issue to be
addressed
• Summary of expertise required to adequately
address the issue and how to identify and involve
other scholars in the field
C5: Profile building and dissemination
• Use of the outcomes of this project to enhance
professional profile
• Range of approaches to ENGAGED dissemination
Dissemination defined
Dissemination is more than distribution of information
or making it available in some way. Dissemination also
requires that some action has been taken to embed
and upscale the innovation within its own context and
to replicate or transform the innovation in
a new context and to embed the innovation in the
new context.
ALTC Institute Dissemination Framework
Two dissemination forms - engaged and information
provision
Purposes of project dissemination
Dissemination for
awareness
(scattering the seed to
the wind)
Information provision
Distributing information through reports,
publishing papers, conference
presentations, sending emails, developing
websites.
One way information process.
Dissemination for
understanding
(sowing the seed in
prepared soil)
Information provision
Distributing information in a more
purposeful manner, e.g. workshops, visits.
Requires interaction with others who are
involved in the project.
Dissemination for action
(propagating, breeding,
growing, grafting)
Engaged dissemination
Purposeful, directed, systematic, proactive
engagement, evidence-based, involves
adaptation and implementation, resulting
in changes in practice.
Dissemination questions
Who are the users of and other
stakeholders in this program?
What do we want to disseminate (process,
ideas, products)?
How could we make users and other
stakeholders aware and involved?
How could we engage users and other
stakeholders so they use and/or support
the program?
How could we obtain feedback from users
during the project?
How will we know there has been change in
practice?
C6: Grant outcomes
• Information about outcomes of the grant
• How outcomes might be embedded within teaching
and learning practices at UQ
• How the project could be developed further and
submitted to an external agency
• Project’s contribution to the scholarship of teaching
and learning
C7: Evaluation method
• Evaluation conducted throughout the project
• Data collected for inclusion in the final report which
evaluates the activities and the outcomes of the
grant
• Describe strategies for both ongoing (formative) and
final (summative) evaluation
Evaluation defined
Evaluation is the process of determining the merit
and/or worth of things for a range of purposes.
Consider funding agency requirements for evaluation:
• Ensure that evaluation is undertaken at multiple points
throughout the project and is understood and reported within an
evaluation framework.
ALTCCompetitive Grants program: Guidelines and Supporting Information – 2008 (p.23)
• Must provide a strategy for the evaluation of the project with
information on outcomes for students, whether there has been a
noticeable improvement or not in the expected outcomes for
students.
UQ Teaching and Learning Small and Large Grants Scheme Guidelines
Lack of success a worthwhile and significant outcome if it generates new insights or learning
Evaluation questions
Who is our project audience
(stakeholders)?
Select two stakeholders/groups and list
one or more questions each may have in
relation to this project.
How could we collect data to answer
these questions? (methods)
From whom or where (stakeholders and
others) could data be collected?
(sources)
What will count as evidence? (consider
both qualitative and quantitative)
Purposes of project evaluation
Formative
(to inform ongoing project
decision-making)
•Monitor project progress
•Revise/enhance project processes and outcomes
•Engage key stakeholders early and during project to:
–demonstrate respect
–intensify participation
–collaborate in identifying key indicators of success
–progressively expose to new perspectives, or information
•Make interim reports
Summative
(to determine/support
project findings and
outcomes)
•Report on success/results/value
•Demonstrate impact
•Account to sponsors
•Sustain project outcomes
•Support related submissions (eg grants for funding for further
related projects; promotion; teaching and learning awards)
Enlightenment
(to learn)
•Provide opportunities for project team to maximise the learning
developed through participation in the project
Adapted from “The Learning Partnership” 2007 and W. K. Kellogg Foundation
Example of an evaluation framework
Evaluation
questions
Sources/Methods
Institutional
contacts
What is Generic
Graduate Attribute
(GGA) policy in
Australian
universities?
Telephone interview
(to clarify, address
omissions or current
activity)
What are current
barriers to effective
GGA implementation?
Focus groups to elicit
responses to issues
paper based on
literature review
Expert reference Existing records/
group
artefacts
Web search of
university policy
documents
Written responses to
draft issues paper
Literature review
(research into
implementation
experience)
Analysis of AUQA
reports
Budget example
Detailed Budget
$ Amount
Requested
(List all items individually)
Personnel (include type of appointment and on-costs)
Research Assistant (HEW 5, Level 1)
6 weeks @ $1,371.06 per fortnight + on-costs
Casual rates (RA as above)
20 hours @ $22.50/ hour + on-costs
Total
5232
524
Total:
Equipment (items costing more than $1,000 each)
Nvivo for qualitative data analysis with training
Specialist chemicals for practicals
5756
780
700
Total:
1480
Total:
0
Maintenance (Including equipment items costing $1,000 or less each)
Travel
Conference, National: Herdsa and Uniserve
Registration Herdsa: $1450
Herdsa: Standard economy return airfare: $550
Herdsa: Accommodation: 4 nights @ $160/night
Herdsa: Subsistence: $70/day
Uniserve Science: conference registration
Uniserve Science: Standard economy return airfare: $425
Uniserve Science: Accommodation: 4 nights @ $180/night
Uniserve Science: Subsistence: $70/day
1450
550
640
280
390
425
720
280
Total:
4735
Total:
11,971
Other
Activity 1
• Work in pairs
• Use one of the samples provided and the feedback
sheet to identify how the individual components
have been framed.
Activity 2
• Use the application form to make some notes for
your own application development
Feedback on ALTC grant submissions
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Continuity is a strength – build on previous projects (your own or others)
where possible
Focus the project to produce a targeted outcome
Base submissions on sound theory and show engagement with the body of
knowledge in the area
Embed evaluation and dissemination into the proposal
Demonstrate appreciation of sustainability and portability
Application weaknesses:
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poor budget justifications
unclear evaluation plans – particularly in engaging stakeholders
a lack of detail about how outcomes would be achieved
inadequate preparation – some form of literature review should have been
completed prior to submission
limited engagement with key ideas and theoretical concepts or limited integration of
proposal with this body of knowledge
poor presentation of ideas
Feedback (Kelly Matthews)
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Ensure your budget aligns with your project
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As dissemination is central to SoTL, money for travel is reasonable, although if 30% or more of your
budget is for travel, it needs to be well justified.
–
If you suggest dissemination (T&L forums, conferences) in your proposal, this should appear in your
budget.
Documentation and peer-review (i.e., publication) are central to SoTL; you should demonstrate an
understanding of this in your application.
References should be current and up to date with appropriately formatted bibliographies.
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Ensure that you are referencing properly to avoid unintended plagiarism.
–
Ensure your in-text citation and bibliography are consistent.
–
Ensure bibliographic information is complete.
This granting scheme does not support the “supplementation of projects being funded by other agencies”
including UQ T&L grants or ALTC grants.
Your proposal should demonstrate how it will lead to an application for external funding for future work.
Just referring to ALTC or other external funding might not be enough to convince the central committee
This proposal is about SoTL and hence, your teaching and your student’s learning, so this application
should focus on teaching and learning in the context of your role and in your discipline. Be sure you
demonstrate an understanding of SoTL, as defined by UQ, in your application.
Useful resources
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ALTC Resources (including project reports) http://www.altc.edu.au/resources
ALTC Dissemination Framework http://www.altc.edu.au/resource-dissemination-frameworkaltc-2008
ALTC Grants Scheme - Evaluating Projects http://www.altc.edu.au/extras/altcgsep/evaluation_plan.pdf
High-Impact Educational Practices - What they are, who has access to them, and why they
matter - George D Kuh 2008
http://www.neasc.org/downloads/aacu_high_impact_2008_final.pdf
TEDI Teaching and Learning Support http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au/teaching/index.html
TEDI Evaluation Services http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au/evaluations/index.html
The Higher Education Academy - Resources http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources and
Subject Centres http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/subjectcentres
Centre for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) Teaching & Learning Resources
http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/resources/cshe_res.html
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Resourceshttp://www.carnegiefoundation.org/resources
International Journal for the Scholarship pf Teaching and Learning
http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/
What next?
• Planning your submission
– set side time to write
– identify one or two colleagues to ask for
feedback (include one who does not know you or
your work very well)