Request for Proposals: Large-Scale Teaching & Learning Grants – Spring 2019

For curricular, pedagogical support, evaluation of teaching processes/protocols.

 

The Large-Scale Teaching & Learning grants offer in-kind or financial support of up to $20,000 per academic year to support large-scale, coordinated efforts around teaching initiatives and exploration. The types of projects that could be supported through this grant are large-scale initiatives such as:

  • Curriculum review (course requirements for majors and/or program curricula), including assessment practices, capstone courses, mapping courses and student pathways, and creating departmental learning outcomes;
  • Integrating experiential learning (study abroad, internships, community engagement, research with a faculty member, etc.) and assessments of experiential learning at the course and program levels;
  • Consideration of departmental teaching evaluation and review practices, such as implementation or revision of peer review processes, best practices in using student evaluation data (for administrators and faculty), teaching observation training for departmental reviewers, development of teaching portfolios, and ensuring equitable and inclusive  processes for the review of teaching;
  • Development of pedagogical facilitation skills, such as facilitating active learning and student engagement with material, peers, and instructors; inclusive teaching practices at the departmental and individual course levels; contemplative practices in teaching and learning; student reflective practices to build student metacognition for learning; and promoting and assessing learning in discussion-based courses;
  • Planning and curricular alignment of digital projects (such as capstones, digital humanities research, and maker space assignments) in majors or Core courses with learning design and assessment.

In addition to CTL in-kind support, a budget may be proposed for teaching development activities at the departmental, school, or program level, such as attending conferences, buying books for faculty discussions, or bringing in speakers. Requests should delineate how the project will enhance departmental teaching and/or student learning and have a clearly laid-out budget.

Please note that the fund is not intended for stipends for participating faculty or for other individuals who provide support services for the project. The grant will not be awarded if the proposal focuses primarily on the research, writing, and artistic activities of faculty members, nor can it be used for student labor. 

 

 

Eligibility

Requests should be submitted by or on behalf of the department chair, dean, or program coordinator.  Departments, schools, or programs should indicate cost sharing where appropriate as well as the long-range commitment to continue the project past the life of the grant. 

Proposal Requirements

Criteria for selection

  • We will expect proposals to address the following questions:
  • Does the project have the potential for making a significant, lasting impact within a department/school/program beyond the funding period? Is the project sustainable?
  • Is the rationale for the project sufficiently strong and compelling? Does it indicate a link with existing theories of and methods in teaching and learning?
  • Does the project have the potential to prompt innovations in other departments/schools/programs?
  • Does the project clearly define the partnership with CTL and delineate support and resource expectations?

Application Checklist

  1.  Cover Sheet – Name and role of initiative leader (chair, dean, director)
  2.  Project Plan

a. Description of project or initiative

b. Expected number of faculty participants

c. Goals and expected outcomes

d. Rationale for the project

e. Description of anticipated supporting activities (book discussion, conference, working group, training session, outside speakers, etc.) or materials in need of funding

f.  Evaluation plan

3.  Description of CTL support needed

4.  Detailed budget and budget justification

 

Reporting

Grant awardees will be required to submit a summary report of project success and a description of expenditures to the Office of the Provost. The report should reference assessment and evaluation data and describe insights and conclusions, answering such questions as:

  • How well have participants achieved project outcomes?  
  • How well were project activities implemented?
  • How did participants experience the project activities, both in terms of achievement of key outcomes and satisfaction?
  • Can the new programmatic elements be maintained and/or how can they be improved?
  • What impact has this initiative had on teaching and learning?

The report will be important in informing continued strategies to develop teaching approaches and in providing input to the Office of the Provost as it continues to develop initiatives to support teaching and learning.

Grant awardees will be invited to present on their projects at CTL events including the annual Celebration for Teaching and Learning Symposium in order to share the lessons learned with the broader Columbia community. Additionally grant awardees might consider submitting an article for publication, presenting at a disciplinary or pedagogical conference. Please note: faculty who wish to make student data public as part of this dissemination may need to obtain IRB approval.

 

Submission Procedure

Faculty submitting a proposal must complete the proposal application form.  Final proposals must be submitted by the Dean’s office of your school (one PDF file for each proposal) via email to ColumbiaCTL+dept@columbia.edu with the subject line of “RFP Department Grant 2019: [Last Name of Applicant].” An email confirmation that the proposal submission has been received will be sent within 24 hours.

 

Deadline

The deadline is Monday, April 22, 2019 at 5:00 P.M. Future RFPs will cover courses to be offered in 2020 and beyond. We look forward to continuing to support Columbia faculty as they develop new and exciting enhancements of teaching and learning at the University.

 

Review Process

Proposals will be reviewed by a committee of faculty representing a range of disciplines and schools who will provide a recommended set of grants to the Provost.

 

Notification

Grant awardees will be selected by Friday, May 24, 2019 and announced soon after. Grant awardees will be notified of the grant amount and will be assigned a CTL contact for the project. The CTL contact, together with a team of staff with appropriate expertise for the specific project, will provide support in instructional design, pedagogy, media and/or technologies, and assessment.

 

Information Sessions

The CTL will hold a number of sessions to support Office of the Provost Teaching & Learning grant applicants. Find out more about these offerings at https://ctl.columbia.edu/events/.

  • Attend the Office of the Provost RFP Town Hall offered on Thursday, January 31, 11:00am to learn about the types of grants and the application process.
  • Visit the CTL for RFP-focused office hours on April 5, 12, and 18 from 2-4pm. CTL consultants will be on hand to help select the appropriate grant, to answer questions about the application process, and/or to provide feedback on proposals.
  • Learn more about previous successful projects and interact with grant awardees at the Celebration of Teaching & Learning Symposium to be held on Tuesday, March 12, 2019 in Low Library.

Learn more: Provost’s Teaching and Learning RFPs