Annual Small Grants for Instructional Improvement

Note: The small grants program is currently being revamped and is temporarily suspended for the 2007/08 academic year

Sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning and the College, the Small Grants Program seeks to initiate curricular revision and to improve teaching in the College and the Divisions. The grants, at a maximum of $3,500, will make funds available for activities, materials, fees for outside consultants, or other resources to develop a new course or revise an existing one. The goal of these grants is to support changes that will have a lasting impact on the curriculum of the College and the Divisions.

Who may apply

Full-time faculty teaching in the College and the Divisions.

How to apply

To apply, complete the attached application and send it via email to Elizabeth Chandler at echandle@uchicago.edu

Types of projects funded

Below are listed three types of projects with suggested possibilities for resources sought. Please feel free to suggest other resources needed as well as other types of projects that will enrich course offerings in the College and the Divisions.

  • NEW COURSE:  Funds would be requested to develop a new course or to redesign materials for an existing course; for instance, funds might be used to prepare or purchase slides or videotapes or to pay for xeroxing, or to amend materials for computer-based use.
  • NEW PEDAGOGIES:  Funds would be requested to revise aspects, strategies, or procedures of current courses; for instance, funds might be used to employ a student to locate and catalogue a list of supplementary reading materials.
  • CURRICULUM REVISION WORKSHOP:  Funds would be requested to revise a staff-taught course, such as a general education course or a methods or core course within a major, or any course linked closely to other courses in a curricular unit. Along the lines of the Graduate Workshops, faculty would organize workshop sessions to study curricular topics, and would include the advice of other experts (from both inside and outside the University). Such a project would also invite interested graduate students and faculty to join the conversation.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Assistance and consultation are available from the following:

  • Audio Visual Services (Regenstein Library 203 and USITE/Harper 310F) acts as a consultant to faculty and instructors who are interested in integrating media into teaching, provides support for University Registrar-scheduled media classrooms on campus, and provides portable audio/visual equipment to faculty and instructors for use in scheduled classes across campus. Contact information: 4-4499; avs@listhost.uchicago.edu.
  • Learning Technology (Regenstein Library 220) provides media development support to faculty and researchers through the resources associated with Chalk and the Digital Media Laboratory.  By scheduling time, a faculty member can reserve the resources in the DML to work on their own (or assign a TA or proxy) to incorporate visualization, animation, multimedia, print, or film techniques to help their projects meet intended goals. Contact information: 2-9944; digitalmedia@uchicago.edu.
  • Digital Library Development Center (Regenstein Library 220) offers particular services for helping to develop library and digital media projects, as can help you think through many Intellectual Property rights issues. Contact Charles Blair (chas@uchicago.edu) or Elisabeth Long (elong@uchicago.edu).
  • Language Laboratories and Archives (Social Sciences, Room SS4 OR Cobb Site, C 211) open to faculty, students, and staff engaged in language learning, linguistic research, and related media production. An online catalogue provides a starting point for users wanting to explore the Labs’ extensive archives of field recordings, commercial language courseware and materials produced on-site for pedagogical purposes. Additionally, the LLA is building libraries of video tapes and interactive computer programs. Contact Barbara Need at the Social Sciences site (2-7045; language-labs@uchicago.edu) or Michael Berger (2-9772; lfrc@uchicago.edu) at the Cobb site
  • Film Studies Center (Cobb Hall, Room 306-311) supports classes and faculty in the Cinema and Media Studies curriculum and related teaching and research with its media collections and facilities. Contact Julia Gibbs (2-1118; fsc@uchicago.edu).
  • The Chicago Media Initiatives Group (CMIG) http://cmig.uchicago.edu/ supports the University’s research and educational activities by helping to communicate those activities within and outside the University. Organized in the Provost’s Office, CMIG assists University units and faculty get started on new media projects, from simple Web communications plans to more complex publishing/pedagogical initiatives. CMIG's consulting solutions include: needs assessment, intellectual property rights management, graphic and web design, information architecture, video production, and more. Contact Matt Howard (2-5071; mhoward@uchicago.edu).

IMPACT OF GRANT

We ask that grant award winters share the outcomes of their work in a roundtable sponsored by the CTL.  Award winners will be sent a questionnaire in which they will be asked to describe the impact of their projects.

For examples of sample grant reports, please call (4-4439) or stop by our office (Gates-Blake 132).

NOTIFICATION OF AWARDS

Deadline for submission of the grant application is May 1, 2006. Winners will be notified within four weeks of the deadline.


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