Funded Projects
| Project Title | Overview of the Project |
|---|---|
| The Statistical Education of Future Teachers at the University of Michigan Nina White LSA $10000.00 |
“The Statistical Education of Future Teachers at the University of Michigan” is a collaboration between the Departments of Statistics and Mathematics to design materials for a new course aimed at the statistical education of future teachers. Such a course is currently lacking in our mathematics teacher preparation program and is much needed as the emphasis on statistics in the grades 6-12 curriculum grows. The course will be a special, double-length lab section attached to the standard introductory course STATS 250. It will extend the conceptual discussion of topics in STATS 250 and build bridges to related topics in the grades 6-12 curriculum. Labs will also focus on growing future teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of statistics---for example, knowledge and understanding of common student misconceptions. Neither department would be able to tackle this project alone. Statistics contributes their deep disciplinary knowledge and Mathematics contributes their experience teaching “content courses” to future teachers---courses distinct from both teaching methods courses taught in the School of Education and mainstream math courses for engineers and mathematics majors. Ideas and techniques from inquiry-based learning (IBL) will permeate the course design. This teaching method has a long successful history in the Mathematics Department and has been shown in national studies to narrow the achievement gap in college math courses between traditionally high-achieving and traditionally low-achieving groups of students. |
| Cultivating Diversity in the Screen Arts and Cultures Curriculum $9500.00 |
We propose this two-year project as part of an effort to encourage substantial dialogue among Screen Arts and Cultures faculty about diversity across the undergraduate curriculum; establish and refine regular SAC courses that focus on issues of race, ethnicity, and other forms of difference; open up conversations across disciplines about pedagogy; and create a web resource, the Diversity in Media Archive, that would be collaboratively built and maintained by undergraduate students and faculty. Every aspect of this initiative centers on the assertion that film, television and new media are more than simply among the many lenses through which to consider contemporary conceptions of race and ethnicity; they are central to the ways we understand ourselves and others, not to mention issues of social and political import. In Fall 2015, we plan to host a panel of four speakers from affiliate departments to share their work on race and ethnicity in media as a public event advertised widely to undergraduates. We will also develop two new courses over 2015-2016 and 2016-2017—"Histories of Race, Ethnicity, and Media" and "Intersectional Approaches to Media—which, through student assignments and guest lectures, will cumulatively build the Diversity in Media Archive. Furthermore, we plan to host a faculty retreat in Fall 2016, where we discuss our experiences in the classroom, present suggestions for strengthening diversity in the SAC curriculum, and encourage open dialogue and goal-setting among faculty members. |
| Connecting the Pieces: Enhancing Student Learning in Structural Design Courses McCormick Jason Engineering Sherif El-Tawil Engineering $6000.00 |
The goal of this project is to enhance student learning in structural design courses by providing students a more complete picture of the design process and connecting what is traditionally taught in these courses with how structures behave and how they are designed in practice. Traditionally, structural design courses are taught by systematically proceeding through the analysis and design of different types of members based on their loading. However, such an approach does not meet the needs of all students, particularly those that learn best with a clear picture of the overall problem and how the different pieces of that problem come together. In order to achieve this goal, a complete revision of the laboratory component of the CEE 413 "Design of Metal Structures" class will be undertaken. The laboratory session will be converted into an active learning environment that will provide an opportunity to better visualize individual member and connection behavior through physical and virtual reality based demonstrations along with providing the ability to apply design concepts to the ongoing design of a case study building. By using a case study building as the backbone for studying member and connection design concepts and creating a more active learning environment similar to a flipped classroom, students will not only better understand how the design of each component of a structure fits within the overall design, but also achieve it in a more hands-on manner. |
| Curriculum Development in Pediatric Global Health Education Shane Quinonez Medical School Hilary Haftel Medical School $6000.00 |
Interest in global health amongst learners at all levels has experienced a rapid rate of growth over the last decade. Unsurprisingly, pediatric residents in the University of Michigan Pediatric Residency Program and across the country have mirrored this interest and frequently arrange their own international medical elective (IME) as a means to improve their global health education. Previous research has shown that with poorly structured IMEs there is potential for medical tourism, raising concerns for creating burden or harm to the host institution. To improve the educational value and ethical education of pediatric residents we propose the creation of a formalized IME at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The formalization of the IME will be accomplished by the following aims: 1) The creation of site-specific goals and objectives designed through collaboration with SPHMMC pediatricians who will eventually be on-site mentors; 2) Pre-travel orientation for residents aimed at better preparing residents for their elective; 3) Improved site-specific assessment tools for SPHMMC faculty mentors evaluating residents; 4) Assessment of our program’s impact on SPHMMC and their pediatric residency program. Formal evaluation of the program will consist of baseline interviews and surveys of stakeholders at UM and SPHMMC and after curriculum implementation. Multiple data sources will be used to evaluate the downstream educational benefit including resident assessments of the experience, faculty member assessments of the experience and performance of the learners. Program evaluation will be used to inform the curriculum to make experiences over time. |
| Development of Course Content Connectivity Resources for the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum Okwudire Chinedum Engineering $5947.00 |
Current engineering instruction is often compartmentalized within courses such that knowledge is disconnected and well-defined relationships are not adequately established across a curriculum. A compartmentalized curriculum does not encourage synergistic thinking and is fundamentally at odds with the interconnected nature of the knowledge needed by the Engineer of the Future. The objective of this project is to develop so-called 'Course Content Connectivity' (or 3C) resources for the mechanical engineering undergraduate program at the University of Michigan. 3C resources will provide an easy way for faculty to see the connections among the various courses in their undergraduate curriculum and supply a repertoire of tools (e.g., worked examples, problem sets, and project materials) that they can use to teach related concepts in a way that better allows students to see those connections. The effectiveness of the developed 3C resources will be evaluated using concept inventories and student-generated concept maps. If successful, this effort can be a model for not only other departments in the College of Engineering here at U-M, but also for those in other academic units or universities that suffer from constraints to implement fully-integrated curricula. |
| Muscle Function as Thread: Stitching Together the Kinesiology Curriculum Using Shared Digital Resources in Required Core Courses Pete Bodary Kinesiology Scott McLean Kinesiology Melissa Gross Kinesiology $6000.00 |
Muscle function is a fundamental concept in Kinesiology that students need to master for advanced courses and professional applications. Muscle function is taught in several required core courses across the curriculum, but faculty tend to focus on only their own courses, resulting in curricular redundancy and missed opportunities for sharing best practices related to teaching and learning concepts of muscle function. The purpose of this project is to examine curricular design related to muscle function in the School of Kinesiology and to develop new digital learning resources for teaching and learning that can be shared across several courses in the curriculum. Specifically, the faculty team will describe specific learning objectives and outcomes related to muscle function and map them to the core classes, create new digital learning resources to deliver course content before and during class and engage students in learning, and flip at least one class session in related to muscle function in each of the core courses. The project will address weaknesses in the Movement Science program that were identified in a curriculum evaluation conducted by CRLT. The project will also improve existing practice by establishing a new way for faculty teams to work together to improve teaching and learning in Kinesiology. By focusing on implementation of one curriculum objective (muscle function), we hope to improve learning outcomes for students but also to establish a viable new approach to course design and curriculum implementation in Kinesiology. |
| Building Active and Multicultural Teaching Strength for Student Learning Today and Future Faculty Tomorrow Judy Lawson Information Eric Cook Information $7700.00 |
We are interested in "raising the game" of our GSIs and Intermittent lecturers in terms of their confidence and skills to infuse class sessions, group or lab sessions, tutoring sessions, and office hours interactions with intentional use of active and multicultural teaching strategies. To accomplish this, we aim to further develop the training and mentorship provided to GSIs and Intermittent Lecturers at UMSI. The primary goal is to improve the student learning experience through use of active and multicultural learning pedagogies. We hope our investment in the professional development of GSIs and Intermittent Lecturers will strengthen their teaching and learning capabilities, not only for their work at UMSI, but for their work as instructors throughout their careers. Thus our overall purpose is to have short term, internal impact as well as long term, external impact on the teaching and learning environment at UM and beyond. |
| Leveraging online technologies to facilitate intercultural learning with students studying abroad $5900.00 |
The University of Michigan aspires to send all students on some type of international experience, whether it be study, intern, volunteer, or research abroad. Yet there is a growing concern in the field of international education that the focus on increasing access to study abroad opportunities is not enough. Recent studies have shown that many students who participate in international experiences don't show any significant gains in intercultural learning or if they do, the gains are limited. Many faculty who lead student groups abroad are not trained in the kinds of guided reflection that support integrative intercultural learning. This project will design a course that leverages synchronous and asynchronous, interactive, online platforms to deliver just-in-time intercultural education that facilitates students' sensemaking and growth as they navigate immersive intercultural experiences. This is one of only a few courses using an online critical reflective seminar that brings together students currently studying in a variety of other countries. Once we have a model of how to remotely facilitate intercultural learning on-site, we would invite other Colleges to participate in our courses or consider adapting our best practices. Making a reflective course available to students studying, interning, or volunteering abroad will allow programs to gain from the value of intercultural reflective learning—such as improved efficacy of interactions between students and host site partners—while allowing faculty to maintain focus on their scholarly priorities. This course could significantly contribute to an area that is just beginning to develop in the field of international education. |
| Advanced Modeling of Electronic Devices to Enhance Student Learning in EECS Becky Peterson Engineering Fred Terry Engineering $6000.00 |
We propose the preparation of electronic device models to enhance in-class interactive learning and independent student work, using the industry-standard Synopsys TCAD software, for two graduate courses and one undergraduate course in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department (EECS). The simulations, which have not been used before in these courses, will provide direct illustration of concepts that cannot be solved analytically, and will deepen student engagement through experimental design. Simulations will also provide important "real world," up-to-date training to help retain a diverse student body. The average annual enrollment in the courses impacted is 35-40 graduate and 180 undergraduate students. Funding is proposed for four months support of a graduate student to develop these materials during Spring/Summer 2014, who will be co-supervised by the two PIs. The required Synopsys software is already available via the College of Engineering's Computer Aided Engineering Network (CAEN). |
| Creation of Integrated Surgical & Neurophysiologic Video Data Streams to Enhance Student Visual Learning Joshua Mergos Kinesiology $6000.00 |
The outcome of this project will be the creation of cutting-edge lecture materials that integrate both screen-captured neurophysiologic video and microscope-recorded surgical video. The materials created will be used in courses developed for the Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IONM) program in the Movement Science major, which is the first academic program of its kind in the nation. The content created will far surpass any educational materials currently available to field of IONM. Furthermore, the materials created have a strong potential to impact other programs of study that lack education in the field of IONM as well as those that could benefit from well-edited high-resolution surgical video. A few of these schools of study include the School of Nursing, Engineering, and Medicine. This project will demonstrate the effectiveness of surgical and neurophysiologic video in the enhancement of education for allied health students. As a multi-phase project, screen-captured video from neurophysiologic monitoring equipment integrated with high-resolution surgical video will be used to create learning materials which allow the student to see how structural maneuvers effect functional neurophysiology. Improvements in student comprehension will be assessed compared to performance of prior course cohorts. Used during courses which are pre-requisite to a clinical rotation experience in the operating room, the improvements made will better prepare the student for his or her field experience. |
| Ross - Integrative Core Course Semester Dana Muir Business $9990.00 |
The Ross School of Business (Ross) has completely redesigned its Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program. Beginning in Fall 2015, BBA students (~500/year) will be required to take newly integrated core courses during Fall semester of their junior year. The curriculum will comprise four courses: Behavioral Theory in Management, Business Communication, Business Law and Ethics, and Operations Management. One of the four pillars of the Ross philosophy is that business issues are boundaryless (e.g. that they cross business disciplines and cultures). The integrative semester is the second of three curricular efforts to develop students' abilities to evaluate and address issues from a boundaryless perspective. In the Fall sophomore semester students will take an introductory course that integrates business with the liberal arts and students' life and career goals. The junior Fall curriculum will encourage integrated learning across functional business areas. Third, each senior will complete a capstone project that integrates students' university experiences in an action-based learning project. This proposal seeks funding to develop and assess the integrative components of the Fall junior curriculum. The project will challenge faculty to collaborate on integrated learning goals, appropriate course materials, and new teaching methodologies. An important part of the planned project is a two-part assessment to determine the success of the integrated approach and refine it for the future. |
| Integrating Case Studies into the Dental School Petros Papagerakis Dentistry $6000.00 |
The goal of this project is to enhance the learning experience for pediatric dentistry students at the UM School of Dentistry. The specific aims of this proposal are (1) to learn designing and constructing relevant subject-specific cases to replace the current teaching material taught to dental residents and dental undergraduate students; (2) to evaluate if the use of clinical cases improves student learning; (3) to encourage, mentor and guide young faculty members to increase interactive teaching by including cases in their lectures. Dr. Papagerakis will attend the Workshop of the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science to be trained in writing and implementing case studies. In addition to learning how to design relevant cases in this unique workshop all participants are required to teach a case before a student audience using a case they have developed during the workshop. Furthermore, workshop participants are expected to produce a case study within six months of the workshop for our national, peer-reviewed case collection. After the workshop Dr. Papagerakis will design case studies for the 596 graduate course that he directs and it is addressed to Pediatric Dentistry residents. He will use also similar cases for undergraduate teaching to reduce the amount of power point material and to increase critical thinking and student participation. Cases would also be available to the class in the piazza platform to encourage larger participation of students. Piazza allows communication between faculty and students on line and students could remain anonymous when post a comment or a question. Evaluation of this novel method of teaching in these courses will be performed by using polls into the ctools site and also by comparing student grades before and after the implementation of the cases into the course material. It is anticipate that case introduction into the pediatric dentistry curriculum will increase critical thinking and will enhance assimilation of the teaching material. Dr. Papagerakis will also serve as a role model faculty and mentor in the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry. This project will also help addressing key issues and help our school in preparing the incoming accreditation scheduled for 2015. |
| Action-Based-Learning Redesign: Quantitative Methods of Program Evaluation Susan Dynarski Public Policy $5900.00 |
Quantitative Methods for Program Evaluation (Public Policy 639), previously an elective for students with an intense interest in learning advanced quantitative methods, has transitioned to the capstone course required of all Master of Public Policy candidates at the Ford School of Public Policy. The course introduces students to the use and interpretation of multiple regression analysis and program evaluation. The goals of the class are to train students to critically consume and thoughtfully produce empirical, policy-relevant research. The course covers multiple regression, fixed effects, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, panel data, differences-in-differences and propensity-score matching. This proposal addresses the challenge of maintaining a high level of engagement and learning while reaching a broader set of students. The redesigned course will "flip" instruction to focus on team-based problem solving. Students will watch short, online video lectures prior to class; I will conduct in-class clicker quizzes for immediate feedback on comprehension and then clarify any muddy concepts. The bulk of class time will focus on action-based learning, in which students will solve problems and conduct data analysis in groups. The problems they tackle in class will closely resemble the real-world problems they will encounter in their professional lives. The project evaluation plan includes ongoing testing of new resources (videos, problems, quizzes), and feedback in the form of student academic engagement (accessing the online materials, ability to respond to quizzes, in-class participation, completion of assignments), CRLT midterm evaluation, and end-of-term assessment. Through CRLT I will share my experience with interested faculty. |
| Interactive Web-Based Module Creation to Improve the Social Work Evaluation Course Janet Ray Social Work Maureen Okasinski Social Work $8115.00 |
The project lead by three LEO Lecturers called Interactive Web-based Module Creation to Improve the Social Work Evaluation Course will create six interactive educational web-based modules that increase in difficulty so that even with no prior knowledge of evaluation, students will have the scaffolding supports to practice the skills needed until they can demonstrate mastery of the competency area. Project will benefit 668 graduate students and cost $8115. An additional $3547 will be leverage as matched funds by the School of Social Work. The cost per student would be $12.15. The module topics correspond with the course objectives and Council on Social Work Education Commission on Accreditation are: choosing evaluation design, developing a hypothesis/evaluation question, determining degree of rigor, data collection methods/sampling, instrumentation and type of variables, and selecting the appropriate statistical test. This is an improvement since it adds a progressive level of difficulty for students, as well as, a different learning style method. Using web-based software with personal feedback from classroom professors responds to new generation learning medium, through the internet, handheld devices and mobile tablets. Our Evaluation in Social Work course will intentionally include discussions of privilege/oppression and real world relevant case studies based on the interest of the students. |
| Observed Structured Teaching Encounters (OSTEs) to Improve Pediatric Cardiology Faculty and Fellow Teaching Skills Sonal Owens Medical School David Werho Medical School $6000.00 |
OSTEs are a tool in which a teacher interacts with a "standardized learner" in a scripted scenario to assess their teaching skills broadly and within a specific difficult situation as well as to improve their teaching skills by providing clear, immediate, and structured feedback. Initially, we will implement an OSTE program within the Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Program at The University of Michigan. Using this program, we will assess and improve the teaching skills of first-year fellows, with the immediate goal of improving medical student and resident education. In addition, we will assess the role that OSTEs have in improving the education of these residents and students. Finally, we aim to more broadly implement this program as a part of the faculty development program for pediatric cardiology faculty. |
| Keep Psychiatry in Mind: Integrating Psychiatry into the General Medical Curriculum with Emails Mary Blazek Medical School $6000.00 |
Keep Psychiatry in Mind: Integrating Psychiatry into the General Medical Curriculum with Emails Background: There is growing consensus in medication education regarding the importance of integrating training across fields of medicine. In traditional clinical clerkships, medical student teaching is compartmentalized, with little integration between disciplines. Building on a prior project with an established collaboration, educators from University of Michigan, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and Rush Medical College will design a simple intervention using email to promote integration of psychiatry into medical school clinical curricula. Methods: We will develop a series of emails relating key psychiatric concepts to other medical fields, and distribute them during non-psychiatric clerkships to 170 third year medical students at the University of Michigan. Assessment will include a survey evaluating attitude and confidence regarding implementation of behavioral principles in medical practice and a knowledge retention instrument. Results/Conclusion: Results will be analyzed at the conclusion of the academic year and will provide further insight into both the utility of emails in delivering educational material and the impact of integration of psychiatric concepts during other clerkships. |
| Utilization of Touchscreen Technologies within a Weather Laboratory Classroom Frank Marsik Engineering $5970.00 |
Research has shown that the introduction of new information technology into the classroom or workplace can be unsuccessful if the targeted users are not comfortable with the new technology and if a clear task-technology fit is not readily apparent to the users. During the Fall Term 2012, the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences (AOSS) introduced two new touchscreen monitors into its computerized weather analysis laboratory classroom to aid students in the integration of a large number of meteorological data sets used in the preparation of weather forecasts and as part of student lead, peer weather forecast discussions. Such peer discussions are a critical learning tool for students in AOSS 414 and AOSS 440. Despite the educational potential of the touchscreen monitors, students preferred to use personal laptops and laboratory desktop computers, citing a lack of familiarity with touchscreens and lack of a unique task-technology fit for reasons as to why they did not use the touchscreen monitors. The principal goal of this research will be to develop specific activities to familiarize students with the use of touchscreen monitors, to develop an HTML5-based interface to improve the ease of use of the touchscreen monitors for course specific work, and to work with the UM Center for Research on Learning and Teaching to develop focus-group assessments to determine if activities associated with this project have improved the student's comfort level with, and utilization of, the touchscreen monitors within the AOSS weather analysis laboratory classroom. |
| Clinical Oral Pathology: Teaching decision-making during dental school and beyond Theodora Danciu Dentistry Peter Polverini Dentistry $8325.00 |
The goals of this project are to increase the clinical decision-making skills of dental and dental hygiene students through the application of scientific evidence to patient cases, and to build a culture of contributing to dentistry by sharing professional experiences and information. We propose to develop a website containing patient cases and references including summaries of emerging research to be used by students throughout their training and during the diagnostic sciences fall course DENT711: Selected topics in oral pathology. This website will provide students with opportunities to participate in active learning, knowledge creation and sharing. This project has the potential to benefit approximately 540 dental students and 120 dental hygiene students annually. |
