Funded Projects
| Project Title | Overview of the Project |
|---|---|
| Improving Student Learning with an Inverted Classroom Model:An Action-Based Immersive Learning Experience Proposal Steven Yalisove Engineering $3000.00 |
Improving Student Learning with an Inverted Classroom ModelAn Action-Based Immersive Learning Experience ProposalSteven M. YalisoveMaterials Science and EngineeringUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor, MIAbstractThe inverted classroom model replaces lectures in classrooms with action-based immersive learning experiences such as peer teaching, group design, individual problem solving, debate, elevator pitches, demonstrations, use of remote characterization instrumentation, etc. Lectures are broken into short clips and available online. Students are required to take short online quizzes and a survey based on the reading and video before coming to class. The instructor uses the quiz results to tailor the content of the in-class activities. But, does this lead to improved student learning? This proposal address this question directly by delivering a course that contains the traditional and inverted lectures. Exam questions on material from each will be analyzed for evidence of improved student learning. The results will be used to improve the in-class activities after each midterm in Fall 2012 and will also be used to create an entirely inverted course for Fall 2013. |
| Assessing deep knowledge of statistical concepts $4000.00 |
This proposal examines a new approach to teaching graduate-level statistics that focuses on the intuitive understanding of statistical concepts. The research project will focus on measurable effects of instructional methods, including the ability of students to transfer their understanding to new statistical concepts. The direct application will be to graduate-level statistics courses for students across the social sciences. Extensions are possible to undergraduate statistics and to other courses involving mathematics and mathematical modeling in other sciences. The study involved examination of a new curriculum based on visualization tools that illustrate statistical concepts. In addition, a survey was conducted for students to evaluate the visualization methods and their learning process. |
| Changing Writing Behavior for Effective Dissertation Writing $4000.00 |
This proposal sought to build on current successes of the Dissertation Writing Institute (DWI) by better identifying and measuring practices critical in effectively changing dissertation writing behavior; to learn from the practices and the experiences of 72 DWI participants from the last three years of pre- and post-program surveys and other data the institute has amassed; to identify programmatic improvement and development including evaluation, assessment, and outreach; and to enhance our outreach to graduate students, faculty, and departments at the University of Michigan by discerning and distributing current best practices for dissertation writing to students beyond the dissertation program. |
| The Effect of Group Gender Composition on Student Learning in Undergraduate Engineering Project Teams Meadows Lorelle Engineering $3000.00 |
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| Understanding the Value-Added of Peer-Facilitated CSL in Project Community Ian Robinson LSA $4000.00 |
Project Community (PC) is one of the University of Michigan's longest running community service learning (CSL) programs, dating back to the mid-1960s, when students committed to social change through community volunteering sought independent study credit for work done in Ann Arbor and other SE Michigan communities (Chesler 2002). Today, Project Community is a partnership between the Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning and the Department of Sociology, supported by both Student Affairs and Academic Affairs. Between 300 and 400 UM undergrads participate in one of Project Community's 30+ sections each academic year. Each student works with a community partner in one of five program areas: public education, public health, criminal justice, gender and sexuality, and organizing for social justice. Students in each section work at their community partner site for an average of four hours per week for 10 to 12 weeks. They also meet once a week for an hour and a half with the other students in their section to discuss what they have seen and done at site and relate these experiences to the sociological and journalistic readings assigned for that week.Project Community is really two courses. Soc 389 is the ‘entry-level" course, in which students are placed in one of the 30+ sections. Soc 325 is our course for the peer-facilitators who lead each section of Soc 389, both in the work they do at site and in their weekly seminar discussions of site and readings. The Soc 325 students work closely with the Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) responsible for their program area and with me, the faculty sponsor, in a way that the Soc 389 students do not. Most of our peer facilitators are recruited from the most able and committed of the students in our Soc 389 sections. Thus, they tend to have a higher level of commitment Project Community's pedagogical, intellectual and social change goals even before they receive take on the leadership challenges, and receive the extra training and support, associated with Soc 325. |
| A Systematic Assessment of the Benefits of Active Learning in Undergraduate Aerodynamics Krzysztof Fidkowski Engineering Peter Klein Engineering $3000.00 |
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| Leveraging Millennial Students' Experience: Using an Experiential Learning Framework to Teach New Teachers Maria Coolican Education $4000.00 |
The Ann Arbor Languages Partnership is a program designed to teach mostly non-education majors, whom we refer to as "apprentice teachers" or "ATs" how to teach Spanish to third and fourth graders, and how to develop appropriate curriculum materials, assessments, activities, and interactive skills. Our focus was on understanding the "millennial generation's" particular applications of an experiential learning model and the ways in which their growth and development resulted in both teaching improvements in their 3rd and 4th grade classrooms as well as programmatic improvements for A2LP as a whole. Our research questions were:A. Choosing and using representations, examples, and models of contentWith what experiences in the classroom and seminar do ATs become confident and competent to choose and use representations, examples, and models of content independently? B. Establishing norms and routines for classroom discourse and work that are central to the contentFrom what modeled situations, class discussions, reflective dialogues, peer interactions, or classroom experiences do ATs learn about establishing content-appropriate norms and routines? C. Analyzing and improving specific elements of one's own teachingHow do ATs use reflective practice to improve their knowledge, skills, attitudes, and self-awareness regarding their practice? |
| Identifying and Serving Generation 1.5 Writers at the University of Michigan $4000.00 |
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| Enhancing the Geriatric Psychiatry Rotation for Medical Students: From Passivity to Participation Mary Blazek Medical School Laura Struble Nursing $4000.00 |
Negative attitudes and stigma toward older patients withdementia are pervasive among medical students andother health professions (1,2,3). Despite thetremendous demand for geropsychiatric care for peoplewith dementia, the number of medical school graduateschoosing to enter the field of Geriatric Psychiatry iswoefully inadequate (4,5,6). Studies have documentedthat clinical encounters with older patients have apositive effect on students' sensitivity to geriatric issuesand attitudes toward older people (1,2,7), and therefore,researchers suggest that geriatric psychiatry programscreate exemplary initiatives in the early years of medicaleducation (8). We developed an EnhancedGeropsychiatric Experience (EGE)medical students in dementia care assisted livingfacilities. The clinical rotation was designed to exposemedical students to patients with dementia in along-term care setting with the goals of increasingstudent participation and comfort level, changingnegative attitudes towards patients with dementia, andincreasing student interest in the field of geropsychiatry. |
| Concurrent Versus Non-Concurrent Enrollment in Natural and Physical Science Lecture and Laboratory Courses Rebecca Matz LSA $4000.00 |
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| Evaluating Student learning in Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation Training and Practicum Courses Monita Thompson Administration $3000.00 |
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| Pedagogical Implications of Individual Interview Assignment through International Teleconference Using Skype Tetsuya Sato LSA $3000.00 |
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| Investigating the Impact of a Wiki Site on TAs' Teaching Experiences Britton Wolfe Engineering Inger Bergom Education Alex Ganago Engineering $4000.00 |
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| Student Dental Hygiene Perceptions as a Result of Service Learning Experiences Carrie Ghaname Dentistry $3000.00 |
