Five proposals for innovative approaches to undergraduate teaching will share about $51,000 in Miller Faculty Fellowship grants next year. The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, which administers the program for the president's office, will supplement the Miller funds with nearly $8,000. Matching funds -- which aren't required -- total nearly $36,000.
The project names and awards for the 2016-17 academic year are:
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Developing an instructor survey to measure the key principles of team-based learning instruction, $15,000
Faculty team: Cassandra Dorius, Sarah Bickelhaupt, Meghan Gillette and Jeanna Nation, human development and family studies; Lisa Orgler, horticulture; Melissa Rands and Sandra Gahn, School of Education; Michael Dorneich, industrial and manufacturing systems engineering; Monica Lamm, chemical and biological engineering; Jane Rongerude, community and regional planning; Laura Bestler, CELT; Ann Smiley-Oyen, kinesiology; and Holly Bender, veterinary pathology -
Integrating computational design and digital fabrication technology, $12,380
Faculty team: Nick Senske and Shelby Doyle, architecture -
Implementation of assessment of cooperative learning in a large engineering course, $14,601
Faculty member: Benjamin Ahn, aerospace engineering -
Genetics laboratory: Integrating training in molecular techniques and bioinformatics tools to promote deeper understanding of core biology concepts, $8,700
Faculty team: Jelena Kraft and Marna Yandeau-Nelson, genetics, development and cell biology -
Research, teaching and community engagement: Experiential learning through field ecology, $8,000 (65 percent of request)
Faculty team: Timothy Stewart, Janette Thompson, Cassandra Nuñez, Michael Rentz and Peter Wolter, natural resource ecology and management; Joanne Olson and Kristina Tank, School of Education
The faculty must complete their projects by June 30, 2017, and submit final reports to CELT a month later. During fall semester, CELT hosts a luncheon at which the previous year's recipients share their results and the current year's recipients outline their projects.
CELT's advisory board reviewed and ranked 19 proposals requesting a total of nearly $210,000 and recommended five for funding. Senior vice president and provost Jonathan Wickert gave final approval.
All Iowa State faculty (tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure eligible) may apply for funds, either individually or in teams. The maximum award is $15,000.
