Institutions that participate in the March workshop will be invited to submit a final proposal that follows the format described below.

General

• Submit both an electronic version (Word and Excel formats only) to bartp@rpi.edu and eight (8) paper copies to Pat Bartscherer, Program Manager, 17 Cramer Path, Gansevoort, NY 12831 by June 1.
• Please name all files:
  (Word files) INSTITUTIONNAME NARRATIVE
  (Excel files) INSTITUTIONNAME TOOL.
• Re: length of proposal – be thorough and complete but succinct. Successful proposals have ranged from 8 to16 pages of narrative plus the various forms.
• Use the course name rather than its number throughout (e.g., college algebra rather than MAT 062.)
• Please include all relevant information in the proposal. Material from your institutional readiness criteria and course readiness criteria responses should be incorporated as appropriate. The selection committee will review only the final proposals (not the responses to the readiness criteria.)
• You may submit your final proposal before the deadline if you wish.

Abstract

Following a title page, write a one-page abstract. The abstract should conform to the following format:

• Paragraph 1 – summarize the current (traditional) course including numbers of students enrolled.
• Paragraph 2 – summarize the academic problem that you are addressing.
• Paragraph 3 – summarize the planned course redesign.
• Paragraph 4 – summarize how the redesign will enhance quality.
• Paragraph 5 – summarize how you will assess the impact of course redesign on learning.
• Paragraph 6 – summarize how the redesign will produce cost savings.
  (For sample abstracts, please see the individual cases presented at http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewGrant/Illustr2.html.)

Proposal Narrative

Write a narrative describing:

• the current course environment
• the learning goals and objectives for the redesigned environment
  (For sample descriptions, please see the individual cases presented at http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewGrant/Illustr2.html.)
• a plan describing the specific activities required to design and implement the new learning environment and how the redesign will enable the institution to meet those learning goals and objectives. Include in the plan brief biographies of key personnel and their specific role in the project and a project timeline.
  an assessment plan that conforms to the following outline:
  • prior relevant assessment work that you will build on
  • how you plan to assess impact
  • how you plan to assess implementation
    (For sample assessment plans, please see http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewGrant/Assess.html.)
• a dissemination plan.
  Write a description of how you plan to disseminate the results of your project to internal and external audiences. (For ideas about dissemination, please see http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewGrant/dissem.html.)

A Summary of Your Expectations for the Project

Write a summary of your expectations for the project that addresses the following questions:

• What is the single most important goal of your course re-design? If you achieved it, what specifically would "success" look like?
• In terms of learning outcomes, what do you expect the impacts of the re-design to be? More specifically,
  do you expect the course to work better for some types of students than for others (who)?
  do you expect it to work better for some course content areas than for others (what)?
• What do you expect to be the greatest challenges you will face in implementing your project? What, if any, particular challenges do you think you will encounter in each of the following areas:
  • adequate coverage of course content?
  • technology?
  • faculty development and support?
  • institutional and departmental understanding and support?
  • student attitudes and reactions?
• What kinds of reactions to your re-design do you anticipate receiving from your colleagues? Do they have objections or reservations about the re-design and its delivery? How interested do they appear to be in what you learn?
• What kinds of support for your re-design do you anticipate receiving from your department or from the institution more broadly?

Course Form

Please complete the form labeled Traditional Course that describes the structure of the course you plan to redesign.

Course Planning Tool

Complete the course planning tool, identifying the instructional tasks and associated costs in the current learning environment and the instructional tasks and associated costs in the redesigned learning environment, following the instructions on our Web site at http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewGrant/CPTins.html.

In addition, provide a brief narrative that explains the entries in the planning tool where necessary. Elaborate any aspect of the planning tool that is not self-evident, explain variations among personnel (e.g., 2 TAs teach 1 section, 1 TA teaches 2 sections), plus any additional data or comments.

(For sample course planning tools and descriptions, please see the individual cases presented here.)

Some additional tips and information about the course planning tool:

• You must fill in all 3 spreadsheets.
• You must translate your data to cost per student.
• Include your institution’s name and the course name (not number) on each spreadsheet.
• Do not embellish (pop-ups, shading) the e-versions of the spreadsheets; keep the text plain and consistent.
• Delete categories of personnel if you don’t use them (e.g., delete TAs if you have no TAs.)
• Round all entries to the nearest dollar (no cents)
• Only include data in the spreadsheets about the anticipated impact of the redesign that you can support with evidence. For example, if you plan to reduce attrition or the DFW rate, you must provide evidence that makes you confident of the numbers. If you are hoping that certain changes will occur but have no evidence to support them, describe them in the narrative but do not include in the spreadsheets.
• NOTE: You must submit your completed course planning tool prior to your final proposal submission to Dr. Carolyn Jarmon for her approval regarding clarity and consistency of presentation.

Budget Page and Narrative

Please use the budget form or a suitable facsimile to present a complete project budget.

In addition, provide a budget narrative explaining:

• how the proposed budget will enable you to implement the project plan
• how the major cost items relate to the proposed activities
• the basis on which you estimated the costs of professional personnel, consultants, travel, indirect costs and any unusual project expenditures
• a breakdown of institutional and other support for the project if applicable.

Summary of Documents

• Abstract
• Proposal Narrative
• Summary of Expectations
• Course Form
• Course Planning Tool
• Course Planning Tool Narrative
• Budget
• Budget Narrative
  

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