IU Northwest: Office of Academic Affairs

IU Northwest Summer Faculty Fellowship for the Purpose of Redesigning the Presentation of a Course to Take Advantage of Instructional Technology

Classroom applications of computer and video technology provide opportunities to university faculty for increasing the material covered and the learning achieved in their classes. Some applications currently in use in college and universities are: 1) software which allows students in genetics classes to design experiments simulating mating flies, 2) computer modeling technology that urban planning students use to visualize the impact of their proposals on a neighborhood, 3) programs simulating complicated phenomenon that cannot be viewed in real life as, for example, reactions at the molecular level, 4) programs which allow students to change economic conditions in an imaginary town and observe the outcomes, 5) applications which provide translations of Greek authors accompanied by images of related sites and artifacts, and 6) video presentations designed to sensitize students to racial and cultural issues.

Before this technology and software which can be so beneficial to students can be fully adopted by a faculty member, he or she must find a large block of time that can be devoted to learning the technology and then to the redesign of his or her classroom presentations. This summer faculty fellowship has been established to provide this time.

IUN faculty wishing to redesign a course so as to incorporate instructional technology can apply for this fellowship. Instructional technology (IT) is defined here to include both hardware (e.g., computer, projection TV's) and software (e.g., computer programs, video, multi-media presentations).

To provide the opportunity for faculty to incorporate instructional technology into a course taught at IUN.

Tenure-track and tenured faculty and those with full-time continuing clinical rank and lecturer appointments.

(1) Recipients of this grant must not hold any other service-rendering appointments at any time throughout the summer; and (2) recipients must continue at Indiana University through the following academic year.

The award is for $7,500. NOTE: The award is a summer stipend. It is not for the purchase of hardware or software. The Director of the Instructional Medical Center can provide a description of hardware and software available at IUN. The Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs--Technology can be consulted regarding the purchase of new hardware or software.

Applications should be submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs for review by a subcommittee of the Technology Council and the Teaching Committee.

The course to be redesigned.
A detailed description of the content of the course. A syllabus or the equivalent must be included.
A description of those portions or that content which can be improved by instructional technology support, and how they can be improved through the use of IT. The instructional problem(s) to be addressed through IT must be defined.
The number of students who will be affected (e.g., the usual enrollment in the course).
A plan for the fellowship, detailing the method for learning about the technology and software which might be used, the steps that will be followed in redesigning the class, and the objectives to be achieved during the fellowship.

NOTE: The Director of the Instructional Media Center will be available to assist the faculty member to prepare an application for this fellowship.

All submissions will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the Technology Council and of the Teaching Committee.
The criteria upon which an award will be made are:
The completeness of the plan for the fellowship, (cf. item number five under Method of Request).
The extent to which instruction technology will be incorporated in the redesigned course. A plan for using IT throughout a course will be rated higher than a plan for using IT in some of the classes.
The feasibility of the plan; the extent to which the plan's objective can be achieved during the fellowship.
The extent to which the instructional technology needed to deliver the redesigned course is available at IUN.
The applicant should expect to spend a concentrated period of time on this project and should not be teaching summer school or be the recipient of other support from the university, e.g., other summer faculty fellowships.

OBLIGATIONS

Each faculty member receiving an award will be required to present to the head of his/her department, to the sub-committee making the award, and to the Office of the Academic Affairs, 1) a report detailing the manner in which the instructional technology has been incorporated into the presentations of the class, 2) a description of the software, and/or videos to be used in the class, or a demonstration of the use of the technology in the class, and be willing to serve as a mentor/reviewer for future faculty applying for this grant.