Enriching Courses to Improve Student Success
Questions and Answers
Q: How many awards will be given?
A: It is anticipated that three proposals will be funded.
Q: Who decides on the course to be enriched? What characteristics should it have?
A: The department decides on the course proposed for enrichment. The goal is to positively impact the largest number of students, so courses that have large number of students not meeting successful outcomes are of major interest. Bottleneck courses, including those that are prerequisites for other courses, also are of interest.
Q: What is the expected timeline of progress?
A: It is anticipated that by the end of Spring 2012 the department will have diagnosed the problem and have a plan in place. Then, after successfully receiving a second year of funding, the course would be offered with the enrichment in the Fall of 2012 in at least one sections, expanding to additional sections in the winter 2013 and spring 2013.
Q: How are the WTU’s of assigned time to be divided amongst the participating faculty?
A: The first year provides for 10 WTU’s for the department and 4 WTU’s for the second year. The department decides how to divide the assigned time amongst participating faculty.
Q: The RFP states that the materials need to be available to the department for at least five years, what is the concern?
A: The main concern is intellectual property. Any materials generated would be allowed to be used by the department in the future. In addition, if a publisher’s materials are used, then usage should be secured for the indicated period.
Q: The RFP details the first year proposal. What about the second year?
A: The second year proposal will report the results of the first year and any changes in approach in the second year. It will also detail the proposed implementation and assessment schedule of the enriched course, including how the program will be sustained after grant funding, and a dissemination plan of the approach and the results.
Q: How many students need to be affected by the enrichment efforts to qualify?
A: No definite number that has been set, but more is better. Other criteria include current student success in the course, likelihood of success of the effort, ability to replicate model to other courses, quality of team, and support from department and college.
Q: Are lecturers eligible to be part of the faculty team?
A: Yes, however, tenure track faculty must be a significant part of the team and it would be preferred if the lecturers have three year contracts so that they are likely to be able to participate in the project for multiple years.
Q: How many faculty are necessary in the team?
A: A minimum of three.
Q: Which approaches for enrichment are desired?
A: There are no specific approached that would be preferred. The main idea is that the program is effective and sustainable. Anything that works, but some examples of enrichment include but are not limited to online components; skills assessments and support to develop those found lacking; enhancing troublesome parts of course with activities, demonstrations, online modules, etc. Two sites you might want to visit are: www.thencat.org/PCR/Proj_Discipline.html and
www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/teachingAndLearningResources/bestPracticesForTeachingAndLearning.shtml