Colonial Academic Alliance

Creating intercollegiate connections to challenge the status quo.

IN/CO Grant on Experiential Learning

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To kick off the Innovate/Collaborate (IN/CO) Grant Program, a $40,000 grant was awarded to a team of faculty and staff from Drexel University, the College of Charleston,University of North Carolina Wilmington and the College of Charleston in Summer 2017. This grant project, titled “Tracking Experiential Learning Outcomes Across Three CAA Campuses,” was awarded to support development of a validated instrument and database to enable careful assessment of experiential learning across multiple types of experiences and campuses.

Background

Among the challenges of measuring the educational impact of experiential learning is that a diverse array of experiences–from course-based projects to study abroad to internships, to name but a few–can all be considered as experiential/applied learning . Typical approaches to assessing experiential learning include assessments of students’ perceptions of the value of the experience. This project team seeks to develop a richer understanding of the specific learning and student development that takes place in experiential learning opportunities, as well as the impact on student learning in subsequent coursework, academic programs, and further applied learning settings.

Updates & Progress

Drexel University hosted the first post-award grant team meeting in November 2017. During this session, the project team discussed existing experiential learning assessment tools and practices on each campus, the infrastructure required (e.g., offices involved, systems used to collect data, availability of existing data), the instrument development process, and grant sustainability. University of North Carolina Wilmington convened the project team for a second in-person meeting in February 2018, focusing on the identification of common student learning outcomes and the logistics of piloting the instrument across all three campuses. College of Charleston hosted a third in-person meeting of the IN/CO grant team in April 2018 to review the draft instrument; examine platforms, delivery, and timeline; and follow up on mining current data. Opportunities for future funding and project sustainability were also discussed.

Over the next academic year, the draft instrument will be piloted with a diverse range of students who have participated in experiential learning opportunities. Focus groups will be conducted with participating students to gauge both student perceptions and the efficacy of the instrument in capturing data. The project team will also present on this grant at the fifth annual Drexel Assessment Conference (September 12-14, 2018).

Meet the Experiential Learning IN/CO Grant Team 

Principal Investigators 

Project Team

Not pictured: 

  • Robert Hicks | Social Research Assistant for ETEAL | University of North Carolina Wilmington
  • Lea Bullard | Assistant Director of General Education Assessment, College of Arts & Science | University of North Carolina Wilmington
  • Karin Roof | Director of Academic Assessment and Strategic Planning | College of Charleston

Interested in what Alliance institutions are saying about these grants? Check out the following: 

http://today.cofc.edu/2018/03/13/cofc-joins-colonial-academic-alliance-members-research/

https://uncw.edu/news/2018/02/uncw-awarded-80,000-in-caa-innovatecollaborate-grants.html

IN/CO Grant on High-Impact Practices for Student-Athletes

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High impact practices (HIPs), such as study abroad, internships, learning communities, and undergraduate research, have repeatedly been shown to positively affect academic performance, yet not all students have equal access. Given the high time demands and resource constraints, many student-athletes are particularly limited in their ability to participate in HIPs. To fuel the success and academic experiences of CAA student-athletes, the Alliance awarded a $42,500 IN/CO Grant focused on “Innovative Strategies for High Impact Practices: Access, Success, and the CAA Student-Athlete.” This grant involves nine of the ten CAA member institutions.

Project Goals 

The long-term goal of this work is to develop transferable solutions, at both the institutional and conference level, to allow for greater student-athlete participation in HIPs. The short-term goals for this project are first to assess and understand student-athlete opportunities for HIPs at CAA institutions and subsequently to develop best practices, improving access and success of student-athletes around HIPs.

Timeline & Objectives 

Progress Update

In spring 2018, the project team surveyed each CAA institution to create a snapshot of HIP offerings and student athlete participation in HIPs. In summer/fall 2018, academic affairs leaders, athletic academic advisors, and department chairs will receive a second survey on institutional priorities, definitions of HIPs, and operationalization of HIPs on each campus to inform the project’s future direction. In addition, a document analysis exploring the marketing of HIPs on CAA institution websites was initiated.

The project team will present accepted abstracts for presentation to the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (October 24-26 – Bergen, Norway) and the 5th annual Drexel Assessment Conference (September 12-14, 2018).

Meet the HIPs/Student-Athlete IN/CO Grant Team 

Principal Investigators

Institutional Leads 

Interested in what Alliance institutions are saying about these grants? Check out the following: 

https://www.elon.edu/E-Net/Article/159017

http://today.cofc.edu/2018/03/13/cofc-joins-colonial-academic-alliance-members-research/

https://uncw.edu/news/2018/02/uncw-awarded-80,000-in-caa-innovatecollaborate-grants.html

IN/CO Grant on Learning to Learn

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Many institutions employ a variety of faculty-based support systems addressing pedagogy, student learning, and learning environments. Faculty at Elon University and Hofstra University are partnering to take this one step further through a $34,000 IN/CO Grant, “Learning to Learn: A Student Operator’s Manual for the Brain.”

Background

The “Learning to Learn” project was initiated in 2016 at Elon University, led by Amy Overman, associate professor in the Psychology Department & Neuroscience Program and associate director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning, and J. Todd Lee, professor in the Mathematics & Statistics Department and Faculty Fellow for Technology with Teaching and Learning with Technologies.

The focus is on equipping students with an evidence-based toolkit of how their own brains function and learn in various hi-tech learning environments. “Our ultimate long-term goal is that every student is equipped in their first semester in college with a toolkit to support them as successful, lifelong learners,” Overman said. “We are striving to transform all students into learners who think deeply about their educational experiences and know how their brain operates so that they can maximize their learning and use the rich resources provided by their college or university in a more strategic way.”

Put simply, this initiative seeks to help students develop strategies about how to be successful learners. 

To strategically advance this project through IN/CO Grant funding, Lee and Overman will partner with Elisabeth Ploran, Assistant Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience, Amy Masnick, Associate Professor of Psychology, and Kristin Weingartner, Associate Dean for First-Year Programs & Associate Professor of Psychology at Hofstra University.

“Faculty and staff at our member institutions are generating innovative and powerful ideas to creatively address the challenges we face in higher education, and this grant program supports them as they break new ground,” Said Elon Provost Steven House. “As chair of the Provosts’ Council of the CAA and Elon’s provost, it’s exciting to see Elon faculty taking the lead on an important initiative to better understand how students across higher education are learning. This project and others supported by the IN/CO Grant Program fit right in with the CAA mission of challenging the status quo, enriching the academic environment, and advancing student success.”

Project Plan 

The first phase of Learning to Learn is the development by Lee and Overman of a course that will engage first-year students in the neurocognitive science of how our brains learn, particularly in technologically-enhanced environments like Elon, and teach them how to employ evidence-based practices to enhance their own learning. The course will be co-taught by Overman and Lee, who will partner with faculty at Hofstra University to implement a similar initiative on Hofstra’s campus with the support of the grant funding.

The grant also supports a second phase that includes the development of modules on how learning works that faculty and academic support staff at all Colonial Academic Alliance institutions can adapt for their own courses and that students can use to enhance their own learning.

Progress Update

This initiative will be launched at Elon in Fall 2018 as Learning to Learn: The Brain in Today’s World (L2L), a credit-bearing course for first-year students that will engage them in the cognitive neuroscience of learning, with specific attention on the technologically-enhanced environments of CAA institutions.

The project team is currently planning the pilot implementation at Hofstra University, which will be deployed as Learning to Learn: Applying Psychology Principles to the Classroom, a credit-bearing course available in Spring 2019.

Project Team 

Interested in what Alliance institutions are saying about this grant? Check out the following: 

https://www.elon.edu/E-Net/Article/159167

IN/CO Grant on Engaging Difference

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During the first round of IN/CO Grant submissions, the Alliance received three extremely strong proposals on global education from faculty at James Madison University and Elon University. Given that all three proposals dealt with engaging difference and effectively evaluating students’ experiences, the Alliance Provosts’ Council asked these three groups to participate in a Think Tank, aimed at developing one common research outcome.

The Think Tank was a success, and resulted in a $40,000 IN/CO Grant award for the combined team’s project, “Engaging Difference: A Deep Dive Into the Assessment of Transformative Learning.”

Background

The field of global education fosters increasing emphasis on understanding the impact of study abroad and away for multiple reasons: student growth and learning, educational pedagogies and policies, financial implications, and many more. The study will address the complex interaction between student characteristics (demographic variables providing information about who the students are) and the experiences they have during or after the study abroad/away.

Participants in all off-campus study programs offered at James Madison University and Elon University will be invited to participate in the study in the first year to maximize response rate. In the subsequent years, additional CAA institutions will be invited to participate in the project. Semester-long and short-term for-credit study abroad and study away programs will be included in the study.

To broaden the potential impact of this project, the research team will partner with Dr. Craig Shealy, Executive Director of the International Beliefs and Values Institute and Professor of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University. Dr. Shealy works with the IBAVI’s Executive and Advisory Boards to lead and coordinate a wide range of scholarly, educational, and service activities and partnerships with individuals and organizations in the United States and internationally, including Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self, a multi-year, multi-institution Summit Series hosted by James Madison University. Several members of the grant team (below) will have opportunities to attend and participate in the Summit Series.

This grant will also be supported by Core Collaborative International research methodologists Jennifer Wiley, ABD, and Emi Iwatani, Ph.D.

Project Team Perspectives on IN/CO

“The CAA IN/CO grant enabled the research team at Elon to partner with colleagues at James Madison University on a large-scale study of global engagement experiences, utilizing an innovative research tool, the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI). This collaborative research opened up avenues of exploration related to how students engage difference while studying off campus, and how these experiences may influence their identity, worldview, future pathways, and ways of interacting with others upon return to the home campus. We are grateful for the opportunities afforded by the grant to collaborate with leading scholars and look forward to disseminating outcomes that will influence the field of global education.”
~Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, Elon University 

Research Team

IN/CO Grant Program

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The Colonial Academic Alliance is turning to true innovators – faculty and staff at our member institutions – to generate powerful ideas that creatively address the challenges we face in higher education.

The Alliance will support and champion these ideas through the newly created Innovate/Collaborate (IN/CO) Grant Program, providing grants of $5,000—$20,000 per year (for two years) for initiatives that: address pressing policy challenges in higher education; fuel collaboration between institutions; enhance institutional excellence; and promote innovation in intellectual inquiry.

***IN/CO Short Form Applications are due on October 13, 2017 by 5:00PM. The application is available for download  under the “Application Instructions” section below.***

PRIORITY FUNDING AREAS

IN/CO Grants will support multi-institutional teams of faculty and staff in the exploration and development of creative approaches and best practices that positively impact student success, advance scholarship, and promote the dissemination of best practices in one of the following priority funding areas:

  • Innovative teaching & learning
  • High impact practices
  • Civic engagement
  • Entrepreneurial education
  • Student-athlete initiatives

FUNDING GUIDELINES

IN/CO Grants will fund actionable, scalable initiatives that are:

  • Designed to contribute lessons or best practices for the higher education community
  • Marketable for future academic publication or presentation at conferences
  • Attractive to future foundation or sponsor funding beyond the IN/CO Grant Program

REQUIRED INSTITUTIONAL MATCH

If selected for an IN/CO grant award, your institution must be willing to provide in-kind or monetary matching.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Interested faculty and staff at Alliance member institutions are invited to complete an IN/CO Short Form application (download using link below or click here: IN/CO Short Form Application), briefly introducing a topic, idea, or challenge that they wish to explore in collaboration with other member institutions. Please clearly complete each field of the application, succinctly making a case for funding.

***IN/CO Short Form Applications are due on October 13, 2017 by 5:00PM.*** 
Please email completed form (and any relevant attachments) to Alliance Executive Director Lindsey Interlante via email at li@caa-academics.org. Use the subject “IN/CO Short Form Application.” 

SELECTION PROCESS

Alliance staff will vet proposals for compliance with the guidelines outlined in the IN/CO Short Form application. Complaint proposals will be presented to the Executive Committee of the Provosts’ Council, who will select a slate of finalists. Finalists will work with Alliance staff to identify potential partners at other Alliance institutions, respond to any questions or concerns put forth by the Executive Committee, develop a grant budget, and complete a finalized project plan for approval.

***The Provosts’ Council will reach a final decision on which applicants to fund by November 22, 2017. All proposals will receive a response from Alliance staff by December 1, 2017.***

CONNECTING INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS

IN/CO Grants are intended to fund teams of faculty and staff from two or more Alliance member institutions. Given the diversity and geographic breadth of the Alliance, faculty and staff are not expected to forge these partnerships on their own. Executive Director Lindsey Interlante will work with finalists to identify appropriate institutional partners for their proposed initiative. Applicants are welcome to suggest possible institutional partners, but selection as a finalist does not guarantee that you will work with your suggested partner institution.

COMPATIBILITY WITH ALLIANCE MISSION

Projects selected for an IN/CO Grant award will be compatible with our mission:

The Colonial Academic Alliance facilitates collaboration and communication across member institutions, engaging faculty, staff, and students in meaningful initiatives that challenge the status quo, enrich the academic environment, and advance student success.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

IN/CO Grants provide teams with the opportunity to engage in exploratory research and scholarship, so applications do not need to reflect every specific detail of your intended project. Successful applications will demonstrate that:

  • Your intended initiative is strongly aligned with one or more Alliance priority areas;
  • Your intended initiative will directly address a challenging issue in higher education;
  • Your team has the capacity, qualifications, and institutional support to successfully implement your intended project;
  • Your team has an intentional and feasible plan to use the grant funds during the two-year award period;
  • If selected for an IN/CO grant award, your institution must be willing to provide in-kind or monetary matching.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND QUESTIONS

Applicants wishing to receive additional information on IN/CO Grants or ask questions should contact Alliance Executive Director Lindsey Interlante at li@caa-academics.org.

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