TA Instructional Grants

THE ANNUAL DEADLINE FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION IS IN LATE JANUARY OR EARLY FEBUARY. SPECIFIC DATES ARE ANNOUNCED EACH YEAR ON THE TITLE PAGES OF THE TADP AND OIC WEBSITES AND IN AN EMAIL ANNOUNCEMENT SENT TO ALL GRADUATE STUDENTS THROUGH THEIR DEPARTMENTS.

Current Deadline is MONDAY, February 11, 2008 (5pm)

Submit proposal to <proposal@id.ucsb.edu>

General Information

WHO MAY APPLY?

Current UCSB graduate students who are or have been Teaching Assistants or Associates.

PURPOSE:

To develop materials or procedures which will improve the quality of instruction in undergraduate courses, and to provide the applicant with experience in developing those materials or procedures.

AVAILABLE SUPPORT:

Funding for TA work on a project is awarded according to the number of work hours needed ($14.50 per hour) to a maximum of $1,500, regardless of the number of TAs working on a project. Additional funds for materials and services (such as media production costs) may be awarded as necessary.

Purchases of equipment are not funded. Purchases of film or video titles as part of course improvement will be considered only if there is some evidence that each title has already been used instructionally or viewed by the faculty member (e.g., through prior rental). The benefits of a funded project must affect more than one offering of one or more courses. Films and videos acquired with IIP funds are required to be housed in Instructional Development's Film and Video Library as a campus-wide resource.

A final report describing the actual outcomes of the project is expected the quarter after the first quarter the project is put into use.

HOW TO APPLY:

Submit full proposal (most are 3 - 4 pages), plus a 100 word abstract to Ronald W. Tobin, . Proposals must be accompanied by letters of support from faculty members whose classes will be affected by the project, and from the department chair.
Proposals are reviewed by the Academic Senate Council on Research and Instructional Resources. Address proposal to Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs; Office of Academic Programs. Email proposal (and support letters) to proposal@id.ucsb.edu

CRITERIA ON WHICH PROPOSALS ARE JUDGED:

The criteria for reviewing proposal by the Council on Research and Instructional Resources include:

The TAIG guidelines provide a series of questions to assist you in writing your proposal. If you would like a draft of your proposal to be reviewed for suggestions on how your proposal might be strengthened in light of review criteria, contact Shirley Ronkowski (1120-Q Kerr Hall; x4289).

Suggested Guidelines for TA Instructional Grant Proposals

Proposals should be made in the form of a memorandum addressed to Ronald W. Tobin, Associate Vice Chancellor, Office of Academic Programs . Proposals of 3-4 pages must include both a title and a short (100 word) abstract; the main text of the proposal can be informal and relatively brief, but should answer the following questions:
1. What course(s) will be affected? What are the usual enrollments and quarters the course is offered? How is the course usually taught?
2. What's the problem you're trying to solve? Why do you want to do this project? What does the course(s) need?
3. What do you propose to do to solve the problem(s) of the course(s)? What materials or procedures will be developed? What changes will be made in instructional strategy or method?

Describe the product and the instructional design of the project. Be as specific as you can about the contents and extent of your project. For example, if it's a lab manual, what might the table of contents look like, what instructional aspects will be added to assist students in understanding and completing the labs, how many labs do you expect to include, how many of those labs will be updates and how many newly created, approximately how many pages will each lab require, what will be the instructional benefits of how the labs will be presented?

4. What experience have you had with the particular course or subject matter?
5. What will be the involvement level of the faculty sponsor? Describe his/her involvement.
6. What procedure will you use to evaluate the impact of the project? You will be required to gather some evaluative information about your materials/procedures the first time they are used in class. The Office of Office of Instructional Consultation will help you design an evaluation.
7. What is your production schedule? When will you actually do the various kinds of work involved in your project e.g., planning, writing, construction, development, pilot testing, reproducing, evaluating? When will the procedures or materials be used in class?
8. What budget do you need? List specific materials and their cost.
9. Letters of support. Since faculty members are ultimately responsible for instruction, faculty support of the project is essential. Therefore, letters of support must be obtained from faculty members whose classes will be affected by the project, and from the department chair . Letters of support should be submitted to <proposal@id.ucsb.edu> and include the following elements:

a) To what extent will the project contribute to the professional development of the TA(s)/Associate(s) involved?

b) What will be the impact of the project on the quality of the affected course(s)?

c) The faculty member should make a commitment to use the new procedures or materials during the current and future academic years, and to evaluate their instructional impact.

It is strongly suggested that applicants review their ideas or proposals with the Office of Office of Instructional Consultation prior to the formal submission of a proposal. Consultations may be arranged by calling Dr. Shirley Ronkowski (x4289; 1120-Q Kerr Hall; shirley@id.ucsb.edu).

Example Projects

CATALOGING AND CREATING DATABASES:
Some academic departments have extensive collections of artifacts, organic specimens, or other objects. In the past, TAIG projects have been funded to create instructional materials that enhance students' ability to examine, identify, and categorize objects in these collections. In some cases, information derived from collections have been put into computer databases so that students can learn by manipulating the data sets.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES AND LAB EXERCISES:
For some conceptual material, students can learn more effectively by becoming actively involved with the material through crafted role-play situations, small group activities, or paper and pencil exercises. For certain course material that may be unfamiliar to some TAs, sections can be improved by a project that supplies background information for TAs and specific directions, exercises, and practice quizzes for students. In the physical sciences, funding has been given for lab manuals to be revised, updated , and expanded. TAs have created videotaped demonstrations and exercises for discussion sections, particularly in cases where demonstrations of course material cannot be given in the classroom (e.g., dropping a feather and an apple off Storke Tower).

COMPUTER-BASED AND INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA:
TAs assisting with courses that utilize the Internet could develop instructional materials that are inegrated into the course or sections. Examples include but are not limited to an analysis of effective Internet search strategies, critical thinking and use of the Internet, assignments using interactive websites, integrating online discussions as an integral part of section, and creative use of a course managment system (Moodle or Sakai). TAs have produced instructional materials using three-dimensional computer animations, authoring software, computer graphics, and databases. Projects have included a series of computer simulations of population genetic models, data sets to simultaneously teach course content and statistical techniques, and an on-line database manual that can be annually updated according to the current ecological field conditions and class lecture topics.

OTHER CATEGORIES OF PROJECTS:
There are been many creative TA instructional projects over the years: classroom simulations, learning modules, content materials with multiple ethnic and social perspectives, guide books for specific course requirements, short videotapes using original footage, CD or DVDs with accompanying manuals, and more. The purpose of the grants is to improve undergraduate education and to provide opportunities for TAs to learn about and create instructional materials.

ADDITIONAL SAMPLE PROJECTS AND PROPOSALS AVAILABLE AT THE TADP OFFICE, 1120-Q KERR HALL.

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO VIEW EXAMPLES AND TO DISCUSS YOUR PROJECT IDEAS: shirley@id.ucsb.edu

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

If you have further questions about the grant program or want to discuss your project idea (even if the idea is not fully formed), you are urged to email or call the campuswide TA Development Program Coordinator, Shirley Ronkowski (x4289), prior to formal submission of proposals. Assistance is also available for instructional design, planning, budgeting, and evaluation. Sample proposals that have been successfully funded are available at the TADP office, 1120-Q Kerr Hall.

FINAL REPORT:

For those proposals receiving funding, a report must be submitted to the Associative Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs during the quarter immediately following the first in-class use of the new materials or procedures. This report should contain the results of the evaluation. In addition, any comments or suggestions which would be helpful to others considering similar projects would be most helpful. Click here for suggestions on what to include in the final report.