SEMINAL PHASE II REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Become a Partner in Student Engagement in Mathematics through a Network for Active Learning (SEMINAL) Overwhelming evidence from education research has shown that active learning instructional techniques generate significantly greater student learning than traditional approaches in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. The overall goal of the NSF-funded SEMINAL project is to stimulate and better understand the processes by which change focused on active learning in mathematics (ALM) can unfold over time, along with the affordances and constraints related to departmental change. This request for proposals is to establish a leadership cadre of departments that would implement their choice of ALM strategies and participate in a partnership with other aspiring institutions working to improve student learning in mainstream Precalculus to Calculus 2 (P2C2) sequence. Mainstream refers to those courses that serve as prerequisites for subsequent mathematics courses, such as linear algebra or differential equations. We encourage proposals that include a focus on broadening participation. SEMINAL uses the following definition of active learning mathematics: Active Learning of Mathematics is defined as teaching methods and classroom norms that promote: 1. students deep engagement in mathematical reasoning 2. peer-to-peer interaction 3. instructor interest in and use of student thinking This definition intentionally does not prescribe particular instructional approaches but rather specifies three guiding principles, thus allowing each department to propose instructional approaches appropriate for their context. The SEMINAL project team will select approximately nine new partner institutions through a competition. The new partners will have opportunities to Transform selected P2C2 courses with support of funding through the NSF-SEMINAL grant administered by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU); Receive guidance from core project members based on their own experiences and case studies of other successful institutions; Join other institutions in transforming undergraduate mathematics education, with an expectation to share progress and success with APLU and other higher education leaders; Participate in this leadership network with other institutions adapting best practices and approaches to their own needs. 1
We recognize from experience that faculty encounter challenges when endeavoring to implement more highly effective practices that support student success in calculus, as shown by the Progress through Calculus Survey (PtC). For example, results from the PtC survey found that departments across the country value ALM but many struggle with implementation in P2C2 courses. Inspired by and working closely with the PtC project team, this RFP seeks to support and research ways to foster successful institutional change to support successful implementation of ALM in P2C2 courses. Awardees of SEMINAL Partner funding also will become active participants in a network of departments, which will help the institutions collectively implement and sustain desired changes. We seek proposals from four-year institutions with a graduate program in mathematics, either at the masters or doctorate level. The grant-related work described in your proposal must be for a minimum of two years, up to three years and reflect significant institutional commitment; see details below. We have $840,000, and expect to award approximately nine partner grants of up to $100,000. The amount of the award will be commensurate with the scope and intensity of the work--percent of faculty involved, percent of students impacted, and the number of courses in the P2C2 sequence. We anticipate budget requests would include a subset of the following: Faculty course-buyout(s) and/or summer salary to plan course redesigns Graduate Research Assistant salary/benefits to help collect and analyze data Stipends for Learning Assistants Travel (must include funds to send at least one person to SEMINAL annual miniconference; also may add funds for sending faculty to IBL workshop, RUME, or a campus at which ALM is being implemented) Materials for course redesign Proposals for SEMINAL Partner Awards must be submitted by October 10, 2017. SEMINAL Partner awards will be awarded to departments interested in adopting and sustaining active learning mathematics in P2C2 courses and contributing ongoing findings to the networked improvement community. Funded departments need to be ready and willing to transform P2C2 courses, and will be broadly representative (e.g., institution type, size, student demographics). Given the following principles for ALM deep engagement in mathematics, peer-to-peer interaction, instructor interest in and use of student thinking proposals should highlight intentions and plans for greater infusion of these features of ALM in one or more target courses in the P2C2 sequence. SEMINAL Partners also will commit to up to two annual site visits by the SEMINAL research team, participate in an annual mini-conference that includes awardee institutions, and collect student data to track shifts in course achievement and dispositions toward mathematics. 2
Proposals will be submitted online via a submission system. You will create an account for the submission system, and will be able to revise your submission until the proposal deadline, October 10, 2017. Please see the SEMINAL site for more information. Proposal Elements Part 1. (6 single-spaced pages maximum). Describe the goals and plan of the proposed initiative for infusing and sustaining active learning within one or more of the target P2C2 course(s). Within your description, please also address the following: Describe the impact of the proposed project. How many people (faculty and students) do you anticipate will be impacted by the proposed project? Describe your leadership team for this SEMINAL Partner award. Provide information about faculty/instructor involvement (e.g., percentage and numbers of faculty involved, including who teaches the target courses and who coordinates target courses). Provide sufficient context to demonstrate the impact of focusing on target course(s) (e.g., percentage and numbers of students involved, including first-year, undergraduates, underrepresented students) and who takes the targeted mainstream P2C2 course(s) (e.g., STEM majors, general education students). Address your commitment to participating in the SEMINAL network of departments. It is expected that project leaders will connect and collaborate with other SEMINAL awardees focused on institutional transformation. By sharing knowledge and experiences, this helps everyone accelerate change efforts. This participation will involve both attendance at annual meetings, but also more informal connections throughout the grant period. Address your ability to collect the data SEMINAL prefers for participation. Preferred data includes faculty/instructor surveys, student surveys, grade distributions, and student course-taking and grades over time. Also specify what additional data (if any) you might collect to measure student success, and overall progress in successfully implementing active learning strategies in P2C2. Describe how you anticipate sustaining changes beyond the end of grant funding. Provide a detailed timeline for your work under the SEMINAL Partner award. The earliest starting date is January 1, 2018, and the latest ending date is June 30, 2021. Part 2. (4 single-spaced pages maximum). In addition, please answer the following questions about aspects of your department and institution in relation to the proposed project addressing active learning in the P2C2 sequence. It is not expected that every proposal has significant 3
things to report on each item. In fact, we expect to fund a range of projects, reflecting different levels of current activity. 1. Please explain why this is the right time for your department to carry out the proposed project. For example, what recent department or university initiatives, hiring changes, etc., make the proposed project especially timely? How would becoming a SEMINAL Partner further departmental, college, or institutional strategies for educational improvement? 2. Please describe departmental and institutional commitment to this proposed effort, including the indirect being requested. 3. To what extent are faculty on board with active learning in lower level mathematics, as well as department and college leadership? If not all key stakeholders are on board, what is your plan to increase support for active learning efforts? 4. To what extent are client disciplines going to be engaged in your proposed efforts (e.g., other departments whose majors require at least one P2C2 course)? What is the level of communication among Math and client disciplines related to P2C2 courses? 5. What potential obstacles and challenges do you foresee in implementing the proposed project? What role do you see for SEMINAL community support in addressing these obstacles or challenges? 6. In what ways (if any) have departmental and university administrators been involved in local (or national) STEM improvement efforts? 7. What ongoing or recently completed projects (indicate source of funding or support, if any) relate to the proposed project, and how will the SEMINAL Partner award intersect with these other projects? Part 3. (2 single-spaced page limit per course) For each of the course(s) targeted in the proposal, provide the following information: Course Name: 1. Current class size and contact hour breakdown, including recitations. 2. Current course format (face-to-face, online, flipped, hybrid, emporium, etc.). 3. Current physical resources (classroom size, fixed vs. movable chairs, whiteboards, document cameras, projector, etc.). 4. Current use of active learning, if any. 5. Who typically teaches this course (tenure-tenure track faculty, adjuncts, graduate students, etc.). 6. If there is currently more than one section of this course, then: a. what aspects of the course are uniform across sections? 4
b. how regularly do instructors meet about this course? 7. Describe any major challenges or problems your department faces in offering this course that are not already detailed in the proposal. 8. If not already detailed in the proposal, describe the current resources, training, or preparation available to instructors who teach this course. 9. If not already detailed in the proposal, describe recent changes, if any, that have been made to this course. The above Parts 1-3 should be submitted as a single pdf as part of a submission to SEMINAL Phase 2 see submission instructions below. Budget and Justification Please submit a budget and budget justification for your proposal (as two separate documents). The format of these documents should follow NSF s proposal preparation guide https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappg17_1/pappg_2.jsp#iic2g. Letter of Support Attach a brief letter of support from relevant administrators (e.g., chair, dean, provost) to indicate commitment to plans outlined in the proposal. Submission Please submit your proposal through the following submission site: https://cse.unl.edu/scimath/submissions/submit.php according to these instructions: Step 1a: submitter creates an account in the submission system (name & email address; this is a 2-step process where you then verify your email address via an email you get from the system, and after verification can enter the system to load in pieces of the proposal). Step 1b: select the SEMINAL Phase 2 Submission from the list Step 2: Fields for information we want to be able to sort proposals by, or have on file to contact PIs with questions: Institution name Private or Public institution (or technical college/institute) Special designation? HSI, HBCU, Tribal College/University PI name, email, phone number, dept, title Total amount requested Start date, end date Highest degree in mathematics Target course(s) Step 3: Information we need to make an award: Contact information for grant office (names, email addresses, phone numbers, mailing address) 5
Step 4: Upload documents Proposal (as pdf) Budget Budget justification Letter of support Step 5: Submission Once all the above steps are completed, a final step will become live that will let someone submit their full proposal. Once this step is done, the submitted can no longer revise their proposal. Questions? See Phase II FAQs: SEMINALFAQs Write us at: seminal@aplu.org 6