PK-12 Teaching and Learning Innovation Grants (TLIG) With support from the Woodrow Wilson Academy of Teaching and Learning, MIT s Teaching Systems Lab announces the 2016-2017 call for proposals for the Teaching and Learning Innovation Grants. These grants will support research and design projects that have a potentially transformative impact on teacher education and can inform the development of teacher education programs and initiatives, including the Woodrow Wilson Academy. Background information Teachers must be prepared for today s learning environments. But to have a real and lasting impact they must be ready to change today s classrooms into ones that prepare students for a new and different world than schools were originally designed for. Those classrooms, and the world they serve, are evolving ever more rapidly. The Teaching Systems Lab investigates the complex, technology-mediated classrooms of the future and the systems we need to develop to prepare teachers for those classrooms. The Teaching Systems Lab (TSL) was established as part of MIT s PK-12 Initiative, to bring the essence of the hands-on learning approach beyond the borders of MIT s campus to PK-12 learners and teachers around the world. TSL looks to fill a growing need in education by initiating new research, design, and outreach programs that will transform how students learn, understanding of student learning, and the preparation of teachers and educators. At MIT, there are a wide variety of groups and programs that are engaged in PK-12 activities from diverse disciplinary perspectives. This grant
program seeks to support those activities, and enhance the ability of those programs to be creative and innovative in developing and researching new ideas. As part of MIT s commitment to educational transformation, grant recipients will engage with MIT and external communities to share their findings. Key Dates Call for Proposals Released TSL Open House Meetings with Potential Applicants Submission Deadline Decisions Announced Jan 4th Jan 12th Jan 23 rd Feb 1st Feb 24th April 5th Program Goals The goal of the Teaching and Learning Innovation Grants (TLIG) program is to engage MIT faculty, staff, and students in research that can advance the quality of teacher preparation in the United States. We invite projects from diverse disciplinary perspectives and different stages of development: the most competitive projects will be those holding the greatest promise to advance the teaching profession. We encourage a wide variety of research methodologies. We are particularly interested in projects that are not just educational outreach where teachers get access to new teaching resources but include educational research that advances understanding of student learning and teacher preparation. Some TLIG projects may target long-term visions for improving teaching education, but we hope that some projects can directly impact the Woodrow Wilson Academy of Teaching and Learning. Projects that can benefit 5th-12th grade STEM teachers and competency-based education will get special consideration. Examples of the kinds of topics that are of interest to the Woodrow Wilson Academy include, but are not limited to, the following: Supporting and assessing independent teacher learning in science
and math Identifying and remediating student misconceptions in science and math disciplines Translating MIT s hands-on, minds-on approach to learning into K-12 settings Developing novel methods for teaching threshold concepts essential to advancing understanding in science and math Applying research from cognitive science to inform STEM teaching Assessing complex student understanding in science and math Approaching STEM teaching in creative and novel ways In addition to funding, the Teaching and Learning Innovation Grants program will provide support to researchers in developing, publishing and promoting their research. Grantees will receive up to 5% of a TSL Research Scientist s time to support making connections to the teacher education community. Grantees will join the Teaching Systems Lab community, and TSL will assist grantees in making their work relevant and accessible to education researchers, policy makers, and the teacher education community. Awards Awards for the Teaching and Learning Innovation Grants range from between $50,000 and $200,000 and will be for 16 months in duration, ending in August 2018. The TLIG program anticipates awarding between 2-4 grants in spring of 2017. This program is expected to run for a minimum of three additional years and awardees may reapply in subsequent years. Read about past awardees and their projects. Eligibility The TLIG Grants program is open to any projects that have an MIT sponsor who has PI status. The proposal must be submitted and overseen by the PI. Research and development may also involve post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, teachers, and others.
Proposals can sponsor research on projects at various phases. For example, projects might involve developing prototypes for ideas at early stages, taking an existing outreach project and improving the project through research, or scaling a small outreach project to reach new or larger audiences. Some projects might take the form of a translational project grant, where post-doctoral researchers or advanced doctoral students have part of their time bought out to pursue an educational project. PIs can sponsor one grant. Research Community Commitments Awardees will join a community of TSL staff, fellow grantees, and others from the MIT PK-12 community. TSL staff and researchers will support grantees in developing their ideas and projects for publication in educational research venues and dissemination among teachers and teacher educators. Awardees will be expected to attend occasional meetings throughout the year, to present at least one colloquium to disseminate research objectives and findings, and to submit a short report at the end of the grant. Selected projects will be highlighted on the TSL website and the executive summary of the final report will be published. Funding for this grant program is based on the expectation that the results of the projects will be made openly available by either open source or a license. School and Teacher Partnerships Proposals that include partnerships with schools and teachers should list those partnerships in the research plan. Projects that are funded can also reach out to TSL staff, who may be able to assist in developing partnerships with schools and teachers. Proposal Preparation and Submission
Proposals are submitted online through submittable.com. http://mitteachingsystemslab.submittable.com/submit/ Submissions are due on February 24th, 2017. Prior to submitting an application, there will be an open house/information session on January 12 th from 1:00-2:00pm in the TSL conference room in NE49. Applicants will have an opportunity to meet last year s TLIG recipients, learn more about the Teaching Systems Lab, the Woodrow Wilson Academy, and the work both organizations are doing to develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning. We encourage everyone to attend. In addition, meetings are available with TSL staff to help you prepare your proposal and discuss connections between your work and the Woodrow Wilson Academy. Meeting appointments can be made on a first-come, first-served basis at tlig.youcanbook.me. Meetings can be scheduled Monday Wednesday, January 23 February 1st. Applicants are encouraged to consult with TSL staff but meetings are not required. TSL staff may be available for consultations after February 1 st. Application Requirements The proposal includes six sections. Cover Letter with summary of the project and short biographical statement (500 word limit). Statement of Purpose: identify the problem being address and its relevance to teacher education, the significance of the proposed work, how this research uniquely addresses the problem, any prior research and results, objectives of the work, and the importance of funding (500 word limit). Subsection: How does this project advance our understanding of student learning and/or teacher preparation? (200 word limit).
Research Plan: include goals and objectives, describe the research approach; tasks and research timeline, and metrics for evaluating success (1500 word limit). Biographical Sketches: List the members of the research team, include a brief summary of research responsibilities and roles. Budget: Include a budget as an excel document, using the template provided. Indirect costs are 15% of total direct costs. Upload your spreadsheet with your application. Budget Narrative: A brief justification of costs (500 word limit) These sections correspond to a series of text entry boxes in the application. Applicants are encouraged to prepare the answers in a Word document and copy and paste them into relevant sections of the application. Evaluation Criteria A committee of faculty and staff affiliated with the MIT PK-12 action group will evaluate and consider the proposals based on the following criteria: Potential to Significantly Improve Teacher Education or Advance our Understanding of How Students Learn. Potential to impact the Woodrow Wilson Academy of Teaching and Learning Originality of Ideas and Approaches Clarity of Project Design and Proposal Quality of Assessment/Evaluation Plan Feasibility: Resources and Team are Sufficient to Implement the Plan Expected Commitment and Involvement of Faculty Sponsor
Every application will be reviewed by at least 1 faculty and 1-2 staff members. After the review, the committee may request additional information or modifications to the proposal before funding decisions are made. All decisions by the committee are final. Please direct inquiries to svaughan@mit.edu. Apply at http://mitteachingsystemslab.submittable.com/submit/