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Large Course Redesign Grants Program

 

 

The Center for Faculty Excellence is pleased to announce award winners for the 2012 CFE100+ Course Redesign Grants program.

Ten proposals representing eleven different disciplines were funded this year. The course redesigns will impact more than 4,700 students during the 2012-2013 academic year.

Funded proposals:

 

Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld, Anthropology Department
Description:  Dr. Colloredo-Mansfeld’s ANTH 284 Culture and Consumption course, currently capped at 35, will be taught next spring with as many as 180 students. Much of the course content is student-driven, so a major challenge is developing scaleable solutions for sharing student responses to readings, research problems, and data sets. The redesigned course will make significant use of instructional tools such as Sakai and Wordpress. (back to list)

Jean DeSaix, Biology Department

Description:  Dr. DeSaix’s primary goal for this project is to target misconceptions common among students in her introductory biology course (BIOL 101). Her section of the course enrolls nearly 800 students annually. The primary component of this course redesign is the creation and implementation of learning activities designed to address student misconceptions. Student assessment will be critical to determining the persistence of misconceptions. (back to list)

Buck Goldstein, Economics Department
John Akin, Economics Department
Chancellor Holden Thorp, Chemistry Department

Description:  Introduction to Entrepreneurship (ECON 125) has previously been taught using one lecture session and one recitation section per week. The redesigned course will include two lecture sessions per week, eliminating the recitations. Enrollment will increase from 100 to 400 students. One of the challenges is to build opportunities for student interaction into the lecture experience. In keeping with the theme of the course, the redesign will emphasize instructional innovation. A prominent component of the new course is a series of guest lecturers from a variety of disciplines. (back to list)

Suzanne Hobbs, Health Policy & Management Department, School of Public Health
Description:  Dr. Hobbs currently teaches both a residential and a fully online section of Health Care in the United States: Structure and Policy (HPM 754). She plans to integrate the two sections into one 200-student hybrid course with the flexibility to allow students to move between residential and distance components as suits their needs and preferences. Key components of the redesign include new techniques for promoting engagement within the classroom, new techniques for supporting student learning outside of class, and higher overall expectations for students. (back to list)

Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Dramatic Art Department

Description:  Dr. Hunter-William’s section of Perspectives in Theater (DRAM 116) enrolls 600 students each year. In an effort to make the course more interactive, her redesign will focus on 1) promoting more engagement in the classroom through small group activities, a class response system, and the use of guest lecturers via Skype, 2) developing new techniques for student learning outside the classroom through the use of recorded lectures, VoiceThread, and Twitter, and 3) developing new techniques for supporting students performing poorly in the course. (back to list)

Jennfier Krumper, Chemistry Department
Carribeth Bliem, Chemistry Department

Description:  Dr. Krumper and Dr. Carribeth Bliem are co-teaching four sections of an introductory chemistry course (CHEM 101) that enroll 300 students each. They will be using a combination of guided reading questions, online recorded mini-lectures, and online homework to shift a portion of basic course content delivery outside of class. This shift will allow more in-class time to be used for group problem-solving activities that promote higher-order understanding. Peer mentors will be trained as in-class teaching assistants. (back to list)

Tim Marr, American Studies Department
Jocelyn Neal, Music Department

Description:  Professors Marr and Neal plan to co-teach a cross-listed course Approaches to Southern Studies (AMST 211). The course has historically enrolled 40-50 students, but will soon enroll as many as 120. Redesign elements include online discussion formats to promote student interaction outside of class, online quizzes to encourage students to come to class prepared and to monitor basic comprehension of course content, shared digital presentations and reports based on fieldwork and extracurricular exposure to course topics. (back to list)

Mark McCombs, Mathematics Department

Description:  Selected Topics in Mathematics (Math 118) is currently offered in several sections capped at 35 students; there are no recitation sections and no use of online materials. The redesigned course will integrate all existing sections into one 130-student section that will meet once a week. Online assignments and quizzes will be implemented to provide students with more opportunities for feedback on their understanding of course materials. 45-student recitation sessions will be offered once a week and will feature an emphasis on small group activities. (back to list)

Dan Reichart, Physics and Astronomy Department

Description:  Dr. Reichart teaches three sections of Introduction to Astronomy: The Solar System (ASTR 101) annually. Each section enrolls roughly 300 students. He would like to make active learning techniques a more significant part of the course experience. He plans to assign recorded online lectures outside of class, and then use small group activities and a class response system to engage students during class. Additional time will be set aside to identify and support students who need help with the math required for the course. (back to list)

Viji Sathy, Psychology Department

Description:  For her 180-student statistics course (PSYC 210), Dr. Sathy would like to be able to engage students who are at different levels in their understanding of course content, and to promote more higher-order understanding for all students. Her redesign includes development of recorded mini-lectures to help prepare students for class. The mini-lectures will free up in-class time for more team-based learning assignments. She feels her students benefit from sharing perspectives with peers, and become more accountable for their own learning through the process. (back to list)

 

Program Contacts
Laurie Cochenour, E-Learning Policy Coordinator
Center for Faculty Excellence
lcoch@unc.edu | 966-5400

or

Bob Henshaw, Project Coordinator
Center for Faculty Excellence/ITS-Teaching and Learning
bob_henshaw@unc.edu | 962-9969

 

Program sponsorship information
Grant funding for this program is made possible by Lenovo. In 2009, the CFE was selected to serve as one of three education innovation centers anchoring Lenovo’s Global Education Research Program. Its program emphasis is faculty development and innovative use of information technology in higher education.

Planning and support for the CFE/Lenovo Large Course Redesign Grants Program is provided by the Center for Faculty Excellence and ITS-Teaching and Learning.