2010 CFE/Lenovo Instructional Innovation Grants Program winners

Introductory Biology for Students with Diverse Backgrounds

The goal of this project is to address diverse learning needs in a large introductory biology course. Online learning activities and assessments will be used to track student progress throughout the semester, allowing the instructor to identify and engage students who are at risk of performing poorly. Laptops and cell phones will be used to bring interactive learning strategies generally reserved for small classrooms into a large lecture hall.
Kelly Hogan, Biology Department

Mapping a Geospatial Approach to Public History

This project seeks to expand students’ perspectives on public history and collaborative scholarship by having them develop metadata and other content for a digital mapping and archiving project on the history of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Students enrolled in this service learning course will develop a deeper understanding of key historical events and their impacts by employing some of the technological tools, interfaces, and digital practices that are transforming the study and practice of history.
Anne Whisnant, History Department

Developing North-South Perspectives on Development and Conservation in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador

In this project, students enrolled in Geography 269 at UNC-Chapel Hill that examines population-environment interactions in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador will collaborate with Ecuadorian students studying at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito on the Galapagos Islands to explore the tension between resource conservation and economic development on this fragile ecosystem. Through their interactions with various island populations and stakeholders, Galapagos-based students will serve informally as outreach agents for UNC students. Students will use various technologies to share and develop perspectives on relevant topics. An online spatial modeling program will be used to develop and test alternative impact scenarios in a World Heritage Site.
Stephen J. Walsh, Department of Geography

Undergraduate Scholarly Publishing Program

Building on UNC initiatives to promote undergraduate research, this project will develop a unique technology-mediated support system for helping students publish their scholarly work. Teamwork and collaboration among participating students will be a key element of the program, which will be piloted across six undergraduate English courses.
Katie Rose Guest Pryal and Leslie Frost, Department of English and Comparative Literature

Re-thinking Communities of Practice for Education Students

This joint project will use Web 2.0 technologies to enrich student communities of practice across four programs in the UNC School of Education. A major component of this project is the partial replacement of traditional case studies with student-centered experiences. In addition to text-based communication, students will be empowered to capture relevant instructional moments in their respective classrooms using low-cost video cameras. Those videos and photos will be shared, critiqued, and discussed among their program cohorts through social networking platforms.
Janice Anderson, Julie Ellison Justice, Sharon Palsha, Leigh Hall, and Becky New, School of Education

 

For more information:

Bob Henshaw, Instructional Technology Consultant

bhenshaw@email.unc.edu or (919) 962-9969

 

Todd Zakrajsek, CFE Executive Director
tzak@email.unc.edu or (919) 966-4838