Request for Proposals 2008
Download Venture Fund RFP 2008 (PDF)
This year, the Venture Fund is widening its focus to include ideas that propose to use computing technology to more actively engage students with course materials and concepts, as well as to enable students to work collaboratively in their learning process.
To help stimulate ideas and discussion, we offer below some possibilities. This roster is meant to be representative only. We invite any faculty member with an idea for a potential project, however nascent or approximate, to contact Computing Services' instructional technologists to discuss and develop the idea (Josh Kim 6-0018, Barbara Knauff 6-0786, Susan Simon 6-0629).
Student authoring and commenting
These would include projects that use blogs, wikis, Google docs, tagging, image annotation, and other collaborative tools that support students as knowledge creators. There are many information technology tools that enable students not only to be more proactive in completing course projects, but also offer faculty a wide range of new possibilities in designing course activities and projects.
Anywhere, anytime access
Student learning can be strengthened when they have the opportunity to spend more time with course materials. They can do this if there is increased flexibility about when and where to access materials. This means going beyond the laptop and targeting devices such as iPods and cell phones as a way of delivering course content. These strategies also support students' different learning styles and strengths.
Enhancements to the Blackboard environment
Over 75% of all Dartmouth courses now actively use Blackboard. What kinds of features and functionality are you missing in Blackboard? Improvements and new functionality could not only address your needs but also would be available to all Dartmouth faculty and students. Curricular Computing can program extensions to the Blackboard system; what is it you would like to do that you currently can't?
Interactivity in the classroom
Learning research has established that active participation in the classroom strengthens student learning. One example of this is the use of clickers, or real time polling technology. What other techniques can we use to increase student participation and engagement during class time?
Multi-media composition
The tools for working with new media are becoming easier to use and more generally accessible. This opens up a wealth of new possibilities for designing new kinds of student projects and assignments. Many faculty are already experimenting with video projects. Other options here might include Wikipedia articles, podcasts, creating mashups and visualizing data and relationships.
Virtual worlds
The virtual environment Second Life has been widely adopted by higher education as a tool for immersive learning projects. These environments allow new opportunities for modeling and experimentation,
Guidelines for Proposals
Any regular member of the Dartmouth teaching faculty may submit a proposal. Given the Venture Fund's goals, successful proposals must show concretely how Dartmouth students will benefit, and that this benefit will directly support student learning. Projects must be new or represent a significant new direction for an existing project.
Proposals must be written and submitted by a faculty member who will be using the course materials directly in his or her courses and who will serve as the principal investigator for the project. Proposals must specify the academic terms and the departmental course number (e.g., English 67 in the Winter 2009 term) in which Venture Fund materials will be used. The initial use of the Venture Fund resources in a Dartmouth course must be within a year of the proposal's date.
Successful project proposals must convince the Advisory Council on at least one of three points:
- The proposal will enable a faculty member to achieve a well-defined and innovative educational goal.
- The proposal shows a wide range of applicability. Examples of such scope include use of the resulting technology by more than one department, or more than one faculty member, or more than one course, or by most participants within an academic program.
- The proposal is based on a pioneering concept that can be used as a practical model for other Dartmouth courses.
Proposals that can address more than one point will receive priority.
In addition, proposals must include a project evaluation component, detailing a process for measuring the effectiveness of the technology or application in improving learning.
Personnel
Recipients of Venture Fund grants may count on the involvement and support of the Academic Computing professional staff. These services include, but are not restricted to:
- Web architecture, design, and implementation
- Assistance with the preparation of digital content
- Vendor negotiations for license and equipment acquisition
- Assistance for the students in the course
- Media production services
- Advice and assistance with equipment, such as digital cameras, scanners, and classroom technologies
Proposals do not need to have budget items for these services. Funds to pay student assistants (for tasks such as scanning materials) should be included in the proposal budget. The Venture Fund cannot support summer salaries or leave terms for faculty. Faculty with special considerations should contact Malcolm Brown to discuss alternatives to summer salaries and leave terms.
In addition, Academic Computing and the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL) can help develop the project evaluation component.
Equipment
Faculty may request new equipment for their individual use, but must show a contribution out of their Carson grant allocation or describe why this allocation cannot be applied.
Budget
Awards are generally made to a maximum of ten thousand dollars. Faculty who have ideas for projects that would exceed this limit are strongly advised to consult with Malcolm Brown.
The Awards Process
Proposals are due by Thursday, May 15, 2008. Prior to submission, proposals should be reviewed by Malcolm Brown in Academic Computing to help ensure that the project definition is clear, and that the scope and budget are realistic.
All project proposals must include specific and realistic schedules for realization and implementation. The body of the proposal should be no longer than five pages in length. Attachments in the form of appendices may be included; total length should not exceed 10 pages. Only the first 10 pages of each proposal will be circulated to the Advisory Council. All project proposals must include:
- A narrative, in which the project and its significance are described
- A schedule (requiring no more than a year) for realization and implementation
- A specific description of the proposed use of the technology in the Dartmouth curriculum, including academic terms and departmental course numbers
- A detailed budget, specifying equipment and personnel costs, as well as cost sharing
- Evidence of copyright permission where necessary
We request that project proposals be submitted as Word documents. Final proposals should be sent to Malcolm Brown.
Funding will be decided by means of competitive proposal approval by the Advisory Council. The Advisory Council consists of faculty representatives, the VP/CIO, the Director of DCAL, a senior Dartmouth administrator, the staff of Academic Computing, and the Library.
If you have questions about the awards process, copyright, or any other aspect of the Venture Fund, please contact Malcolm Brown at 646-1349 or via email at malcolm.brown@dartmouth.edu.
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