Summer Grants & Workshops 2015

Core Course Development Workshops - Summer 2015

Summer course development workshops are offered to support the development of new core courses or for substantive revisions of existing courses to meet core course requirements.

The workshops are offered in different modules. Each module is half a day long, generally, 9:00am – 12:30pm and 1:30pm – 5:00pm and will take place at the CTE unless indicated otherwise. Faculty members can sign up for modules in different combinations (unless indicated otherwise). Faculty members can participate in as many modules as they wish; financial support is available only for a limited number of modules per faculty member – for details see below under summer grants.

Workshops are hands-on with opportunities for faculty members

• to explore different implementation models that meet the core course requirements and are compatible with their subject areas,
• to experience and try out different models and pedagogies,
• to be inspired by their colleagues' experiences, ideas, and feedback,
• to discuss and develop their own ideas and classes.

Faculty members will be asked to come with ideas and any material they may have already developed. For some workshops, you will have to do some reading ahead of time. If you are interested in contributing to any specific workshops (beyond just participating), please do let us know at teachers@lmu.edu.

• Core Course Application Details
• New Core Curriculum Details

Workshop Modules Schedule

Breakfast, lunch, and refreshments will be provided. Breakfast will be available at 8:30am for participants in morning workshops. Lunch is 12:30-1:30 for participants in that day's morning and afternoon workshops. Morning workshops are 9:00 - 12:30; afternoon workshops are 1:30 - 5:00.

These workshop modules are designed for specific group sizes. If modules are full, they will no longer be available for registration. If you wish to register for workshops w/o applying for a grant please RSVP at the registration / application website [now closed]; if you wish to apply for grant, please read the instructions below first.

Workshop Descriptions

Ethics through Earthquakes: An Active-Learning Pedagogy for Teaching Ethics Using a Campus-Based Role-Playing Simulation (1 module) 
John Parrish, PhD, Political Science
Devra Schwartz, Security Operations and Emergency Management, Public Safety
Connecting ethical theory with practical applications remains a persistent challenge for teaching ethics across the curriculum. This workshop describes and demonstrates one approach to active-learning pedagogies in ethics instruction, developed through a partnership between a section of an Ethics and Justice core course and LMU's Department of Public Safety. Our Emergency Management team worked with the course instructor to create a week-long module simulating a major earthquake on LMU's campus. Students were cast as LMU administrators and invited to grapple with ethical choices such as ongoing dangers to rescuers and survivors, distribution of scarce resources, public release of sensitive information, and similar ethical quandaries. Workshop participants will perform the table-top emergency management exercise created for the course, and then discuss how such pedagogies could be integrated into Ethics and Justice courses, expanded to potentially qualify for engaged learning flags, or be used as a model for developing other campus-based role-playing simulations in partnership with LMU's operational divisions.

Active Learning Strategies (1 module) 
Dorothea Herreiner, PhD, CTE
Active learning typically leads to a variety of educational benefits such as more student engagement and motivation as well as deeper and longer-lasting learning. In this hands-on workshop, a range of active learning strategies will be introduced and we will discuss when and how to adopt them. The main focus will be on experiencing these active learning strategies and on identifying appropriate approaches for each instructors' classes and learning objectives (bring your syllabi and material!)

Designing Your Core Class (2 modules) 
Dorothea Herreiner, PhD, CTE
During this hands-on workshop faculty will develop a core course through backward design. The morning session will focus on the long-run objectives and context of the course, learning outcomes to be developed and matched to the core requirements, to the development of a basic structure of the course. During the afternoon session participants will further develop the basic course structure, design appropriate assignments and other class activities, and consider different options to assess student learning. The workshop will be highly interactive and hands-on based on participants course ideas and materials and relying on feedback and suggestions from colleagues as the courses are being fleshed out.

Interdisciplinary Course and Assignment Design (1 module)
Dorothea Herreiner, PhD, CTE
What makes a course an interdisciplinary course? What are the requirement for a Core Course on Interdisciplinary Connections? How can learning outcomes be designed to reflect the interdisciplinary nature of a course? How can assignments be designed to integrate disciplinary knowledge and modes of analysis. During this hands-on workshop we will focus on developing key elements of an interdisciplinary course based on the disciplines participants are planning to integrate in a course. The workshop will be highly interactive and hands-on based on participants course ideas and materials and relying on feedback and suggestions from colleagues as the courses are being fleshed out.

Reading and Source Use (1 module) 
Suzanne Lane, PhD, Director Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication, MIT
Successful academic inquiry begins with careful and thoughtful reading, and students often struggle with complex texts in new fields. Because reading primarily happens individually and outside of the classroom, it can be difficult to teach students more advanced reading strategies appropriate for engaging theoretical or complex texts. This workshop will identify different reading strategies for different genres, and focus on providing students with a framework that will help them not only to understand what they read more deeply, but also to analyze the readings critically so that they will be able to use them effectively as sources in the texts they write. This workshop will also introduce online tools for annotating texts, as well as ways of integrating these tools to enrich both class discussion and students writing practices.

Reading and Writing in Technical Disciplines (1 module) 
Suzanne Lane, PhD, Director Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication, MIT
While scientists and social scientists typically communicate knowledge in the field through proposals, reports, and journal articles, most undergraduate students primarily read text books, or spend their time in problem-set based classes which do not include substantive engagement with readings in their field. In this workshop we will explore ways to engage students in reading and understanding published literature in their field, using that knowledge to design their own projects, and analyzing how the literature conveys meaning. Our overall goal is to help instructors develop and scaffold instructional activities and assignments so that students can learn how to write effectively in their field.

Rhetorical Situations (1 module) 
Suzanne Lane, PhD, Director Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication, MIT
When we teach rhetoric, our goal is to prepare students to speak (or write) well in many situations, and in response to real civic, academic, or moral concerns. Contemporary rhetorical theory has examined the concept of rhetorical situations extensively, and this workshop will draw from the framework those theories develop in order to consider ways in which instruction, assignments, and feedback can help students learn to analyze new rhetorical situations and develop the rhetorical awareness they need to speak and write well in many diverse contexts. Specifically, this workshop will focus on helping students to identify and analyze real audiences and contexts, and develop genre awareness and adapt genres for their own purposes. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in some instructional techniques and test theories and concepts during the workshop.

Teaching Writing to Promote Knowledge Transfer (1 module) 
Suzanne Lane, PhD, Director Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication, MIT
In First-Year Seminars and other writing-intensive classes, we hope not only to provide assignments and give students practice in writing academic essays, but also to teach students writing concepts and processes that they can carry with them to other classes and writing situations. Recent research suggests that, because writing is always situational and domain-specific, students struggle to abstract conceptual knowledge about writing, and to effectively adapt it for new situations. In order to do this, students need to be aware not only of individual "skills" in writing, such as integrating sources, but also of the system of rhetorical choices and constraints that help us shape how we communicate in different disciplines, and for different audiences. Drawing from research on knowledge transfer, as well as on longitudinal studies of writing development, this workshop will focus on how to design writing instruction that will aid students in conceptualizing, abstracting, and adapting their writing knowledge for new situations.

August Workshops

Completing Core Course Design(1 module) 
Dorothea Herreiner, PhD, CTE
During this workshop, instructors will have the opportunity to receive feedback and suggestions on their core course design. Based on key course design aspects, we will consider all relevant aspects of the course, such as learning outcomes, overall structure, in-class activities, assignments, quizzes, etc. To participate in this workshop instructors should have a fully or almost fully developed course proposal and syllabus. Instructors should bring along a copy of the syllabus, all assignments, readings, and other material for the course so that they can discuss details of their courses with others and receive feedback and suggestions from other workshop participants.

Designing Information Literacy Assignments(1 module) 
Dorothea Herreiner, PhD, CTE
Susan Gardner, Elisa Slater Acosta, Linsey McLean, Hannon Library
Contributions from: Elizabeth Drummond, PhD (History), Kirstin Noreen, PhD (Art History), Deborah Novak (Health and Human Sciences), Dean Scheibel, PhD (Communications)
Based on a variety of examples of sequencing, scaffolding, and integrating information literacy assignments into different classes (First-Year Seminars to upper-level flagged classes), participants will have the opportunity to develop their own information literacy assignments for their own classes in line with core requirements and receive feedback and suggestions from colleagues and librarians. During this workshop there will be the opportunity to explore the library's information literacy tools in a hands-on format and consider their integration into the class.

Engaged Learning(1 module) 
Dorothea Herreiner, PhD, CTE
Contributions from: TBD
During this workshop we will consider the different forms of Engaged Learning courses, what makes Engaged Learning courses successful, and the Core Course requirements. Based on a different examples of Engaged Learning classes, participants will have the opportunity to develop their own engaged learning modules for flagged core courses and receive feedback and suggestions from colleagues.

The Logic of Persuasion: Teaching Students to Identify, Critique, and Develop Appeals to Logos (1 module)
Suzanne Lane, PhD, Director Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication, MIT
Of the three rhetorical appeals, logos can be the most difficult for students to analyze fully or develop effectively. In large part, this difficulty stems from the fact that most arguments do not fully spell out their logic; as Aristotle noted, rhetorical persuasion uses enthymemes that elide some of the premises on which the full argument rests. This workshop will delve into tools from contemporary rhetorical theory—argumentation schemes, Toulmin structures, persuasive definitions, and constitutive metaphors—that can help students identify the elements of enthymemes, recognize elided premises, and ask appropriate critical questions about the soundness of the logic.

Assignment Design for Oral Communication (1 module) 
Suzanne Lane, PhD, Director Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication, MIT
By learning the stages of developing, structuring, rehearsing, and delivering presentations, students can become comfortable with a live audience, and use the process of composing for a real audience as a tool to develop their thinking. This workshop will help instructors think through their goals for oral assignments, so that they can scaffold the steps involved in developing presentations and speeches. Workshop participants will be able to work on (re)designing assignments for their current or future courses by developing (i) a deeper understanding of fundamental oral communication concepts, (ii) strategies to integrate oral communication assignments into a class, and (iii) techniques and tools to provide feedback on student presentations. Participants should have a particular course and assignment[s] in mind to work on during the workshop.

Assignment Design (1 module)
Suzanne Lane, PhD, Director Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication, MIT
A main goal of the First-Year Seminars is that students will learn to "engage critically and reflectively in scholarly discourse," but what kinds of writing assignments will promote this learning? What do assignment prompts need to explain for students to fully understand the task? How should assignments change and build on each other over the course of the semester? This workshop will help faculty consider the various concepts and contexts that shape student writing, and will offer strategies for constructing both individual assignments and the sequence of writing assignments over a semester. Working with examples from different disciplines, and with both formal assignments and informal, writing-to-learn prompts, participants will gain hands-on experience with thinking through modular, incremental, and cognitive sequencing, and will have the opportunity to apply these to courses and assignments of their own.

Powerful Feedback: Strategies for Responding to Student Writing and Speaking (1 module) 
Suzanne Lane, PhD, Director Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication, MIT
What kind of feedback will help students understand how to revise their essays or presentations, or to compose their next assignment more effectively? This workshop will help instructors to articulate their criteria for student writing and to develop powerful feedback practices, from written comments to rubrics to peer review to individual conferences. The workshop will draw on the research about the effectiveness of different response practices, and participants will also gain insight into their effects by participating in hands-on activities in peer review, conferencing, and commenting, including working with online tools for providing feedback.

Summer Grants

Participation in the workshops can be combined with a grant for developing a core course. Grants are available for Full-Time Faculty members and Part-Time Faculty members. For details for each category, please see below.

Full-Time Faculty Members

To receive the summer grant, a faculty member has to participate in at least 2 workshop modules and submit a final report, a course syllabus, and a copy of the submitted core course application latest by September 18, 2015. Faculty members are compensated for participation in up to three additional modules over the summer and are encouraged to consider participation in further modules, if interested. Grant recipients are required to submit a course proposal application, either before the summer, or by the course proposal deadline.

Payment of the grant is based on:

• Participation in workshop modules and
• Submission of a final report, syllabus, and a corresponding UCCC course proposal application.

Participation in a workshop module is compensated by $300 per module for new course development and by $100 for substantive course revisions, for up to five modules over the summer (faculty members are encouraged to participate in additional modules). The workshop payments are made at the next possible pay date after the workshop participation, once two workshop modules have been attended. Payments are made as supplementary taxable payments. Upon submission of a syllabus and a final report as well as a course proposal application by the deadline, a final payment of $500 is released.

To summarize, upon completion of all requirements, total grant payment for new core course development is

• $2,000 = 5 * $300 + $500 for 5 modules,
• $1,700 = 4 * $300 + $500 for 4 modules,
• $1,400 = 3 * $300 + $500 for 3 modules,
• $1,100 = 2 * $300 + $500 for 2 modules.

Total grant payment for revision of a core course is

• $1,000 = 5 * $100 + $500 for 5 modules,
• $900 = 4 * $100 + $500 for 4 modules,
• $800 = 3 * $100 + $500 for 3 modules,
• $700 = 2 * $100 + $500 for 2 modules.

Each faculty member may receive at most one core course development summer grant during the summer of 2015. If funds are exhausted, priority will be given in the following order:

1. faculty members who did not receive a core course development summer grant the last three years and are developing a new core course,
2. faculty members who did not receive a core course development summer grant the last three years and are revising a newly developed core course,
3. faculty members who have received a core course development summer grant before and are developing a new core course,
4. faculty members who have received a core course development summer grant before and are revising a newly developed core course.
5. faculty members who have received a core course development summer grant before and did not submit a final report plus syllabus and core course application (the applicant should take special care in explaining how the grant conditions will be satisfied this time).

For qualified applications, funds should be sufficient to award grants not just to first-time applicants but also to faculty members who have received core course development grants in the past (and completed all grant conditions).

Faculty members can receive grants to develop a new core course - that is for a course that has not yet been taught by that instructor in the new core. If a similar course has been taught before by the instructor (in the old core or elsewhere), then the instructor needs to be substantively revising the course for inclusion in the core to qualify for the grant; it is the instructor's responsibility to clearly and convincingly explain the character and rationale of those revisions and the relevance for the core requirements in the application. Courses with a different title but essentially the same content at a similar level are considered existing courses and do not qualify for the grants.

Faculty members can also receive grants to redesign new core courses - these are courses that were already taught by the instructor in the new core but require additional revisions. These additional revisions need to be substantial, warranted, well documented and need to address core requirements - it is the instructors' responsibility to present a strong and convincing case in their applications.
Flagged courses can be the basis of a grant application if the course is either a new course or the addition of a flag to the course constitutes a substantive revision of the course.

All grant applications are automatically forwarded to the faculty member's Department Chair/Program Director and (Associate) Dean. Grant applications will be considered only upon receipt of a written approval by the respective Department Chair/Program Director (to be included in the grant application or in response to the submitted grant application) signaling support for the suggested course. Chair approval does not constitute an approval of the grant or the workshops selected nor does it replace or guarantee UCCC approval of the course or preempt UCCC review of the course.

Although faculty members are encouraged to collaborate on courses, different individuals cannot each receive a grant for developing the same course, whether team-taught or not (grants can be split in equal parts for the same course). Separate grants can be awarded for the development of different versions of a First-Year Seminar or Rhetorical Arts course; for different versions of any other core course, please contact the CTE Director.

After completion of the grant, the syllabus and final report will be made available on this website to the LMU community.

Part-Time Faculty Members

With strong Chair/Director and Dean support, grants for Part-Time Faculty members independently teaching core courses are available under the same conditions as those described for Full-Time Faculty members above and under Grant Application below. The courses to be developed with the grant support have to be core courses and also key courses in the program with which the Part-Time Faculty member is associated. These courses have to be projected to be regularly taught in the long run by that Part-Time Faculty member or others in the Department or Program (one-time or occasional upper-level electives do generally not satisfy this requirement even though they may satisfy core course requirements). The course associated with the grant application has to be taught by the applying Part-Time Faculty member during the Academic Year 2015-16. Future support for course development for the same course by other Part-Time or Full-Time Faculty members may be restricted.

Part-Time Faculty members applying for grants to support the course development need to include a letter of support from their Department or Program Chair. The letter of support needs to provide the following:

• a short description of the role, if any, the course plays in the program from a curricular perspective and in terms of course enrollments and graduation requirements;
• a rationale of why this course is being designed as a core course and why this course is targeted for the specific core course requirements;
• a short discussion about the relevance of the attended workshops for the course development (those covered by the grant);
• an explanation of the role that Part-Time Faculty member plays in the Department in general and in developing that course in particular, including information about the coordination between that Part-Time Faculty member and the department about curricular and pedagogical aspects of the course;
• an outline of the semesters when the course is typically ore expected to be taught and by who (Full-Time or Part-Time Faculty members), including a projection for the next 2-3 years and the first time the newly designed course will be taught and by who;
• a confirmation that the Part-Time Faculty member is projected (or confirmed, please clarify) to teach the relevant class at LMU during the academic year 2015-16, and possibly beyond.

Part-Time Faculty members also need to solicit written approval for their application from the Dean by submitting the complete application, including the Chair's letter of support, to the Dean's Office requesting written feedback to be sent directly to teachers@lmu.edu.

Consideration of the grant application is based on the receipt of a strong letter of support from the Department Chair and Program Director as well as approval by the Dean. Approval of the grant application is subject to the same priorities outlined above (under Full-Time Faculty). Part-Time Faculty members will also be required to submit all developed course material along with their final report in September – this material will become part of their final report.

Grant support for Part-Time Faculty members teaching Rhetorical Arts classes is not available; a separate Faculty Development program is offered for that purpose.

Grant Application

To apply for grants, please go to the registration / application website [now closed].

A copy of your application will be forwarded to you, your Department Chair/Program Director, your Dean, and the Center for Teaching Excellence.

To apply for the grant, you will have to provide the following during registration:

• a (provisional) title for the course,
• a short description of the topic and objectives of the course (max 200 words),
• a short explanation of the rationale of the course (connection to department, core, etc., if applicable, max 300 words),
• if this application is for a substantive revision of an existing course whether previously taught in the core or not, then please explain the substantive nature of the revision (max 200 words),
• if you are a Part-Time Faculty member, a letter of support by your Department Chair/Program Director (or Dean); Full-Time Faculty members need to include an approval note from their Department Chair/Program Director (see above).

Do prepare these points in a file, merge them into one pdf, and upload it during registration (preferred method); alternatively, you can enter them one by one as your register and upload your Chair/Director's note or letter as pdf. If you are considering more than one course, you have the option to indicate that.

To be guaranteed full consideration, grant applications and registrations are due latest by August 3, 2015. Later applications will be considered on a first-come-first-served basis and are subject to available space.

Final Report

To receive the last installment of your grant ($500 for independent course instructors), you need to submit a final report by latest September 18, 2015 to teachers@lmu.edu. Final reports need to be in pdf format and consist of the following:

TBD

The final grant payment will be initiated only if all points are addressed in a satisfactory manner and a core course application has been submitted. For the timeline - see below.

Your final report and syllabus will be made available via a link on this website.

The final grant payment will be initiated only if all points are addressed in a satisfactory manner and a core course application has been submitted. For the timeline - see below.

Your final report and syllabus/assignments will be made available via a link on this website.

Timeline

Summer grant recipients need to submit a Course Proposal Application to the UCCC latest by September 18, 2015 - evidence of the submission of such an application or of UCCC approval needs to be provided along with the final report and syllabus.

Grant Reports & Syllabi

These final reports and syllabi are provided for individual academic and research purposes only. They may not be disseminated in any form without explicit written consent by the author and notification of the Center for Teaching Excellence at teachers@lmu.edu. Final reports and syllabi are provided only for grant recipients that completed all grant requirements.

The syllabi above are the September 2015 or earlier versions. Instructors are free to modify the syllabi at any point. These syllabi do not constitute valid syllabi for any specific class taught by the instructors listed above or by any other instructor - students need to consult the syllabus for the specific class they are enrolled in. The syllabi and final reports are not part of the course approval process. The core course development grant payment and inclusion of a course in the list here do not confer any right to teach this class or to teach it as described in the syllabus. Courses listed here may or may not have been approved in a form compatible with the syllabus included here.

QUESTIONS? Please get in touch with us at teachers@lmu.edu.

Last Updated - 5/24/2016