Pedagogical Design Grant

The goals of the CETL Pedagogical Design Grant Program are to: 

• Support curricular innovation with a clear goal of improving the learning experience for all students.
• Provide faculty members with opportunities to apply for small grants to support curricular innovation. 
• Build campus-wide dialogue by disseminating information about innovative pedagogical practices to the Stonehill community and beyond.
• Provide Pedagogical Design Grant recipients with expertise that they can share with their colleagues through facilitating existing CETL programs (such as Individual Consultations, Teaching Circles, and/or workshops at Academic Development Days) or though other departmental and cross-departmental / cross-College conversations.
• Increase the visibility of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Stonehill College to both internal and external constituencies.

Pedagogical Design Grants were purposefully designed to meet the needs of faculty regardless of where they are in their career trajectories. The only requirement is that the proposal address a significant teaching intervention that will increase teaching effectiveness and student learning through the creative use of new pedagogical strategies. Project types include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Pedagogical Enhancement. Opportunities for faculty to address documented challenges to student learning in a particular course(s) by changing a pedagogical approach / integrating a specific design element. Thus, the focus of the project needs to go beyond the "what" (content) to impact "how" students will engage with that content. Examples include (but are not limited to) course redesign to include a significant community–based/ service–learning component, students as researchers, or travel components.

Instructional Materials. Opportunities for faculty to enhance student learning through the integration of innovative instructional materials. Proposals should be for one-time purchases and are not appropriate for materials which would need to be purchased each semester.

Pedagogical Conference. Opportunities for faculty to attend a teaching-and-learning-focused conference. Priority will be given to applicants presenting at the conference and/or to those with clear connections to specific / planned course revisions.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Opportunities for faculty to investigate questions about teaching and learning within their disciplinary context and make public their findings within Stonehill and suitable peer-reviewed outlets.

Student Research Assistants. Opportunities for faculty to utilize current Stonehill students as ‘researchers’ during the course design/redesign process. In the application, please indicate the necessary skills Student Research Assistants (SRAs) would need to exhibit and how specific SRAs will be identified. This list was not meant to be exhaustive. If you have an idea not discussed here, please reach out to the CETL Faculty Director to explore the possibilities.

Any Stonehill College faculty member may apply for a Pedagogical Design Grant. Priority however may be given to those in long-term teaching appointments because of the potentially longer duration of the benefit to students. No faculty member may apply for more than one project in a single academic year (July 1 – June 30).

Note to applicants. A Pedagogical Design Grant Selection Committee member may reach out applicant’s department chair or program director to confirm continued employment at the College. Please note, this outreach and anticipated clarification does not privilege one application over another in the selection process.

All applications should be submitted electronically using the following link. The application includes the following.

1. Name
2. Rank
3. Department
4. College
5. Project Title (10 word maximum please)
6. Short Description of Project (to be posted to CETL website, if funded) (150 word maximum, please).
7. Teaching Intervention, Project Goals, and Rationale. Describe the need, challenge, or teaching goal related to student learning that you hope to address. Describe in detail the innovative practice/ instructional materials/ conference attendance that is your proposal's subject. Explain how addressing this challenge through your proposed PDG might impact student learning and engagement (250 word maximum, please).
8. Outcomes, Assessment, and Dissemination. Outcomes: Thinking about what you hope to see improved a year after your project has ended, describe what you envision will have changed in terms of students' performance or their experience in your course. For example, which student learning outcomes will be enhanced or improved by this project? Assessment: How will you measure if your project is successful? What data will be collected? How do you propose analyzing tis data? Dissemination: Recipients are expected to present the results of their project in a CETL-sponsored program or similar event (for example Welcome Back / Academic development Days). Please explain your plan for see disseminating the results of your project within the Stonehill community and in the wider field? (500 word maximum, please).
9. Timeline. Provide a realistic plan and timeline for the proposed project extending from the date of award to project completion. The timeline should include the number of weeks and/or months each stage of your intervention will take to design, execute, and assess.
10. Budget and Budget Justification. Provide a detailed budget and budget justification with an entry for each significant budget item. (For example, if a stipend is requested, please provide an estimated schedule of faculty participation to justify your stipend request(s) or if funds are requested for student research assistants, please explain why their assistance is especially valuable to the project. Please note, if you are requesting money for technology purchases, please indicate that you have already consulted IT (Information Technology).
11. Prior Support. PDGs were designed to provide funding above and beyond other sources of funding available (For example, use of individual professional development monies, Professional Development Grants, Digital Innovations Grant, other sources of funding for Student Research Assistants, etc.). Please describe any additional funds that you have used / intend to use to support any element of this project including monies used for related projects. (250 word maximum, please)

Note to applicants. A Pedagogical Design Grant Selection Committee member may reach out after the submission deadline to seek clarification about submitted proposals. Please note, this outreach and anticipated clarification does not privilege one application over another in the selection process.

Eligible expenses may include:

Instructional Materials. Please note any materials, supplies or equipment purchased with Pedagogical Design Grant funds will become the property of Stonehill College. For requests involving technology, consult the Director of Educational Technology and Support Services in IT before submitting your application.

Faculty Stipends. Faculty may request a stipend, up to $1,000. If a stipend is requested, please provide the total amount of the stipend requested and an estimated schedule of faculty involvement in the budget justification. Stipends are paid upon receipt of the ‘Pedagogical Design Grant Completion Report.’

Pedagogical Conferences / Workshops. Travel and registration fees for teaching seminars or workshops.

Stipends for Student Research Assistants. Students often offer valuable perspectives on the classroom or curriculum. Please provide the research stipend requested (per student) and an explanation of their involvement. Please note, the faculty member is solely responsible for all paperwork related to hiring and paying Student Research Assistants.

Note to applicants. Successful applicants will be responsible for completing the processes and procedures for each category based on current College guidelines.

Members of the Pedagogical Design Grant Selection Committee will review and score completed applications. The selection committee will be made up of the CETL Faculty Director, the Director of the Office of Research, Grants & Sponsored Projects, the Digital Scholarship and Research Librarian, one member of the CETL Provost Advisory Committee and one past or current Pedagogical Design Grant recipient.

The following selection criteria will be used to evaluate all completed applications:

• Impact on Student Learning
• Feasibility of the Project
• Assessment / Dissemination Plan
• Overall Quality of the Application

Rating scale: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor

Within 30 days of project completion, the recipient must submit a ‘Pedagogical Design Grant Completion Report’ using the following link. Please note, stipends are paid upon receipt of the final project report.

1. Name of Pedagogical Design Grant Recipient
2. Project Title
3. Summary of work completed.
   1. Explanation of how your project impacted student learning (250 word maximum, please).
   2. Summary of the data collected and analyzed as part of the assessment, including a critique on whether original objectives were met, how and why or why not (250 word maximum, please).
   3. Description of dissemination efforts (past and future) (250 word maximum, please).
   4. Copies of relevant teaching materials (original and revised if appropriate), such as course proposals, syllabi, specific assignments, revised learning goals, and/or evaluation rubrics/criteria which were developed out of the project.
4. Anything else you would like the Pedagogical Design Grant Selection Committee to know.
5. Expense Report.