Eligibility & Expectations

Any full‐time faculty member (tenured, tenure‐track, or non‐tenure‐track) from any academic rank and from any UVA STEM discipline can apply. For program purposes, STEM disciplines include: Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Physics Statistics and all engineering disciplines (Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Engineering and Society, Systems & Information Engineering).

Faculty members are encouraged to propose redesigns of any introductory-level course—lecture or laboratory setting—in any STEM discipline. Instructors who are open to learning-centered approaches to teaching and those willing to fully and actively participate in small, structured learning communities are especially sought. Preference will be given to instructors proposing to redesign large enrollment, lecture-based courses (100+ students) and especially to groups of instructors teaching multiple sections of these types of courses. Preference will also be given to instructors/departments committed to continuous improvement and permanent change.

Participants will:

• apply to and attend the CTE's five-day Course Design Institute where they will learn to 1) develop more robust, epistemologically-based learning objectives, 2) implement STEM-specific pedagogies such as Peer Instruction, Problem-Based Learning, Team-Based Learning, Process-Oriented Group Inquiry Learning, Peer-Led Team Learning Pedagogies, 3) identify common barriers that students have when learning disciplinary concepts and develop appropriate learning activities to overcome these, and 4) create a variety of learning-centered assessments. Participants are required to pay for CDI using their annual Education Benefit or program award.

• teach their course in the fall or spring semester of the award year and, minimally, the next two consecutive iterations of the course;

• develop a continuous improvement plan and systematically assess student learning in their course;

• participate in an ongoing science learning community that begins just before CDI and meets up to every three weeks during the summer and monthly during the academic year;

• consult regularly with CTE faculty;

• participate in reciprocal peer observations and follow-up discussions with other participants at least twice during the first semester their course is taught;

• participate in ongoing program assessment of their course and students' learning, to include, for example, in-class observations, surveys, interviews, and/or focus groups;

• make their course materials readily available to the CTEand home department; and

• mentor for one semester any colleague who takes on future iterations of the course. In the future, participants will become specialist consultants to other faculty, sharing their knowledge and experiences with STEM teaching and learning, and thus preparing themselves to be accepted into the University Academy of Teaching, should they desire.

Awards in the amount of $10,000 will support each faculty participant. This funding may be designated for course-related expenses (e.g. student support, computer hardware and software, travel), as a course buy-out, as a research fund (non‐taxable), as a summer wage payment (taxable), or as a combination of these. Funds become immediately available following successful completion of the Course Design Institute (e.g., submitting to the CTE a final or near-final syllabus for the redesigned course) and must be spent by the end of the award year.