The future of higher education depends in large part on transforming the way we think about teaching, learning, and student success. This includes how we attract and retain students, create new opportunities for student growth and discovery, and support their career goals now and in the future. The purpose of the FIAC grant is to support a team of three or more faculty within a department as they explore questions, challenges, and opportunities in their programs, develop a vision for evidence-informed changes, and act on their discoveries. During the funding period, each team will be provided access to analytical data, tools, guidance, and a community of similar scholars working in other departments on similar concerns.
From Insights to Action Collaborative (FIAC)
Program Overview
FIAC is designed to lead to actionable plans for improving student success within a department. We anticipate that departmental teams will make use of analytics in their collective scholarly research about students, their behaviors as learners, and the decisions they make on the pathway toward graduation. We are particularly interested in sustainable, data-based lines of inquiry that refresh or reimagine program learning outcomes and/or curriculum maps, and that can suggest changes based upon the new insights that learning analytics has provided. Topics of inquiry might include, though are not limited to questions like these:
- How well do entry-level courses prepare students for later courses in the program?
- What types of students are the most and least likely to graduate from the program?
- When in the curriculum are students leaving the program or stalling in their progress? What can be done about it?
- Do achievement gaps exist it for certain student groups, and if so, what can be done about it? What types of course and curricular changes are likely to have the greatest impact on all students?
Details
Award Amount: $5,000 for each participating department
Number of Grants: Up to 3 departments will receive grants
Duration: One-year
Eligibility: Any IUB academic department is eligible to apply. Department teams should be composed of a minimum of three faculty members who will play an active role in the activities, with demonstrated support of the department chair. “Faculty” include tenure/tenure track teachers, full-time lecturers, teaching specialists, and professors of teaching who have an ongoing role in their departments. Other appointments from within the department are welcome to join the team, but the team must include 3 full-time faculty.
Obligations
Each project must submit a completion report to CLASS at the end of the grant funding period. Additionally, departmental teams will be expected to meet in their teams as needed and participate in meetings twice a semester with the other departments participating in FIAC. Additionally, all teams will be expected to participate in one or more student success-related activities at IUB, such as:
- Presenting their findings at IUB’s Learning Analytics Colloquium - held in December 2022
- Presenting a poster of their findings at IUB’s Annual International Learning Analytics Summit
Deadline and Submission Process
Completed proposals, including CV's and letters of support must be submitted no later than 11:59PM, January 6, 2023.
Proposals are limited to three pages and should describe in adequate detail including the main research question(s), the anticipated type of data to be analyzed, the research methodology, as well as any special support required to complete the project. In addition, a letter of support from the departmental chair should articulate how the proposed project helps the department further student success and learning at IUB.
1. Cover sheet with the following information:
- Title of project
- Department
- Name of PI and of team members
- Email address for contact purposes
2. Abstract - A summary of your project in 300 words or less
3. Project Description - In no more than three, single-spaced pages, please describe your research project. Please include:
- Purpose of the investigation along with specific research questions
- Student populations this research is intended to address
- Significance and impact the study may have upon undergraduate learning
- Anticipated outcomes from the work and how they will contribute to student success at Indiana University, whether that be within a course, a curriculum, a program, or institutionally
- Research methodology
- Means by which you will measures the impact of your project
4. Short CV - maximum of 4 pages – for each team member
5. Nominating letter - from the dean, department chair, or unit head for each faculty member
Information and Assistance
For questions concerning the Learning Analytics Fellows Program or support in conducting scholarly research on student learning, please contact George Rehrey, Director, Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success.
grehrey@indiana.edu
812-856-4231
For specific questions concerning availability of analytical data please contact Linda Shepard at the Office of Bloomington Assessment and Research.
lshepard@indiana.edu
(812) 855-6236.