The Marcus Undergraduate Research Steering Committee is pleased to announce a call for Curricular Innovation Grant proposals to support the scaffolding of research skills throughout all stages of the student experience. The goal is for students to be introduced to research skills in the lower-division curriculum, develop and practice skills throughout the upper-division curriculum, and then master skills in their capstone course. Such a process aids in student motivation and retention, helps students to find greater success in their capstone courses, involves them in the high-impact practice of undergraduate research, and provides them with useful skills for their careers after college. We construe “research” broadly to include the creative works and activities expected of students in the creative arts as well as the scholarship and research expected in the humanities and social sciences.
This is a departmental grant. Rather than funding individual faculty members or courses, the grants are meant to assist collaborative efforts that cut across the major, whether that means revision of program-wide curricula and degree pathways, curricular change within multiple courses to align with new learning outcomes, or a combination of the two approaches.
Deadline for submission: May 5, 2019
Proposals should come from department chairs or department chairs in conjunction with relevant department committees, and grants will be funded up to $2,500.
Please submit a narrative of no more than 2000 words which answers the following questions:
- How does your program currently integrate research skills into the undergraduate curriculum, using the “introduce (I)-develop (D)-master (M)” framework?
- How will curricular revision which integrates research skills more fully into the undergraduate curriculum be beneficial to your program at this stage?
- What are the stages of the process that you envision to more fully incorporate research skills into the undergraduate curriculum, and how would the grant assist in carrying out this process?
- How will the planning process be collaborative and inclusive?
- How will the changes will lead to increased student success?
- How will you assess the success of these changes?
Successful programs will be announced in mid-May.
Departments that receive the awards will attend a retreat in early Fall 2019 as well as participate in a Faculty Learning Community that will meet occasionally over the course of the Fall 2019 and Spring of 2020. The grant is intended be used by the end of Spring 2020, and grant recipients will submit a progress report at that time.
Recipient departments will be expected to collaborate with the College in subsequent years to assess the effects of the research-oriented curricular changes on student success and faculty experience. Recipient departments will also be expected to participate in a panel discussion at the end of the award period to share insights gained form the process with colleagues from other departments in the College.
Please attach the proposal to an email and send it to Noelle Trinidad Taylor at (lcafacultyservices@sfsu.edu) by May 5, 2019. Direct any questions to Gitanjali Shahani, Chair of the College Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE), at gshahani@sfsu.edu.