Request For Proposals:

Hybrid Learning Course Redesign And Delivery (Spring 2017)

The Office of the Provost invites faculty to apply for funding to support redesign of courses to improve teaching and learning using innovative, technology- or media-enhanced pedagogy and learning strategies.

Whether through online environments, digital tools, or “hybrid” approaches that re-imagine class as a space for active and collaborative learning, pedagogical innovations provide many opportunities for creative change within the Columbia curriculum. These novel modes of education allow for the thoughtful exploration of new teaching methods, course designs, and strategies for promoting participatory learning.

This request for proposals will identify innovative course modules (or entire courses) to be developed over the next academic year. Proposals from all disciplines and subject areas are welcome, but we particularly encourage those that:

  • Develop ideas with significant potential to enhance teaching effectiveness and student engagement
  • Make creative use of digital tools, online environments, visualizations, multimedia, etc.
  • Include consideration of professional development needs to train instructors in new or alternative pedagogies to accommodate newly designed courses or delivery approaches
  • Include consideration of any necessary or novel skills or digital literacies that students will need to engage in the new course format; and
  • Lead to measurable impact on student learning.

Instructors of courses selected will have access to the resources and support of the new Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) in course design, content development, training in new pedagogies, media production, assessment and evaluation, and project management.  Courses selected will receive in-kind support from the CTL and will also be funded from $5,000 up to $20,000 for a one-semester period.

A key goal of this fund is to measure the impact and effectiveness of these designs, pedagogies, and learning strategies, to improve teaching (both online and face to face), and to enhance learning outcomes of Columbia University students from all disciplines.

Faculty who are primarily interested in developing a MOOC, rather than online components for courses taught at Columbia, may wish to consider responding instead to the 2017 Provost’s RFP for MOOCs.

Eligibility

  • Full-time and part-time faculty.
  • New or existing courses which will become hybrid through this award; (or) new or existing courses that have begun the process of becoming a hybrid course; (or) new or existing courses who are well into the process of becoming a hybrid course.
  • Courses to be offered during either fall 2017, spring 2018 or summer 2018.
  • A prior meeting and consultation with the CTL is strongly recommended to help develop a project plan (see below). Please contact ColumbiaCTL+hybrid@columbia.edu to schedule a meeting.
  • The CTL will be offering a three-day Active Learning Institute: Flipped Classroom and Beyond from June 6-8, 2017. Faculty interested in hybrid course development are strongly encouraged to participate in this institute, which will provide in-depth training in research-based approaches to flipped course design.

Proposal Requirements

I.     Cover Sheet – Include name of the PI, title of the course, intended audience and school

II.    Course Description (250 words) Describe the course as it currently exists. If launching an entirely new course, discuss your vision of the new course.

III.   Plan of project – Limited to 5 pages or less

  • Describe the key learning outcomes for the course.
  • Describe the current design of the course, along with student enrollment figures and support for the redesign of this course.
  • Describe how the course redesign will structure the student learning experience through enhanced engagement with course materials, instructors, faculty and other students. Specify which learning outcomes will be enhanced or improved through the course redesign.
  • Describe, in depth, the technologies and/or media that will be used and how their inclusion will enhance student engagement and learning.
  • Describe appropriate changes to current course assessments (e.g. assignments, exams, projects, problem sets, etc.) as a result of the course redesign.
  • Provide a plan that describes how the course’s outcomes and effectiveness will be measured, and how impact on student learning will be measured.

Proposals should be written in a style that is accessible to reviewers who are not experts in the specified area.

IV.    Budget and Budget Justification – 1 page: Detail in-kind support needed from the CTL and additional funding of $5,000 to $20,000. Funding can be used for course preparation, external course content, technology and media development costs, administrative costs and teaching assistants/course assistants. Please mention all other sources of funding if any.

V.     A letter of support from the applicant’s department chair or vice dean must be provided. In order to provide the review committee with additional information to base their funding decision, department chairs or vice deans are invited to provide comments on the importance of the proposal plan to the department and school.

Submission Procedure

Faculty submitting a proposal must complete the proposal application form here.  Final proposals must be submitted by the Dean’s office of your school (one PDF file for each proposal) via email to ColumbiaCTL+hybrid@columbia.edu with the subject line of “RFP Hybrid Learning 2017: [Last Name of Applicant].” An email confirmation that the proposal submission has been received will be sent within 24 hours.

Deadline

The deadline is Monday, April 3, 2017 at 5:00 P.M.  Future RFPs will cover courses to be offered in 2018 and beyond. We look forward to continuing to support Columbia faculty as they develop new and exciting enhancements of teaching and learning at the University.

Review Process

Proposals will be reviewed by a committee of faculty representing a range of disciplines and schools, who will provide a recommended set of awards to the Provost.

Notification

Selections will be made by Friday, May 5, 2017. Faculty will be notified of the award amount and will be assigned a CTL learning designer who will serve as their primary contact for the program. The CTL learning designer, together with a team of staff with appropriate expertise for the specific project, will provide support in instructional design, pedagogy, media and/or technologies, and assessment.

Reporting

Awardees will be expected to submit a two-page summary report, and a description of expenditures to the Office of the Provost. The report should summarize the project, including project evaluation, along with insights and conclusions. The report will be important in informing continued strategies to develop hybrid learning approaches and in providing input to the Office of the Provost as it continues to develop initiatives to support teaching and learning. Awardees will be invited to present on their projects at CTL events including the annual Celebration for Teaching and Learning Symposium.