Teaching Development Grant
Teaching Development Grants support faculty interested in designing or redesigning a course, trying something on a smaller scale in the classroom, participating in pedagogical training programs, or presenting their pedagogical work at a conference. Projects should aim to improve student learning by strengthening the practice of teaching. To benefit the practice and understanding of others, grant recipients are expected to share their work with relevant campus audiences through presentation(s) and/or discussion(s) facilitated by the CITL.
Categories for Application
- Classroom Investigation/Implementation
Projects in this category might include implementation of a new classroom technology or practice such as service learning, team-based learning, project-based learning, alternative assessment, etc. Funding for this type of project might include books, training registration, instructional materials, etc.
- Course Development
Projects in this category might include the implementation of a student-centered, high impact teaching practice in the redesign or development of existing course materials. The scope of this project would focus on a single module or set of modules and might include things like service learning, team-based learning, project-based learning, alternative assessment, etc.
- Pedagogical Training
Pedagogical training encompasses professional development opportunities offered from both discipline specific and interdisciplinary groups focused on teaching and learning. Participation in trainings may provide the faculty member with credentialing or continuing education credit, but this is not a requirement.
- Pedagogical Conference Presentation
Pedagogical conferences focus specifically on teaching and learning research and best practice and may be discipline specific or interdisciplinary. For a list of pedagogical conferences, please see these lists updated by Elon University and Kennesaw State University. Both of these lists are typically updated on a semesterly basis.
Submission Instructions & Deadlines
To apply for a Teaching Development Grant, please complete the application linked at the bottom of the page. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis but should be submitted prior to the semester in which the funds are required. Funding applications for the subsequent semester will not be considered after each of the following dates.
- For Summer 2023 (June-August travel) – applications must have been received prior to May 1, 2023.
- For Fall 2023 (September-December travel) – applications must have been received prior to September 8, 2023.
- For Spring 2024 (January-May travel) – applications must have been received prior to December 4, 2023.
- For Summer 2024 (June-August travel) – applications must have been received prior to May 1, 2024.
Funds will be determined based on the scope of the project and the need for travel.
- Individuals applying for a classroom project or course development grant may receive funding of up to $500
- Teams of 2-4 faculty applying for a classroom project or course development grant may receive funding of up to $1000
- Individuals applying for travel funding may receive funding of up to $2000 which must be applied to the cost of travel, hotel, or conference registration
- Funds of up to $750 may also be applied to attendance at a virtual/online conference or workshop
All travel receipts must be submitted within 45 days following the event for which the funds were approved and an itemized budget must be provided in the application.
Due to limited funding, no more than one application from a given department/program will be fully funded ($1500) to attend a specific conference.
All faculty and instructors are eligible to apply.
Individuals who have been awarded a grant are not eligible to receive an award in
two consecutive granting cycles.
In addition to following through with the project plans as described in the application, the applicant must:
- Plan and implement an assessment of the project
- Share results and experiences with the larger WKU community through at least one presentation in a venue of your choice: a CITL event, Students Success Summit presentation, college/department presentation, etc.
Application Category
- Classroom Investigation/Implementation
- Course Development
- Pedagogical Training
- Pedagogical Conference Presentation
Project Description
Classroom Investigation/Implementation
Please describe the purpose for your application and identify the overarching question about teaching and/or student learning that you will pursue through your project/training/conference attendance.
Pedagogical Training/Conference Presentation
Please share your expectations about your conference experience.
- What long-term impact do you anticipate your conference experience will have on teaching and learning at WKU?
- What information and materials about teaching strategies, trends, etc. do you expect to share with your department, college, or the University at large after participating in the conference/training? How do you intend to share that information?
- What do you expect to gain professionally from attending or presenting at this event?
Budget/Funding Requested
Provide a list the total amount of funding requested, a simple, itemized budget of your expenses, and, if applicable, list other sources of funding that you have applied for or received.
Travel
Q: Can future travel (with unknown costs) be covered by the teaching grants?
A: Yes! We recognize that you may not know the exact costs of future travel expenses. When outlining your budget, please provide a best guess based on current costs. We understand that there may be some fluctuation.
Q: Can student travel be covered by the Innovative Teaching Grant?
A: Yes. We are happy to support you in your efforts to involve students in research and professional presentations and/or research. Please keep in mind that funding is limited, so if you are looking to involve a group of students, the grant may not be able to cover their full travel expenses.
Eligibility
Q: What does “full-time” faculty mean? Who is included in that group?
A: Full-time faculty includes tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, pedagogical faculty, clinical faculty and instructors. If you are working full-time with WKU in another capacity and have a question about eligibility, please contact Micah Logan.
Q: Can you explain more about the expectations of a team application? How might graduate students fit into the team? What about a team of 2?
A: A team should be comprised of at least two or more faculty. Graduate students may participate as co-researchers but are seen as playing a support role with clearly delineated and reasonable duties.
Q: Can I be involved in multiple grant applications?
A: Yes and no. Applicants should only be listed as the principle investigator on one project (individual or team application), but may be involved as a co-researcher on other projects. Please keep in mind that a single faculty member will not be awarded multiple grants in a single application cycle regardless of the type of submission (individual or team).
Timeline
Q: Is there a specified end date for grant? Can it extend over multiple years if supported by the timeline and progress reports?
A: While our expectation is that a project would be typically be completed within an academic year, we understand that not all projects fit this timeline. If there are elements of an Innovative Teaching Grant project that need additional time for analysis or data collection, a two-year period to disburse some of the funds could be arranged. At this juncture, we cannot guarantee funding past that time frame.
Q: Assuming that data is collected in both the fall and spring semester, when do you expect results by?
A: If you are able to collect data from courses in both semesters or only in the spring semester, we expect that data will not be analyzed until after grades are submitted and would not anticipate seeing any results prior to the summer months. We will work with researchers on this to determine what works best for the project.
Project Scope
Q: What if I’m looking to work on program level (re)design and won’t focus on one specific course? Would that fall within the grant parameters?
A: Absolutely! One of the critical components of the grant is impact and, assuming that the work will be adopted within the department, programmatic design and/or development is certainly impactful as you consider implications across the larger curriculum. For a project like this, we would pay particular attention to alignment and measurability of outcomes as well as departmental buy-in.
General
Q: Do we need to have the IRB already submitted and approved prior to grant submission?
A: No. We understand that this is the beginning of your process and you may want to make adjustments to your project after receiving feedback from the review committee and/or meeting with a research methods consultant.
Q: Is there a standard definition we should refer to in regards to high impact practices and/or diversity, equity and inclusion?
A: High-impact practices or HIPs encompass 11 different areas including capstone courses and projects, collaborative assignments and projects, common intellectual experiences, diversity/global learning, ePortfolios, first-year seminars and experiences, internships, learning communities, service learning or community-based learning, undergraduate research, and writing-intensive courses. For a description of each of these categories, please visit this page on High-Impact Practices from AAC&U.
Diversity, equity and inclusion at WKU is described more fully on the WKU DEI page, but includes the commitment to equality, opportunity and inclusion of all students, particularly students from underrepresented or marginalized groups.
Q: Can undergraduate or graduate student researchers be covered by the grant expenses?
A: Yes. We will work with you and the Office of Financial Aid to determine how best to fund a student’s participation in the project.
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