GLCA Pathways to Learning Collegium:
  Call for Proposals

 

In spring of 2008 GLCA received a grant from the Teagle Foundation to support the development of alternative approaches to undergraduate teaching derived from research on how learning occurs.  Recent discoveries in cognitive, social, and neurological elements of learning hold the potential to increase the effectiveness of undergraduate teaching in all academic disciplines.  As small academic communities that value effective teaching, liberal arts colleges provide an especially conducive environment for pedagogical exploration to improve learning.  GLCA’s consortial network makes it possible to link faculty members within or across colleges who share common interests in developing new approaches to improving teaching and learning. 

 

GLCA seeks proposals from faculty of its member colleges for projects to develop, implement, and assess the impact of new or alternative pedagogies derived from research on learning through recent decades.  Grants to support faculty explorations of different learning pathways for undergraduates may range from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the nature of the project and the number of courses, faculty, and students involved. 

 

Project designs should include a comparative framework to gauge the difference in effectiveness of traditional and innovative pedagogies. The unit of pedagogical experimentation may be a particular segment within a course, or two sections of a course taught by the same professor.  Other configurations involving more than one professor may also be possible.

 

The Pathways to Learning Collegium seeks proposals from faculty of all academic disciplines.  It is not necessary that a faculty member have an expert’s knowledge of the research on learning to submit a proposal.  A Pathways to Learning Project Description and Request for Proposals (RFP) offers some representative literature citations that can provide a basis for proposals submitted.  In addition, GLCA can arrange for telephone conversations with faculty members affiliated with the project who can provide guidance in the development of proposals that ground innovative pedagogies in research-based principles of learning. 

 

  

Proposals for Pathways to Learning projects for the winter 2009 semester should be submitted to GLCA by November 15, 2008. 

Please direct questions and completed proposals to Gregory Wegner, Director of Program Development, GLCA:  E-mail:  wegner@glca.org; telephone: 734.661.2338.

For a summary list of aspects of learning that some faculty members at GLCA member colleges have expressed interest in exploring, click here.

To download a more detailed project description and RFP for the Pathways to Learning Collegium, click here.

To download a template for submitting proposals,click here.

 

Two projects employing alternative pedagogies are being implemented in the fall 2008 semester:

• One is by Thomas Ludwig of Hope College on “A Constructivist Approach to Introductory Psychology.” Click here for a brief description.   

• Another is by Claudia Thompson of the College of Wooster on “Metacognitive Strategies in Introductory Psychology.”  Click here for a brief description.