Funded SELECT Grant Programs for 2008/2009

Disciplinary Enrichment Using 3-Web in an Enlarged Statewide Second-Life Grid UNO ASK FOR $ 149,222.00 RECOMMENDED $122,812

The purpose of this project, generally speaking, is to build on the success of our earlier SELECT funded

Project by enlarging the institutional reach of 3-D Web in Louisiana, and by narrowing the focus of our

Feasibility and best-practice analyses to the disciplinary area. The earlier project was focused on initial

Construction of university and Board of Regents campuses in Second Life8 and highly generalized proof-of concept

Analyses of 3-D Web as a new approach to teaching, administration, and research. Pursuant to this

Purpose, this research will continue to examine the expectations, engagements, communications, and learning

Objects, learning processes (including curricular engagement), and outcomes of activities in SL, using a

Variety of surveys, interviews, and discussion groups for various stakeholders. The project will hire assistants

With competencies in instrument design, scoring, interpretation, and reporting, as well as interviewing

Designing, Implementing, and Assessing Online Courses in Alternate Certification Programs NSU $50,846.00ASK FOR RECOMMENDED $50,000

In an effort to support recovery efforts in the state and provide certified teachers in every classroom, NSU proposes

To offer high quality online instruction in all courses required for teacher certification in the following areas:

Elementary Education, Middle School Education, and Secondary Education. (NSU currently provides online

Delivery in Mild Moderate Special Education.)

The goals of the project are focused on strengthening state teacher education by

1. Designing, implementing, and assessing the effectiveness of online courses in NSU’s Alternate

Certification Programs that lead to an online Master of Arts in Teaching Degree, and

2. Collaborating with school districts and universities of the University of Louisiana System to offer online

Courses in Alternate Certification programs that lead to an online Master of Arts in Teaching Degree.

The objectives of the project include:

1. To develop online courses in NSU Alternate Certification Programs that meets the Quality Matters

Accreditation Standards for Distance Learning.

2. To create online courses in NSU Alternate Certification Programs that meet national and state standards for

Specialized programs.

3. To inform and recruit an underserved population of candidates into NSU Alternate Certification Programs,

Specifically those living in rural areas of the state and those impacted by the 2005 and 2008 hurricanes.

4. To collaborate with faculty of the University of Louisiana System for purposes of sharing effective online

Methodologies and assessments.

5. To collaborate with school districts in Louisiana for purposes of designing and implementing online

Courses that address the needs of Louisiana K-12 classrooms, providing candidates with knowledge and

Skills that impact student learning.

6. To integrate effective emerging technologies into online courses.

7. To provide an orientation module to first-time users of online instruction.

8. To assess the effectiveness of online instruction obtained by multiple sources including candidates, course

Instructors and internal and external evaluators.

The instructional design format of all courses will provide a variety of options, centered on the Blackboard

Management system, which promotes teacher-candidate interaction, candidate-content interaction, and candidate candidate

Interaction. Blackboard, currently installed and operational throughout the Northwestern campuses, is a

Unified asynchronous delivery system that includes a chat option, providing students with a virtual classroom

Experience over the Internet. NSU’s extensive commitment to pod casting, video, and other forms of distance

Delivery allows options for other kinds of communication, remediation, and student support outside the broad

Services afforded by Blackboard. All courses will be designed to adhere to the Quality Matters Rubric for Online

And Hybrid Courses. Participants in the project include select faculty in NSU’s College of Education who will infuse

Content, pedagogy, and emerging technologies into all courses in the online MAT program. The “teamed” faculty

Members are listed in the SELECT grant budget narrative.

Developing Engineering and Mathematics Web Based Courses MCNEESE LCRP 419,500

The purpose of the project is to develop three web-based core engineering and science courses which

Will be offered to MSU students and students in CenLA. Next are the course names and their

Descriptions:

  • • ENGR 301 – Engineering Static’s: Vectorial treatment of the principles of static’s, resultants

And equilibrium of force systems, structures, friction, centroids, moments of inertia, virtual

Work, stationary potential energy, and stability. Prerequisites: MATH 190.

  • • ENGR 302 – Dynamics: Vectorial treatment of the principles of dynamics to include

Equations of motion, work and energy, and impulse and momentum for particles, system of

Particles and rigid bodies. Prerequisites: ENGR 301 and PHYS 211.

  • • MATH/STAT 231 – Elementary Probability and Statistical Inference: Calculation of simple

Probability in discrete and continuous variable cases. Descriptive statistics, measures of

Central tendency, binomial, Poisson, and normal distributions. Testing hypotheses using

Normal deviate and t-statistics. Prerequisite: MATH 113 or permission of department head.

Developments and Implementation of an Online Degree Program in Healthcare Management BPCC ASK FOR $138,205.00 RECOMMENDED $92,905

The collaborative efforts of BPCC and ULM will

Result in a structured curriculum and new courses of study for the associate in Healthcare

Management. To develop these aspects of the new program, the principal investigator and

Affiliated faculty selected for this project at BPCC will work with content experts from ULM’s

Bachelor of Science in Health Studies with an option in Healthcare Management/Marketing

Program. These experts will use their knowledge and experience to assist BPCC’s program

Development team in the selection of Healthcare management and related business courses that

Will facilitate the goal of a seamless articulation agreement. The Dean of the College of Health

Sciences at ULM agreed to coordinate that institution’s efforts in the development of the new

Program. Additionally, the experience that each institution possesses in accelerated online

Program delivery will be employed to co-develop the most appropriate course sequence. (See the

Proposal timeline.)

E-Learning and Workforce Transitions among Louisiana’s Adult Learners LSU CALL ASK FOR $80,179.00 RECOMMENDED $47,304

This proposal outlines a research agenda to provide an evidence-based approach to

Developing and improving the delivery of CALL courses, academic programs, and support

Services offered through its college and university members. The project proposes a one-year,

Multi-institutional partnership with CALL, the Louisiana State University (LSU) Life Course and

Aging Center (LCAC), and two institutions of higher education engaged in the delivery of

Accelerated courses and services, namely the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) and

Bossier Parish Community College (BPCC). It will assess the obstacles and challenges that face

Potential and current CALL applicants, as well as enrolled CALL adult learners. The project will

Also investigate employer-provided policies and practices that support educational advancement

And degree completion. Data from this project will be used to refine the delivery and

Administration of CALL services at Louisiana colleges and universities so that each may improve

Student recruitment, retention, and degree completion among adult learners. In doing so, results

From the project will guide CALL in building and expanding the existing model for increasing

Degree attainment among urban, rural, and storm-affected populations through the use of

Educational technologies.

A LA MODEL OF K-20 OPD: INTEGRATING OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE AND OPEN CONTENT REPOSITORIES SUBR ASK FOR $62,107.00 RECOMMENDED  $42,407

In recent years, the goals of increasing the use of information technologies to create new learning resources and

Managing existing electronic resources to improve students learning outcomes in K-20 have received a lot of

Attention. One of the ways chosen to pursue these goals is to (A) make high quality learning resources readily

Accessible to educators through searchable e-learning resource repositories (Quadri, 2005; Diack, 2007) and to (B)

Design faculty development programs that facilitate the use of these repositories in the design of effective K-20

Learning environments. Although development in this field has become a worldwide phenomenon and that

Significant progress had been made in regard to (A) best practices for integrating repositories in classroom

Instruction is limited and comprehensive faculty development models to facilitate the integration of these tools is

Lacking. Furthermore, efforts and attention had been devoted recently in finding ways in which Open Source

Software (OSS) could be used to foster economic development (Dravis, 2003). In particular, the use of OSS elearning

Solutions had been advocated as economically viable options to current commercially-available e-learning

Solutions including course and content management systems. This project will significantly contribute to the areas

Of research and application of e-learning repository to enhance learning outcomes and K-20 professional

Development related to the integration of e-learning repositories. Since the state of Louisiana is a member of the

MERLOT repository and the Southern Regional Education Board initiative to launch a Sharable Content Object

Repository for Education (SCORE) by 2010 (See SREB SCORE, n.d.). It is expected that this project will

Significantly contribute in preparing Louisianans for adopting these tools to improve education in the state and in

The SREB region. The objectives of the proposal are discussed below with more details.

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