Year after year, we have high quality applications to our Small Grants Programs. The effort put into the applications clearly shows in some innovative, long reaching projects. This year we received outstanding applications, just like we've come to expect. This year, just like every other year, the selection committee found it difficult to choose the recipients. After much discussion and deliberation, the committee chose eight of the twenty projects. The applicants receiving funding are:

• Helena Carvahlo (PI), Crystal West, Necrisha Roach, & Wendy Calchary - Physiology and Biophysics
• Meghan Gough - The Wilder School
• Penny Reynolds - Emergency Medicine
• Brigitte Sicat (PI), Christine Huynh, Sallie Mayer, & Rita Willett - Pharmacy and Internal Medicine
• Ryan Smith - History
• Jeffrey South - Mass Communications
• Dewey Taylor (PI) & Richard Hammack - Mathematics
• Vamsi Yadavalli - Chemical & Life Science Engineering

Congratulations to the awardees and a sincere thank you to all that applied. Your dedication to teaching was clearly reflected in each and every application.

The Center for Teaching Excellence's Small Grants Program is currently accepting applications. The purpose of this Small Grants Program is to supply the faculty with necessary resources to support their own development as a learning-centered teacher. Especially encouraged are proposals that can demonstrate how the funding will be used to grow a larger project. Applications are due October 30, 2009. For information and to apply, visit here.

The CTE is highlighting some of the final reports from our Small Grant Program, 2007-2008. The Small Grant Program supports faculty in their efforts to improve teaching; reports from the participants are due in August, at the conclusion of the grant cycle.

This report comes from Alexander Tartaglia and Diane Dodd-McCue in the Patient Counseling Program in the School of Allied Health Professions. The primary objective of the project was to revise the Chaplin Intern orientation process and align it with the experience-based, action-reflection method already employed within the Program in Patient Counseling.

You can read the full report here.

The CTE is highlighting some of the final reports from our Small Grant Program, 2007-2008. The Small Grant Program supports faculty in their efforts to improve teaching; reports from the participants are due in August, at the conclusion of the grant cycle.

This report comes from Amy Throckmorton in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering. This study broadly sought to motivate junior engineers to nurture their intellectual curiosity, to be professionals, and to ultimately attain rewarding careers in engineering.

You can find her report here.

The CTE is highlighting some of the final reports from our Small Grant Program, 2007-2008. The Small Grant Program supports faculty in their efforts to improve teaching; reports from the participants are due in August, at the conclusion of the grant cycle.

This report comes from Dixie Bowman in the Department of Physical Therapy, School of Allied Health Professions. The aims of her project were to bring a standard patient program to the Physical Therapy Department and increase collaboration between that department, the School of Medicine, and the Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Theresa A. Thomas Professional Skills Teaching and Assessment Center. The standardized patients were used to assess student physical therapists’ skill performance and clinical decision-making ability.

You can find her report here.

The CTE would like to highlight some of the final reports from our Small Grant Program. The Small Grant Program supports faculty in their efforts to improve teaching; reports from the participants are due in August, at the conclusion of the grant cycle.

Our first highlighted report comes from Sara Wilson McKay in the Department of Art Education, School of the Arts. The purpose of her project was to investigate the use of a wiki to enable transcontinental collaboration with a colleague at another university and among our collective graduate students. The wiki facilitated discussion and group work both for VCU art education graduate students in an online curriculum theory class and art history graduate students in a seminar at another university.

You can find her report at:

http://www.vcu.edu/cte/programs/small_grants/2007/WikiUsageCreation.htm