Teaching Development Grants

The Course Design and Teaching Development grant programs are funded by Academic Affairs and administered through the Center for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT). These funds support the professional development of PFW faculty, helping to improve their teaching skills, knowledge, and effectiveness. The grants can be used for attending conferences, workshops, conducting research, or developing new teaching materials. For more information or to apply for next year's grants, please contact CELT.

• Post-Promotion Grant

  Post-Promotion Grant

  A 3-5 year program where Associate faculty can further develop skills to help with building a portfolio to demonstrate competence and/or excellence in teaching. Focus areas include: 

  • Year 1 - Course design quality and delivery 

  • Year 2 - SoTL knowledge and production 

  • Year 3 - PFW student needs and challenges 

  • Years 4 & 5 - Becoming a teaching mentor or expanding SoTL expertise and output  

  • Track 1: Learn a variety of teaching strategies, become a teaching mentor 

  • Track 2: Further build SoTL expertise and output (two separate tracks) 

  Faculty accepted into this program commit to the first three years with a preference to complete all five years. A $2,500 grant is awarded through year 1 of the program. For all faculty who commit to completing years 4 and 5, an additional $2,500 grant is awarded. A brief description of each focus area is below: 

  Year 1: Course Design Quality and Delivery 

  Course design (or redesign) is the foundation for pedagogically sound (and satisfying) teaching. This programming guides faculty through the backward course design model. Five 2-hour workshops and a minimum of four one-on-one consultations are required. Topics revolve around building a pedagogically sound course structure, including designing course learning goals, learning objectives, designing and aligning assessments, developing and aligning learning activities and interaction design, weekly structure and syllabus design, and studying effective communication with and support for students including identifying and supporting struggling students. 

  Year 2: SoTL Knowledge and Production 

  Towards the end of year 1 (above) and moving into year 2, similar to identifying a program of research, participants will choose a program of SoTL, which will guide their work for the next 2-4 years. This year’s cohort provides post-tenure faculty with structured support to design and implement a teaching-related research project. The year-long program consists of five required group workshops and a minimum of five individualized consultations. Topics include an overview of SoTL, refining topic/question, literature review, study design, data collection & instruments, IRB, planning for publication and presentation, data analysis, and data management. 

  Year 3: PFW Student Needs and Challenges 

  Participant’s SoTL program continues in Year 3, which will be a focused cohort giving specific attention to the student-instructor classroom exchange. It will blend the continued development of pedagogy and instruction with a deep understanding of PFW’s student body, their needs, strengths, and challenges. The program consists of eight required group workshops and a minimum of five individualized consultations. Topics and activities include research focused on student learning, connection, and development; developing mechanisms for understanding the needs of our students; work with a CELT Teaching Fellow including a SGID or Faculty observation; and an Online Course Design Review or syllabus and assignment review. This year will also provide a unique opportunity for participants to work with student consultants, who will observe and provide comprehensive feedback to faculty regarding teaching methodologies, student relationships, the use of Brightspace, and grading practices. 

  Year 4 & 5: Becoming a Teaching Mentor or Expanding SoTL expertise and Output 

  During years 4 and 5 faculty will need to choose a track to pursue. This can include: 

  • Track 1: Becoming a Teaching Mentor 

  High and Small Impact Practices (year 4) - Year 4 will be a focused cohort giving post-promotion faculty-specific instruction in the development and comprehensive implementation of a High Impact (teaching) Practice (HIP). This will span both Fall and Spring semesters and focus on three key areas: 

  1. Participants will choose a HIP and comprehensively integrate it into a course. The HIP will seek to address a student or course “problem” using the knowledge and application of a HIP. Faculty will develop an assessment plan for understanding the impact of the HIP. 

  1. Faculty will be consulted in the development phase by a student review panel, a faculty mentor who has substantial experience with their chosen HIP, peer review, and the CELT consultant leading the cohort. 

  1. Faculty will assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the HIP while teaching the course through a pre-test, mid-semester test, Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID), and a post-test. 

  Becoming a Teaching Mentor (year 5 of High and Small Impact Practices track) - We would like to use this program to train faculty to become Peer Reviewers in CELT and for the campus. This will help to better support our existing review Fellows program while growing the number of trained faculty who are prepared to conduct summative reviews. 

  • Track 2: Expanding SoTL expertise and Output 
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Grant

  Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Grant

  A 2-year cohort-style program designed to provide structured support for up to 5 faculty as they complete a robust research project focused on teaching and learning. 

    

  The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Certificate program is designed to provide structured support for post-promotion faculty (who are not concurrently participating in Post-Promotion Grants) to complete a robust research project focused on teaching and learning. Participants in this 2-year cohort-style program will complete a dynamic series of workshops, group sessions, and independent work to deeply engage with their pedagogical interests. Topics include an overview of SoTL, refining topic/question, literature review, study design, data collection & instruments, IRB, planning for publication and presentation, data analysis, and data management. 

• High Impact Practices Grant

  High Impact Practices Grant

  This program will accommodate up to 5 faculty who seek to engage students in community-engaged learning. These activities seek to connect learning to life outside the university, foster quality interaction between faculty and students, help students better understand themselves in relation to content, and increase student engagement in the classroom. To name a few: collaborative learning, service learning, project-based learning, and team-based learning all seek these outcomes. Over a semester, faculty will design and/or re-design a course to include consistent implementation of a high impact practice. Participants will be compensated once they complete the HIP implementation and participate in a peer review of the HIP. 

• Online Course Design Grant

  Online Course Design Grant

  This program will support up to 5 faculty through the substantial redesign of an existing online course by following the backward course design model with the goal of increasing student success. Participants will analyze challenges faced by both instructors and students in the online environment, develop scaffolding assessments and assignments, map learning activities to desired learning outcomes, review and incorporate pedagogically appropriate educational technologies, and implement strategies to support student success. The cohort consists of five required workshops and a minimum of 5 one-on-one consultations. 

• Advanced AI Cohort Grant

  Advanced AI Cohort Grant

  CELT leadership will guide 10 faculty (roughly 1-2 faculty per college or school) as they identify disciplinary relevant AI tools while testing their capabilities, limitations, and proposing best practices for classroom integration. Collectively, the group will develop a campus-wide resource bank that outlines the AI tools they incorporated, the tools, their capabilities, costs, and more. 

• Course Design for New Faculty Grant

  Course Design for New Faculty Grant

  Five pre-promotion faculty will be selected to design one or more of their courses using the backward course design model. This programming targets new faculty to support them in an effective start to their teaching careers, through the backward course design model. Five 2-hour workshops and a minimum of four one-on-one consultations are required. Topics revolve around building a pedagogically sound course structure, including designing course learning goals, learning objectives, designing and aligning assessments, developing and aligning learning activities and interaction design, weekly structure and syllabus design, and studying effective communication with and support for students including identifying and supporting struggling students. 

• Summer Instructional Development Grant

  Summer Instructional Development Grant

  The Summer Instructional Development (SID) Grant program promotes faculty professional development and provides support for faculty to considerably enhance existing courses through redesigned, creative, and/or innovative teaching and learning approaches that significantly improve student learning and success at Purdue University Fort Wayne. Proposals may be submitted by individuals, teams, departments, or programs. Example projects include, but are not limited to:

  • Innovative uses of technology, including Brightspace
  • Implementation of high-impact practices (e.g., problem-based learning, service learning, flipped classroom) or emerging pedagogies
  • Significant redesign of course materials or learning experiences
  • Interdisciplinary approaches to course delivery and instruction
  • Classroom research to measure the effectiveness of specific teaching approaches

  The grant program is open to full-time faculty in tenured, tenure-track, clinical, and lecturer positions at PFW. Visiting faculty are not eligible. The proposed project must involve significant enhancements to an existing course; those involving the development of new courses are not eligible.

  For more information or to submit a proposal, please email Rachel Ramsey at [email protected].