Making a successful application for a Teaching and Learning Strategic Grant Some advice arising from a Carrick Institute Leadership Development Grant project Fred D’Agostino & Mia O’Brien

Key information sources  Guidelines for your application Guidelines  FAQs about the program FAQs  TEDI support for your application TEDI support  A list of currently funded projectscurrently funded projects  Large grant application form Large grant application form  Small grant application form Small grant application form  Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan  Find all of these on the Teaching and Learning website

Key Dates for Second Round Applications Applications open Monday, 29 October 2007 School and Faculty Selection and Ranking Dates Variable - Please discuss with your School and Faculty Application closing date – Faculties send ranked applications to Office of the DVC (A) Thursday, 20 March 2008 Grants announced April 2008 Check with your Faculty’s Director of Studies about the “local” deadline. Be sure to allow adequate time to prepare your application, get feedback on it, and revise it for success.

Orienting to the task— looking for a place to start If you can’t say what the problem-to-be-solved or the opportunity-to-be-seized is, you don’t yet know what you’re asking for money for. You need to be able to connect your problem/opportunity with the University’s strategic objectives in learning and teaching. This is the significance of the TLEP. What the problem/opportunity is will determine what actions you take as part of your project. Brainstorm your project now! Describe the problem/opportunity in 25 words or less!

Your project is a staged sequence of actions What is an “action plan”? If your project is problem oriented, then your action plan is a series of activities that, if well-designed and successfully executed, will contribute to solving the problem. If your project is opportunity oriented, then your action plan is a series of activities that, if well-designed and successfully executed, will contribute to realizing the opportunity. A good action plan has “face plausibility”—i.e. relies on activities which are either “obviously” or demonstrably conducive to realizing the goals of action. Every action plan should include both evaluation of the actions taken and their effectiveness in reaching project objectives; dissemination or scaling of the outcomes of the action plan. Brainstorm your project now! Identify one key action you will have to take to succeed! WARNING FROM ROUND 1: Many applications did not explain in a straight forward manner what they were actually going to do to make the change or innovation to the course. This often made it difficult for the selection committee to decipher what the funding was going to be spent on and then how this would clearly lead to improvements in the course. Advice from the committee is to get someone outside your discipline to read the submission to make ensure its clarity.

A key element— enhancing the student experience What are the “student experience criteria? Brainstorm your project now! Identify one improvement your project will make. WARNING FROM ROUND 1: - Proposals need to avoid making unsubstantiated claims or citing anecdotal evidence, especially in the rationales. Applicants must ensure that claims are supported by evidence/references.

Sustainability T&L Strategic Grants are not designed to fund recurrent activities or one-offs. A good project produces results which get embedded in on-going practice. Engagement is a crucial issue. Projects will not become embedded which depend on the continuing enthusiasm of the project leader. WARNING FROM ROUND 1 Proposals need to avoid requests that fall within the scope of core school/faculty funding activities as opposed to developing teaching and learning innovation or excellence – eg the development of new courses. Brainstorm your project now! How are you going to engage and embed your project’s outcomes in the ordinary business of your organisational unit?

Evaluation and Dissemination Your problem/opportunity defines your outcomes. If your problem was attrition, then an outcome will be reduction of attrition. Your predicted outcomes need to be well enough specified so we can tell whether they have been realised or not. Measurements are handy, but not the only sort of evaluative instrument. Surveys can also show change. Dissemination is crucial to capitalizing on your work. Brainstorm your project now! What instruments will you use to assess success? How will you disseminate findings and to whom?

Working backwards to the project summary Now we have the components of a good project summary: The problem/opportunity is The actions to be taken are The predicted outcomes are These are related to student experience enhancement as follows The assessment of project success will be via The project’s results will be disseminated via Brainstorm your project now! Cut-and-paste your project summary!

The budget, 1 For each action you have to take (see the action plan), including evaluation, identify and cost who’s going to do it; what other resources you will need to do it. Each of these is a line item.

The budget, 2 Each line item should be linked, via a “face plausible” mechanism, to an outcome. E.g. this project officer will perform this action which is linked to this outcome. WARNINGS FROM ROUND 1 The committee had concerns about the amount of buy-out of teaching time to undertake projects – any buy-out of time should be clearly justified and avoid buy- out of key teaching duties Proposals that allocate a large component of the budget to equipment need to justify these purchases based on a strong argument which identifies the importance of the equipment to the educational innovation and its significant benefit to the students. The committee felt that some projects were relying on a ‘technical fix’ instead of examining core teaching and learning methods to improve the student experience.

Submission  You will need sign-offs and endorsements.  You will need to submit to an internal ranking.  Make sure of your deadlines. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR APPLICATIONS!