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Grants and Funding

Call for Proposals: 2024 Digital Learning Sprints

*Note: The application period for the 2024 Digital Learning Sprints is now closed.

Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning (ODL) and the Office of Information Technology’s Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) team welcome applications for Digital Learning Sprints for 2024. A Digital Learning Sprint is a short project to learn quickly about a tool or strategy or to dive into a focused topic/area/practice in a one- to three-month period.

In keeping with ND Learning’s commitment to embracing educational equity and inclusive pedagogy and to exploring emerging technologies and creative approaches to teaching, we invite applications in areas including (but not limited to):

All members of the regular Notre Dame faculty are eligible to apply for support through this opportunity. Successful applicants will work collaboratively with the ODL and/or TLT to develop the project and devise its various potential means of implementation. Additionally, applicants may be asked to share their results in some public format to be mutually agreed upon (e.g., a blog post, working paper, interview, or feature story to be posted on the ND Learning website and/or shared through other channels).

AI in Teaching and Learning

We recognize the transformative potential of AI technologies in enhancing educational experiences and outcomes, as well as the need to integrate discussions of appropriate uses of AI across the curriculum. We are seeking innovative projects that explore the intersection of generative AI and effective teaching and learning practices. Successful applicants will receive seed funding of up to $5,000 and support from ND Learning and TLT in summer 2024.

Example projects might include:

  • Developing a module or tool on what critical AI literacy means in the context of your discipline
  • Using AI to help design a new course or a redesign an existing one
  • Leveraging AI tools to create or augment course content
  • Developing an intelligent tutoring system and/or a virtual assistant for a course
  • Producing professional development materials/best practice artifacts that could be shared at Notre Dame and elsewhere
  • Conducting research on how AI applications are currently being used in teaching and learning environments in higher ed
  • Integrating AI into assessment design in a way that frees up instructors to have more meaningful interaction with their students
  • Creating and refining generative AI prompts (i.e., prompt engineering) to shape assignments that help students reach desired learning outcomes

We welcome individual and team proposals and encourage proposals that involve students in the research, design, and development processes.

Timeline

  • Applications Due (note new date) – April 12
  • Applicants Notified – April 30
  • Project Kickoff – May 20

Application Process

This opportunity is open to all members of the regular Notre Dame faculty. Applicants may submit on behalf of faculty teams. Applications should be submitted using the Digital Learning Sprints 2024 Application Form. Submissions are due by April 12, 2024. Please contact online@nd.edu with any questions relating to the AI in Teaching and Learning RFP.

Criteria for Selection

Submissions will be assessed per the following criteria:

  • Clarity of idea or problem to be explored
  • The extent of the applicant’s availability to engage in the project between May and August 2024
  • Originality/creativity of idea or methodology
  • Potential impact
  • Completion of the ND Learning AI Workshop (May 28–29, 2024)

Supporting Diverse Student Populations

At Notre Dame Learning, we believe in the importance of creating flexible learning environments that will support all students regardless of prior educational background, physical and cognitive abilities, and cultural and socioeconomic background. We welcome proposals for projects and initiatives that use technology and digital media to find solutions for greater educational access and inclusivity. Successful applicants will receive seed funding of up to $5,000 and support from ND Learning and TLT in summer 2024.

Example projects might include:

  • Applying adaptive learning platforms to create scalable plans for individualized instruction
  • Designing or redesigning courses, instructional materials, and/or learning activities with an eye toward Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines
  • Building learning modules that students can navigate at their own pace
  • Creating pathways to introduce pre-college students to more advanced study

Timeline

  • Applications Due (note new date) – April 12
  • Applicants Notified – April 30
  • Project Kickoff – May 20

Application Process

This opportunity is open to all members of the regular Notre Dame faculty. Applicants may submit on behalf of other faculty and faculty teams. Applications should be submitted using the Digital Learning Sprints 2024 Application Form. Submissions are due by April 12, 2024. Please contact online@nd.edu with any questions relating to the Diverse Student Populations RFP.

Criteria for Selection

Submissions will be assessed per the following criteria:

  • Clarity of idea or problem to be explored
  • The extent of the applicant’s availability to engage in the project between May and August 2024
  • Originality/creativity of idea or methodology
  • Potential impact

Extended Reality (XR)

Extended Reality (XR) is an emerging umbrella term for all the immersive technologies. The ones we already have today include augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR), and we can expect more to be created.

The Office of Digital Learning welcomes applications for Extended Reality Digital Learning Sprints to be completed between May and August 2024. Successful applicants will receive seed funding of up to $5,000 and/or support from the learning design and academic media specialists in the Office of Digital Learning to develop an XR learning experience for fall 2024 or spring 2025.

We are looking for a small number of committed collaborators who:

  • Are interested in creating an XR video learning experience,
  • Would like to explore the use of extended reality in a classroom setting, and/or
  • Have a great idea relating to virtual reality that would provide students with a valuable learning experience that, in the real world, might be dangerous, impossible, counterproductive, and/or too expensive (DICE) to deliver (e.g., observing field interviews on the other side of the world or in a war-torn region, viewing rare artwork up close, going inside a chemical reaction, etc.).

Timeline

  • Applications Due (note new date) – April 12
  • Applicants Notified – April 30
  • Project Kickoff – May 20

Application Process

This opportunity is open to all members of the regular Notre Dame faculty. Applicants may submit on behalf of other faculty and faculty teams. Applications should be submitted using the Digital Learning Sprints 2024 Application Form. Submissions are due by April 12, 2024. Please contact online@nd.edu with any questions relating to the Extended Reality RFP.

Criteria for Selection

Submissions will be assessed per the following criteria:

  • Clarity of idea or problem to be explored
  • The extent of the applicant’s availability to engage in the project between May and August 2024
  • Originality/creativity of idea or methodology
  • Potential impact

Educational Animations

Educational animations are animations produced for the purpose of promoting learning.

The Office of Digital Learning welcomes applications for educational animations to be completed between May and August 2024. Successful applicants will receive support from the learning design and motion graphic animators in the Office of Digital Learning to develop an educational animation for fall 2024 or spring 2025.

We are looking for a small number of committed collaborators who:

  • Would like to create an animated video related to a topic covered in their teaching (here’s one example),
  • Have an abstract concept they would like to demonstrate via animation, and/or
  • Have a great idea relating to educational animations that we haven’t covered here.

Timeline

  • Applications Due (note new date) – April 12
  • Applicants Notified – April 30
  • Project Kickoff – May 20

Application Process

This opportunity is open to all members of the regular Notre Dame faculty. Applicants may submit on behalf of other faculty and faculty teams. Applications should be submitted using the Digital Learning Sprints 2024 Application Form. Submissions are due by April 12, 2024. Please contact online@nd.edu with any questions relating to the Educational Animations RFP.

Criteria for Selection

Submissions will be assessed per the following criteria:

  • Clarity of idea or problem to be explored
  • The extent of the applicant’s availability to engage in the project between May and August 2024
  • Originality/creativity of idea or methodology
  • Potential impact

Call for Proposals: Major Project Support

Notre Dame Learning regularly calls for proposals for major projects that support academic unit or institutional goals related to teaching and learning. The call will be announced via email and appear here when active.

Prochaska Fund

The Joe and Gina Prochaska Family Endowment for Excellence funds faculty participation in teaching development activities such as a Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching and Learning; Diversity, Learning, and Student Success conference (AAC&U); Transforming STEM Higher Education (AAC&U); or Wakonse Conference on College Teaching. Kennesaw State University maintains a directory of additional conferences that may be eligible. This is a rolling grant; funding will be determined as applications are received.
“The overarching goal of this Fund is to make resources available to improve faculty members’ communication, presentation, and teaching skills, thereby helping hone, improve and enhance their pedagogy in the classroom. Specifically, funds will be used to support and aid faculty in learning about and using new instructional technologies and formats, and/or supporting faculty in attending conferences and workshops focused on pedagogy in their respective disciplines. Where appropriate, this could also include one-on-one coaching for faculty from qualified experts.”

Joe and Gina Prochaska Family Endowment for Excellence Proposal Expectations and Process:

Funding recipients will be expected to:
  • Participate in the approved teaching development activity.
  • Participate in a meeting with ND Learning Kaneb Center staff to explore possible changes to their teaching practice.
  • Submit a 250 to 500-word description, suitable for posting on the ND Learning web site, of the experience and how participation in the activity has impacted, or will impact, their teaching.
  • Work with the Learning Research practice area to explore the possibilities for the assessment of the impact of any adopted changes on student learning.
Proposals including a description of the proposed activity and estimated budget should be sent to learning@nd.edu. Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the available funds are encumbered. Funding of other activities with a focus on development of pedagogical expertise or communication/teaching skills will also be considered.