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Faculty First 2015 Participants
A STEM-Based German Language Sustainability Curriculum Unit for Student Success in the 21st Century Global Marketplace: Part II
Dr. Maria Gallmeier, Senior Lecturer
Dr. Stefanie Ohnesorg, Associate Professor
Department of Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures
The purpose of this proposal is to obtain assistance in developing online modules for teaching a STEM-based sustainability curriculum unit in German to students in the second year German language program.
This project is the continuation of a project that was funded through a Faculty First Grant in 2014. In 2014 we developed an extensive online learning-module for German language instruction that thematically focuses on population and population growth. The second part of the project comprises the production of the 5 instructional online learning modules. Along with the online learning module on population and population growth, these 5 new modules will build the core structure of the curriculum unit. The instructional online modules provide visually supported instruction for STEM-based thematic instructional units in German. The developed framework will be adaptable to other STEM-related content as well as to different levels of language learners. It will serve as a model for other STEM-based German language units that simultaneously aim at developing STEM-related academic German language, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Improving teaching effectiveness by using Information & Communication Technologies in a diverse undergraduate student class
Dr. Hector Pulgar, Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
This project aims to improve teaching effectiveness in ECE-325 Electric Energy System Components by using ICT in or out of classroom. ECE-325 belongs to the program of B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and it is mainly focused on power engineering — one of the areas of specialization that the students may choose. There are several complexities of this course that makes teaching ECE-325 very challenging. ECE-325 students are diverse in several aspects such as fields of interest, academic background, motivations, and types of learners. In addition, depending on whether students have a concentration on power engineering or not, there are two groups of students with conflicting teaching goals. Students with concentration on power engineering should obtain a deep understanding of the concepts so they are better prepared for further specialization in the area. On the other hand, students without a concentration on power engineering should only obtain a global understanding of the subjects. To make this case more complex, when students register ECE-325, in general, they have not decided yet whether to have a specialization on power engineering or not. This project focuses on motivating students, providing information through effective means, and presenting the several specialization opportunities available for students at UTK.
Read Pulgar final report (PDF)
Modernizing A Stale Online Course
Dr. Marcy J. Souza, Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical & Diagnostic Sciences
An online graduate course, CEM 507 (Epidemiology of Vector-Borne, Bacterial, and Viral Zoonotic Diseases), is offered every other summer either as an elective or as a requirement depending on the students’ major.
The goal of this project was to improve the delivery of asynchronous information to students for this summer online course so that the course is more engaging, enabling students to better retain the information learned.
Dr. Souza organized her Blackboard Learn course site and improved site navigation; incorporated several Blackboard Learn tools, such as discussions, self-graded quizzes and tests, and assignments; enhanced course materials with images, embedded YouTube video and audio; created PowerPoint presentations with voiceover; and learned of a variety of ways to develop an engaging asynchronous online course. Please find details about the project in Dr. Souza’s report posted on this page.
A la Découverte de Knoxville: Exploring the French Influences on the History of Knoxville Through a Place-based Game
Mr. Laurent Zunino, Lecturer
Department of Modern Foreign Languages & Literatures
The purpose of this project is to create a place-based mobile language learning game to be deployed in the 200-level and upper division French courses. In this game, a series of scavenger-hunt-like activities, players will help two virtual visiting French students, Carine and Hugo, to discover the past and present French influences in the city of Knoxville, TN. Student players will be regularly assigned tasks from the platform and will have to complete their search by the end of the semester.