GTA@OIT Fall 2020 Call for Proposals

Invitation to Propose

OIT invites applications twice a year (Fall and Spring) from Graduate Teaching Assistants or Associates interested in expanding their teaching practice by redesigning a course or course component for Web-based delivery. We encourage applicants who are interested in reworking the content of a course for delivery in Online@UT (Canvas).

Award

If selected, you will receive an award of $1,000 to be used for travel and/or professional development purposes. Monies will be distributed as extra service pay. OIT staff will assist you in the redesign and development of your course component for online delivery. Course must be taught during Spring or Summer 2021.

Eligibility

You must be a Graduate Teaching Assistant or Associate within an academic department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Although you may be supervised by a professor, department head, or course advisor, you must have sole responsibility for teaching a class in order to apply. If you are chosen as a grant recipient, you must be willing to attend a consultation with the GTA@OIT Grant Coordinator by mid-October, 2020. The time and date for the consultation will be determined based on grant recipients’ schedules.

Program Requirements

If you are selected as a grant recipient, your responsibilities include:

1. Submitting three reflections on the Redesign Process to OIT once a month. Reflections are due: October 30, November 30, and December 30,​ 2020.
2. Designing and implementing a student assessment of your new course or course components.
3. Writing a final reflection on the Implementation Process to be submitted no later than Wednesday, June 30, 2021 for summer course delivery or Tuesday, August 31, 2021 for fall course delivery. The final reflection should cover the process and results of implementing the redesigned course or course component, and a description of the student assessment and its results.

How to Submit a Proposal

Please submit your proposal as either a Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF file attached to an e-mail. Send your proposal to cgoode@utk.edu. The deadline for submission is Friday, September 25, 2020. Award recipients will receive e-mail notification on Friday, October 2, 2020. If you have questions regarding this grant opportunity, please email Dr. Christina Goode (cgoode@utk.edu).

Proposal Guidelines
Your cover letter needs to include the following information:

1. Project title
2. Course taught
3. Contact information: your name, title, phone number, e-mail, and UT campus address with four-digit campus zip number
4. College and Department: your department’s account number
5. College Dean, the College Deans’ name, phone, and address with four-digit campus zip number
6. Department Head, the department head’s name, phone, and address with four-digit campus zip number
7. Department IRIS Approver: the IRIS Approver’s name, phone, and address with four-digit campus zip number

Abstract

Provide a one-paragraph summary of the course or course component/s to be developed.

Narrative

A narrative (maximum 3 single- or double-spaced pages) that includes the following information:

• Course Need: Discuss why the proposed course or course component is needed, and how placing your content online will enhance student learning.
• Course Description: Describe the course or course component in detail, including the intended content.

Project Schedule

Provide a timeline listing the major tasks for this component with anticipated completion dates for each task. Think of this timeline as including the following phases:

Phase I: Initial meeting with an IT specialist to discuss the process of reworking course content for delivery in an online environment. Tools to include: OIT’s Best Practices for Developing and Delivering Online Instruction at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the Best Practices for Designing Canvas Courses According to Universal Design for Learning.

Phase II: Meeting with the IT specialist and other grant recipients to discuss pros and cons of progress to date, share with group what has been accomplished, and introduce online evaluation methods.

Phase III: Analysis of process; show completed course or course component.

Statement of Institutional Support: A brief statement of support from your department head or course advisor will need to be submitted with the proposal. This statement should verify that you have sole responsibility for teaching the course.