Latest grants from the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation

Mon, 01 Oct 2018 10:54:45 -0400

UMBC is proud to announce the projects selected to receive grants in the 2017-2018 rounds of the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation competition.

IMPLEMENTATION & RESEARCH AWARD (Spring 2018)

Math, Fiction and Video: A STEAM Project (Implementation and Research Grant) — A multidisciplinary team led by Manil Suri (Mathematics) will explore the use of fiction and video in mathematics instruction, in the context of a redesign of Math 120, restructured around the Pl’s math novel, The Godfather of Numbers. This novel weaves in some of the present topics along with new ones, and can be expected to evoke a much stronger “interest experience” response in students. The team will develop a detailed website that includes mathematical exercises derived from the novel’s plotline, several short narrative videos to promote the understanding of key concepts, and a series of essays for publication in national media outlets.

ADAPTATION AWARD (Spring 2018)

“These Aren’t the Kids I signed up for”: General Education Teacher Candidates in Special Education Settings (Adaptation Grant) — Michele Stites (Education) will provide an opportunity for two groups of UMBC teacher candidates in early childhood, elementary, and secondary programs to complete an early field experience working in an inclusive setting. The teacher candidates will be placed in one of UMBC’s professional development schools where they will be mentored by an in-service special educator, spend three hours a week observing and assisting in-service special educators, and teach lessons in these classrooms under the guidance of their special education mentor teachers and a UMBC designated supervisor. This will allow UMBC’s teacher candidates to obtain authentic experience working with students of diverse abilities, a unique project in a field in which extensive review has indicated that general education teacher preparation programs do not include targeted field work in special education settings.

SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING & LEARNING AWARD (Fall 2017)

Reimagining the Beginning Conducting Curriculum (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grant) — A team led by Brian Kaufman (Music) will complete a study that will evaluate student reflections in a beginning conducting course in order to understand how the structure of the course and the process-focused assignments impact student learning. These reflections are written in UMBC’s project-based conducting class with the goal of helping students identify and develop successful practice strategies as well as experience and create their own process for approaching a conducting score. This study will help address the research showing that many standard beginning conducting class books focus primarily on the development of generic conducting gestures and lack comprehensive skill building in musical score study.

Proposals for the next round of Innovation Fund grants are due by October 26, 2018. For more information and to apply, visit UMBC's Faculty Development Center.

The Hrabowski Fund for Innovation exemplifies UMBC's commitment to investing in faculty initiatives that fuel creativity and enterprise, create opportunities for students' deeper engagement in their learning, and explore approaches to enhance student success.