Grant Abstracts 2012   California State University, East Bay James Murray Hayward, CA $250,000 June 2012 A team of faculty will acquire a confocal laser scanning microscope for use in undergraduate student research and teaching.  This instrument will strengthen the existing BioCore facility and programs in biotechnology, and support and enhance a wide range of extant research projects as well as encourage the development of new projects, particularly in understanding cell and subcellular biology.  Availability of this instrumentation at CSUEB will increase faculty research, engagement with local biotech firms, and opportunities for student hands-on engagement in cutting edge research in a supportive teaching environment.  In the context of the university’s commitment to STEM education, the confocal will be key to ensuring access to higher level learning experiences for the largely underrepresented student population, promoting scientific literacy and career opportunities in the biotech field.   Loyola Marymount University Eric Strauss, Curtis Bennett Los Angeles, CA $250,000 June 2012 In order to better support interdisciplinary teaching and research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), a team at LMU will design and implement an interdisciplinary training model that enhances professional development for faculty and postdoctoral fellows, and enriches undergraduate science education.  The program will specifically support: (1) training for postdoctoral fellows, focusing on their professional development as teacher-scholars in an interdisciplinary environment; (2) a series of collaborative workshops for postdocs and faculty, fostering interdisciplinary teaching and novel undergraduate research collaborations; and (3) the creation of a suite of collaboratively taught interdisciplinary courses that unite the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics.   St. Mary's University Winston Erevelles San Antonio, TX $250,000 June 2012 The goal of this project is to improve the quality of undergraduate engineering education and research at St. Mary’s University by upgrading the Automated Manufacturing and Robotics Laboratory (AMRL).  The improved AMRL will significantly strengthen key courses in the industrial engineering, engineering management, and engineering science programs and support the development of new courses in advanced manufacturing technologies.  In addition, the AMRL will support the emerging mechanical engineering program and offer capstone design experience support and undergraduate research opportunities to all 6 of the existing undergraduate engineering programs.  This will better prepare students for careers in industry or graduate education.  The new laboratory, along with the implementation of the educational system known as MARRS (Manufacturability, Assemblability, Reproducibility and Repeatability Synergy) will engage students in the conceive-design-build engineering process and synthesize theoretical and practical knowledge.  The new AMRL and related curriculum enhancements will allow St. Mary’s University to serve as a benchmark for professional engineering education within the context of a liberal arts university.   Trinity University Jennifer Steele San Antonio, TX $250,000 June 2012 The ability to see the structure of materials on a nanometer scale is visually stunning and plays an increasingly important role in many areas of scientific research.  With this grant, a team at Trinity will acquire state of the art equipment that will allow their students to both image and analyze materials at the nanoscale, illuminating how the structure of these materials informs their function, and telling the story of how these materials were formed.  They will purchase a scanning electron microscope with elemental analysis and cathodoluminescence, and two dynamic mode atomic force microscopes.  These tools will provide powerful imaging and analytical capabilities for both the curriculum and faculty-led student research projects in physics and astronomy, chemistry, biology, geosciences and engineering science.  One new course on nanotechnology fabrication methods will be developed, along with nanoscience lab modules for at least 14 existing courses across the STEM curriculum.  The target audience for these curricular enhancements is not only science majors, but also non-science majors enrolled in general education classes.  This project will also provide a structure, through faculty workshops and a select number of student research fellowships, for interactions that will spark further interdepartmental collaborations.   Grant Abstracts 2011   Association of American Colleges and Universities Susan Elrod Washington, DC $250,000 December 2011 For the past 20 years, countless reports have been issued calling for change and reform of undergraduate education to improve student learning and success in STEM; however, by many measures, recommendations in these reports have not been widely implemented.  Systemic change in higher education has proven difficult and research suggests that a focus on helping instructors implement more active, student-centered pedagogies will have an impact.  Research further suggests that the greatest gains in STEM education are likely to come from the development of strategies to encourage faculty and administrators to implement proven instructional strategies rather than to carry out additional research on these strategies.  Isolated efforts are not likely to yield the kind of widespread change described in national reports because colleges and universities are complex systems wherein multiple factors influence faculty actions, values and behaviors.  Existing reports rarely come with campus-level recommendations for institutional level changes or leadership actions required for implementing innovations and reforms on a wider scale.  Project Kaleidoscope, a national STEM reform organization housed at the American Association of Colleges and Universities, proposes to develop a comprehensive institutional STEM Effectiveness Framework to help campus leaders translate national report recommendations into scalable and sustainable institutional actions that improve recruitment, access, retention, learning and completion for all students in all STEM disciplines.   California Baptist University Anthony Donaldson Riverside, CA $250,000 December 2011 Equipment will be purchased to develop an advanced “green” computing, teaching and research laboratory with field programmable gate array (FPGA) hardware and robotics equipment.  Using the new laboratory and equipment, undergraduate engineering students will study bioinformatics; robotics (enhanced recognition, ethics-based decision making and sensor interface development); and computer energy optimization.  Currently, study in these areas is limited by speed, efficiency and/or cost of computing.  Students will explore hands-on hardware/software co-design approaches emphasizing efficient hardware designs combined with flexible software structure (mainly for microcontrollers).  Use of the laboratory, FPGA hardware and other equipment, concepts and applications will be integrated into all four years of the undergraduate Electrical Computing Engineering (ECE) degree curriculum by augmentation of eleven existing engineering courses, thereby facilitating faculty communication and, as a result, student outcomes and learning.  Engineering education at CBU will be more “relevant, attractive and connected,”  allowing expanded recruitment, retention, and graduation of qualified electrical/computer engineers, an engineering specialty documented to be suffering from a shortage of qualified engineers.   Harrisburg University Wm. David Burns Harrisburg, PA $250,000 December 2011 The National Center for Science and Civic Engagement (NCSCE) proposes to implement the initial launch of the Science and Civic Engagement Western Network (SCEWestNet), a multi institutional collaborative effort to promote, support and sustain college-level science education reform in the western region of the United States.  Building upon their NSF supported national science education reform project, SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities), they will overcome the serious obstacle of sustaining and growing reform – and creating an effective community of practice – across the expansive 17 states of the West by creating SCEWestNet.  Two established SENCER Centers of Innovation (SCI) (SCI-West at Santa Clara University and SCI-Southwest at Texas Woman’s University) will anchor SCEWestNet.  The SCIs will work with experienced SENCER leaders in the West to plan an effective set of seven regionally localized organizational units or network nodes.  These seven nodal partners, each working with three new institutions in their area, will work with the SCIs to scale up science education reform efforts.  SCEWestNet will develop a sustainable structure to overcome obstacles of scale and cost and contribute to achieving significant, lasting science education reform.   Occidental College Lisa Sousa Los Angeles, CA $250,000 December 2011 This project will enable Occidental College to integrate its curriculum in the arts, humanities and social sciences with Los Angeles arts and cultural institutions.  The project represents Occidental’s commitment to the increased centrality of scholarly activity to the undergraduate educational experience.  Faculty will build and deepen relationships with local organizations and develop courses, research assistantships and internships with these community partners that will span the entire four years of the undergraduate career.  Six research-oriented Keck Cultural Studies Program courses will equip first-year students with research skills, and six Keck Research Seminars for upper-division students will allow advanced hands-on research connected with the College’s partners, which include the Museum of Contemporary Art, Autry National Center, and Outpost for Contemporary Art.  Twelve 10-week Keck Summer Research Projects and four 9-month Keck Internships will provide opportunities for students to build upon the skills and knowledge they have acquired to pursue advanced research for senior thesis projects and/or gain valuable work experience.  Students’ skills, attitudes and perspectives will be transformed through engagement with the broader Los Angeles community, close relationships with faculty mentors and the deeper critical thinking that independent research makes possible.   Saint Mary's College of California Edward E. Tywoniak Moraga, CA $250,000 December 2011 Saint Mary’s College of California is expanding cross-disciplinary learning opportunities for undergraduates through the Digital Studies Across the Curriculum project. “Digital Studies” addresses four areas of intellectual activity: digital inquiry, digital learning, digital media studies and digital media practice.  The project’s goal is to build faculty and staff capacity and technological infrastructure to integrate digital studies into multiple courses.  The cross functional project team is made up of eight faculty from four disciplines (Anthropology, Art & Art History, Communication, and Mathematics & Computer Science) as well as technology and facilities staff and academic leadership.  This team will 1) equip and staff a half-sized digital media lab to be used to develop and offer new courses and support students and faculty who use digital media; 2) enhance the knowledge of faculty in instructional methods using digital media and in new course content; 3) create and pilot six new courses to form the core of a Digital Studies minor; 4) evaluate newly created courses for inclusion in the curriculum; 5) share project findings with the wider academic community; 6) institutionalize and sustain the project; and 7) prepare for the integration of digital studies across the Saint Mary’s curriculum.  The project will reach 52 faculty through professional development and ultimately will serve 400 students annually through the Digital Studies minor and courses that integrate digital media.   San Diego State University Stanley Maloy San Diego, CA $250,000 December 2011 In addition to the environmental impact, global climate change influences the dissemination and severity of infectious diseases – from changes in the geographical distribution of insect vectors to the transmission in food and water.  Countering these problems will require scientists with expertise that crosses traditional scientific disciplines and who are facile with computational modeling and mathematics.  This interface between environmental sciences and medical sciences is a very enticing topic for many undergraduates and has the potential to attract undergraduates to careers in science.  In addition, the interface between these fields provides an excellent opportunity to integrate multiple scientific disciplines in a meaningful way.  This intensive summer program for undergraduates will include hands-on training in environmental sampling, laboratory methods in microbiology and molecular genetics, computer simulation and mathematical modeling, coupled with workshops on research skills, scientific writing and responsible conduct of research.  The summer program will be followed by a year of undergraduate research experience that incorporates interdisciplinary seminars and training activities.  The program will focus on developing critical, quantitative thinking and teamwork and will prepare students to do undergraduate or graduate research in a variety of related fields.   Westminster College Bonnie Baxter New Wilmington, PA $250,000 December 2011 Great Salt Lake is an extreme ecosystem and a unique environmental feature.  This lake is the focus of a number of ongoing faculty/student projects at the Great Salt Lake Institute, a distinctive, interdisciplinary collaborative at Westminster College.  This lake has enormous potential for novel undergraduate research projects in an array of scientific disciplines.  A team at the college will link projects with a lake theme such that Great Salt Lake is the fabric for Building Research, Innovation and Novel Experimentation (BRINE).  The overarching goals of BRINE are: (1) Transform the landscape of undergraduate science education by adopting a theme-based, place-based research model that can be replicated at other institutions; (2) Build and support an interdisciplinary scholarship community centered around a unique geographic resource; (3) Impact the learning outcomes for science students; (4) Impact the scholarship and motivation of science faculty; (5) Evaluate the BRINE program and use data to inform the entire undergraduate research program at Westminster.  The College will draw on its proximity to Great Salt Lake and new undergraduate research facilities to help accomplish these goals.   California State University, Fresno Brent Auernheimer Fresno, CA $250,000 June 2011 California State University, Fresno will create a high performance computing facility focusing on undergraduate teaching and research.  The Computational Science Center (CSC) will establish collaboration spaces and computer clusters to facilitate the interdisciplinary flow of faculty, students and knowledge across conventional departmental barriers.  Providing computing resources not currently available to undergraduates promises to revolutionize teaching and research.  The CSC will be used in updated undergraduate courses in bioinformatics, seismic data processing, climate modeling, and parallel programming and architecture, as well as an exciting new general education course open to all majors: Compo Sci. 100, “Introduction to Scientific Computing.”  The CSC aligns with the College of Science and Mathematics emphasis on undergraduate research as a major force in student success.  Finally, the use of collaboration spaces and the collaborative approaches to computational science are key because problems requiring cluster computing are typically solved cooperatively, and employers value graduates with experience working in heterogeneous teams.   California State University, Northridge Maria Elena Zavala Northridge, CA $250,000 June 2011 The College of Science and Mathematics seeks to help fund a confocal laser microscope (CM).  Placed in the microscopy suite in the College’s new Chaparral Hall, home of the Department of Biology, the CM will provide participating project faculty and undergraduates who will be jointly investigating selected research topics with fundamental instrumentation that overcomes limitations of the university’s current technology.  Offering sophisticated computerized imaging essential in modern approaches to biology, the CM will advance the College’s overall goal of performing world-class biology research that also enriches undergraduate science education, promotes student professional development, and encourages graduate studies.  The CM will vastly increase the number of students, many from traditionally underrepresented populations, who are exposed to computerized imaging, modern biology concepts, and related research, while also affording the basis for external funding of future projects.   Linfield College Jeff Peterson McMinnville, OR $250,000 June 2011 Linfield College has established the Linfield Center for the Northwest, a program enhancing undergraduate education through the active cultivation of a collaborative experiential learning community.  Center activities include Northwest-based 1) internships, 2) service learning opportunities, and 3) student-faculty collaborative research projects.  Linfield seeks to support the proposed three-year Keck Community-Engaged Research-to-Classroom Program, focused on research meeting identified needs in the Pacific Northwest.  The project expands Linfield’s current campus-wide research initiative by offering students opportunities to apply academic theory in community-engaged research experiences each summer.  Students engaged as summer researchers will subsequently serve as peer instructors, working collaboratively with faculty to integrate their investigations into course redesign initiatives.  A series of dissemination activities will focus on project best practices and research outcomes.  LCN will provide the unique intersection of academic research, course curricula and community interests that will impact 15 faculty researchers, 30 student researchers and approximately 250 Linfield students between the 2011-12 and the 2013-14 academic years.   Regis University Thomas Bowie Denver, CO $250,000 June 2011 In order to engage students in integrative learning that will prepare them to deal with a world characterized by complex and often ill-defined issues, Regis University will mount a multi faceted faculty development effort.  The primary method to build the integrative capacity of half the faculty is through an innovative, two-week institute offered over three consecutive summers.  This Integrative Teaching Institute (ITI) will serve 49 total faculty, in four integrative thematic areas, who will design or significantly revise a total of 48 integrative courses.  These faculty and courses will impact over 1,000 juniors and seniors at least twice during the grant period and virtually all traditional undergraduates in the years to come.  To this end, four unique strategies are employed.  First, the ITI design is itself integrative.  Second, the two-week duration of the program far exceeds the more typical two- or three-day development seminar.  Such as intensive approach often transforms how faculty members approach all their courses.  Now magnify this impact to half of the faculty.  Involving a critical mass of faculty instead of a smaller group is the third strategy.  Finally, this is a systemic approach that will build critical mass through the ITI, support it during the academic year with on-going discussions and conferences, increase faculty incentives and eventually integrate the ITI into a university-wide center.   Xavier University of Louisiana Leonard Jack New Orleans, LA $250,000 June 2011 Xavier University of Louisiana completed a feasibility study in 2010 to determine the merits and challenges of establishing an undergraduate program in public health.  The concept for this proposed program emerges from Xavier’s exemplary reputation in the health sciences and the superior faculty in these areas that would also support a public health curriculum.  This project will be advanced through several programmatic areas including administrative coordination, curriculum development, procuring library resources, expert consultation, and outcome assessment and evaluation.  Xavier has an exceptional record of graduating African American students in the physical sciences.  Xavier’s proposed curriculum for this project underscores its dependence on the liberal arts to nurture conscientious and well-rounded public health professionals.  To facilitate this work, the program’s organizational structure includes the creation of a formal academic public health program, continued dialogue with both internal and external experts in public health and related disciplines, and a rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum grounded in a solid liberal arts foundation.   Grant Abstracts 2010   Benedictine College Darrin Muggli, Sherri Barrett, Douglas Brothers, Myron Fanton, Kimberly Shankman Atchison, KS $250,000 2010 The project creates a model that uses distance education to establish engineering programs rapidly and economically at four-year institutions that would otherwise not have the resources to do so. With modest costs and little risk, this flexible model can be replicated at any of the 83% of the nation’s colleges that do not now offer engineering degrees. The presence of engineering degree alternatives at these colleges would provide students across the USA with previously unavailable options and could attract additional students to engineering careers. Benedictine College will serve as the proving ground for the model’s full implementation and evaluation. A key component in establishing engineering programs is the acquisition of laboratory equipment, which the proposed model addresses in detail and which comprises the majority of the project budget. The project may bring about change in the way engineering programs are initiated and/or expanded as well as increase substantially the number of engineering graduates in the nation.   California State University, Chico Michael Briand, Lee Altier, William Loker, Lori Weber, Thia Wolf Chico, CA $250,000 2010 California State University, Chico will use its grant from the Keck Foundation for the purpose of extending the principles of “Public Sphere Pedagogy” (PSP) to general education courses beyond the first year. Developed originally to introduce the idea of civic learning into classes taken by freshmen, PSP is a teaching strategy that demonstrably enhances both students’ scholarship and their readiness to take up their responsibilities as adult members of a democracy. The grant will support three activities: First, it will offer assistance to faculty interested in developing new courses or civic learning opportunities for the “pathways” that will constitute the University’s new General Education program. Second, through annual “Civic Learning Institutes” and the subsequent formation of an ongoing faculty learning community, it will provide faculty with training in building on PSP principles and methods in the courses they teach. Third, through a “Neighborhood Connections Project,” it will create a community situated laboratory where students can learn first-hand how to do the work of citizens. Students will be trained to work in local neighborhoods helping residents establish civic networks that will improve communication, foster the growth of collaborative relationships, and enhance their ability to take action that strengthens both their neighborhoods and the community as a whole. The new Keck-supported activities will advance substantially the University’s effort to transform the way members of the campus, local communities and the region interact. By strengthening the ties that bind together commitments to scholarship, teaching, and public service, the campus will significantly improve the civic preparation of its students and revitalize the civic mission of both Chico State University and the institution of the university in American life.   California State University, Channel Islands Kathryn Leonard, Bradley Monsma Camarillo, CA $250,000 2010 Requested funding will support development and implementation of a collaborative Stepladder Program for Interdisciplinary Research and Learning (SPIRaL) as part of a larger campus-wide effort to institutionalize undergraduate research at CSU Channel Islands. SPIRaL begins with new courses at the lower division that introduce common research methods and develop analytical tools and skills. It then builds upon these fundamentals by engaging students in increasingly sophisticated research projects at the middle and upper divisions. By introducing interdisciplinary research at the lower division in a way that demonstrates the university’s commitment to community engagement and service learning, SPIRaL will systematically develop intellectual depth and breadth in a broad spectrum of the student population, and will encourage students to develop career and life goals marked by engaged curiosity, sustained passion and civic responsibility. At the same time, the stepladder structure will cultivate expertise in the students continuing on to senior-level interdisciplinary research. As a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) the university has developed structures that will support efforts to invite underserved student populations into innovative research projects that promote individual academic success and increased university retention and graduation rates.   Dominican University of California Sibdas Ghosh, Roland Cooper, Christopher Endicott, Sheila Johnson-Brousseau, Maggie Louie, Mohammed El Majdoubi, Warren Hoeffler San Rafael, CA $250,000 2010 This project will acquire a laser confocal microscope to be housed in the 35,000 square-foot Science Center. The goals are to: 1) broaden the scope and depth of current research topics; 2) augment student/faculty collaborative research; and 3) enhance the content of biology courses and expand student training by developing additional upper division courses in cell imaging. The confocal will be central to a new inquiry-based Cell Imaging Technology course and Stem Cell Technology course, designed to prepare students to advance into graduate school, in particular the MS in Biological Sciences offered in association with the Buck Institute for Age Research and BioMarin Pharmaceutical. A high-resolution spectral confocal microscope is necessary to both advance research and expand Dominican’s capability to provide students with the active learning experience needed to pursue advanced degrees and/or careers in biotechnology. The confocal microscope will foster unique learning experiences in many areas of science while strengthening Dominican’s capacity for collaborative research with the Bay Area’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. These partnerships create significant internship and employment opportunities to further enrich students’ learning experience.   Pepperdine University Lee Kats, Stephen Davis, Constance Fulmer Malibu, CA $250,000 2010 Developing the Undergraduate Student as Scholar: An Institutional Approach to Early Student Engagement, also known as the Student as Scholar Program (SASP), will engage 760 students over four years (190 students annually) in original research and scholarship beginning their first term at Pepperdine with the overarching goal of developing students as scholars. Integration of research into the curriculum will consist of ten sections of first-year seminar courses, drawn from each of the eight academic divisions, which will be devoted to research and inquiry. Project directors will equip ten enthusiastic and experienced faculty members to utilize learner centered practices to encourage students to design and implement original research projects as first-year students. Through innovative pedagogical methods, faculty mentors will help facilitate a transformative shift in thought, empowering first-year students to pursue their own ideas and make scholarly contributions to their disciplines. All SASP participants will complete mini-grant proposals as a final intellectual exercise in the course. They will have the option to seek funding for summer projects. The anticipated impact of these courses will be seen in the number of students pursuing subsequent research experiences, publishing scholarly articles and applying for nationally competitive awards.   Santa Clara University Amy Shacter, Amelia Fuller, James Grainger, Ashley Kim, Katy Korsmeyer, Korin Wheeler Santa Clara, CA $250,000 2010 The Advanced Bioscience Initiative will expand educational opportunities for diverse undergraduates to enter biotech industries, advanced degree programs or medical schools. The initiative leverages Santa Clara’s institutional investments, collaborative partnerships and faculty expertise to ensure that more students are equipped, through rigorous undergraduate curricula, research experiences and ethical inquiries, to enter and excel in emerging bioscientific disciplines or San Francisco Bay Area companies. The effort also includes outreach activities in collaboration with the Santa Clara County Biotechnology Education Partnership and Bay Area Biotechnology Education Consortium to engage high school students and academically orient them to exciting bioscience careers, which make up an expanding portion of the regional economy.   Willamette University Mark Stewart, Stasinos Stavrianeas Salem, OR $250,000 2010 Willamette University seeks funds to incentivize a faculty peer-mentoring network to integrate interdisciplinary (ID) and numeracy elements into its science pedagogy and curriculum. Implementation of the iScience pedagogical framework will empower faculty participants to design and put into practice ID teaching and numeracy modules for use in their classrooms and laboratories, benefiting science and non-science students alike. The network will facilitate development of faculty, curriculum and science pedagogy, and enable the design of appropriate assessment strategies. Regional build-out of the iScience framework will occur through connections to participating colleagues at other campuses, as well as through an established regional faculty network currently undergoing transformation. The timing of this proposal coincides with the creation of Willamette’s new Quantitative Analysis and Design (QUAD) Center, the hiring of over 25 new faculty members, and transition to a 3-2 teaching load. This is an ideal time at Willamette, in this project’s development, and in the timeline of regional networking to introduce innovative, updated science pedagogy and curriculum to reflect modern science education standards.   Grant Abstracts 2009   California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Raul Cano San Luis Obispo, CA $249,504 2009 The project will develop an integrated, multidisciplinary, undergraduate curriculum in molecular forensics to promote an undergraduate research community and prepare students for careers and graduate study. Initially focused on producing a working database of E. coli sequences, this curriculum will be delivered to over 1,000 students each year in lab-based courses in the Colleges of Science and Mathematics, Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, and Engineering. Combining analytical procedures from microbiology, molecular biology and bioinformatics, the program will engage undergraduates in applied, cutting-edge research with broad potential in the areas of food and water safety. The requested pyrosequencing equipment, capable of rapid, sequence-based analysis of microbes, is key to the project aims: integrating explicit pedagogic, research and product development goals into the curriculum from introductory to advanced courses and senior capstone projects. The equipment fosters an experimental mindset and provides a platform for student involvement in developing a microbial forensics database to sub-type strains from a variety of sources. The proposed instrumentation will transform the way students experience the application of technology in scientific discovery and will contribute to the development of other applied research directions across campus.   Lewis & Clark College Julio de Paula Portland, OR $250,000 2009 As it seeks to shape the future of its programs in the mathematical and natural sciences, Lewis & Clark College will take advantage of the inherent flexibility of the liberal arts setting to make significant changes in its science curriculum and its research environment. Within the next three years, Lewis & Clark will develop the academic discipline of nanoscience through enhanced curriculum, the hire of postdoctoral researchers/teachers, acquisition of a new scanning electron microscope and support of new and established faculty research projects in this area. Lewis & Clark’s proposed nanoscience program development is unique among regional liberal arts institutions as the aim of program is to advance undergraduate liberal arts education in which students have access to hands-on research opportunities in nanoscience at a level far beyond average offerings. Lewis & Clark will benefit from this project for decades after the proposed grant period expires, as this project lays the foundation for faculty research programs sure to succeed, courses that will allow students to understand the technology and science of the future, and access to cutting-edge equipment by generations of students.   Mount St. Mary's College Pam Haldeman Los Angeles, CA $250,000 2009 Mount St. Mary's College seeks to increase the use of film as a campus-wide pedagogical tool while expanding its program in film and social justice, a unique undergraduate major that uses the power of filmmaking to promote active learning across academic disciplines, engages students in the local community and, ultimately, develops strong-voiced leaders who will contribute to positive social change. The program has demonstrated its ability to give students the skills both to make powerful films that address important social justice issues and to gain entry into the entertainment industry – where, as women from diverse ethnic backgrounds, they are vastly underrepresented. With a fully developed curriculum, established internship relationships and newly constructed production and editing studios, the film and social justice program is poised to expand. The requested funds will primarily support: (a) expansion of two part-time faculty positions to full-time over the three-year grant period; (b) reassigned time for the program director; and (c) acquisition of film production equipment. The goals are to build enrollment in the program, further integrate the program into other departments, develop a strong online presence, and expand the program’s impact beyond the College through partnerships with high schools and community-based organizations and, ultimately, to increase diversity in the film industry.   University of Redlands, California Diana Sinton Redlands, CA $250,000 2009 LEarNing Spatially (LENS) is a campus-wide initiative promoting spatial literacy as a foundational component within an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum. LENS harnesses the integrative power of geography with technologies to help faculty and students visualize knowledge, solve problems and understand relationships through a spatial lens. We create opportunities for faculty and students from diverse liberal arts disciplines to use maps, mapping and spatial perspectives in order to develop new understanding and insights for their teaching and research. Our approach targets faculty development through fellowships and workshops, student opportunities through internships and collaborative research, and enhancements to existing technical support and infrastructure. We emphasize graphicacy skills among students, adding “critical viewing” expertise to the other competencies in writing, reading, speaking and thinking that are cultivated during higher education. LENS moves beyond teaching simply a tool or suite of technologies; it represents a global first for how 21st century geospatial technologies can be linked to the greater pedagogic objectives of critical thinking and problem-based learning.   Whittier College Charlotte Borst Whittier, CA $250,000 2009 Whittier College seeks support for the establishment of two Centers: for Science, Health and Policy; and for Interdisciplinary Collaborations with the Arts. These Centers will maximize student learning by advancing the College’s deep commitment to interdisciplinary curricula, collaborative teaching, undergraduate research and internships, and the integration of student learning experiences within local, national and international communities. A centerpiece of the project will be the Keck Undergraduate Fellows Program which will give financial and mentoring support to 21 of the College’s best students, providing funds for internships and research assistantships in the summer following their junior year and for continuing scholarly activity during their senior year. Requested funds also will support the development of eight new interdisciplinary courses tied to the two Centers; travel to external communities; visits from field leaders to campus; interdisciplinary symposiums; and course release time for the Centers’ faculty Directors as they lead faculty in the execution of new Center activities. The primary goal, building upon Whittier’s curricular strengths, is to establish the Centers as interdisciplinary and community-oriented focal points of intellectual activity and high student achievement on campus.   California State University, Northridge Behzad Bavarian Northridge, CA $500,000 2008 The College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) at California State University Northridge (CSUN), in collaboration with the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM), will acquire a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). This system will provide the fundamental tools needed by faculty and students in the interdisciplinary Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) program to investigate the complex phenomena that occur at the nanosize scale, and should advance the overall goal of bridging experimental and theoretical approaches to nanotechnology in research and teaching. The FESEM-NUE project will greatly enrich both colleges undergraduate curricula, increase early student exposure to nanotechnology, provide opportunities for student participation in sophisticated academic-industry research collaborations, and grant diverse students a competitive advantage for graduate studies and careers while meeting their financial needs. The project builds upon earlier curricular advances and student research engagement achieved with advanced computing equipment and sensitive microanalytic instrumentation acquired under a prior W. M. Keck Foundation grant.   Grant Abstracts 2008   Simmons College Leonard Soltzberg Boston, MA $245,000 2008 The Undergraduate Laboratory Renaissance program will replace closed-end laboratory experiments with research-based laboratory work in each area of undergraduate science. A project based on a faculty member's research will form the basis for the semester's laboratory work, with teams of four students working on different aspects of the project. Upper-division majors will mentor students in research methodology and instrumental techniques. To coordinate research activity among several laboratory sections meeting each week, a Wiki-based laboratory notebook will be used to communicate results. When this research-based program is fully implemented, all students contemplating majors in chemistry, biochemistry, chemistry/pharmacy, and biology will participate in research beginning in the sophomore year following an introduction to research methodology during the spring of their first year.   University of California, Los Angeles Willeke Wendrich Los Angeles, CA $500,000 2008 UCLA has identified, as a critical next step in its Digital Humanities initiative, the creation of an undergraduate curriculum in the emergent field of digital cultural mapping. By integrating Geographic Information Systems into traditional methods of humanistic inquiry, digital cultural mapping uses informatics, spatial modeling, and time-space visualizations to create new tools and methods for investigating cultural, historical and social dynamics. Building on the tradition of a liberal arts education at UCLA, the curriculum will teach students critical reasoning, sound judgment, intellectual openness, and team-based problem solving. Students will learn to utilize, create, and evaluate the tools and technologies related to the geo-temporal web, a global information network in which location and information have merged together and datastreams are organized, processed, and viewed according to the parameters of space and time. The curriculum is unique because it draws faculty from seven different disciplines, bridges the resources of three research and teaching centers at UCLA, and uses new geo-technologies to develop collaborative, project-based approaches to learning with real-world applications.