Bush Foundation Report Form

Cover Sheet*

Date of Report:

2-27-04

Organization Information

Spelman College
Name of organization	Legal name, if different
350 Spelman Lane	58-0566243
AddressÝÝÝ	Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Atlanta, GA 30314
City, State, Zip
404-681-3643ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ 404-270-5581ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ www.spelman.edu/bush-hewlett 404-270-5580
Phone ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ FaxÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Web siteÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ
Dr. Anne B. WarnerÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Associate Professor of EnglishÝÝÝ 404-270-5580ÝÝÝ awarner@spelman.edu
Contact person ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ TitleÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ PhoneÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ E-mail

Grant Information

Grant ID, if applicable:	Bush-Hewlett Program/GrantÝ #20151
Amount and support type:		Date grant issued:
$299,977Ý ÝFaculty Development Grant		11-7-02
A faculty development grant, ìBuilding Virtual Learning Communitiesî provides technological
and editorial support for faculty group projects involving students in research and website production.Ý
It proposes to bring web technology, research, and communication together in such a way to offer
a medium for changing classroom dynamics toward more collaborative, student-centered activities.Ý

Check One:

Interim Report	Final Report
x

Bush Foundation Report Form*

Report Narrative

1. Please briefly outline your original goals and objectives, as stated in your proposal.

Student learning goals include (1) improved student communication skills, in writing, in working with new media, in ìpublishingî material on a website, i.e. increased student effort and learning in preparing documents and responding to readersí reactions; (2) improved student ability to conduct research; (3) improved student engagement and productivity; (4) improved independence and accountability in student activities; and (5) improved student ability to collaborate with peers and with broader, off-campus communities.

Faculty development goals include (1) change in course design and delivery, i.e. new pedagogies that include mentoring, critiquing, and collaborating among students (and faculty) in different disciplines and on a wide variety of topics; (2) increased faculty ability to manage student groups that use a project-driven model and active learning; and (3) increased communication about pedagogies among faculty.

Institutional goals include (1) increased student awareness of diverse global perspectives, as articulated in the mission statement; (2) identification of effective student pedagogies, as an aspect of successful faculty development; and (3) increased interaction within the academic community and with broader communities, including, for instance, interdisciplinary activities and service learning.

2. What progress have you made toward your original goals and objectives?Ý What activities led to meeting these goals and objectives?

Student Learning Goals

ÝÝÝÝÝ In looking at our progress among student objectives, we recorded the best improvements in student online researchóin student knowledge of databases and appropriate use of them.Ý This result came from workshops provided by grant personnel in online research techniques (and documentation) and coordinated class assignments. The second greatest progress related to student ability to use software applications for new media.

ÝÝÝÝÝ Our first goal listed above, especially as related to improving writing skills, showed only small increments in student self-assessment in the pre- and post- surveys, even though many students participated in developing websites. In the first semester of the grant, students in Dr. Knadlerís Latina/o literature course responded to specific questions about the impact of the grant by agreeing that the prospect of real audience publication and combining new media with writing heightened their engagement.Ý According to the student free responses in three fall classes, only the creative writing students frequently named goals achieved in improved writing; students in the dance and art classes mostly named goals related to course content and knowledge.Ý Methods for addressing writing skills included inviting consultants for workshops in special areas, presenting our own workshops on modes of establishing editorial standards, and, upon faculty request, supporting the editorial groups in their selection and revision of material.Ý To address new media technology, we presented in-class workshops and out-of-class tutorials to appropriate groups in DreamWeaver, Photoshop, video and audio capture, SoundEdit, iMovie, Flash, etc. The Bush-funded and trained student assistants offered technological support to individual faculty and classroom groups.

ÝÝÝÝÝ In the categories of engagement, productivity, and collaboration, student free responses conveyed disparate experiences.Ý Several students discussed the benefit of learning to function in a group; others cited the frustrations.Ý Rather than increasing student productivity, the projects sometimes seemed like added work to the students, and most found the process of preparing material for publication complex and demanding.Ý The best results came from classes where the teacher was able to make the publication project central to the course goals.Ý The structure of the project, the way the technology is embedded in the course material, seems a key element for achievement of student engagement and productivity.Ý We addressed forming successful groups in faculty training at the August workshop and will again, with Professor William Condon in November, but this area needs greater attention.Ý In addition to strengthening group work, the grant personnel need to find structures that maximize student engagement and measure the intellectual gains of the students.Ý Professor Condonís letter, in our support documents, charts our course through student pedagogy and assessment.

Faculty Development Goals:Ý

The August workshop addressed both course design and modes of working in groups.Ý Most faculty participants have commented on the difficulty of incorporating project-driven assignments with groupsóin addition to delivering the more traditional course content.Ý Transforming teaching approaches to a student-driven model challenges us all. Arranging schedules for group project delivery and embedding critical thinking evaluations into syllabi became the major challenges of the Bush Summer Fellows Workshop.Ý Faculty had conferences with the project personnel about the organization of syllabi, the scheduling of project workshops, and the process for web publication.ÝÝ Professor Condonís workshops in June, November, and January addressed ways to organize group work and ways to integrate assessment into pedagogically sound assignments.Ý These efforts were directed at changing course design.Ý Faculty have commented on the complexity and the effort needed for shifting teaching paradigms; the shift is problematic but ongoing.Ý One clear accomplishment of the workshops and the WebCT site for student comments, survey results, and faculty narratives is increased faculty reflection and communication about pedagogy.Ý Special focus now involves folding assessment of student learning into the learning process.

Institutional Goals:

The goal articulating increased student awareness of diverse global perspectives has been integrated into several projects, though they are very much in progress.Ý The Bush Fellows constantly work at identifying effective student pedagogiesóand ineffective ones.Ý Particularly in the annual Fellowsí presentations, the August workshop, and the recent recruitment workshop, one can observe the faculty discussion of what worksóand faculty analysis of why some processes are less effective. Projects conducted by the 13 Bush Fellows so far demonstrate considerable successful interdisciplinary activities, particularly in the arts (less in service learning).Ý The grant administratorsí and other facultyís meetings with new fellows developing projects were a key element here.

3. If applicable, describe the population served or community reached during the grant period.Ý Use numbers and demographics such as race/ethnicity, gender or geographic location.Ý

ÝÝÝÝÝ Spelman College is nationally recognized as a leading historically Black, private liberal arts institution for women.Ý In the Atlanta University Center, a consortium of five historically Black institutions, Spelman enrolls 2,000 students from 43 states and 16 international countries, employs about 150 full-time faculty, and offers a challenging liberal arts curriculum that has prepared more than six generations of African American women to reach the highest levels of academic, community, and professional achievement.

ÝÝÝÝÝ The 13 Bush-Hewlett Fellows and one other ìvolunteerî faculty have worked with 25 classes (in three semesters, including Spring 2004), with the intensity of student participation varying greatly.Ý Several courses include contributions from artists, students, and faculty across the world.Ý The typical Bush project class enrolls under 20 students.

4. Were there any unanticipated results, either positive or negative?Ý What did you learn because of this grant?

ÝÝÝÝÝ The most important unanticipated results of our workóand the learning that has come with them--are as follows:

o Assessment is a moving target for us and has occupied a great deal of our effort.Ý Rather than focusing on the product (behind the firewall site or Internet website) for assessment, we have shifted focus to looking at student responses, and, particularly, to using the principles behind the Washington State University Critical Thinking Rubric for integrating modes for assessment with pedagogy.Ý Professor William Condon, who has worked with us to make our assessment effort more ìrobust,î is giving the project ongoing support and response.Ý We look forward to a formal evaluation in May.

o Every good project may not fit into our project schedule and framework.Ý Some projects canít be ready for the Internet in a one-semester or even a one-year timeframe.Ý They may need further development each time the course is offered.Ý Moreover, some projects have come to the grant administrators through serendipity.Ý For instance, with cooperation between the Director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art and several upper division Japanese classes taught by Professor Xuexin Liu, we are developing a website displaying work of an emerging artist, iona rozeal brown, with short cultural commentary from students in English and in Japanese.

o Interdisciplinary faculty effort has been strongest in the creative arts; faculty are developing sites that connect writing and art, drama and dance, and art and research.Ý These linked creative sites have the greatest probability of being sustained.

o The difficulty in student production of properly edited and documented manuscripts has been greater than anticipated.Ý Students sometimes react to the prospect of being published with fear and trepidation; sometimes they produce work without full observation of our standards for respecting intellectual property on the web.

o The ìstart-upî for websitesóthe initial design process and the delivery of the first contentóis by far the most daunting phase.

5. Will you make any changes based on these results?

ÝÝÝÝÝ We expect to make the following changes in implementing the grant:

o We are working for more robust assessment strategies.Ý This process involves tailoring appropriate techniques to individual faculty syllabi and classroom activities.

o We hope to find greater support for editorial processesóthrough consultants and through increased structure for working with the editorial student groups.

o The successes among our projects demand a focus on ongoing sites with cross-disciplinary but related content.Ý We see these projects as long-term.Ý The ìstart-upî of each project is the most difficult phase.

o ÝIntegration of museum exhibits into student academic life is a new goal for our project.

6. What are your future plans for sustaining this program or project?Ý (For program/project grants only.)

ÝÝÝÝÝ Several key groups among the Bush projects have a momentum and a structure for being sustained over time:Ý Arturo Lindsayís project, for instance, is designed to present the annual senior art exhibit at Spelman, with statements by the artists, on line.Ý This gallery should be established for each consecutive graduating group of art majors.Ý Our creative writing website, which includes poetry, fiction, criticism, interviews, and some multi-media projects, should have a continued sponsorship through the classes in the Writing Minor.Ý The site calls for contributions from writers throughout the world; the editorial process will be maintained through students in creative writing classes.Ý We hope for increased uses of videotapes and sound to enhance future treatment of artistic production.Ý

ÝÝÝÝÝ Individual courses, like Stephen Knadlerís Latino/a Literature, may have students editing the pieces submitted by the last class, preparing them for publication, and creating new critical work.Ý The second class will work far more closely with permissions and releases.Ý

ÝÝÝÝÝ In the social sciences, newly recruited faculty members have proposed development of a website to establish guidance to senior thesis writers, offering sample texts and faculty discussion of the various types of appropriate research.Ý Such a website would have an ongoing function.Ý Other such sites in other disciplines might followóstrengthening the Writing Across the Curriculum effort that is important to our studentsí futures.

7. Are there any other important outcomes as a result of this grant?

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Our efforts at structuring appropriate and useful assessment techniques, largely through Professor William Condon, have expanded into a larger project which will be sponsored by BEAMS, a funded faculty, administrative, and student group which is committed to raising the level of academic challenge on campus.Ý With the endorsement of BEAMS and the support of the Writing Center and the Bush-Hewlett Fellows, there will be a large assessment training workshop in Juneówith as many as 30 facultyówith Professor Condon and several colleagues.Ý The initial goal is to develop use of the Critical Thinking Rubric in the courses in general education.Ý This broader faculty training will contribute to goals endorsed by the Bush Foundation and to goals of foremost importance to the Bush-Hewlett Program here.

8. Do you have any plans to share your results or findings?Ý How?

Ý

With the current development of a Bush-Hewlett WebCT site allowing full exploration of the proposals and outcomes of our Fellowsí work, we expect that such access, as our body of material grows, will support faculty presentations about their own projects and the body of knowledge the group has gained about student learning and performance.Ý This protected site will feature faculty proposals, narratives, a record of faculty workshops and presentations, a comprehensive schedule of student workshops, student free responses, exit interviews and quantitative critical thinking assessments as they develop.Ý With the body of material to be gathered by May, faculty may begin to shape group and individual presentations on the projects and the pedagogy for conferences by such organizations as CCCC, Syllabus, Mid-South Technology Conference, etc.Ý We are conserving travel money for this purpose.

Financials

1. Please attach an income and expense statement for this grant period.Ý Also, include your original budget.Ý A side-by-side comparison with differences noted is most helpful.

ÝÝÝÝÝ Attached is the official Spelman ìFinancial Status Reportî for the period from 1 January 2003 until 30 November 2004 and the original ìBuilding Virtual Learning Communitiesî budget in four sections:Ý The spring, 2003, semester; the 2003-2004 term; the 2004-2005 term; and the fall, 2005 semester.Ý To clarify the relationship between these two quite different budget structures, I added a ìBush Foundation Interim Report Supplement, February, 2004,î which summarizes the items from the proposal budget as they are listed in Spelman budget lines--as well as showing the expenses to date.

2. If this is an interim report, please attach a statement including income and expenses for grant period to date.Ý If this is a final report, please attach a statement including actual income and expenses for the entire grant period.Ý

3. Capital grant recipients should update Tables I and II (sources and uses of funds) from their original application.

4. Please feel free to include a narrative for any of your expenses and income, if necessary.

As the ìBush Foundation Interim Report Supplement, February, 2004î indicates, the administrators of the grant see strengthening the outcomes and balancing final budget amounts through the following proposed actions:

• Increase the support of student assistants (in technology and writing) through a transfer of $5000 from Faculty Part-time Salaries.
• Balancing the budget on overtime pay for Ms. Tidwell by a transfer from Faculty Part-time Salaries or Room and Board.
• Possible increase in travel budget through a transfer.

5. Please include a list of additional funders, including amounts received for this project or program.

ÝÝÝÝÝ During the first year of the Bush-Hewlett Grant we have received support in the following areas:

o Comprehensive Writing Program, Title IIIóprovided a consultant in assessment (for three different sessions): William Condon, Title III, $3500

o English Department, Hallmarkóprovided a consultant for online journals and editing:Ý GiovanniÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Singleton, $1000

o BEAMS (Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students):Ý Workshop on Assessment (scheduled for July)

o MERIT, Title IIIópurchased a Digital Camera,Ý @ $500