Gene Abrams & Radu Cascaval. Evaluating the Benefits of Providing Online Video Lectures to In-Class Students Enrolled in Math Courses at UCCS.

The investigators are planning to assess the impact of online video archives on the in-class student population in several courses (MathOnline and non-MathOnline) presently offered by the Department of Mathematics at UCCS.  The primary focus will be on designing, collecting and analyzing data pertinent to the topic of this study.  The study is part of the CU system-wide 2006-2007 President’s Teaching and Learning Collaborative program. 

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The Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) offers an undergraduate, interdisciplinary degree that encourages innovative collaboration between the disciplines of art history, film studies, music, theatre, and the visual arts.  Students complete this degree with a primary concentration in one area and develop a comprehensive knowledge in each of the remaining areas through enrollment in a series of required, core VAPA courses and electives.  In the fall of 2005 the VAPA faculty established the major and a set of three core courses:  VAPA 100, VAPA 390, and VAPA 400, the latter serving as a capstone.  Presently, the department is ready to being the process of conceptualizing an assessment plan tied to the three core VAPA courses.  Our proposal.  Assessing Learning in the Interdisciplinary major of Visual and Performing Arts, represents the pilot phase of what we expect to be a three year project that will consist of the creation of a comprehensive assessment model, the analysis of collected data, and finally , and appraisal of the value of the model and its execution, the outcome of which will inform future assessment goals. 

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Suzanne Byerley.  Assessment of the Kraemer Family Library Information Literacy Instruction Program in English 141.

Kraemer Family Library provides a comprehensive program of information literacy instruction to students at UCCS.  Foundational instruction begins in English 141, Writing and Rhetoric II, where students are introduced to basic library research skills that lay the groundwork for developing learners who are self-sufficient in finding, evaluating and using information effectively.   My proposal seeks funding to design an online affective survey that will help the Library evaluate and improve the foundational instruction program. 

As I transition from Web Services Librarian to Library Instruction Coordinator, I would like to attend the LOEX conference to learn more about current trends and practices in designing nd assessing information literacy program in higher education. 

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 Elaine Cheeseman & Gaynelle Winograd. Clicker Implementation and Assessment for Learning Styles inEducation and Communication Courses.

As a pilot phase, this proposal for an assessment projects seeks to initiate investigating the efficacy of interactive teaching using interactive classroom technology (ICT), or clickers, for different learning styles across five education and communication courses.  Using clickers has proven effective in stimulating teaching interaction and peer collaborative learning, whether in large lecture or small classes.  There is, however, a gap in studying and measuring the effectiveness of the approach with different learning styles an their subsequent perception of course effectiveness.  This collaborative project initially builds the groundwork for collegial partnerships – as instructors, researchers, and curriculum redesigners – for professional development across three departments and two colleges at UCCS. 

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Mary Ann Kluge, Linda Glick & Jackie Crouch.  Assessing Preservice Healthcare Professionals' Therapeutic Communication Skills using CommuniCoach.

This project aims to explore the capacity of CommuniCoach, a software tool for viewing and assessing video recordings.  Phase I, for which this proposal is written, would support the applicants’ development and field-testing of an assessment tool that would be an important first step toward consistency in the teaching, learning, and evaluation of a 5-week therapeutic communication skills module for nursing and health sciences students at UCCS.  The anticipated outcome is that new learning form this project will be applied to 120+ students enrolled each academic year in the Therapeutic communication module of NSG 208, a required course in Beth-El.