Pedagogical Inquiry Grants

Center for Teaching and Learning
Pedagogical Inquiry Grants

Purpose: Whitman faculty are continuously exploring new approaches to their teaching. The CTL grant program, generously funded through a number of endowments, provides special opportunities to do this exploration with the additional benefit of scholarly support and shared inquiry into teaching and learning. Grant recipients gain expertise that they can share with the faculty community at Whitman through hosting CTL programs and through departmental and other conversations.

Eligibility: Priority is given to instructors in long-term teaching appointments because of the likely longer duration of the benefit to students. However, visiting faculty may apply, particularly when their participation may bring expertise that benefits the teaching of other faculty. We also encourage instructors to invite relevant staff members into their project. If the staff member is providing support that goes beyond their normal job duties, they can receive a stipend for this support with approval of the staff supervisor.  No department may apply more than twice in a single academic year (September 1-August 31).  In addition, no faculty member can receive more than $3000 in stipends during a single academic year.

Review Process: To help the CTL Steering Committee evaluate applications equitably, we are establishing deadlines. The deadline for projects starting Spring 2022 is November 1, 2021; the deadline for proposals for Summer or Fall 2022 is March 1, 2022.  Our proposal application requirements are minimal in part because of our expectation that drafting the application itself is part of the inquiry process. The CTL steering committee often responds to an application with additional questions and suggestions before making a final decision. Depending on the availability of grant funds, the CTL committee may ask about sharing the costs of specific line items in the budget proposal (i.e. materials books, journal subscriptions, etc.) with department budgets and/or endowments dedicated to such purposes.

Application Requirement: Please use the application template to provide:

1. Cover page including budget details, list of organizer(s) and participants.
2. Narrative that directly answers the questions for the project type selected below
3. Budget justification (see below for guidelines)
4. Anything else? Feel free to let us know any questions you had in putting this application together or anything else you'd like us to know.

Note that after the project has concluded, the project member(s) must submit the following to the CTL Steering Committee in order to receive stipends:

1.  A report to the CTL steering committee that explains how the initial goal of the inquiry project was met, preliminary information on its impact on student learning, and how the grant recipient envisions sharing the results of the project with others on campus.
2. Specific deliverables such as course proposals, syllabi, specific assignments, revised learning goals, evaluation rubrics/criteria and/or assessment plans that emerge out of a project.
3.   At a minimum, PIG recipients are expected to present the results of their project in a CTL-sponsored program or presentation.

Where appropriate, the CTL may also request that award recipients present their findings to the faculty, for example in the context of an informal roundtable event.  

Project Types.
Please note: In order to be responsive to the impact of and opportunities from the Financial Sustainability Review, the CTL Steering Committee will continue to prioritize these projects.  At this point, we will also accept proposals for individual pedagogical enhancement projects as well as group projects that are not related to the FSR.   

Also, Fall and/or Spring FYS course-development is encouraged as an indirect outcome of PIG-supported projects, as meaningful results inspired by broader CDI or DI projects, which in turn go beyond regular departmental or program business. The PIGs are not in place for directly funding FYS course-development.

A. Cross-Departmental Inquiry (CDI) Project. A team is exploring a common area of study. This might include how a particular topic is taught from multiple perspectives, or a particular skill that cuts across disciplines (e.g., writing, oral communication, quantitative skills, intercultural learning). The participants involved will benefit from the experience of learning alongside each other. Each faculty member may request up to $1,500 in compensation and a coordinator may request an additional $500 in recognition of the additional organizational time. The following are questions to consider and address in preparing a CDI application:

1. What is the common area of inquiry that you want to explore, and why do you think it is important?
2. Who are your team members, and what does each bring to your inquiry (1-2 sentences is fine)? Remember that staff can be included in your proposal. You might also mention people you had hoped would participate but who are not able to, with a note of how they might be included in work after the grant is completed.
3. What does each of you imagine to be the outcome of your participation in the project? Is it an improved teaching of writing? New interactive activities that help students get more from lectures? A better understanding of how a particular topic might connect across disciplines and programs? Improved content and curriculum coordination around closely related topics? Each proposed participant needs to provide 2-3 sentences. Additionally, if there is some kind of shared "product" (public exhibit, a shared assignment or rubric, etc.), mention that here.  As the expectation of all projects is a CTL program at a minimum, please specify what format you expect this program to take (e.g. interactive workshop, panel presentation and discussion, etc.)
4. What preliminary texts/sources will guide your work? Some of these might be focused on content (e.g. articles or books about gender, animal studies, graphic novels) but you should also include some pedagogically focused readings about how to teach content.

The report should include a brief description by each person of specific changes they made/will make in at least one course.

B. Departmental Inquiry Project. Members of a department want to go beyond their regular departmental business to focus on an area or program identified as a high priority for rethinking and innovation.  Each participating faculty member may request up to $1,500 in compensation. The following are questions to consider and address in preparing a departmental application:

1. What is the specific aspect of student learning that has sparked the department's decision to work together? What about students' performance has been less than expected? What source of information led the department to identify this as an issue (e.g. external review results, assessment in the major, alumni feedback, etc.)?
2. What will success look like after your project ends? What do you envision will have changed in terms of what students can do?
3. What specific collaborative work is necessary and which department members are participating? For example, a department might undertake curricular mapping to see where specific skills are being taught to ensure students are getting repeated opportunities to build their performance on that skill.
4. What scholarly research or expertise would you like to focus on to guide your inquiry? This could include general scholarship on teaching and learning, or it could entail something specific to your field. It might also include consultation with someone beyond campus with qualified expertise in particular pedagogical approaches. In your application, please give the committee a clear explanation of your use(s) of such scholarship and expertise.

C. Pedagogical Enhancement Project. An individual instructor is seeking to address some challenge in student learning by changing a pedagogical approach in their course. The changes sought go beyond the "what" of content to the "how" of engaging students with that content. Just a few examples include developing collaborative assignments or activities, learning clicker or other technologies that facilitate student engagement, developing new ways of grading student work, developing an assignment in collaboration with a local community organization to facilitate community-engaged learning.  Faculty may request up to $1500 in compensation.  The following are questions to consider and address in preparing an individual application:

1. What is it about your students' performance that you would like to improve and why?
2. Thinking about what you hope to see improved a year after your project has ended, describe what you envision will have changed about students' performance in your course.
3. What resources on teaching and learning might guide your work?  Please include several titles you might include as a point of departure.

Budget Guidelines

Stipends. Participating faculty may request a stipend, up to the maximum amount specified above.  Please provide an estimated schedule of faculty participation to justify your stipend request(s).  Remember to explicitly indicate whether staff participants should receive a stipend as agreed by their supervisor. Stipends are paid upon receipt of the final project report.

Consultants. A consultant with expertise can be brought to campus, ideally to meet with a group of faculty to help with assignment design or some other pedagogical aspect. Their travel expenses, plus a stipend of $500, can be requested.

Readings. There are many books and online resources already available and the CTL can order titles we do not yet own. Each participant may request up to $100 in books or other research-related fees.

Equipment and Supplies: Any equipment purchased with PIG funds will become the property of Whitman College. For requests involving technology, please consult with David Sprunger, Director of Instructional and Learning Technology, prior to submitting your application.

Student assistants. Students often offer valuable perspectives on the classroom or curriculum. Up to 80 hours of student assistance can be requested (at the same rate as the Abshire awards). Explain why the student's assistance is especially valuable to the project.

Grant Recipients