General Description

JMU’s Libraries invite applications for the 2019 Accelerating Creative Teaching (ACT) Grants. The ACT grants provide opportunities to encourage innovations in teaching and share instructors’ creativity in engaging student learning through the use of technology. Projects should be designed to develop deep, meaningful, and reflective learning. 

ACT-sponsored projects can include but are not limited to:

• Design and implementation of new teaching techniques
• Investigation of impact in integrating technologies in teaching and learning
• Design and implementation of new assessment for learning 

Eligibility

Any full-time or part-time faculty member who has taught at least one year at James Madison University is eligible to apply for ACT grants. Applicant(s) must be teaching the course as proposed for design and implementation, and the course should be listed in the JMU course catalog. Team-based and interdisciplinary applications are encouraged.

Applicants are encouraged to consult with instructional designers in JMU Libraries/Innovation Services prior to the submission of application.

Awards

JMU Libraries will award up to $500-$2,000 per successful application.

Important Dates in 2019-2020

• September 4, 2019: ACT Grant for Creative Teaching (ACT) Pre-application Seminar
• September 20, 2019: Application due  October 2, 2019
• October 18, 2019: Status announcement
• October 28, 2019: Award ceremony
• ACT Grant Cohort meetings (Fall meeting at noon on the Wednesday after Thanksgiving Break; Spring meeting at noon on the Wednesday after Spring Break)
• Sharing results at the ACT Grant for Creative Teaching Meet-up in the following fall semester

Submission Guidelines

All submissions should be anonymous and processed through this platform. Any name, contact, and department information related to the applicant should be removed from the proposal to be eligible for the blind peer review. 

• Please create an EasyChair account by following this guide: https://easychair.org/help/article.cgi?art=account_creation
• Follow this template to develop your project proposal (JMU e-ID is required to access the template on the JMU SharePoint site)
• Use this template to participate in the Open Access publication of your creative teaching ideas (JMU e-ID is required to access the template on the JMU SharePoint site). 

Proposal Guidelines

A 3-page application (Max.) is expected to cover the rationale of the proposed project, a plan for design and implementation, expected outcomes of the innovative and creative teaching, a plan for result dissemination, and a detailed budget plan for the use of the ACT funds. The proposal should include the following information:

• Rationale: Clear description of the instructional problem or opportunity that the proposed project plans to address. Literature and/or JMU resources for professional development on teaching and learning can be used as references.
   
• Plan for design and implementation: What are instructional design principles or previous evidence that you heard or read about that can help the design of proposed project? How will you or your team ensure the implementation process? What instructional design and technology support will you need to implement the project?
   
• Research design/data analysis if the applicant is interested in formal publication of the creative teaching practice.Note: Based on the experience of previous grant recipients, a research design with an Institutional Research Board (IRB) protocol is highly recommended. The project may very likely result in a scholarly contribution as a conference presentation or a published paper. 
   
• Outcome of the innovative and creative teaching: What are the anticipated outcome(s) of the project? How are the anticipated outcome(s) in alignment with the problem or opportunity that the the project intends to address? What evidence would you collect to measure the outcome(s)? How sustainable is the project? How transferrable is the project?  How does the project develop deep, meaningful, and reflective learning?
   
• Plan for result dissemination: How will you share the project, including the design procedure, and implementation results? How can your practice offer examples or suggestions for other peer instructors? (The program recommends your contribution to an Open Access collection of ACT cases to be published through PressBooks, and sharing your project procedure and/or results at one JMU or JMU Libraries event.)
   
• Budget plan: How will the funding be used in this ACT-sponsored project? Some examples might include equipment, resources, books, research materials, and conference registrations, prioritizing project facilitation, scholarship development and dissemination.  Funds cannot be used as stipends to pay applicants.  Note: All purchases are subject to federal, state, university, and department funding regulations.

Review

The blind review will be conducted with a committee comprised of faculty representatives, librarians, instructional designers, and technology instructors, with reference to the criteria listed below.

• ACT Grant Review Rubric

Reviews will be conducted within the month after the application due. Review feedback and decisions will be available to view by applicants subsequently.

Examples of Previous ACT Grant Projects:

[https://jmucreativeteachingcases.pressbooks.com/]

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to libraries@jmu.edu.