Featured Projects
Flipped Classroom Cohort
In collaboration with ATAB and the UCT, the Center for Teaching Excellence is facilitating a year-long faculty cohort for instructors interested in flipping their classes.
As more faculty 'flip' their classrooms at Boston College, the Center for Teaching Excellence convened this cohort for instructors to think together about how to approach this pedagogical shift with their students. In this cohort participants considered key factors such as: the level of the course, the subject matter of the course, the size of the course, the instructor’s own familiarity with the flipped classroom, the ways in which the course is being flipped, and the way the rest of that instructor’s department and school are integrating flipped pedagogy.
- Mike Barnett (Teacher Education)
- Maureen Connolly (Nursing)
- Nanci Haze (Nursing)
- Annie Homza (Teacher Education)
- Sean MacEvoy (Psychology)
- Colleen Simonelli (Nursing)
- Carolyn Wilson (Accounting)
- Pete Wilson (Accounting)
- Ellen Winner (Psychology)
- George Wyner (Information Systems)
Personal Response System Modernization Pilot
Center For Teaching Excellence
A shift is occurring in the personal response system market toward software applications on mobile devices in place of physical response devices. Newer entrants to the space like Top Hat and Poll Everywhere have eschewed the development of physical devices altogether and focused solely on the software interface. Even industry stalwarts like i>clicker have indicated their ambition to move in this direction through such recent changes as bundling i>clicker REEF subscriptions (their mobile device solution) with new physical devices and charging students to register used devices.
Boston College needs to respond to this changing landscape, and do so quickly. Many faculty members have already started using software‐based solutions, largely without support, and have reported very good feedback from these products. Use of personal response systems at οƵ, in general, has declined since the beginning of this academic year, however, primarily because of the issues with the existing i>clicker system and its inability to keep up with contemporary competitors. While we will continue to support i>clicker for at least the next year, its web‐based alternative to physical devices lacks significant feature parity with the other platforms included in this pilot, which is one of the reasons that this pilot is necessary.
The CTE will be conducting a faculty pilot of two software‐based personal response tools, Top Hat and Poll Everywhere, that fulfill a range of faculty use cases. Much like current οƵ support of virtual communication tools, this selection of personal response system tools would ensure a good fit for a wide range of use cases. While the CTE is already conducting internal testing of these products, coupling this testing with faculty feedback will be crucial in selecting the appropriate tools for οƵ. The pilot will start during the 2015 Fall semester and continue through Spring 2016 with nine faculty members participating.
MediaKron Special Projects
ATAB invited faculty to submit a proposal for developing a MediaKron project and to join a cohort of faculty developing similar projects. MediaKron is a web-based toolkit for digital thinking and storytelling developed at Boston College for Boston College faculty. In addition to developing a project, faculty have committed to participating in a cohort to collaborate and discuss pedagogical uses of MediaKron and ways in which it can enhance teaching and learning. The cohort will provide a report at the end of the project outlining findings that will inform faculty and student use of MediaKron as it continues to evolve as an instructional tool.
The following 13 faculty MediaKron Special Projects cohort members will produce projects using MediaKron during the 2015-16 Academic year:
- Stephanie Leone and Nancy Netzer, Fine Arts, McMullen Museum Collection
- Lichuan Ye, Nursing, Sleep Education Program
- Eric Weiskott, English, The Vision Of William Banastre, A Middle English Alliterative
- Christopher Wilson, English, Reading Reportage
- Laurie Shepard, Romance Languages And Literatures, The Perspective Of Literature, ENG2206 & ITAL 3314 Literature And Business
- Laura White, Nursing, Current Issues In Pediatric Primary Care
- Bonnie Rudner, English, Frozen In Time? Disney And Body Images
- Amy Smith, Nursing, St. Ignatius Virtual Hospital: A MediaKron Project
- Martin Scanlan, Higher Education And Educational Leadership, MediaKron For Educational Leaders
- Scott Cummings, Theater Department, Mapping London Theatre
- Johann Sadock, Romance Languages And Literatures, Giving A Second Life To Au-Dela Du Regard: Recontres Multiethniques
- Joseph Nugent, English, Expansion Of Dubliner’s Bookshelf
Finite Element Modeling Software for Education and Research
Michael Naughton/ Kris Kempa
Professor, Physics
This project proposes to acquire COMSOL and CST finite element method (FEM) software packages tobe used by the Naughton and Kempa research groups for (1) undergraduate and graduatestudent training, including in the class PHYS-4350, and (2) research activities involvingmetamaterials, electromagnetic cancer therapy, and plasmonic solar cells.
Complementary Learning Environments (CLEs) for Migration Initiatives
Jaime Alejandro Olayo Mendez
Associate Professor, SSW
The overall goals for the project are: to develop three self-paced modules of Complementary Learning Environments (CLEs) for the course SCWK 7794 (Im)migration and Refugee Issues, outline a model to create self-contained academic units that could complement different academic courses, pilot the effectiveness of H5P software, foster collaboration among the οƵ School of Social Work, the Centre for Justice and Human Rights, and the Centre for Digital Innovation in Learning.
Opening Black Boxes: Instrumentation and Data Science for Studentsin the Natural Sciences and Beyond
Christopher Kenaley
Associate Professor, Biology
The purpose of this course is to develop a course-based research experience with a focus oninstrumentation and data science. The thrust of this program will center around the developmentof simple sensor-data acquisition systems and the analysis of data collected from them.Through hands-on design and fabrication of sensor-based instrument prototypes representingmodels of more complex instrumentation, students will develop a direct relationship with thesource of data in scientific research.
With respect to instrumentation, the learning goals of thisprogram include:
1. Understanding of how common sensors convert physical phenomena into electricalsignals.
2. Familiarity with the basics of signal conditioning, amplification, and the conversion ofsensor signals into a form that can be converted into digital values.
3. Understanding the basics of analog-to-digital conversion and digital signal acquisition.
4. Development of basic programming skills that permit flexible repurposing of a commondata-acquisition system.
Online Classroom Enhancement Project
Jessica Black/Samuel Bradley
Associate Professor, SSW
This year-long project is designed to improve teaching and learning within Boston College School of Social Work through enhancing faculty development through the use of technology. Adjunct faculty, in particular, play a vital role in social work education and in our School. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) encourages the use of adjunct field experienced faculty with at least two years of practice experience to provide instruction for advanced practice courses in social work. These advanced practice social work courses provide students with up-to-date, real-world, instruction on the most advanced interventions being utilized in the field. However, adjunct faculty members, often trained in advanced skills in psychotherapy, counseling, health coaching, and nonprofit administration are not exposed to updated practices in pedagogy and classroom learning theories. The Online Classroom Enhancement Project (OCEP) seeks to remedy this challenge through creating a novel approach to continuing education both for social workers and educators alike.
Learning the Beauty of Symmetry in the Classroom
Chia-Kuang Tsung/Bo Li
Associate Professor, Chemistry
This purpose of this project is to acquire a 3D printing system for the teaching ofcrystallography. Crystallography seeks to understand the symmetries that have long inspiredartists and which underpin our natural world. Common examples include leaves, flowers, andtrees, but elegant symmetries also exist in the molecular structure of DNA and the crystalstructures of semiconductor microchips. Perhaps most importantly, the properties of a drug,protein, or semiconductor are often determined by its symmetry. Until recently, it has beennearly impossible to utilize 3D structures in the classroom. Students are trying to imagine 3Dsymmetry operations based off of 2D pictures in their textbooks or models that can build onlysimple structures of a few atoms.
Digital Consumer Intelligence Project
MatthewO'Hern
Associate Professor, Marketing/CSOM
The Digital Consumer Intelligence Project will directly support a new Digital Marketing coursecalled Digital Agency Experience that I am schedule to teach in fall 2021 and spring 2022. Amajor component of this class is a digital marketing field project in which student teamscomplete in-depth market research and digital strategy reports for real pro bono clientcompanies and not for profit organizations within the greater Boston area.
Expedition to Colonial Latin America
Sylvia Sellers-Garcia
Professor, History
"Expedition to Colonial Latin America" aims to make the study of colonial LatinAmerica more immersive and accessible by giving students access to Virtual and AugmentedReality expeditions to key locations. In collaboration with οƵ's Center for Digital Innovation inLearning (CDIL), this project will develop several Google Expeditions to Latin America that willbe available both for my courses and other future courses at οƵ. Google Expeditions will give students the opportunity to explore several keylocations in a new way. Expeditions (https://edu.google.com/products/vr-ar/expeditions/) worklike virtual field-trips. Viewers can simply use their phones, they can augment their phones witha cardboard "viewer," or they can use Virtual Reality headsets (available at the οƵ languagelag) to enter the expedition and experience a place in virtual reality.
Telehealth Videoconferencing for Veterans & Military Families:Curriculum Development, Training & Program Implementation
Ann Wolbert Burgess & Julie Canfield
Professor, CSON
Military service members and veterans experiencing PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) arecurrently receiving physical rehabilitative and wellness services through the CWAI (CollegiateWarrior Athlete Initiative) set in the Connell School of Nursing. This program would be greatlyenhanced by providing supportive educational services to the significant family members ofthese participants. Faculty and students from the Connell School of Nursing will partner withfaculty and students from the School of Social Work and the Lynch School of Education toprovide a weekly educational forum online to family members. The content of the meetings willbe to discuss the impact of PTSD and other military-related health issues on families, familyfunctioning, child development, parenting, and the overall mental health and wellness of all ofthe individual family members. The forum will be held with the assistance of the Zoom platformand through this technology, family members will be able to interact with faculty members on aweekly basis and gain educational information as well as focused expertise to help benefitfamily life. Participants will be able to ask questions about secondary traumatic stress, maritalissues, attachment interruptions, and other related areas of family life at the end of weeklypresentations on these topics.
Legal Office Communication: Advising Supervising Attorneys on LegalResearch Results
Maureen Van Neste
Associate Professor, Law School
The purpose of this project is to develop an instructional video related to the skill of delivering legal research results orally. Overthe summer period, will recruit participants, write scripts for and conduct interviews withexperienced members of the bar (οƵ Law alums, employers, and professors) regarding bestpractices, write scripts for, recruit participants, and perform in demonstration lessons forstudents to view and critique, and write simulation for students to practice skills covered in thevideo. Will work with Nick Martel on main campus to shoot and edit the videos and will usethem in Law Practice classrooms in the fall.
Next Generation Interdisciplinary Learning blending EnvironmentalScience with Drone Technologies
Mike Barnett
Professor, Lynch School Of Education
This proposal builds on our team’s work in creating trans-disciplinary programming designed toengage youth and students in learning the practices of science. In fact, the work proposed hereis at the forefront of the one of the most frequent and widely supported calls for change in STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education toward a newly envisionedcurriculum that integrates, science, technology, engineering, and math content and skills andhow to support students in using computational tools to solve complex problems (Honey,Pearson, & Schweingruber, 2014). With the above framing of our work we will:1. Project team from Boston College will be training in drone flying and drone programming byexperts from Brandeis University (early July but the time table is very flexible and can easily bemade to match when funding is available). 2. Upon completing the training the Boston College team will work to design the appropriatelearning experiences to support students in learning how to program, build, design and use theirdrones to collect data. We are specifically focusing on water quality data because it is oftenmuch harder for youth to collect water quality data from the middle of bodies of water. Water isoften collected from the edges of a river or lake but there can, and often is, different types ofpollutants and other variables near the shore than nearer the center of a body of water (this alsowill be a research question that youth will be able to explore). 3. Implement a 3 week program for youth where we will learn about how to support youth inusing drones for the collection of samples and data 4. Implement an academic year program with an additional 10 youth to take the lessonslearned during the summer to the academic year5. Use the findings from our experiences to apply for a larger National Science Foundationgrant that focuses on the future of the human technology frontier (future of the workforce).
Digital Language Portfolio
Nick Block
Associate Professor, German Studies
The purpose of this project is to design a Digital Language Portfolio that can be rolled out across the German languagecurriculum, starting in 2019-2020. A Digital Language Portfolio, in my experience, allowsinstructors to assess tangible evidence of student growth. In turn, students are more likely tocontinue learning in the upper levels (past the fourth semester οƵ foreign languagerequirement) if they can see the tangible evidence of their growth.
New graphics workstations for landscape-change analysis
Noah Snyder & Gail Kineke
Associate Professor,E&ES
This purpose of this project is to fund the purchase of new graphics-optimized Dell PCs to allow the new lab facility shared by Noah Snyder and Gail Kineke to process digital geospatial data. At that time, we needed several new computers to make full use of the data we now have and the methods we now use. Here we give three examples from Noah’s work.
Enhancing the Implementation of Evidence-Based Mental HealthInterventions in Low Resource Settings Through the Use of Technology
Theresa Betancourt
Professor, SSW
The “Enhancing the Implementation of Evidence-Based Mental Health Interventions in LowResource Settings Through the Use of Technology” project builds on our decades-long work inimproving mental health for children and families affected by adversity. Specifically, theproposed project will contribute to the scalability of our current project Family StrengtheningIntervention for Refugee families (FSI-R). FSI-R is conducted with funding from the NationalInstitute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). Using a Community BasedParticipatory Research (CBPR) approach with Somali Bantu and Bhutanese resettled refugeesin New England, our research results were the first to demonstrate empirically the promise ofpower sharing, capacity building and participatory approaches for addressing mental healthissues facing refugee children and families who have resettled in the U.S.
Toward Physical Computing at Boston College
John Gallaugher
Associate Professor, CSOM
This project seeks to create opportunities for physical computing (programmable hardware,wearables, robotics) in the Boston College community. The approach is multifold:Community - open to all + Initial Pre-Course Investigation: Offer initial hardware and materials toseed interest in making, wearables, and robotics. The student MakeοƵ club has received officialrecognition from the Dean of Students. Part of the funding would be used to create a pool ofresources that would initially be used by student groups to pilot and evaluate work that maymake it into the for-credit course (below). The goal is to provide a truly interdisciplinary approachto thinking about technology. Should grant funds be available before the Boston College ArtsFestival, student members with art and technology interests would work together to createprojects such as touch-sensitive interactive murals, wearables for Arts Week fashion, androbotic art.
A Replacement Eyetracker for the Consumer Insights Panel Lab
S. Adam Brasel
Associate Professor, CSOM
The purpose of this proposal is to help replace the ASL Eyetracker purchased back in 2011 incollaboration with Prof James Gips with a new Tobii eyetracker and integrate it into theConsumer Insights Panel Lab used by behavioral faculty from across the Carroll School. Ourprior tracker is at end-of-life and is breaking down, and the company that manufactured it wentout of business. Now Tobii has become the de-facto provider for academic researcheyetrackers, and their advances in usability and ease of interface means that more researchersmay be able to use the tracker in their research. I am also closing down my personal lab in thebasement of Fulton Hall that I shared with Prof. James Gips (who passed away in Summer2018), and rolling the technology into the Consumer Insights Panel Lab that supports all thebehavioral-focused faculty in the Carroll School, so installing the new tracker there will allowmore faculty to access it (versus the prior tracker which was set up in the personal lab).Once installed, the eyetracker should remain viable for 6-10 years (our previous two eyetrackershave both lasted approximately 7 years). It will allow us to research a number of areas inconsumer behavior where it is vital to track visual attention on a moment-by-moment basis, andpost-hoc self-response surveys cannot be relied on.
A printed source of early modern Iberian sacred music recovered:Diego de Bruceña's 'lost' collection of Masses, Magnificats and Motets (1620)
Michael Noone
Professor, Music
Among its many treasures, the Cathedral of Miranda do Douro in the district of Bragança in NE Portugal houses the only known exemplar of Diego de Bruceña's book of sacred polyphony (Salamanca: Antonio Vázquez, 1620). The choirbook preserves the most significant body of the works of Diego de Bruceña (1567-1622), a composer whose works were thought to be entirely lost. His compositions include Masses, Magnificats, Motets and other sacred music. Video recordings of performances of these works will allow his music to be heard for the first time since the early 17th century.
Online Experiments in Economic Principles and Discussion SectionTablet
Tracy Regan
Professor, Economics
The Economics Department at οƵ teaches the most students. One of the future goals thathas been discussed is to require students to take an elective that uses the skills they learn instatistics and econometrics. Two of the department’s agreed upon goals are: 1) to build afoundation of strong analytical skills, where graduates are comfortable using logic and simplequantitative models and analyzing data results to make better decisions; and 2) to build amindset of regularly applying these analytical and empirical skills in areas beyond our textbookexamples, in professional, personal and civic settings. I see Moblab fitting perfectly with thesetwo goals. This students will be able to put their knowledge to practice and see how thecollection and analysis of data is fundamental to empirical economics that informs policy.
Online Experiments in Micro Principles
Tracy Regan
Professor, Economics
The objective of this project is to utilize the various on-line experiments made available via MobLab during myMicro Principles (EC131) course in the fall of 2018. MobLab calls themselves “a playground fordecisions.” They have compiled an impressively large database of online experiments that canbe used in economics, management, and other social sciences. I did both my undergraduateand graduate studies at the University of Arizona (UA) where Vernon Smith spent the majority ofhis career and pioneered the field of Experimental Economics, which became the foundation forBehavioral Economics). The Nobel Prize committee recognized Smith’s contribution to thediscipline in 2002. During my studies I participated in many experiments—both hand-run andcomputer-based. Not only are experiments fun, but they are a wonderful teaching tool and goodlearning experience for the students as well. To the extent possible, I have incorporated asmany hand-run experiments into the courses I have taught over the years. The schools Iworked at did not have a computer lab to do things in this manner but now companies likeMobLab are offering online experiments that enable any and all university students to participatein this type of learning.
Global Engagement Portal
Erik Owens/Alberto Godenzi
Associate Professor, Theology/SSW
The purpose of this project is to establish a Global Engagement Portal at Boston College for six weeks duringFall 2018 that can be used by faculty, students and staff across the university to connect withdiverse people-refugees, field workers, professionals, students, artists, educators, and more-atnearly thirty sites around the world that are hosted by an innovative nonprofit organization. Theproject directly acts on the university's strategic imperative to enhance global engagement,including the greater internationalization of curriculum and instruction, and specifically the"internationalization of the home campus," which provides opportunities to engage with peoplefrom across the world without having to leave their own campus.
Exploring Climate Change Impacts through the Design and Exploringof Smart Greenhouses
Mike Barnett
Professor, Lynch School Of Education
This project builds on our team’s work in creating transdisciplinary programming designed toengage youth and students in learning the practices of science. Specifically, we are proposingthe development of a curriculum module that scaffolds youth from using magnetic circuits tomore sophisticated micro-controllers to design smart greenhouses. These smart greenhouseswill enable youth to conduct research on the impact of climate change on plants and howdifferent environmental stressors impact the growth and development of plants. This work will bepiloted with Waltham Public Schools middle school students and will be used in Dr. Barnett’sMasters level elementary science classes. The primary goals in both of these environments are(1) support learners in understanding that climate change will impact plant life (which hassignificant impacts for agriculture and the worlds food supply), and (2) to better understand howto conduct scientific research.
The Living Database Project: Engaging Students in Hands-On Data Collection
Christina Matz-Costa
Associate Professor, SSW
The current project seeks to elevate the MSW student educational experience at BostonCollege (οƵ) when it comes to research skill literacy by working to facilitate meaningfulengagement in the research process for all students by launching the “Living Database Project”.The Living Database Project aims to: 1) leverage mobile technology (smartphones and iPads) ininnovative ways within and outside of the classroom, 2) employ Ecological MomentaryAssessment and Intervention tools to collect real-time data from students to be used forteaching and learning purposes and 3) build a peer-based learning and teaching community.
Enhancing the Implementation of Evidence-Based Mental HealthInterventions in Low Resource Settings Through the Use of Technology
Theresa Betancourt/Jenna Berent
Professor, SSW
The purpose of this project is to involve digitizing paper-based manuals used for home-visiting family-basedpreventative interventions (Rwanda and United States) and group mental health work (SierraLeone) in underserved communities. The manuals, currently paperback, would not only becreated in a digital format but enhanced to include training videos and tutorials, links toresources and more information, interactive features such as prompts, and ability for communityhealth workers to highlight and take notes on their own digital manual.
Empowering biology students with cutting-edge handheld sequencingtechnology
Heather Olins
Associate Professor, Biology
The aim of this project is to bring a relatively new genetic sequencing technology into anadvanced experience lab class so that students gain hands on experience with all aspects of amicrobial ecology research project. This will include all steps of the scientific process fromhypothesis generation to experimental design to DNA extraction and bioinformatic analysis,without the need to hand samples off to an external lab for sequencing.
Open Access Publishing
Kimberly Kowal
Library
The current project seeks to elevate the MSW student educational experience at BostonCollege (οƵ) when it comes to research skill literacy by working to facilitate meaningfulengagement in the research process for all students by launching the “Living Database Project”.The Living Database Project aims to: 1) leverage mobile technology (smartphones and iPads) ininnovative ways within and outside of the classroom, 2) employ Ecological MomentaryAssessment and Intervention tools to collect real-time data from students to be used forteaching and learning purposes and 3) build a peer-based learning and teaching community.
The Pulse of the Earth: Classroom Simulation Technology for Teaching Seismology in Geoscience Courses
Alan Kafka
Professor, Earth & Environmental Science
The purpose of this project is to bring a unique technology called “RoomQuake” (Moher, 2006) to Boston Collegewhere it will serve as a lab activity within Alan Kafka’s “Earthquakes” course for EnvironmentalGeoscience majors. This course (EESC2207) is a half-semester, two-credit course that will betaught in the upcoming Fall 2017 semester. Once the team has successfully implementedRoomQuake in EESC2207, we will test it in Professor Michael Barnett’s Science Core course,“Living Earth II” (EESC1182), and will evaluate other possible courses where RoomQuake mighteventually be implemented.
MAPP: Digitizing Habits of the Mind, Heart and Imagination
Belle Liang
Professor,LSOE - CDEP
The proposed project involves creating and piloting MAPP (“Meaning and Purpose”application)--a web based tool for developing purpose-in-life profiles among students at BostonCollege and beyond. This tool aims to enhance academic engagement and student formation,and is informed by best practices in teaching, as well as research on youth purpose. Specifically,MAPP will be used to help students identify and cultivate their purpose, and connect theiracademic coursework with their purpose or long-term aims.
Animating HPS: Connecting Undergraduates to the History andPhilosophy of Science
Daniel McKaughan
Professor, Philosophy
The overall aim of this Academic Technology Innovation Grantis to use advanced animation technologies to enrich the classroom experience in PerspectivesIV. In particular, we aim to bring the experiments and worldviews of historical scientists to life,using technology as a touch point to draw today’s undergraduate students into the narrative ofthe history of science. If Boston College partners with us by investing in these resources, we areconvinced that we can create an enhanced classroom experience that is unprecedented amonghistory and philosophy of science programs.
Next Generation STEM Learning: Blending Materials Science,Electronics, and the Internet of Things
Mike Barnett
Professor,LSOE - ELHE
Using machine learning and computational linguistics to facilitate student placement in language courses
Joshua Hartshorne
Associate Professor,Psychology
This project aims at developing a method to identify the level of a student for placement inlanguage courses based on an open format essay using state of the art Machine Learning (ML)approaches.
Simulation Exercises in the Classroom
Kathleen Bailey
Professor,Political Science
The project is to develop and enhance simulation exercises in my own courses and across theuniversity using software and platforms provided by iDecisionGames. The project will developassessment measurements for simulation exercises, and bring in consultants who have workedin government and academia to perfect role immersion games. The grantees will assist facultyacross the university to implement simulations in the classroom, and in exporting their games.
Compiling an interdisciplinary online database of microbial interactions
Babak Momeni
Associate Professor, Biology
The objective of this project is to compile an inventory of studied microbial interactions in theform of a searchable online database. The absence of such a database has been a barrier forsynthesizing the diversity of interaction mechanisms. I plan to address this issues by recruitingundergraduate students to search the literature and catalog instances of interspeciesinteractions (based on mechanism, species, environment, biofilm/planktonic condition, etc.) in adatabase that allows researchers to search it for features of interest. This is a great learningopportunity for students to read primary literature and extract relevant information from thoseresources. The product, a comprehensive database of interactions, allows examining collectedinstances in one place offers synergy for uncovering patterns. This will be a great asset forresearchers in the field.
Innovating University Teaching Across Disciplines with SmartVoice-Activated Devices Like Amazon Echo
Mary Cronin/George Wyner
Professor,CSOM - Information Systems
The objective of this project is to lead a collaborative, interdisciplinary project to design, develop, and evaluateinnovative teaching pilots that use Amazon Echo devices in the classroom. We plan to workacross departments and schools with interested οƵ faculty and students using design thinking,rapid prototyping, and agile development techniques to turn innovative ideas from students andfaculty into classroom pilots in just 7 months (from January through July 2018) followed by pilotimplementation, documentation, and assessment from August 2018 through May 2019.
Building a Better Teacher, Making Methods Matter: Exploring the Nexus of Makerspace Technologies and Project-Based Learning in an Undergraduate Instructional Methods Course
Jon Wargo
Associate Professor,LSOE - Teacher Ed
This project zeroes in on a teaching methods course atBoston College called EDUC 2105: Teaching the Social Sciences and the Arts. I propose toinfuse this course with makerspace technologies (e.g., 3D printers, makey-makeys, digitalmedia production, etc.) in order to examine how innovative “making” can address real-worldproblems and support new forms of active and applied learning.
Building Capacity for Geospatial Mapping Research in the Lynch School of Education
Kristen Bottema-Beutel
Associate Professor,LSOE - Teacher Ed
arcGIS is geographic information system (GIS) software that allows the user to compile,organize, and graphically demonstrate spatial data through maps. In the context of educationalresearch, arcGIS can be used to assemble a geodatabase of spatial data from school districtsthroughout the commonwealth (or the country). Examples of the information that could becollected include special education service provision (e.g., hours/week of a reading coach),student scores on state tests, or dollars spent per pupil. This information can then be compiledand mapped, and the resulting maps could reveal contrasts across school districts within themapped region. This kind of information would be useful to researchers, administrators, andpolicy makers who may need to understand regional trends in education-relevant data.
An Immersive Ulysses
Joseph Nugent
Professor, English, MCAS
Academic Studies of Flann O'Brien, are rising rapidly in Europe. They remain in a nascent statein the US. Boston College holds the O'Brien archives. Properly managed and directed, οƵ can become the center for Flann O'Brien Studies in the US. The exponential growth of podcast listening among my target audience --sophisticated undergraduate and graduate students -- makes podcasting the prime medium for disseminatingthis project. All this work is being planned in very close consultation with Christian Dupont, Director of theBurns Library, who is keen to throw his resources behind the project.
Online Library Instruction Program
Steven Runge
Library
The Online Library Instruction Program will be comprised of several online tutorials covering information literacy topicsand library research techniques. The tutorials will be supplemented by existing Library Research Guides (websites coveringvarious subjects) and will be available on a library website that provides organization and context. Tutorial modules will also beavailable for placement within Canvas courses . Finally, the tutorials will include quizzes for students who wish to self-asses andfor those instructors who want to assess student learning.
Universal Design for Learning Leadership
Martin Scanlan
Associate Professor,LSOE - ELHE
The purpose of UDL2 is to create an integrated online platform for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Leadership. It will supportan innovative approach to teaching by designing, piloting, and refining a Mediakron UDL2 site to be used by school and districtlevel administrators. This site will simultaneously provide a vehicle for design-based research, bringing scholars from BostonCollege into collaboration with practitioners seeking to implement policies and practices of UDL in their schools and districts. Thusthe site would have equal benefit for course participants and Boston College as well as practicing school administrators.
Mapping Spinoza's Ethics — STAGE 2
Jean-Luc Solere
Professor,Philosophy
The project is to improve and expand a first mapping of Spinoza's "Ethics". The end product will be a web site that enables aneasy visualization of the interconnection between the demonstrative elements of the work.
Thermal Imaging Studio: Engaging Non-Science Majors in Energy Analysis with Technology
Dunwei Wang
Professor, Chemistry
This project is an integral part of a Core Renewal course that we are currently co-developing, entitled “Living in the MaterialWorld,” (ENGL170901& CHEM170101 for Spring 2017). The course will ask students Enduring Questions centered on the new“humanisms.” The major goal of this course is to revolutionize students’ perceptions on human’s position in this world bypresenting them with evidence from English literature and science on how humans interact with the material world. We willimplement the Thermal Imaging Studio in the science section as activities that require students to collect and analyze data onchemistry, corroborate what they learn from the science and literature perspectives, and reflect on their inner thinking of humaninteractions with the rest of the world.
Invention Studio: Where students solve problems through technology
Mike Barnett
Professor,LSOE - Teacher Ed
Makerspaces and the collaborative design and making activities they support have generated interest in diverse educationalrealms. For instance, libraries and museums have designed makerspaces to promote creative activity, resource sharing, andactive engagement with materials, processes, and ideas in their collections and exhibits (Britton, 2012; Honey & Kanter, 2013). AsK-12 schools seek ways to align their curricula with the new media arts standards and the Next Generation Science Standards thatemphasize design, technology and engineering, the multidisciplinary design work often seen in makerspaces is inspiring toeducators. In the launch of his Educate to Innovate campaign, President Obama (2009) highlighted the value of makingexperiences: “I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering, whether it’sscience festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage young people to create and build and invent—to be makers of things,not just consumers of things.” In short, we will explore the pedagogical potential of two projects (1) engaging students in aproblem-based, engineering design focused learning experience where they test their ideas and then 3D print the parts for theirwindmill, and (2) where students 3D parts to design window-based hydroponic systems that can grow produce in a window.
Harnessing Technology for Homeless Families
Stephanie Berzin
Professor,SSW - Youth & Family
The purpose of this project is to provide a training, research, and intervention project to be implemented by theCenter for Social Innovation at the Boston College School of Social Work. For elements ofthe project we will work in collaboration with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay andMerrimack Valley (UW). This project will involve the 1) a competition for homelessorganizations to develop technology-based services for their population, 2) thedevelopment of mobile and/or social media based interventions to support homelessfamilies, 3) research on the aforementioned interventions, and 4) the development of acohort of MSW students who will be involved in the development and implementation ofthe technology. Building on the strength of the existing partnership with UW and a parallelnon-tech based competition, HTHF provides an opportunity to enhance technology useamong organizations serving homeless families, engage Boston College social workstudents in technology-based projects, and document the promise of technology forengaging with homeless families.
Expanded Practices in Animation and Webdesign: an Integrated Approach between Studio Art and Film Studies
Sheila Gallagher
Associate Professor, Fine Arts
The purpose of this project is to develop and teach Animation and Experimental Filmmaking in the Fall semester and Webdesign in the Spring Semester for at least two years. Both courses will be co-listed by Studio Art and Film Studies.Formerly known as the Fine Arts Department, the Department of Art History, Studio Art, and Film focuses on the visual arts in aliberal arts context. Normally on separate but parallel tracks, the three branches are now looking for new ways to share ideas,resources and expand teaching with technology. To this end, Studio and Film are proposing two new courses: 1) Animation andExperimental Filmmaking and 2) Creative Web Design, which would enroll students from both majors with a priority on Senior Majors. The newly designed media lab in the department can accommodate 14 students, and the Carney lab approximately 20 students.
Code: From Algebra to Algorithms
Robert Muller
Associate Professor, Computer Science
The course, CSCI1103 Computer Science I(Honors), is part of a larger endeavor that seeks to introduce computer science and coding from the vantage point of elementaryalgebra and which seeks to integrate coding and algorithm development with modern curricula running from middle schoolthrough college.The OCaml programming language was designed and developed at the French National Research Institute, INRIA. INRIA spun off acompany, Ocsigen, to continue the development of OCaml and related tools. The engineers at Ocsigen have written a compiler,js_of_ocaml, which translates code written in OCaml to Javascript. Javascript is the language that runs in virtually all web browsers.Engineers at Ocsigen have written integration code that uses the js_of_ocaml compiler so that coders can author OCaml codedirectly in a web browser. This system was recently used to support a massive open on-line course (MOOC) on functionalprogramming in OCaml. We plan to modify and further develop this integration code to decouple it from the MOOC and to addfacilities that will support graphics, animation and audio and which will allow integration with Github.
Action Learning For Research: Building Groups To Bridge Research And Practice
Thomas Crea
Associate Professor, School Of Social Work
Action learning is a concept in which teams pool their knowledge and expertise to solve problems in real time. Action Research is a means of conducting research that pairs researchers and practitioners to develop methods and findings relevant and practical for those attempting to solve social problems. Teaching action research depends on alignment of classroom and practicum schedules, cooperation among group members, and synergistic relationship with field staff. The current classroom model makes it difficult for these three things to occur and can result in reduced student learning. This project proposes that the use of a newly developed learning application will help resolve these challenges and create a more dynamic learning experience for students.
A web-based application is currently under development in Boston College’s Center for Teaching Excellence to help avoid some major challenges to group work and to assist in project communication and planning over the course of the semester. The app is designed to assess student preferences and needs in group work settings. The tool then employs rigorous analytic techniques drawing from cluster analysis, the tool helps the instructor assign people to groups based upon those preferences and the instructor’s goals for the assignment. After groups are assigned, students work together to accomplish the learning task. When the learning activity is complete, students can use the tool to conduct a simple and fast evaluation of their group members’ performance. This information can then be shared with the instructor for formative assessment purposes and/or could be used to inform the next round of group formation.
The purpose of this project is to use this innovative technology to promote stronger and more efficient student groups, which are linked to social service agencies globally and in Boston. In using this learning tool, and integrating it within the existing Canvas system at Boston College, we hope to engage students in a process of action learning focused on field-based research, in partnership with field agencies around the world.
Boston College UDL: Building A Model For UDL Leadership
Richard Jackson
Associate Professor, Teacher Education, Lynch School Of Education
The purpose of the οƵ Universal Design for Learning (UDL) project is to develop a comprehensive web space that will build the capacity of the οƵ faculty, staff, and administration across the University to implement UDL and to help οƵ become a national model for UDL implementation and leadership. UDL is an innovative educational framework, defined in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, that addresses the variability and diverse learning needs of all students. The project promotes an innovative use of technology through the use of portable devices to gather various perspectives on the needs of learners.
The project will consist of three parts:
- Conducting a UDL needs assessment that captures the voice of students and faculty and informs the project work;
- Developing a comprehensive web space that builds the capacity of the οƵ community to implement UDL across the campus; and
- Defining national UDL leadership competencies that can be used in teacher preparation programs to develop future teachers and UDL leaders that will be shared through the website as a model for the country.
The project promotes an innovative use of technology through the creation of a dynamic web space that will educate members of the οƵ community about UDL and support widespread implementation of UDL across the οƵ campus. This web space will be unique and far-reaching because of its comprehensive nature, its UDL design, and its connection to teacher preparation at οƵ. The project will establish a “learning” web space that educates and engages the οƵ community.
The project also promotes an innovative use of technology through the use of portable devices such as iTouch devices, digital cameras, or audio recorders to capture the voices of students as part of a needs assessment of the barriers impeding the implementation of UDL at οƵ. These devices offer multiple opportunities to gather various perspectives through picture, video, voice and text. While modeling UDL practice, the use of these devices will also provide students rich opportunities to share their views and experiences.
Connecting Youth And Mentors: Improving The STEM Career Pipeline Through Mobile E-Mentoring Technology
Mike Barnett
Professor, Lynch School Of Education and Human Development
Mentors and role models can play a significant role in students’ motivation to pursue specific careers as they transition to adulthood, particularly science-based careers. Unfortunately, youth are often insecure about their math and science skills or discouraged by peer pressure from pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, especially women and minorities. Recent National Science Foundation (NSF) data shows that the science and engineering workforce is largely white and male with people of color making up only 7 percent of the STEM workforce (National Science Board, 2014). Despite an increased focus on improving the number of underrepresented youth (students of color, low income) pursuing the STEM fields, researchers have found that low-income, first-generation college students are four times more likely to leave college during their first year than their peers, and more than three times less likely to transfer to a four-year school in a six-year time frame, and four times as likely to leave a STEM field than their peers (National Science Board, 2014). One of the oft called-for recommendations is to expand the capacity and diversity of the STEM workforce pipeline by building better and easier structures to provide mentoring to young people entering the STEM pipeline.
Even if students are prepared, have adequate information, and are ambitious and talented enough to succeed in STEM fields, success may also hinge on the extent to which students feel socially and intellectually integrated into their academic programs and campus environments. The importance of social and intellectual integration for success is critical to all students, regardless of background. For minority students who may feel, or be made to feel, like outsiders as they see few others “like themselves” among the student and faculty populations, this issue takes on even greater salience. Yet finding a sufficient number of mentors to reach the number of students necessary to repair the leaky STEM pipeline is daunting because it is often very difficult to find a sufficient number of mentors and to find the time for the mentors to meet with the students on a regular basis (Blake-Beard, Bayne, Crosby, & Muller, 2011). In fact, in our previous work (through our interactions with industry personnel), we learned that many would be very excited to serve as a mentor, but would have difficulty finding time given family and job commitments. However, they informed us that if an on-line mentoring program were available, they would be interested in participating in it. To that end, this project will develop a mobile application that is based upon MentorNet’s (our partner for this project) existing web-based mentoring model.
Consumer Insights Panel
Henrik Hagtvedt
Assistant Professor, Carroll School Of Management
The Marketing Department is currently working on establishing a Consumer Insights Panel (CIP) at the Carroll School of Management. The CIP is an exciting new initiative that will be an extremely valuable asset to scholars in the Carroll School who conduct behavioral research that relies on human participants. The initiative entails voluntary research participation among students (and staff who may be interested) that sign up in advance. Most of the studies will be conducted using twenty laptop computers that the Marketing Department has obtained for this purpose.
The CIP will have multiple benefits for researchers, student participants, and οƵ as a whole. Specifically, it will enable researchers to pursue research topics and questions that would otherwise be difficult to study (those requiring precise measurements in a controlled environment, those involving group interactions, those requiring context-sensitive experimental techniques such as observation, etc.). The CIP will provide a platform for researchers to collect data in pursuit of these questions in a well-controlled, organized, and efficient manner. It will also provide students with opportunities for hands-on participation in marketing research, thus giving them valuable experience that they would otherwise have trouble finding. Specifically, regularly participating in research studies will enhance student participants’ understanding of the research process, it will expose them to cutting edge research topics and techniques, and it will enrich communication with faculty. It is important to note that all research participation in the CIP will be voluntary, but we believe the students will be enthusiastic about benefitting from this experience, while being paid for their time as an added bonus. Finally, the CIP will benefit οƵ as a whole by boosting the research productivity of faculty, increasing visibility in the broader research community, expanding the scope of research available on campus, facilitating advance planning and collaboration among scholars in different departments (and eventually, schools) within οƵ, and facilitating the hiring and retention of new researchers who join (and consider joining) οƵ.
Corporations Instructional Modules
Brian Quinn
Associate Professor, School Of Law
This project is in support of my work to develop a modular approach to the standard 3 credit business associations course. Last year I received support to develop a learning module for Agency. That first module was extremely successful as a learning experience - both for students and for me. However, that module relied on bespoke animation combined with Canvas’ Quiz functions and is not likely to provide a cost-effective long term solution. In this grant proposal, I am seeking support to roll-out a second module, but relying on off-the-shelf software that will permit us to develop future modules in-house at minimal cost.
The ultimate goal of this effort is to develop a series of modules, each covering a different topic area, LLCs, partnership, close corporations, start-ups & venture capital, public benefit corporations, corporate social responsibility and mergers. Each of these modules will be available to be taken in conjunction with the business associations course. The ultimate goal of this initial experiment is to create a personalized learning experience for students within the framework of a broader introductory business associations course. For some students that might mean the basic corporations course includes a module on agency and partnership law. For others, it will provide them with an opportunity to explore issues related to corporate social responsibility. When taken in conjunction with the broader introductory business associations course, students will be able to personalize their learning experience without additional faculty demands.
If the modules are successful, the final stage of the effort would entail moving the content of the basic corporations course online as well. In that version, students will have a high degree of flexibility to personalize their learning experience without additional demand on faculty time. At that point, one faculty member should be sufficient to cover three traditional large sections, freeing up faculty resources to dedicate to other activities.
Digital Innovations In Sound Engineering
John Michalczyk
Professor, College Of Arts And Sciences, Film Studies
The Film Studies Program faculty will design a pilot program over two semesters in sound and animation. For the past several years there has been a consistent interest among film students for more production-related courses to prepare them for graduate studies or a career in the media. In the Film Studies Program there are approximately 50 Film Majors and 50 Film Majors with normally 650+ students enrolled in diverse courses in history, criticism, screenwriting, and production. During our departmental external review 3 years ago, as Chair of Fine Arts and Director of Film Studies, I sent a lengthy questionnaire to alumni film students. About 40 students involved in some aspect of media (film/television) or graduate studies replied. The common response was that the program was very solid, and in some cases it was equivalent to the first year of graduate studies in film at USC where a good number of our students attend. The questionnaire also inquired about what was lacking in the program in order to be a very solid curriculum. The response for most students in the production side of film, as opposed to film history/criticism/screenwriting, was that they seriously lacked any experience in two areas—sound engineering/design and animation/special effects. In order to be competitive and “marketable” they mentioned, the alumni felt that they had to have more training in sound and animation.
Engaging Boston College Undergraduates In Communicating Science To The Public
Alan Kafka
Associate Professor, Earth And Environmental Sciences
Mike Barnett
Professor, Lynch School Of Education
This project responds to two needs of the university and of society in general. First is the need for students educated in the 21st Century to be able to “think outside the box” and be able to do more than just respond well to testing and having their work only evaluated by professors. Second is the need for science education programs to train future citizens who cannot only communicate about science but also be able to express their ideas through media. The work that we are proposing here directly addresses both of these needs by engaging undergraduate students at Boston College in the development and testing of interactive displays where they will share their scientific knowledge and visualizations with a general and public audience.
Both Dr. Kafka and Dr. Barnett teach large undergraduate courses and interact with undergraduates in a number of ways and are already engaged in a number of educational outreach programs with the community. In this project we will be working together to implement two major science communication projects that utilize the same technologies and will allow us to build an evidence base to apply for future funding around improving communication of scientific ideas. In this project we will engage undergraduates in creating an interactive seismic station at Boston College’s O’Neill Library and at a public library in the city of Boston. The second project will focus on the development of an interactive food justice kiosk that will be on display in Boston College’s O’Neill Library and at the Daily Table in Dorchester, MA. What is particularly interesting about each of these projects is that they have different content but are exploring and testing the same technology by engaging undergraduates in communicating what they are learning with the public. In doing this work we will also be establishing a technological infrastructure and a design framework around which future grant proposals can be built.
A central aspect of our work is the idea of placing “Touchpanels” in stores, libraries, shops, and other locations where residents can interact with data and visualizations of that data. A Touchpanel is simply a large touch screen that will be placed on a table, counter or, mounted on a wall. This technology will then allow a user to interact with the content by touching the embedded navigational features. By utilizing two different types of projects we will be in a better position to evaluate (1) which aspects of the user experience best supports engagement with the material, supports learning, and supports interaction with others who are exploring the content at the same time (i.e. do people stop and talk about the display? What do they talk about?), and (2) how does the nature of the content impact interactions. As such our ATIG funding will not just establish our technological and design frameworks but will also evaluate the outcomes of the work to determine which aspects of the project should be expanded and explored in more depth.
Exploring Use Of TAO To Support Teaching, Learning, And Research On Assessment
Michael Russell
Professor, Lynch School Of Education
The LSOE’s Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation program prepares pre-service educators, master students, and doctoral students to develop assessment instruments. To keep pace with the advances in digital assessment, it is essential that our students have access to tools that allow them to develop and administer digital assessments. In addition, to support research on the extent to which new practices enabled by digitally delivered assessments actually increase test validity, it is essential that advanced doctoral students and faculty have access to a digital assessment delivery system that can be used for research purposes. Finally, to enable faculty, both within the ERME department and across the University, to keep pace and capitalize on advances in both formative and summative assessment methods, it is essential for faculty to have access to a cutting edge assessment development and delivery system.
The project aims to create an instance of TAO, an open-source assessment development and delivery system, that will be used to:
- support instruction in two courses: Assessment and Test Construction and Technology Enhanced Assessment
- support assessment in at least two courses: Assessment and Test Construction and Introduction to Statistics
- support research on new item types conducted by Russell and his graduate students.
The project requires two main activities:
- Creating an instance of TAO that can be used to support instruction and research
- Integrating the instance of TAO with Canvas to support assessment in οƵ courses
MediaKron Special Projects
ATAB invited faculty to submit a proposal for developing a MediaKron project and to join a cohort of faculty developing similar projects. MediaKron is a web-based toolkit for digital thinking and storytelling developed at Boston College for Boston College faculty. In addition to developing a project, faculty have committed to participating in a cohort to collaborate and discuss pedagogical uses of MediaKron and ways in which it can enhance teaching and learning. The cohort will provide a report at the end of the project outlining findings that will inform faculty and student use of MediaKron as it continues to evolve as an instructional tool.
The following 13 faculty MediaKron Special Projects cohort members will produce projects using MediaKron during the 2015-16 Academic year:
- Stephanie Leone and Nancy Netzer, Fine Arts, McMullen Museum Collection
- Lichuan Ye, Nursing, Sleep Education Program
- Eric Weiskott, English, The Vision Of William Banastre, A Middle English Alliterative
- Christopher Wilson, English, Reading Reportage
- Laurie Shepard, Romance Languages And Literatures, The Perspective Of Literature, ENG2206 & ITAL 3314 Literature And Business
- Laura White, Nursing, Current Issues In Pediatric Primary Care
- Bonnie Rudner, English, Frozen In Time? Disney And Body Images
- Amy Smith, Nursing, St. Ignatius Virtual Hospital: A MediaKron Project
- Martin Scanlan, Higher Education And Educational Leadership, MediaKron For Educational Leaders
- Scott Cummings, Theater Department, Mapping London Theatre
- Johann Sadock, Romance Languages And Literatures, Giving A Second Life To Au-Dela Du Regard: Recontres Multiethniques
- Joseph Nugent, English, Expansion Of Dubliner’s Bookshelf
Personal Response System Modernization Pilot
Center For Teaching Excellence
A shift is occurring in the personal response system market toward software applications on mobile devices in place of physical response devices. Newer entrants to the space like Top Hat and Poll Everywhere have eschewed the development of physical devices altogether and focused solely on the software interface. Even industry stalwarts like i>clicker have indicated their ambition to move in this direction through such recent changes as bundling i>clicker REEF subscriptions (their mobile device solution) with new physical devices and charging students to register used devices.
Boston College needs to respond to this changing landscape, and do so quickly. Many faculty members have already started using software‐based solutions, largely without support, and have reported very good feedback from these products. Use of personal response systems at οƵ, in general, has declined since the beginning of this academic year, however, primarily because of the issues with the existing i>clicker system and its inability to keep up with contemporary competitors. While we will continue to support i>clicker for at least the next year, its web‐based alternative to physical devices lacks significant feature parity with the other platforms included in this pilot, which is one of the reasons that this pilot is necessary.
The CTE will be conducting a faculty pilot of two software‐based personal response tools, Top Hat and Poll Everywhere, that fulfill a range of faculty use cases. Much like current οƵ support of virtual communication tools, this selection of personal response system tools would ensure a good fit for a wide range of use cases. While the CTE is already conducting internal testing of these products, coupling this testing with faculty feedback will be crucial in selecting the appropriate tools for οƵ. The pilot will start during the 2015 Fall semester and continue through Spring 2016 with nine faculty members participating.
Technology Enhanced Teaching: Animated Visual Demonstration Of Statistical Concepts And Analysis
Mandy Li
Assistant Professor, Educational Research, Lynch School Of Education
One of the most widely supported calls for the 21st century is to know statistics. In 2009, New York Times published an article “For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics”. This article quotes “I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians.” said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. Another persuasive article titled “In D.C, Statisticians Flex Their Strength in Numbers” also appeared in Washington Post. As a professor teaching several statistics courses, I would like to contribute to make statistical learning more fun and easy through animated visual display of steps and procedures. To that end the proposed work here has three major goals:
- Develop animated visual display on statistical concepts and analysis such as least square estimation, confidence interval of parameter estimates, principal component analysis, and K-means clustering analysis.
- Develop links and webpages to make the visual display, instructional materials that can be utilized at (STAT I ERME7468, STAT II ERME7469, GLM ERME7667, Multivariate STAT ERME7668) to review and teach related topics.
- Gather data that will be utilized in applying for a larger National Science Foundation or Institute of Education Sciences.
Using Technology To Prepare Instructional Leaders For K12 Schools
Rebecca Lowenhaupt
Assistant Professor, Lynch School Of Education
This project will leverage new technologies to provide innovative and relevant instruction to graduate education for aspiring school leaders in the Lynch School of Education. Today, educational leaders face social, cultural, and professional challenges that accompany dramatically changing demographics in schools, policies that promote standardization and compliance, and the face-paced growth of technology. To support these future administrators in meeting these challenges, I propose to use ATIG funds to redesign a core course in our Masters’ program, “ELHE7708: Instructional Leadership.” Funds will support the purchase of a class set of iPads and associated applications related to teacher observation, feedback, and evaluation.
The course introduces students to many issues within the field of school supervision, such as the relationship between supervision and teacher development, adult learning theories, school effectiveness, curriculum development, and instructional improvement. The course addresses the changing nature of instructional leadership in the contexts of standards and accountability, as well as equity and diversity considerations in the context of changing demographics. The course teaches a set of practices associated with instructional leadership, which increasingly rely on iPad applications and associated technologies in the field. Students conduct classroom observations, mock evaluations, prepare feedback for teachers, and plan program reviews to practice the skills of instructional leadership. In K12 schools, all of these practices draw on technological tools which are being developed and implemented in the field. ATIG funds will support the adaptation of ELHE 7708 to incorporate these new technological tools into the curriculum, providing the opportunity for training in their use to aspiring school leaders.
Action Learning For Research: Building Groups To Bridge Research And Practice
Thomas Crea
Associate Professor, School Of Social Work
Action learning is a concept in which teams pool their knowledge and expertise to solve problems in real time. Action Research is a means of conducting research that pairs researchers and practitioners to develop methods and findings relevant and practical for those attempting to solve social problems. Teaching action research depends on alignment of classroom and practicum schedules, cooperation among group members, and synergistic relationship with field staff. The current classroom model makes it difficult for these three things to occur and can result in reduced student learning. This project proposes that the use of a newly developed learning application will help resolve these challenges and create a more dynamic learning experience for students.
A web-based application is currently under development in Boston College’s Center for Teaching Excellence to help avoid some major challenges to group work and to assist in project communication and planning over the course of the semester. The app is designed to assess student preferences and needs in group work settings. The tool then employs rigorous analytic techniques drawing from cluster analysis, the tool helps the instructor assign people to groups based upon those preferences and the instructor’s goals for the assignment. After groups are assigned, students work together to accomplish the learning task. When the learning activity is complete, students can use the tool to conduct a simple and fast evaluation of their group members’ performance. This information can then be shared with the instructor for formative assessment purposes and/or could be used to inform the next round of group formation.
The purpose of this project is to use this innovative technology to promote stronger and more efficient student groups, which are linked to social service agencies globally and in Boston. In using this learning tool, and integrating it within the existing Canvas system at Boston College, we hope to engage students in a process of action learning focused on field-based research, in partnership with field agencies around the world.
Boston College UDL: Building A Model For UDL Leadership
Richard Jackson
Associate Professor, Teacher Education, Lynch School Of Education
The purpose of the οƵ Universal Design for Learning (UDL) project is to develop a comprehensive web space that will build the capacity of the οƵ faculty, staff, and administration across the University to implement UDL and to help οƵ become a national model for UDL implementation and leadership. UDL is an innovative educational framework, defined in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, that addresses the variability and diverse learning needs of all students. The project promotes an innovative use of technology through the use of portable devices to gather various perspectives on the needs of learners.
The project will consist of three parts:
- Conducting a UDL needs assessment that captures the voice of students and faculty and informs the project work;
- Developing a comprehensive web space that builds the capacity of the οƵ community to implement UDL across the campus; and
- Defining national UDL leadership competencies that can be used in teacher preparation programs to develop future teachers and UDL leaders that will be shared through the website as a model for the country.
The project promotes an innovative use of technology through the creation of a dynamic web space that will educate members of the οƵ community about UDL and support widespread implementation of UDL across the οƵ campus. This web space will be unique and far-reaching because of its comprehensive nature, its UDL design, and its connection to teacher preparation at οƵ. The project will establish a “learning” web space that educates and engages the οƵ community.
The project also promotes an innovative use of technology through the use of portable devices such as iTouch devices, digital cameras, or audio recorders to capture the voices of students as part of a needs assessment of the barriers impeding the implementation of UDL at οƵ. These devices offer multiple opportunities to gather various perspectives through picture, video, voice and text. While modeling UDL practice, the use of these devices will also provide students rich opportunities to share their views and experiences.
Connecting Youth And Mentors: Improving The STEM Career Pipeline Through Mobile E-Mentoring Technology
Mike Barnett
Professor, Lynch School Of Education and Human Development
Mentors and role models can play a significant role in students’ motivation to pursue specific careers as they transition to adulthood, particularly science-based careers. Unfortunately, youth are often insecure about their math and science skills or discouraged by peer pressure from pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, especially women and minorities. Recent National Science Foundation (NSF) data shows that the science and engineering workforce is largely white and male with people of color making up only 7 percent of the STEM workforce (National Science Board, 2014). Despite an increased focus on improving the number of underrepresented youth (students of color, low income) pursuing the STEM fields, researchers have found that low-income, first-generation college students are four times more likely to leave college during their first year than their peers, and more than three times less likely to transfer to a four-year school in a six-year time frame, and four times as likely to leave a STEM field than their peers (National Science Board, 2014). One of the oft called-for recommendations is to expand the capacity and diversity of the STEM workforce pipeline by building better and easier structures to provide mentoring to young people entering the STEM pipeline.
Even if students are prepared, have adequate information, and are ambitious and talented enough to succeed in STEM fields, success may also hinge on the extent to which students feel socially and intellectually integrated into their academic programs and campus environments. The importance of social and intellectual integration for success is critical to all students, regardless of background. For minority students who may feel, or be made to feel, like outsiders as they see few others “like themselves” among the student and faculty populations, this issue takes on even greater salience. Yet finding a sufficient number of mentors to reach the number of students necessary to repair the leaky STEM pipeline is daunting because it is often very difficult to find a sufficient number of mentors and to find the time for the mentors to meet with the students on a regular basis (Blake-Beard, Bayne, Crosby, & Muller, 2011). In fact, in our previous work (through our interactions with industry personnel), we learned that many would be very excited to serve as a mentor, but would have difficulty finding time given family and job commitments. However, they informed us that if an on-line mentoring program were available, they would be interested in participating in it. To that end, this project will develop a mobile application that is based upon MentorNet’s (our partner for this project) existing web-based mentoring model.
Consumer Insights Panel
Henrik Hagtvedt
Assistant Professor, Carroll School Of Management
The Marketing Department is currently working on establishing a Consumer Insights Panel (CIP) at the Carroll School of Management. The CIP is an exciting new initiative that will be an extremely valuable asset to scholars in the Carroll School who conduct behavioral research that relies on human participants. The initiative entails voluntary research participation among students (and staff who may be interested) that sign up in advance. Most of the studies will be conducted using twenty laptop computers that the Marketing Department has obtained for this purpose.
The CIP will have multiple benefits for researchers, student participants, and οƵ as a whole. Specifically, it will enable researchers to pursue research topics and questions that would otherwise be difficult to study (those requiring precise measurements in a controlled environment, those involving group interactions, those requiring context-sensitive experimental techniques such as observation, etc.). The CIP will provide a platform for researchers to collect data in pursuit of these questions in a well-controlled, organized, and efficient manner. It will also provide students with opportunities for hands-on participation in marketing research, thus giving them valuable experience that they would otherwise have trouble finding. Specifically, regularly participating in research studies will enhance student participants’ understanding of the research process, it will expose them to cutting edge research topics and techniques, and it will enrich communication with faculty. It is important to note that all research participation in the CIP will be voluntary, but we believe the students will be enthusiastic about benefitting from this experience, while being paid for their time as an added bonus. Finally, the CIP will benefit οƵ as a whole by boosting the research productivity of faculty, increasing visibility in the broader research community, expanding the scope of research available on campus, facilitating advance planning and collaboration among scholars in different departments (and eventually, schools) within οƵ, and facilitating the hiring and retention of new researchers who join (and consider joining) οƵ.
Corporations Instructional Modules
Brian Quinn
Associate Professor, School Of Law
This project is in support of my work to develop a modular approach to the standard 3 credit business associations course. Last year I received support to develop a learning module for Agency. That first module was extremely successful as a learning experience - both for students and for me. However, that module relied on bespoke animation combined with Canvas’ Quiz functions and is not likely to provide a cost-effective long term solution. In this grant proposal, I am seeking support to roll-out a second module, but relying on off-the-shelf software that will permit us to develop future modules in-house at minimal cost.
The ultimate goal of this effort is to develop a series of modules, each covering a different topic area, LLCs, partnership, close corporations, start-ups & venture capital, public benefit corporations, corporate social responsibility and mergers. Each of these modules will be available to be taken in conjunction with the business associations course. The ultimate goal of this initial experiment is to create a personalized learning experience for students within the framework of a broader introductory business associations course. For some students that might mean the basic corporations course includes a module on agency and partnership law. For others, it will provide them with an opportunity to explore issues related to corporate social responsibility. When taken in conjunction with the broader introductory business associations course, students will be able to personalize their learning experience without additional faculty demands.
If the modules are successful, the final stage of the effort would entail moving the content of the basic corporations course online as well. In that version, students will have a high degree of flexibility to personalize their learning experience without additional demand on faculty time. At that point, one faculty member should be sufficient to cover three traditional large sections, freeing up faculty resources to dedicate to other activities.
Digital Innovations In Sound Engineering
John Michalczyk
Professor, College Of Arts And Sciences, Film Studies
The Film Studies Program faculty will design a pilot program over two semesters in sound and animation. For the past several years there has been a consistent interest among film students for more production-related courses to prepare them for graduate studies or a career in the media. In the Film Studies Program there are approximately 50 Film Majors and 50 Film Majors with normally 650+ students enrolled in diverse courses in history, criticism, screenwriting, and production. During our departmental external review 3 years ago, as Chair of Fine Arts and Director of Film Studies, I sent a lengthy questionnaire to alumni film students. About 40 students involved in some aspect of media (film/television) or graduate studies replied. The common response was that the program was very solid, and in some cases it was equivalent to the first year of graduate studies in film at USC where a good number of our students attend. The questionnaire also inquired about what was lacking in the program in order to be a very solid curriculum. The response for most students in the production side of film, as opposed to film history/criticism/screenwriting, was that they seriously lacked any experience in two areas—sound engineering/design and animation/special effects. In order to be competitive and “marketable” they mentioned, the alumni felt that they had to have more training in sound and animation.
Engaging Boston College Undergraduates In Communicating Science To The Public
Alan Kafka
Associate Professor, Earth And Environmental Sciences
Mike Barnett
Professor, Lynch School Of Education
This project responds to two needs of the university and of society in general. First is the need for students educated in the 21st Century to be able to “think outside the box” and be able to do more than just respond well to testing and having their work only evaluated by professors. Second is the need for science education programs to train future citizens who cannot only communicate about science but also be able to express their ideas through media. The work that we are proposing here directly addresses both of these needs by engaging undergraduate students at Boston College in the development and testing of interactive displays where they will share their scientific knowledge and visualizations with a general and public audience.
Both Dr. Kafka and Dr. Barnett teach large undergraduate courses and interact with undergraduates in a number of ways and are already engaged in a number of educational outreach programs with the community. In this project we will be working together to implement two major science communication projects that utilize the same technologies and will allow us to build an evidence base to apply for future funding around improving communication of scientific ideas. In this project we will engage undergraduates in creating an interactive seismic station at Boston College’s O’Neill Library and at a public library in the city of Boston. The second project will focus on the development of an interactive food justice kiosk that will be on display in Boston College’s O’Neill Library and at the Daily Table in Dorchester, MA. What is particularly interesting about each of these projects is that they have different content but are exploring and testing the same technology by engaging undergraduates in communicating what they are learning with the public. In doing this work we will also be establishing a technological infrastructure and a design framework around which future grant proposals can be built.
A central aspect of our work is the idea of placing “Touchpanels” in stores, libraries, shops, and other locations where residents can interact with data and visualizations of that data. A Touchpanel is simply a large touch screen that will be placed on a table, counter or, mounted on a wall. This technology will then allow a user to interact with the content by touching the embedded navigational features. By utilizing two different types of projects we will be in a better position to evaluate (1) which aspects of the user experience best supports engagement with the material, supports learning, and supports interaction with others who are exploring the content at the same time (i.e. do people stop and talk about the display? What do they talk about?), and (2) how does the nature of the content impact interactions. As such our ATIG funding will not just establish our technological and design frameworks but will also evaluate the outcomes of the work to determine which aspects of the project should be expanded and explored in more depth.
Exploring Use Of TAO To Support Teaching, Learning, And Research On Assessment
Michael Russell
Professor, Lynch School Of Education
The LSOE’s Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation program prepares pre-service educators, master students, and doctoral students to develop assessment instruments. To keep pace with the advances in digital assessment, it is essential that our students have access to tools that allow them to develop and administer digital assessments. In addition, to support research on the extent to which new practices enabled by digitally delivered assessments actually increase test validity, it is essential that advanced doctoral students and faculty have access to a digital assessment delivery system that can be used for research purposes. Finally, to enable faculty, both within the ERME department and across the University, to keep pace and capitalize on advances in both formative and summative assessment methods, it is essential for faculty to have access to a cutting edge assessment development and delivery system.
The project aims to create an instance of TAO, an open-source assessment development and delivery system, that will be used to:
- support instruction in two courses: Assessment and Test Construction and Technology Enhanced Assessment
- support assessment in at least two courses: Assessment and Test Construction and Introduction to Statistics
- support research on new item types conducted by Russell and his graduate students.
The project requires two main activities:
- Creating an instance of TAO that can be used to support instruction and research
- Integrating the instance of TAO with Canvas to support assessment in οƵ courses
MediaKron Special Projects
ATAB invited faculty to submit a proposal for developing a MediaKron project and to join a cohort of faculty developing similar projects. MediaKron is a web-based toolkit for digital thinking and storytelling developed at Boston College for Boston College faculty. In addition to developing a project, faculty have committed to participating in a cohort to collaborate and discuss pedagogical uses of MediaKron and ways in which it can enhance teaching and learning. The cohort will provide a report at the end of the project outlining findings that will inform faculty and student use of MediaKron as it continues to evolve as an instructional tool.
The following 13 faculty MediaKron Special Projects cohort members will produce projects using MediaKron during the 2015-16 Academic year:
- Stephanie Leone and Nancy Netzer, Fine Arts, McMullen Museum Collection
- Lichuan Ye, Nursing, Sleep Education Program
- Eric Weiskott, English, The Vision Of William Banastre, A Middle English Alliterative
- Christopher Wilson, English, Reading Reportage
- Laurie Shepard, Romance Languages And Literatures, The Perspective Of Literature, ENG2206 & ITAL 3314 Literature And Business
- Laura White, Nursing, Current Issues In Pediatric Primary Care
- Bonnie Rudner, English, Frozen In Time? Disney And Body Images
- Amy Smith, Nursing, St. Ignatius Virtual Hospital: A MediaKron Project
- Martin Scanlan, Higher Education And Educational Leadership, MediaKron For Educational Leaders
- Scott Cummings, Theater Department, Mapping London Theatre
- Johann Sadock, Romance Languages And Literatures, Giving A Second Life To Au-Dela Du Regard: Recontres Multiethniques
- Joseph Nugent, English, Expansion Of Dubliner’s Bookshelf
Personal Response System Modernization Pilot
Center For Teaching Excellence
A shift is occurring in the personal response system market toward software applications on mobile devices in place of physical response devices. Newer entrants to the space like Top Hat and Poll Everywhere have eschewed the development of physical devices altogether and focused solely on the software interface. Even industry stalwarts like i>clicker have indicated their ambition to move in this direction through such recent changes as bundling i>clicker REEF subscriptions (their mobile device solution) with new physical devices and charging students to register used devices.
Boston College needs to respond to this changing landscape, and do so quickly. Many faculty members have already started using software‐based solutions, largely without support, and have reported very good feedback from these products. Use of personal response systems at οƵ, in general, has declined since the beginning of this academic year, however, primarily because of the issues with the existing i>clicker system and its inability to keep up with contemporary competitors. While we will continue to support i>clicker for at least the next year, its web‐based alternative to physical devices lacks significant feature parity with the other platforms included in this pilot, which is one of the reasons that this pilot is necessary.
The CTE will be conducting a faculty pilot of two software‐based personal response tools, Top Hat and Poll Everywhere, that fulfill a range of faculty use cases. Much like current οƵ support of virtual communication tools, this selection of personal response system tools would ensure a good fit for a wide range of use cases. While the CTE is already conducting internal testing of these products, coupling this testing with faculty feedback will be crucial in selecting the appropriate tools for οƵ. The pilot will start during the 2015 Fall semester and continue through Spring 2016 with nine faculty members participating.
Technology Enhanced Teaching: Animated Visual Demonstration Of Statistical Concepts And Analysis
Mandy Li
Assistant Professor, Educational Research, Lynch School Of Education
One of the most widely supported calls for the 21st century is to know statistics. In 2009, New York Times published an article “For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics”. This article quotes “I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians.” said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. Another persuasive article titled “In D.C, Statisticians Flex Their Strength in Numbers” also appeared in Washington Post. As a professor teaching several statistics courses, I would like to contribute to make statistical learning more fun and easy through animated visual display of steps and procedures. To that end the proposed work here has three major goals:
- Develop animated visual display on statistical concepts and analysis such as least square estimation, confidence interval of parameter estimates, principal component analysis, and K-means clustering analysis.
- Develop links and webpages to make the visual display, instructional materials that can be utilized at (STAT I ERME7468, STAT II ERME7469, GLM ERME7667, Multivariate STAT ERME7668) to review and teach related topics.
- Gather data that will be utilized in applying for a larger National Science Foundation or Institute of Education Sciences.
Using Technology To Prepare Instructional Leaders For K12 Schools
Rebecca Lowenhaupt
Assistant Professor, Lynch School Of Education
This project will leverage new technologies to provide innovative and relevant instruction to graduate education for aspiring school leaders in the Lynch School of Education. Today, educational leaders face social, cultural, and professional challenges that accompany dramatically changing demographics in schools, policies that promote standardization and compliance, and the face-paced growth of technology. To support these future administrators in meeting these challenges, I propose to use ATIG funds to redesign a core course in our Masters’ program, “ELHE7708: Instructional Leadership.” Funds will support the purchase of a class set of iPads and associated applications related to teacher observation, feedback, and evaluation.
The course introduces students to many issues within the field of school supervision, such as the relationship between supervision and teacher development, adult learning theories, school effectiveness, curriculum development, and instructional improvement. The course addresses the changing nature of instructional leadership in the contexts of standards and accountability, as well as equity and diversity considerations in the context of changing demographics. The course teaches a set of practices associated with instructional leadership, which increasingly rely on iPad applications and associated technologies in the field. Students conduct classroom observations, mock evaluations, prepare feedback for teachers, and plan program reviews to practice the skills of instructional leadership. In K12 schools, all of these practices draw on technological tools which are being developed and implemented in the field. ATIG funds will support the adaptation of ELHE 7708 to incorporate these new technological tools into the curriculum, providing the opportunity for training in their use to aspiring school leaders.
Building A Sustainable Culture Of Innovation And Practice In The Digital Humanities
Mary Crane
Professor, English Department
his project seeks a sustainable approach to innovation and practice in the way we approach digital humanities research and teaching at Boston College.
As director of the Institute for the Liberal Arts at Boston College, I have brought together a group of faculty and administrators in a Digital Humanities Lab initiative to discuss ways in which we might better support complex collaborative, interdisciplinary, multimedia research projects at Boston College. The old model of a solitary scholar producing printed publications is becoming outmoded and οƵ faculty are behind the curve in developing newer modes of research, to the detriment of our students (and ultimately our standing as a research university).
Including representatives from the libraries, McMullen Museum, IDeS, ILA, and faculty from several departments, we have begun to identify ways in which we can collaborate to support this kind of research on campus. We have identified as a crucial need lab space for collaborative research, both actual space containing hardware, and also a shared digital space and training in how to use these tools.
Classroom Annotation With Wacom Tablets
Mary Bilder
Professor, Law School
This project seeks to replace static classroom monitors with Wacom Tablets. The Wacom Tablet revolutionizes the teaching experience by enabling the instructor or a student to annotate spontaneously projected documents. Over the last decade, law school professors have embraced Powerpoint and other projection technologies to improve student learning. These technologies, however, share the fundamental problem that they do not permit live annotation. The Wacom Tablet solves this problem simply and effectively by allowing professors to write on the monitor screen. The Wacom Tablet will allow professors who already embrace technology to move their teaching to a more active level and will make it easy for slow adopters to see the advantages of at least occasionally preparing text-based slides for class.
Legal education focuses on text. Law school classes read cases, statutes, and regulations. Law students spend hours in research and writing. Despite technological advancements, most law professors continue to use blackboards because text can be written and then annotated during the class.
The Wacom Tablet improves this fundamental aspect of the classroom. The instructor prepares a slide or document with the text or image. The text is displayed in the classroom. Using the pen attached to the Tablet, the instructor underlines, circles, annotates—and then can erase and start over if necessary. For students, the Tablet allows them to experience “live” the process of the instructor critically analyzing crucial parts of text. It is a valuable way to teach students how to scrutinize text by parsing the language and methodically examining it within the context of a lecture.
In addition to “live” annotation, the Wacom Tablet makes it easy to save the image with annotation or to capture the process of annotation. For many students, the knowledge that the annotated image will be posted after class allows them to focus in the classroom on understanding rather than scribbling or typing verbatim notes. In addition, the Wacom Tablet can be used in conjunction with a video taping in the classroom so that entire experience is captured.
The Wacom Tablet will aid students with different learning styles, learning disabilities, and physical disabilities. The annotation abilities of the Tablet support those students who learn well through visualization. For students with impaired vision, the
Next Generation Learning: Integrating Science Education Through Robotics
Mike Barnett
Professor, Lynch School Of Education
The proposed work here builds upon existing work while expanding into new areas, namely robotics and computer programming.
PNEURAL: Build Your Own Neural Network
Joseph Burdo
Adjunct Professor, Biology
My proposal involves using rigid tubing designed to resemble neurons to build a physical model of a neural network, that I have named PNEURAL (silent P as in pneumatics) to help students grasp the underlying electrical principles of information processing in the brain. Simple components like battery powered solenoids and air pumps controlled with a microcontroller can be used to deliver positive and negative air pressure bursts at a safe level for the tubing that can simulate excitatory and inhibitory potential (voltage) changes within a neuron. If the pressure builds to some critical level in the model neuron, analogous to an action potential in a real neuron, the microcontroller can provide output indicative of that, which could be converted into electronic or physical action. Early in the BI481 Introduction to Neuroscience course that I teach, we discuss numerous key concepts in electrophysiology such as graded potentials, action potentials, length and time constants, excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials, and temporal and spatial summation. These concepts have historically been difficult for undergraduates to grasp. Student use of the proposed PNEURAL cells would allow them a hands-on way to explore these concepts.
My initial goal through ATIG support is to build two simulators during the summer of 2014, for use in my Fall 2014 BI481 Introduction to Neuroscience course. One is an individual PNEURAL cell, which will allow the students to experiment with the concepts of temporal and spatial summation of excitatory and inhibitory potentials that can lead to action potentials. The second simulator I will construct over the summer will model a basic neural network. Individual PNEURAL cells can be networked together to help the students learn about more complex neurophysiological phenomena.
My longer-term goals (Fall 2014 and Spring 2015) include construction of additional simulators to be used in my courses. PNEURAL cells could be built to demonstrate how central pattern generator neurons in the spinal cord and brain stem produce rhythmic output such as walking and breathing, how synaptic plasticity in the brain may be the physical substrate for declarative (e.g., facts) and nondeclarative (e.g., muscle) memory, or how red, green and blue specific photo sensors built into PNEURAL cells could model how the retina detects and processes different wavelengths of light. Ultimately, what really excites me for students to build their own cells! I would love to offer a Biology/Computer Science interdisciplinary course for students with an interest in neuroscience and engineering/physical computing, but not necessarily any experience in any of those disciplines.
Integrating Electronic Health Records Into The CSON Curriculum
Amy Smith
Clinical Assistant Professor, Adult Health, Connell School Of Nursing
The health care environment is rapidly changing due to changes in science and technology. These changes have important implications for what is expected of nurses to deliver safe, quality patient care. In order to meet these expectations of the nursing workforce, nursing education must also be transformed. The integration of electronic medical records into the nursing curriculum is essential as we prepare nursing graduates to meet the needs of the health care system.
This project will provide a proof of concept for the integration of an academic electronic health record into the nursing curriculum. An academic electronic health record will be integrated into a strategically chosen group of courses to pilot the concept across specialties and levels. Courses chosen to participate in this proof of concept include NU121 – Basic Health Assessment (fall and spring semesters), NU 245 - Maternal Child Health (fall and spring semesters) and NU430– Advanced Health Assessment (summer semester). The pilot will include approximately 250 students. These courses will provide the opportunity to assess the use of the electronic health record in both low and high fidelity clinical teaching settings. The ability to increase the complexity of learning experiences will also be observable as we have chosen courses at various stages of the student’s education.
Social Justice Through Visualization Of The Air
Michael Barnett
Associate Professor, Teacher Education, Lynch School Of Education
The work proposed here is an outgrowth of existing work and will allow for the exploration of an idea that I hope will result in some baseline data for a NSF SBIR (Small business Innovative Research) and an AISL (Advancing Informal Science Learning) proposals in the next year. The basic premise of this work is to build upon an air quality mapping project by providing more depth, detail, and enhanced data integrity to the project. To achieve this we are proposing equipping high school youth and environmental studies minors with high quality air sensors that they will carry with them as they go about their travels from where they live or work to Boston College. These sensors are designed to collect information regarding the quality of the air that one is breathing and this data will become part of a data set that will be integrated in the GE182 and ED550 courses for visualization and analyses. Most importantly, perhaps, is the fact that the data and student created visualizations will be visible on touch-foils (which are thin films that convert store-front windows into interactive touchscreens) that will be placed in storefronts and restaurants at various locations around the metro-Boston region.
Boston College UDL: Building A Model For UDL Leadership
Richard Jackson
Associate Professor, Teacher Education, Lynch School Of Education
The purpose of the οƵ Universal Design for Learning (UDL) project is to develop a comprehensive web space that will build the capacity of the οƵ faculty, staff, and administration across the University to implement UDL and to help οƵ become a national model for UDL implementation and leadership. UDL is an innovative educational framework, defined in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, that addresses the variability and diverse learning needs of all students. The project promotes an innovative use of technology through the use of portable devices to gather various perspectives on the needs of learners.
The project will consist of three parts:
- Conducting a UDL needs assessment that captures the voice of students and faculty and informs the project work;
- Developing a comprehensive web space that builds the capacity of the οƵ community to implement UDL across the campus; and
- Defining national UDL leadership competencies that can be used in teacher preparation programs to develop future teachers and UDL leaders that will be shared through the website as a model for the country.
The project promotes an innovative use of technology through the creation of a dynamic web space that will educate members of the οƵ community about UDL and support widespread implementation of UDL across the οƵ campus. This web space will be unique and far-reaching because of its comprehensive nature, its UDL design, and its connection to teacher preparation at οƵ. The project will establish a “learning” web space that educates and engages the οƵ community.
The project also promotes an innovative use of technology through the use of portable devices such as iTouch devices, digital cameras, or audio recorders to capture the voices of students as part of a needs assessment of the barriers impeding the implementation of UDL at οƵ. These devices offer multiple opportunities to gather various perspectives through picture, video, voice and text. While modeling UDL practice, the use of these devices will also provide students rich opportunities to share their views and experiences.
Digital Dubliners
Joseph Nugent
Adjunct Associate Professor, English Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
Digital Dublinerswill produce a high-quality e-publication featuring text, sound, imagery, and video using the new Apple iBook Author suite supplemented by TEI. It will be organized about and Advanced Topic Seminar in the English Department taught by Professor Nugent in fall, 2012. Fifteen of the sharpest students will compile, edit, annotate, write critical essays for, and finally market what we’re tentatively callingThe Boston College Student’s Guide for Students.
Promoting First Generation College Success
Ana Martinez-Aleman
Professor, Chairperson, Ed. Admin/Higher Ed., Lynch School Of Education
This project employs online social networking, digital gaming, and second-generation tablet technology to promote critical engagement and academic success among first-generation college students enrolled in the Options Through Education (OTE) Transitional Summer Program, sponsored by the AHANA program at Boston College. The aim of this project is to enhance the ”college staying culture” among first generation college students (FGCS) enrolled in the OTE Program through the use of iPad2 technology, social networking and online gaming.
Our project will leverage those social and academic relationships that are known to improve first generation college students’ academic and social engagement, academic persistence and success in college. We plan to integrate and online social networking tool(Facebook Group), digital gaming (οƵ 101), and tablet computing technology (iPad2) to build an online culture of college belonging. These technological capabilities will provide the pathways through which we will intentionally design academic and social experiences beginning in OTE’s summer transitional coursework with faculty, and supported by peer-mentoring/advising with OTE Preceptors (undergraduate students) and Counselors (graduate students) throughout the academic year.
The Mindful Teacher
Dennis Shirley
Professor, Teacher Education, Lynch School Of Education
The Mindful Teacher Project will create an app that can be used on a hand-held device to help busy teachers to focus their minds before entering into the instructional situation. A pilot app will be developed in the summer of 2012 with the technical assistance of an app designer. The app will be piloted in the fall semester 2012 Social Contexts of Education course taught by the Pl and a preliminary evaluation using pre-tests and post-test will be conducted to modify and improve the app. the app will then be available to teachers everywhere with access to apps beginning in January 2013 and will continue to be modified and improved. The app will then be used a second time in the fall semester 2013 Social Contexts of Education course and a second set of pre-tests and post-tests will be designed and used with students to further improve the app. Research findings on the app will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April 2013.
Toledo Cathedral's Polyphonic Choir Books
Michael Noone
Professor, Chairperson, Music Department
The Spanish primatial cathedral in Toledo houses possibly the world’s largest collection of superbly illuminated musico-liturgical sources. Comprising over 230 atlas-sized parchment choirbooks copied in and for the cathedral between the 15th and the 19th centuries, the vast majority date from the 16th century. These archival sources fall into six categories: a) complete sets of payments to scribes, illuminators, and bookbinders for the period 1500-1800, b)minutes of cathedral chapter meetings beginning in 1466, c) prolix manuscript ceremonials closely documenting the changing minutiae of local liturgical observance, d) liturgical sources (breviaries, missals, processionals, graduals, etc.), e) library inventories dating from 1503, 1539, 1580, 1600, and 1790, and f) documents notarization of contracts with scribes, illuminators, binders and book dealers.
Our project is the first attempt to draw together the extensive metadata recorded in the archival documentation and relate it directly to every phase of the production of the series of polyphonic manuscripts. Images of the archival documents, together with transcriptions and translation will be linked to the manuscripts at the level of a) the physical folios, b) the physical books, c) and the individual works.
This ATIG application proposes:
- to create a new permanent archive of low resolution images of Toledo’s music manuscripts to facilitate their study and cataloguing
- to create a parallel archive of the entire corpus of historical manuscripts that document all aspects of the choirbook collection’s manufacture, alteration, storage, restoration , and use.
- to create a descriptive and analytical inventory/catalogue of the physical properties of the choirbooks
- to create a catalogue of the musical works preserved in the choirbooks
- to construct an interactive website for the choirbooks that includes musical transcription and sound files.
Digitizing The Process Of Collecting, Editing, And Examining Behavioral Data
Ashley Duggan
Associate Professor, Communication Department
Professor Duggan has requested an ATIG to fund a program that will enable her to move to a digital system for collecting, analyzing, and editing recorded interactions of human behavior that she obtains as part of her research as a social scientist. Currently she is using the pencil and paper method to document this information. This technology would not only be used in Professor Duggan’s scholarship, but also in her academic role. She teaches research methods, nonverbal communication, and health communication. All of these courses would benefit from the use of this technology either as an example of a research tool or as a real life example of human interactions.
Technology For Social Justice: The Social Innovation Initiative
Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes
Associate Professor, GSSW, Older Adults And Familie, Graduate School Of Social Work
Stephanie Berzin
Chairperson, Children & Youth, GSSW, Children, Youth & Family
Core components of the GSSW’s new Social Innovation Initiative have been designed to use technology for promoting innovation by organizations in the social service sector that want to identify new approaches for addressing today’s compelling social problems. Social Innovation represents a new paradigm about social change that supports the development, implementation, and sustainability of transformational responses to social needs.
The technologies will make it possible to accomplish three important goals established for the Initiative: 1) Given the strong linkage between technology and innovation, the technologies will contribute to the generation of innovative ideas for responding to today’s compelling social problems; 2) the Initiative will introduce both MSW students and social service leaders to new technologies that they can, in turn, apply for other uses; and 3) the technologies will be critical for the creation of a community of social innovators that includes both practitioners and academics.
The technologies discussed in this proposal are: 1) telepresence that allows for synchronis exchanges and broad participation in innovation training and knowledge-sharing experiences; and 2) a website that supports the development of a community of social innovators and allows for on-going interactions. Using these advanced technologies, the project will cultivate leadership for social innovation among social service practitioners, build innovation capacity within existing social service organizations, and contribute to scholarship on social innovation.
TouchTree: Increasing Participation In Environmental Science By Seeing The Value Of The Forest And The Trees
Mike Barnett
Associate Professor, Teacher Education, Lynch School Of Education
This project is an emerging initiative and is an outgrowth of both National Science Foundation funded work (with the goal of obtaining additional NSF funds) and previous ATIG grant support. In a previous ATIG grant Dr. Barnett and his project team developed an interactive flash-based tree identification key and an interactive Carbon Footprint tool and a complex excel spreadsheet that users can use to determine the ecological value of trees. These tools have all been integrated into a textbook for high school students on Urban Ecology. Further, Dr. Barnett as a part of his sabbatical has already developed the set of functional specifications and for a mobile application that supports tree identification. Thus, the primary goal of the work proposed here is to bring the application, that we are calling TouchTree, to the market and to develop the underlying database structures and web-based interfaces to allow the scaling of the program across the nation. This background work means that the project team is in a position to create a highly innovative and creative set of tools that has significant potential to be widely used both at Boston College and in a variety of formal and informal education contexts.
Forgotten Chapters Of Boston's Literary History
Paul Lewis
Professor, English Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
This grant seeks support for the creation of an innovative, course-based exhibition that will be mounted simultaneously on-line and at Boston College, the Boston Public Library and, perhaps, the Massachusetts Historical Society in the spring of 2012. Titled "Forgotten Chapters of Boston’s Literary History," the exhibit will be created by οƵ students working with me, graphics, web, and audio designers, and area curators in a course that will run during the 2011 fall semester. While the approach of the course and exhibit is generally historicist, its concentration on a small area within a half-mile of Boston Common intensifies the local context and adds a service element to the potential impact of its research. Inadequately celebrated and memorialized, the literary history of Boston between the Revolution and the Civil War is replete with stories waiting to be told. My students and I will find and choose some of the most interesting of these “forgotten chapters.” In connection with the exhibition, we will create a detailed (and complete as possible) map of Boston that highlights sites associated with pre-1860 literature. Technology consultants can help us share our findings with the local, national, and global audience they are intended to inform.
Beyond Ricci: Digital Presentation Of Jesuitana Collection
Jeremy Clarke
Assistant Professor, History Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
Simply, this project combines teaching, research, a public exhibition, a rare book collection and the use of the latest technology to bring all of these things together in a dynamic and engaging way. For more than four and a half centuries Jesuits have used books to foster scholarship, create cross-cultural dialogue on matters of faith and reason and communicate across vast differences. Boston College and the rare Jesuitana collection housed in its Burns Library not only represent that tradition of learning and exchange but also exemplify the ongoing commitment to engage the world and encourage the construction of cathedrals of the mind. This project harnesses the heirlooms of the past to the emergent technologies of the present to educate new generations of scholars who might yet become the next Matteo Ricci or Candida Xu, Rousseau or Thomas Hyde.
Campus Tree And Carbon Inventory: An Interactive Website And Greenhouse Gas Sensors For Studies That Link Plant Ecology, Tree Demography And Phenology To Climate Change
Serena Moseman-Valtierra
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Biology
This project involves an interactive database and greenhouse gas sensors for studies that link plant ecology, tree demography and phenology to biogeochemistry and climate change. We will create an online repository for a campus tree and carbon inventory that can be queried by the οƵ community, particularly to learn about ways species differ in their responses to climate change and to quantify potential feedbacks on climate via changes in land use that affect soil respiration. A web-interface will provide valuable opportunities for undergraduate research outside of traditionally funded laboratories, means of communicating information about climate change as it relates to species on campus, and tools to assess the sustainability and carbon footprint of Boston College as an institution.
Enhancing Students' Understanding Of Modern Statistical Concepts
Jenny Baglivo
Professor, Mathematics Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
This proposal seeks support to develop a series of computer laboratories to enhance students' understanding of modern statistical concepts, and to develop the computer tools needed to support the laboratories. The laboratories and tools will be written in Mathematica (Wolfram Research, Inc.), an advanced mathematical programming environment, and they will be designed to take advantage of Mathematica's unique features.
Experimenting With Socially Interactive Robots And Creating Human-Robot-Interaction Interfaces For Social Science Research And Teaching
Seung-A Jin
Assistant Professor, Communication Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
The primary purpose of this project is to experiment with socially interactive robots for teaching about interactive media and to create Human-Robot-Interaction interfaces for social scientific research. This project aims to implement a “learning by doing” strategy for teaching in new media. Students will get valuable learning experience about (1) designing and conducting experimental research; (2) applying various theories to real research settings; and (3) building valid and reliable measures in social and psychological research. The ultimate goal is to relate to the strategic initiative of Boston College.
Forensics Science Lab Using Computer Game Technology
Ann Burgess
Professor, Psych/Mental Health Nursing, Connell School Of Nursing
This ATIG hopes to respond to the question: Will this game-based lab make a difference between learner outcomes in a virtual lab setting versus the current physically-based lab environment? Thus, to evaluate the efficacy of the forensic virtual laboratory as a valuable learning experience and to ensure that participating in this interactive environment can increase student cognition and practice of proper forensics techniques, we propose three mechanisms. First, a Pre and Post evaluation survey designed to measure student perceived confidence level in performing various forensic procedures and attitudes (affective domain). Second, evaluation of the student’s actual technical ability in evidence collection and processing, data analysis and interpretation (effective domain). Third, analysis of a comparison research tool between labs done with and without the virtual lab.
Leveraging FNIR Technologies For Health Communication And Consumer Research
Seung-A Jin
Assistant Professor, Communication Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
This ATIG project will (1) assay the efficiency of fNIR technologies in identifying neuropsychological mechanisms and measuring neurophysiological correlates of participants’ experiential state in various interactive media interfaces; (2) leverage NIBP measuring techniques to induce optimal experience (flow state) in media psychology experiments; and (3) examine whether changes in the spectral composition and regional cortical distribution of the EEG might be systematically related to the degree of participants’ engagement with electronic games, e-commerce-based brand marketing, exergame-based health communication interventions, and haptics-based media interfaces that utilize structural manipulations of various technological factors.
Probing Children’s Learning With Technology
Elida Laski
Assistant Professor, Counseling/Dev/Psych, Lynch School Of Education
This ATIG revolves around technology that is crucial for deeply and efficiently examining three aspects of children’s learning of numerical information from board games: 1) microgenetic analysis of the contributions of social interactions during play to learning; 2) relations between game board structure and the kind and quality of instructional statements; and 3) influence of individual differences in information processing on rate and extent of learning. Examination of these aspects will contribute to theory about how children form new cognitive representations through interactions with physical materials. It will also provide important information about how physical materials can be enhanced to maximize learning with minimal cost and effort. The results have important implications for how to best integrate numerical board games into instruction (e.g., have two peers play or use in small groups with a teacher).
Creation Of A Web-Based Database Of Historic Earthquake Information For Northeastern North America
John Ebel
Professor, Earth & Environmental Sciences Director, College Of Arts And Sciences
The purpose of this project is to acquire a 3D computer projection system for classroom teaching in biochemistry, chemical biology and structural biology. Up until recently, it has been nearly impossible to utilize stereoscopic 3D projection in the classroom. Recently, Lightspeed, Inc. has introduced their new DepthQ WXGA HD 3D video projector, which is affordable, high quality, portable and versatile. This projector can be moved from one classroom to another providing the ability to utilize 3D presentations in a number of the courses in our department. This new innovative technology provides the opportunity for an entire class to take advantage of a 3D learning experience.
Digital History Project: How Does A Society Respect And Honor Diversity And At The Same Time Create A Common Bond?
Alec Peck
Interim Associate Dean, Teacher Education, Lynch School Of Education
The overall purpose of this technology grant is to collaborate with the teachers and students at St. Columbkille Partnership School, which is jointly owned and operated by Boston College and the Archdiocese of Boston, on a community-wide initiative, Digital History project. The Digital History project will explore the theme of immigration through the overarching question: how does a society respect and honor diversity and at the same time create a common bond?
One of the Lynch School’s overarching goals is to prepare professional, collegial teachers who are committed to social justice education. St. Columbkille Partnership School shares this mission and works to deepen students’ connections to the community. Technology initiatives in K-12 schools are often disconnected from the curriculum. Teachers are exposed to technology through stand-alone professional development sessions that focus on the technical aspects of a particular tool. Teachers, as a result, struggle to successfully integrate technology into particular lessons and units. By collaborating with Facing History and using well-designed curricula, the Digital History team can focus on embedding technology into teachers’ and students’ classroom experiences. We plan to achieve these goals through the implementation of a Digital History project that combines high-quality curriculum material, from critically acclaimed Facing History, with pedagogy-rich professional development to facilitate student-generated digital works.
Fidelity Of Virtual Reality Training In CSON
Robin Wood
Associate Professor, Adult Health, Connell School Of Nursing
The purpose of this project is to customize space in Cushing Hall (Simulation Room) with equipment approximating a patient hospital room for use with virtual reality training models (adult SimMan and infant SimBaby). The purpose of this project is to customize space in Cushing Hall (Simulation Room) with equipment approximating a patient hospital room for use with virtual reality training models (adult SimMan and infant SimBaby). The training models (manikins) were funded by ATIG support in 2007-08. Virtual reality technology in CSON is being implemented to prepare students in large clinical courses across our undergraduate, graduate and nurse anesthesia programs for critical care practice. High-fidelity simulation requires realistic settings where learners can suspend disbelief and practice skills in an environment as close to reality as possible. Therefore, actual hospital equipment must be available for scenario practice exactly as students would find it in hospital settings. Installation of media hardware for real-time and delayed scenario debriefing as students practice with the manikins is a critical need. Scenarios are useful practice only when faculty/student debriefing of recorded scenarios occurs immediately following the scenario enacted. Faculty Simulation Training is needed to optimize full use of the models in diverse clinical courses for students with wide variations in clinical experience. CSON clinical faculty members have been identified whose interest in high-fidelity simulation assures long-term investment in the technology for course use. They will complete the two-day Faculty Simulation Training as well as a two-day on site simulator Assembly and Programming course previously purchased from the manikin vendor.
Incorporating High-Fidelity Simulation In Childbearing Nursing Curriculum
Mary Colleen Simonelli
Clinical Assistant Professor, Maternal/Child Health Nursing, Connell School Of Nursing
The purpose of this project is to introduce learning by simulation into the undergraduate Childbearing clinical course. The grant will be used to purchase the obstetrical high-fidelity simulation models (Birthing Noelle and Newborn Hal) as well as equipment necessary to create a realistic obstetrical hospital environment. It is well documented that human simulation provides a unique teaching modality that fosters transference of theoretical knowledge gained in the classroom to real-life situations without jeopardizing patient safety. Complex disease processes often complicate routine pregnancies and require nurses to make swift, accurate assessments and implement timely interventions. To develop these skills, nursing students will learn in scenarios that evoke realistic patient responses and allow for learner trial and error without sacrificing efficient and safe delivery of patient care. High-fidelity simulation will enhance—not replace— clinical coursework, allowing CSON Childbearing faculty to provide quality education, meet the demands of increasing enrollment, and develop the next generation of nurses as competent and valuable members of the health care team.
Recording History And Popular Culture: The Case Of Social Banditry
Ernesto Livon-Grosman
Associate Professor, Romance Languages & Literatures Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
The main objective of this long-term project is to produce video recordings of popular culture in South America in order to include them into the courses taught on contemporary Latin American culture in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Another integral part of the project is to include students in the editing process as part of the film courses taught at Boston College. The current project focuses on the relationship between banditry and politics in the mid-nineteen sixties in Argentina. The goal is to reconstruct, through interviews and archival materials the life of IsidroVelázquez, an Argentine bandit who, following the likes of Robin Hood, for almost a decade robbed and extorted money from the wealthy landowners of the Northeast of Argentina in order to redistribute it among the poorest peasants in the region.
Stereoscopic Visualization Of Biological Macromolecules In The Classroom
Evan Kantrowitz
Professor, Chemistry Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
The purpose of this project is to acquire a 3D computer projection system for classroom teaching in biochemistry, chemical biology and structural biology. Up until recently, it has been nearly impossible to utilize stereoscopic 3D projection in the classroom. Recently, Lightspeed, Inc. has introduced their new DepthQ WXGA HD 3D video projector, which is affordable, high quality, portable and versatile. This projector can be moved from one classroom to another providing the ability to utilize 3D presentations in a number of the courses in our department. This new innovative technology provides the opportunity for an entire class to take advantage of a 3D learning experience.
The Boston College Integrated Sciences Virtual Cleanroom
Michael Naughton
Evelyn J. And Robert A. Ferris Professor, Physics Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
The goal of the Boston College Integrated Sciences Virtual Cleanroom Project is to make the new nanofabrication cleanroom facility even more accessible and provide a unique learning environment for students, interested staff and faculty, and prospective students and faculty. We propose to upgrade computer network connection speeds in the cleanroom facility and in the seminar room in Higgins Hall from the standard 100 Mbps to up to 1 Gbps, or to implement a new Cleanroom-Higgins network pending consultation with information technology services. Using virtual network computing (VNC) software, we will remotely connect to the computers operating equipment within the cleanroom from the seminar room in Higgins Hall. The enhanced network connection speeds will allow seamless remote operation of the equipment in the cleanroom. This is particularly important for the electron, ion and scanning probe microscopes where interactions with live video are required.
The Writing Fellows Virtual Collaboration Space
Paula Mathieu
Associate Professor, English Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
The most fundamental component of the Boston College Writing Fellow program is the verbal and written dialogue that takes place between a student and a writing fellow as they discuss ways to develop and improve the student’s writing. Our primary goal with this project is to technologically support and preserve the collaboration between the student and the Writing Fellow.
Computing With Robots: Using Robots To Introduce Logic And Computing For All Students
Robert Signorile
Associate Professor, Computer Science, College Of Arts And Sciences
A Core-level course that offers the opportunity to program a personal robot will arouse students' interest and stir their imaginations. There has been significant recent research indicating that studying robotics provides a level of excitement attractive to all students, but especially for women and minorities. The prospect of working with a robot could help to motivate all types of students who might not otherwise be attracted to a discipline that is often seen as the preserve of the "nerd". In this project, I am requesting funds to purchase 15 personal robots and programming assistance for use in a Boston College core course on computing.
Course Capture Pilot For The Carroll School Of Management
Greg Stoller
Lecturer, Operations Management, Carroll School Of Management
Michael O’Leary, Rick Spinello, Dick Keeley, Beth Clark
Collaborators
The digital capture and distribution of course lectures has come to be seen as pedagogically useful in CSOM. Despite its utility, however, digitally distributing lectures has not spread widely throughout the department for one major reason: the production time involved. This pilot would test out/compare two course capture systems that make producing and sharing lecture presentations in digital format easy for instructors. These systems allow instructors to easily capture the audio, video and presentation materials used during a class and publish the combined materials into a storage location like Blackboard Vista or iTunes U.
EagleEyes II : Exploring The Next Steps In Human/Computer Interaction
Peter Olivieri
Associate Professor, Information Systems Department, Carroll School Of Management
This project, “EagleEyes II : Exploring the Next Steps in Human/Computer Interaction” will seek to augment the existing EagleEyes system by incorporating brainwave analysis and feedback into the controlling of the computer cursor on the screen, and as a means of simulating a mouse click.
GenerationPulse Global Classroom
Belle Liang
Associate Professor, Counseling/Dev/Psych, Lynch School Of Education
This project extends the purpose of online social networking to social outreach and education. A prototype for GenerationPulse, launched two years ago, successfully enabled hundreds of students to engage with youth displaced by Hurricane Katrina through a mutual, online exchange of writing and art. ATIG would provide critical seed money for catapulting GenerationPulse to the next level by achieving three related goals: 1) pilot a methodology to connect οƵ students with youth in the underdeveloped world, specifically, Africa; 2) advance the GenerationPulse website to allow the next level interactivity; 3) develop GenerationPulse as a service-learning laboratory.
Integration Of Computer-Based Tools For The Measurement And Analysis Of Physiological Function Into Advanced Laboratory Classes
Clare O’Connor
Associate Professor, Biology
The Biology Department proposes to introduce new computer-based exercises dealing with various aspects of cardiovascular, neuromuscular and respiratory physiology into upper-division physiology laboratory classes. The Department has selected a commercially available system that is robust, intuitive and adaptable to different computer platforms. The system comes with a wide range of activities that will allow the course instructors to update and refine laboratory exercises as needed. The equipment will provide students with hands-on experience in monitoring physiological functions.
Legal Advocacy Bureau's Audio/Video Capture And Digital Annotation/Editing
Alexis Anderson
Clinical Associate Professor, Law Faculty, Law School
Maritza Karmely, Paul Tremblay, Alan Minuskin, Lynn Barenberg
Collaborators
The purpose of this project is to provide digital recording of student lawyer-client meetings coupled with a video/audio tagging application and editing software that would allow clinical faculty at Boston College Law School’s Legal Advocacy Bureau to analyze and annotate law student video/audio performances.
Spanish Language And Culture Proficiency Via The InterLangua Videoconferencing Program
Cindy Bravo
Director, Language Laboratory, College Of Arts And Sciences
Chris Wood, Kathy Lee
Collaborators
One of the goals of a world language course is to provide a curriculum and supplementary learning resources to assist learners in attaining higher linguistic proficiency and a broader insight into the culture of the country/countries where the target language is spoken. Providing students opportunities outside of the classroom to participate in real-life conversations with native speakers is essential to the realization of proficiency goals. Through the use of new communications technology, the proposed project represents such an opportunity. In twelve, one-hour InterLangua sessions over twelve weeks, students enrolled in three Spanish language courses, as well as School of Nursing students learning medical Spanish in preparation for a service trip to Nicaragua, will speak with, see and hear over the Internet in full-motion video conference a personal tutor living and working in Guatemala.
Stress-Free Accents
Debbie Rusch
Senior Lecturer, Romance Languages & Literatures Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
A computer programmer will design a website that will not only provide students with clear and concise explanations of the rules, but also provide the capacity to hear how words are pronounced through interactive exercises. The website could be used by students at all levels (beginner through advanced) at Boston College and beyond as a tool for reviewing and practicing the rules of accentuation in Spanish.
Using Virtual Reality Simulation To Enhance Critical Thinking In The Nursing Laboratory
Robin Wood
Associate Professor, Adult Health Nursing, Connell School Of Nursing
The purpose of this project is to enhance critical thinking and clinical decision-making among CSON students through the use of high-fidelity simulation models in the Nursing Laboratory. This educational goal will be met by adding three virtual reality training models (adult, pediatric and infant) to the standard training models presently in constant use in our nursing lab. The technology will be used to address two existing problems: 1) increasing CSON enrollments with no increase in faculty numbers and 2) need for significantly enhanced exposure of nursing students to complex health problems in diverse populations.
Walking Ulysses: Joyce's Dublin Today
Joe Nugent
Adjunct Associate Professor, English Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
The goal of this project is to create a collaborative mapping tool that will enable students to re-imagine and construct a specific historical moment or era.
3D Visualization For Teaching And Research
Evan Kantrowitz
Professor, Chemistry Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
This project aims to acquire autostereoscopic equipment for teaching and research in biochemistry, chemical biology and structural biology. Autostereoscopic flat panel displays use an innovative technology that allows a group of students or researcher to view three-dimensional (3D) images without the use of extremely expensive 3D shutter glasses. This new technology provides the opportunity for small learning groups or a number of researchers to collaborate on trying to understand how the complex molecules in the cell function.
A Wireless οƵ Weather Station For Teaching And Outreach
John Ebel
Professor, Earth & Environmental Sciences Director, College Of Arts And Sciences
Amy Frappier
Collaborator
This project aims to install a wireless weather station on the roof of O’Neill Library for 24-hour acquisition of local weather data. Real-time weather data will be made available to the οƵ community and wider public through a dedicated website and monitor display to be installed in Devlin Hall. Weather data acquired by the station will be archived on a website for use in οƵ courses and by the wider οƵ community and public.
Centralized Storage And Dissemination Of Scientific Data
Evan Kantrowitz
Professor, Chemistry Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
Stephen Bruner, Goran Krilov
Collaborators
This project aims to develop a system for the easy storage, retrieval and annotation of primary scientific data generated by department equipment such as, but not limited to, mass spectrometers (MS), nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers (NMR), X-ray crystallography detectors, and chromatography systems. The system will be designed for automated uploading of data to a central database. Individual researchers, group members or faculty advisors would have access to download these data. Researchers would have access to appropriate processing software either located centrally on a cluster, or locally on their own workstation.
Creating Opportunities To Support The Development And Exhibition Of Video Art And Web Based Media In The Fine Arts Classroom And Museum Environment
Sheila Gallagher
Associate Professor, Fine Arts Department, College Of Arts And Sciences
Digital Imaging, web-based media, video art and video installation are at the forefront of contemporary art practice and a mainstay of museum exhibitions. The proposed project seeks to address some of the pressing technology and curriculum needs of the Fine Arts Department through the creation of a new video art class and the acquisition of technology and equipment which would be jointly used by students and faculty in the Studio Art Department, Art History Department, Film Studies and The McMullen Museum to develop and exhibit video art as well as supplemental digital and web-based media in conjunction with an interdisciplinary course, exhibition and catalog examining an important collection of Civil War era drawings.
Fidelity Of Virtual Reality Training In CSON
Robin Wood
Associate Professor, Connell School Of Nursing
The purpose of this project is to customize space in Cushing Hall (Simulation Room) with equipment approximating a patient hospital room for use with virtual reality training models (adult SimMan and infant SimBaby). The purpose of this project is to customize space in Cushing Hall (Simulation Room) with equipment approximating a patient hospital room for use with virtual reality training models (adult SimMan and infant SimBaby). The training models (manikins) were funded by ATIG support in 2007-08. Virtual reality technology in CSON is being implemented to prepare students in large clinical courses across our undergraduate, graduate and nurse anesthesia programs for critical care practice. High-fidelity simulation requires realistic settings where learners can suspend disbelief and practice skills in an environment as close to reality as possible. Therefore, actual hospital equipment must be available for scenario practice exactly as students would find it in hospital settings. Installation of media hardware for real-time and delayed scenario debriefing as students practice with the manikins is a critical need. Scenarios are useful practice only when faculty/student debriefing of recorded scenarios occurs immediately following the scenario enacted. Faculty Simulation Training is needed to optimize full use of the models in diverse clinical courses for students with wide variations in clinical experience. CSON clinical faculty members have been identified whose interest in high-fidelity simulation assures long-term investment in the technology for course use. They will complete the two-day Faculty Simulation Training as well as a two-day on site simulator Assembly and Programming course previously purchased from the manikin vendor.
Fidelity Of Virtual Reality Training In CSON
Kate McNeil
Assistant Professor, Teacher Education, Lynch School Of Education
Eric Strauss, Michael Barnett
Collaborators
This project will aim to develop and implement a series of innovative simulations and animations to support students at Boston College in learning how to use technology to solve and interpret problems across disciplines. This project leverages existing resources such as the tablet PC lab that was recently received through a grant by the Hewlett Packard Foundation. Specifically, eight different but inter-related educational technology tools will be developed through this work ranging from the use of established technologies such as Microsoft Excel to new technologies such as augmented reality tools. The target courses for this work are GE182 and ED546. Other courses that will benefit and have committed to using the tools are BI445 and ED109.