Research Grant Call for Proposals

Next deadline: February 29, 2012

The University of Texas at Austin is currently undertaking a major effort to transform teaching and learning to increase students' success in undergraduate programs. The Course Transformation Program (CTP) is a central element in President Powers' campaign to make UT Austin a leader in reinventing higher education for the 21st century. It aims to redesign large enrollment, lower division classes to improve student learning and advance educational excellence. Under the auspices of the Course Transformation Program, and with support from the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Research and Assessment Advisory Panel on Student Success Initiatives and Educational Innovations (RAAP) announces its Research Grants competition. The program seeks to stimulate research on the CTP and other research of institutional relevance related to student success initiatives and educational innovations. We are especially interested in research that will produce early findings to support future efforts to secure external funding.

Description

RAAP invites education-related research proposals using data collected from the CTP, Undergraduate Data Portal, SERU, and other institutional data sources as appropriate.

  • The Course Transformation Program dataset contains information on students' performance (pre/post concept tests, assignment grades, exam grades, course grades), core conceptual knowledge (pre/post reasoning or critical thinking tests), and attitudes, motivation, and learning strategies (pre/post survey data) in redesigned sections and non-redesigned sections of the courses involved in the CTP.
  • The Undergraduate Data Portal dataset contains longitudinal student information such as students' academic performance at the university including in-residence, credit by examination and transfer course credit; student demographics including high school information; and student financial aid information.
  • The Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) dataset contains survey data from freshmen and seniors focusing on aspects of students' behaviors, satisfaction, and achievement.

Research Grants are available for UT faculty, postdoctoral researchers, faculty-sponsored graduate students, and senior researchers (PhD level with research appointment). Applications are encouraged from a variety of disciplines, such as but not limited to economics, education, psychology, public policy, sociology, statistics, and science and engineering fields.

The RAAP has established the following priorities for proposals. Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals that are focused on:

  • Improvement of student learning through educational innovation
  • Success of efforts to address racial, ethnic, SES or gender gaps in academic achievement
  • Engagement and critical inquiry in teaching and learning
  • Successful adoption and use of technology enhanced approaches to teaching and learning
  • Development of foundational academic skills (e.g., problem-solving and critical thinking) and core conceptual knowledge
  • Students' academic success and flow through the university
  • Strategies for faculty adoption of educational innovation
  • Measurement of the above.

Eligibility

Applicants for Research Grants must be a UT Austin faculty or senior researcher (Ph.D. level with research appointment). This may include faculty-sponsored graduate students or Ph.D.-level researchers at another institution. UT Austin affiliated researchers may also collaborate with external researchers.

Awards

Awards for Research Grants are up to $15,000 for up to 1-year projects with a maximum of 10 awards per year.

Application Requirements

All applications for Research Grants must include:

  • Information on the PI (contact and background information, current curriculum vitae) and Co-PI(s), if applicable.
  • Abstract of the proposed research project
  • Statement of how this research advances the current state of knowledge in the field, substantively or methodologically.
  • Statement of how this research advances one or more of the priority areas listed above.
  • Research proposal (limited to 7 single-spaced pages) that addresses the following:
    • Problem statement and its importance
    • Theoretical or conceptual framework for the research
    • Brief review of relevant research literature
    • Research questions, hypotheses to be tested
    • Description of quantitative and/or qualitative methodology including proposed data set and criteria for selecting data file, sample (e.g., groups used, exclusions to sample, and estimated sample sizes), selection of variables and rationale for using them, analytic techniques, and (if applicable) statistical models or formulas
    • Brief dissemination plan for this research
  • References cited in the proposal narrative and models
  • Proposed budget
  • Brief list of current other support (grants, awards, etc.)
  • Letter of support from course instructor(s), if proposal includes collection of data in a course
  • Letter of support from the unit that is providing the data

Application Deadlines

Proposals for Research Grants will be reviewed two times a year, with funding decisions made within six weeks of the application deadline. Upcoming deadlines for proposals are 5:00 p.m. on:

February 29, 2012 for Summer or Fall 2012 start date

Note: funding announcement will be made by the end of March 2012

September 30, 2012 for Spring 2013 start date

Application Submission

Send your completed proposal to raap-grants@utlists.utexas.edu. You may also use this email if you have questions regarding the application or submission process. All awards are contingent upon receiving IRB approval from the Office of Research Support to conduct the research study.

Important Additional Information Regarding Research Grants

Considerations in the development of the proposal

Proposal narrative

The proposal narrative should be no more than seven pages in length, single-spaced, in 12 point type with 1" margins. Approximately three pages should be devoted to the problem statement, theoretical framework, current literature, and research questions. The remaining four pages should include the methodology, connection to problem, and dissemination plan.

The methodology section is very important and should describe the proposed data set and (a) for quantitative proposals should include criteria for selecting the data file(s), the sample (e.g., groups used, exclusions to sample, and estimated sample sizes), the variables to be used and rationale for using them, the analytic techniques, and a clear and well thought out model that identifies variables and specifies the analysis to be done; and (b) for qualitative research include discussion of research questions, case study design, observational approach (e.g., ethnography, in-depth interviews, focus groups), sample selection procedures, and techniques for analysis.

The brief dissemination plan should include an indication of the audience for whom the research findings would be suited, plus the relevant journals where the findings might be submitted for publication and professional meetings where the findings might be presented.

Budget

There is no specific format for the budget section. Funds may be used for summer salary, release time, graduate research assistant (GRA) support including stipend and tuition, equipment, and travel.

Evaluation criteria

Evaluation criteria will include the importance of the proposed problem, methodological rigor, and relevant experience and research record of the applicant. Additionally, the review criteria will include the following: Is the problem clearly defined? What is already known on the issue? How does the methodology relate specifically to the research question? Does the analytic plan fit the question and the data? Does the project have the potential to lead to external funding? Is the applicant qualified to carry out the proposed study? Reviewers will be members of the RAAP.

Reporting requirements

All Research Grantees will be required to submit a final report at the end of the grant period. The final report should be based upon the format of a submission to a peer-reviewed research journal; an actual article prepared or submitted for publication is also acceptable.