Funded Projects 2013-2014

Overview

Faculty teams and departments that received grants for the 2013/14 academic year worked to design, implement, and assess new approaches to teaching that would increase learning for at least one major/degree. All funded projects implemented and assessed new approaches to teaching and learning in one or more courses during the 2013-14 academic year. The faculty leads’ departments expressed their commitment to promoting the take-up of successful project components within other courses. The new approaches developed were selected, in part, because they are relevant and applicable to a broad range of courses within and across colleges, including but not limited to those taught by other members of the team.

PEIL 2013-2014 Week of Scholarship Powerpoint Presentation

College of Science

Changing Remedial Math (ChaRM)

ChaRM will develop, implement and evaluate a pilot model for reshaping remedial math courses. Goals for the project are to enhance not only students’ capacity to pass remedial courses, but their deeper conceptual understanding of mathematics as well. To achieve these goals, ChaRM will expand professional development of Teaching Assistants (Masters Students) teaching these courses, implement use of interactive, Inquiry-based pedagogical practices and approaches, develop comprehensive resources. This model has the potential for ongoing reshaping of remedial math courses at ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ as well as for dissemination across CSU campuses.

  • Julia Olkin, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics & Computer Science
  • Kevin Callahan, Professor, Department of Mathematics & Computer Science

ChaRM White Paper

College of Business and Economics

Using Structured Peer Review to Enhance Students’ Communication Skills

This project will develop and assess new approaches to teaching and learning communication skills, particularly in writing, for business majors, including engaging students in a structured peer review process. In addition to assessing new approaches, goals for this pilot project and study are to improve the written skills of CBE undergraduate students and their capacity to receive and offer feedback on work written by others, as well as to identify faculty members’ roles, actions, and supports and constraints, when using the model, in relation to student learning. The model developed has the potential for use across CBE as well as other colleges.

  • Sweety Law, Professor, Marketing & Entrepreneurship
  • Asha Rao, Professor, Management

College of Education and Allied Studies

Gaining Access ‘N Academic Success (Project GANAS)

GANAS is an innovative access and retention initiative that aims to smooth the process of transition for community college transfer students to ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ and increase the baccalaureate degree attainment of program participants. GANAS focuses on improving the postsecondary attainment, particularly, of Latino/a transfer students, but welcomes other transfer students who apply to the program as well. GANAS provides educational change to general education (GE) by delivering culturally relevant upper division GE courses to transfer students in a cohort-based learning community for one academic year, while integrating campus support services for this cohort in a focused way.

  • Lettie Ramirez, Professor, Teacher Education
  • Luz Calvo, Associate Professor, Ethnic Studies
  • Jesus Diaz-Caballero, Associate Professor, Modern Languages & Literatures

GANAS White Paper

College of Letters Arts and Social Studies

Diversity and Social Justice Faculty Fellows Pilot Program (DSJ)

The DSJ project will advance CSU East Bay’s Institutional Learning Objective stating that “Graduates of ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ will be able to apply knowledge of diversity and multicultural competences to promote equity and social justice in their communities.” The goals of this project are to enhance student understanding and leadership capacity in DSJ issues by developing a faculty mentorship program (using TAs) for infusing coursework with diversity and social justice oriented pedagogies and content, develop and make available DSJ resources, and serve as catalyst for the development of an ongoing DSJ learning community or ‘hub’ that helps connect disparate areas focused on similar goals.

  • Sarah Taylor, Assistant Professor, Social Work
  • Julie Beck, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice
  • Colleen Fong, Professor, Ethnic Studies
  • Rose Wong, Assistant Professor, Social Work

DSJ Pilot Program White Paper

Woods, D.R., Taylor, S., Austin, D., Beck, J., Chung, K., Couch, S., Davis, E.M., Fauth, B., Geron, K., Ireland, D.K., Kupers, E., Massey, M., Rowley, A.J., Stein, J., & Weiss, J. (2015). Building an inclusive, accessible, and responsive campus at ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ East Bay, 2010-2015. Perspectives on Communication Disorders and Sciences in Culturally Linguistically Diverse Populations, 22(2), 44-63.

Beck, J., Fong, C., Taylor, S., & Wong, R. (2014, March). A small step toward implementing diversity and social justice education through a faculty mentoring program. Co-author of oral paper presentation delivered by J.Beck, C. Fong, and R. Wong at the Pacific Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Portland, OR.

Taylor, S., Wong, R., Fong, C. & Beck, J. (2014, February). Exploring conceptualization of diversity and social justice in a diverse, public, urban university. Oral paper presentation at the 26th Annual Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference, Las Vegas, NV.