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November 1, 2006

BOR awards four grants to ULM

The Louisiana Board of Regents recently approved 10 grant proposals out of the 33 that were submitted from universities across the state. Four of those 10 belonged to the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Funded grant proposals include:

• “Interdisciplinary Faculty Clustering for Web Development at ULM”
  
  Edward Eller, associate professor of English, and Paula Thornhill, ULM’s faculty electronic learning coordinator, were awarded $50,000 to create interdisciplinary, team-taught classes to be taught on-line. The project will involve an additional eight faculty members and graduate students from the departments of English, history and government.
  
  Faculty who have committed to this project include Ralph Brown, Monica Bontty, and Roger Carpenter, history and government, and Janet Haedicke, Christopher Harris, Helen Lock, and Julia Guernsey-Shaw, English. These individuals will work in pairs as interdisciplinary English-History teams. Each team will produce thematic computer-based lesson plans consisting of several multimedia learning modules and mastery activities. “The project will raise student success rates,” said Mark Arant, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We’re committed to facilitating more curricular integration between two related disciplines, which all of our students take as part of their core, and which many pursue in their majors.”
  
  
  
• “Physical Geology Lab as an Electronic Course for University Students and Rural Teachers”
  
  Anthony Feig, assistant professor of geosciences, and Michael Camille, associate professor of geosciences, obtained a $44,999 grant that will fund a permanent electronic geology laboratory course. It combines online content with physical specimens delivered to enrolled ULM students. This course will also serve as an electronic professional development tool for rural teachers who will have the option of receiving content either online via ULM’s Blackboard system, or through an interactive DVD, delivered with physical specimens, which is usable both in a computer or a DVD player. Teachers will be recruited from rural school systems throughout Louisiana.
  
  
  
• “E-Portfolios: Teaching with Emerging Technology” (E-Portfolios: Teach ETech)
  
  Thilla Sivakumaran, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, and Glenda Holland, associate dean of the College of Education and Human Development, were awarded $40,500 for a grant that will fund training for faculty and students. They will learn how to use TaskStream, a new E-portfolio system that is being used in the College’s teacher education program. The University of Louisiana at Monroe, Grambling State University, and Louisiana Tech University will collaborate on the project, which will bring e-portfolio consultants to each campus for two days of professional development. Faculty and student portfolio mentors who are technologically savvy will provide specific training to support faculty. This will provide ongoing campus support, in addition to the tech support provided through the e-portfolio system.
  
  
  
• “Enchancing Teacher Quality in Rural Northeastern Louisiana”
  
  Michael Beutner, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, and Bob Cage, professor of educational leadership and counseling, successfully competed for a $22,596 grant that will fund an online course required for improving professional qualifications. During the last few years, the College of Education and Human Development has made a commitment to develop courses online. According to the grant proposal, it will address “the hardship that some practicing teachers face in long commutes at night, during a workweek. . . . Also, a number of technological innovations will support the goals of the course as a model with ‘reusable components’ that may provide the potential for enhancing the educational effectiveness of any education course for an online format.”
  
  
  
  

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