PROVOST’S LEARNING INNOVATIONS GRANTS 2015 APPLICATION PLIG 2… · Flipped Classroom The flipped classroom model (sometimes called the inverted classroom) ... A presentation typically

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Linte_Presentation_Design_Delivery_Resources_Training_Center_PLIG_Feb_2015_V1.2

PROVOST’S LEARNING INNOVATIONS GRANTS

2015 APPLICATION

I. INSTRUCTIONS

Complete this form in its entirety and email it to [email protected] no later than January 26, 2015.

Please note to save and rename this document substituting your name (in place of “NAME”) in

the file name.

Ask your Department Head complete to complete the Department Head certification on page 12

and send a digitally-signed or printed, signed, and scanned copy with this application.

If you have any questions about completing this application, please email them to [email protected] or

call Michael Starenko at 585-475-5035.

II. APPLICANT INFORMATION

Name: Cristian A. Linte Email: [email protected] Phone: 5-4926

College: KGCOE Department: Biomedical Engineering

Faculty rank: (full-time faculty only): Assistant Professor

Department head name: Daniel B. Phillips

Proposed project name:

A “One-Stop Shop” for Effective Scientific Presentation Design and

Delivery Tools: Developing a Resource-sharing Repository and

Face-to-Face Presentation Center for Students and Faculty

Total funds requested: (requests of $1,000 to $5,000 will be considered): $4,980

Administrative use:

Focus Grant

Exploration Grant

mailto:[email protected]



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III. PLIG TYPES

Exploration Grants (approximately 30% of the funding pool for this cycle)

These grants provide seed funds for faculty to investigate an innovative mode or model of

teaching and learning in terms of its potential to positively impact student outcomes and the

student experience at RIT. These are funds for "proof of concept" investigations into the

development, adaptation, or application of a new or different teaching approach, practice, or

procedure.

Focus Grants (approximately 70% of the funding pool for this cycle)

Focus Grants provide funds for faculty to develop, apply, and/or research an innovative mode or

model of teaching and learning that directly supports an RIT priority. These are funds for the

development, adaptation, application, and/or research into a new or different teaching approach,

practice, or procedure in the priority areas of focus.

The two focus areas for this cycle are:

Flipped Classroom

The flipped classroom model (sometimes called the inverted classroom) is one in which

traditional in-class activity—the lecture—is delivered outside of class via recorded lectures and

other web-based materials. In-class time is used for collaborative project work, small group

problem-solving, and other such activities that allow students to engage at a deep level with the

content they viewed outside of (and before) class. To learn more about the model, visit the

Teaching and Learning Services webpage at rit.edu/tls/course-design/flipped-classroom.

Learning Analytics

According to the 2014 NMC Horizon Report, (http://www.nmc.org/publications/2014-horizon-

report-higher-ed), “Learning analytics research uses data analysis to inform decisions made on

every tier of the education system, leveraging student data to deliver personalized learning,

enable adaptive pedagogies and practices, and identify learning issues in time for them to be

solved.”

Simon Buckingham Shum notes: "Micro-level [learner-level] analytics support the tracking and

interpretation of process-level data for individual learners. This data is of primary interest to

learners themselves, and those responsible for their success, since it can provide the finest level

of detail, ideally as rapidly as possible. Researchers are adapting techniques from fields including

serious gaming, automated marking, educational data mining, computer-supported collaborative

learning, recommender systems, intelligent tutoring systems/adaptive hypermedia, information

visualization, computational linguistics and argumentation, and social network analysis."

(http://iite.unesco.org/pics/publications/en/files/3214711.pdf).

Smaller sets of data are permitted in this PLIG focus area. The scope of a proposal may be on

the order of a single course or a few courses.

For further background about learning analytics, please

see: https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7059.pdf.

This application is for a: Focus Grant Exploration Grant

http://www.rit.edu/tls/course-design/flipped-classroom

http://www.nmc.org/publications/2014-horizon-report-higher-ed

http://www.nmc.org/publications/2014-horizon-report-higher-ed

http://iite.unesco.org/pics/publications/en/files/3214711.pdf

https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7059.pdf

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IV. BUDGET SUMMARY

There is a Microsoft Excel worksheet to calculate your budget

The total shown in this worksheet must match the “Total funds requested” on the first page of this

application form.

The worksheet will automatically calculate the appropriate benefit rate based on the

salaries entered.

This figure must be included in the total award request when any salary dollars are

requested. Lastly, please do not override any formulas in the worksheet.

You can download the worksheet at https://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/plig/index.php.

Note that any equipment or other materials purchased with grant funds are the property of your

department and revert to the department after your project is completed.

V. TIMELINE

Please indicate any variances to the planned PLIG schedule and your reasons. If you do not

intend to deviate from the schedule, you may leave this section blank.

Task Date Proposed variance and reason

Full project plan submitted Aug. 24,

2015 N/A

Preliminary findings submitted Jan. 25,

2016 N/A

Summary of final findings

submitted

Aug. 22,

2016 N/A

Final budget accounting submitted Aug. 22,

2016 N/A

Faculty Teaching and Learning

Commons posting (a summary of

findings, examples of teaching

designs or materials, etc.) due

On or before

Oct. 2, 2016 N/A

Participation in Teaching and

Learning Services PLIG

dissemination event

On or before

Nov. 21,

2016

N/A

https://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/plig/index.php

http://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/plig/dates.php

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VI. STATEMENT OF UTILITY (two pages maximum)

Using the proposal evaluation criteria provided in Evaluation section of the Call for Proposals

document, provide an overview of the project you are proposing, including:

Project objectives

An explanation of the teaching/learning problem(s) it is designed to address

An explanation of the significance of the project to student outcomes and/or the student

experience.

A brief description of how the project integrates with activity already underway at RIT in the

priority area and/or how this approach has been successfully used at RIT already.

Project Objectives: The primary objective of this project is to explore the utility of a novel

solution and develop resources and knowledge to help students and faculty with the

design and delivery of scientific presentations. Moreover, through this effort we wish to study

the common issues faced by students, develop tools to support them, and objectively assess

the demand for this support.

The project “deliverable” will consist of a so-called “one-stop shop” where those interested

could access an online resource sharing center or access the “Presentation Center”

staffed with trained knowledgeable individuals who can offer hands-on, one-on-one

help and assistance with presentation design and/or delivery or similar matters.

Learning problems to be addressed: Clear and effective public presentation delivery is an

important skill for everyone to get their message across and today presentation skills are

required in every field. Students will have to present their (research) work at many points

throughout their careers, whether in academia, public or private sector. Employers are

demanding graduates with excellent communication skills. Thus, mastering oral

communication and presentation design skills while at RIT is paramount for students.

Communicating and delivering accomplished presentations is a key tool in anyone’s personal

armory, whether it is a recent graduate or the head of a large organization. Even if a student

does not have to give presentations on a regular basis, he/she will need to address a group of

people at some point during her degree program. As George Took - a noted speech coach -

states, “Presentation skills are important to individual success, business success, stress

reduction, time management, leadership, and public image.”

The proposed project aims to design online resources for students to effectively establish and

improve their presentation skills in conjunction with classroom assignments, and further aims

to provide a first of its kind resource on campus for face-to-face assistance for students that

need support beyond self-paced study. The online materials will be oriented towards simple

and quick tutorials covering presentation design and delivery skills in “easy-to digest” chunks,

while the “Presentation Practice Center” will provide a platform for students to practice and

receive feedback from a trained presentation coach. Furthermore, the one-on-one practice

venue will allow students to become more comfortable with speaking to an audience and to

receive more targeted suggestions for improvement beyond the passive online materials.

A presentation typically entails three stages: (1) Structure, (2) Design, and (3) Delivery. These

objectives cover different, but not independent, aspects of effective presentations, ranging

from planning the presentation to designing it and addressing a specific audience.

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STATEMENT OF UTILITY (continued)

Each of these three objectives will be addressed by the materials developed through this

initiative, while specifically addressing bad practices and common pitfalls: most novice

presenters tend to start designing the slides as soon as they learn about an upcoming

presentation, falling into the universal trap of solving multiple issues at the same time. These

issues are so overwhelming that students often end up with no time to address delivery,

leading to the common problems observed in the classroom: insufficient confidence in

delivery, running out of time, losing the audience mid-way through the presentation, to name

a few.

Significance of the project: Presentations are the primary medium of research

communication through the stages of development, discussion, and dissemination.

Presentations are given to the class, the research team, across departments, to collaborating

universities, and at research conferences. Further, students at the end of their co-op terms /

internships are required to present their work to their employers.

Students are expected to present effectively, yet there is no formal course training, resources

or official help available to students. For instance, students can turn to the Writing Center for

help with writing, the Academic Support Center for assistance with Math and Science, but no

such “center” is established to help with presentations. In the absence of such a resource,

students resort to learning through trial and error and ask for help from busy advisors and

bosses, overall causing unwanted stress and anxiety, much of which could have been

remedied from coaching by experienced presenters.

Our vision is that no student should have to go through the stress and anxiety of staying up all

night worrying about a presentation. No student should have to go through the dreaded

experience of delivering a bad presentation simply because there is no dedicated resource

(online or in person) in place for them to turn to ahead of time to get the help they desperately

needed. In our recent interview Spencer Hackee ([email protected]) – a faculty member at

BYU Idaho who oversees BYU’s Presentation Practice Center – said “During the pilot launch

during the first semester we had 250 student visits. Surveyed students revealed that they

experienced value right off the bat. After the full launch of the Presentation Center the

attendance and usage has increased to approximately 1200 visits a semester.”

Such a dedicated resource at RIT will impact multiple disciplines across campus and equip

our graduates with tools for communication success in their modern careers. Further, once

the proof of concept has been completed, a full Presentation Practice Center (PPC) can be

modelled after the existing peer-tutoring model of the Academic Support Center (ASC) or the

faculty-tutoring model of the Wallace Writing Commons.

Integration with existing activity at RIT: During the 2015 intersession, a group of students

involved with and actively leading this project conducted a three day workshop - Principles for

Powerful Presentations, which introduced some of these skills to an audience of 23 people,

including students, staff, and faculty from various academic and non-academic departments

at RIT. The feedback collected has clearly indicated that all attendees appreciated the style of

the workshop, which involved the delivery of information followed by hands-on practice. The

attendees were also interested in future workshops or sharing of useful materials. Hence,

here we propose to build on the momentum and enthusiasm thanks to the success of this first

workshop, and cater to the RIT community by taking this initiative to a new level.


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VII. STATEMENT OF CREATIVITY (three paragraphs maximum)

Provide a brief description of how this is a novel approach, or a new application of an existing

mode or model of teaching and learning, and/or research about teaching and learning represents

an entirely new paradigm. (Please note that special consideration will be given to proposals that

demonstrate a new use/application of a model, system, or technology already in use at RIT.)

As mentioned earlier, there is no dedicated center or resource for learning presentation skills

on campus. While short courses may exist on this topic, there is a shortfall for convenient

resources and a dedicated facility where students from every department can turn to for help.

We have and will continue to work closely with Dr. Elizabeth O’Connor, Senior Lecturer in

Communication, RIT School of Communications, to further the design and usability of the

project. The preliminary data, once collected, will be helpful in planning a more focused and

dedicated center oriented towards improving the presentation skills of RIT students in every

department on campus. As further discussed below, the developed resource sharing

materials will be collected into the recent Academic Support Center’s ASC Online initiative,

bringing the power of the web and social media to the way students study, practice, and

improve their presentation design and delivery skills. The Office of Graduate Studies is keen

to incorporate more of the same material and training opportunities leading up to and during

their Graduate Symposium, an initiative which we believe the proposed Presentation Center

will facilitate. In support of this endeavor, The Wallace Center has set aside a collaboration

station on the ground floor as a location for the Presentation Center, tied into the heart of

academic life on campus. Finally, the Presentation Center will work with the RIT Leadership

Institute, especially the Tiger Tales Toastmasters - a student-run organization dedicated to

improving the leadership and communication abilities of its members - to identify the most

suitable volunteers and supporters for the Center. The proposed project is innovative through:

(1) Addressing issues collected directly from the students, along with the basic skills of

efficient presentation, including students from STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering,

Arts, and Math) and NTID fields. The preliminary data collected through feedback forms will

contain questions such as ‘What issues did you have prior to visiting the Presentation center’

or ‘Describe any specific issues that you have with your presentations’, which will help carve

out materials that address and consider each student’s voice equally important.

(2) Recording and disseminating podcast-style videos collected directly from faculty members

to help students understand what their instructor, advisor, department, and/or field expects.

Though the basics of effective presentations apply to all fields, there are certain elements that

vary according to the area and audience. For example, a PhD defense is different than a

business proposal. Hence, it is important to understand the expectations of the audience and

the practices of the field in which the presentation is to be delivered. Knowing the audience is

the foremost step in designing effective presentations, prior to structure, design, and delivery.

(3) Providing a venue that facilitates one-on-one assistance from experienced faculty and

student presenters. Often students feel uncomfortable asking questions in class, and though

books and reading materials are helpful, they often lack the live, interactive aspect of asking a

mentor for help. We believe the one-on-one mentoring scenario will aid students in getting

more comfortable asking questions and hence addressing their issues.

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VIII. STATEMENT OF EFFICACY (two pages maximum)

Provide a brief description of the experiment/research design, methodology, and

methods of data collection you will use to gauge efficacy.

The main methodology will be student-to-student feedback and peer support in one-on-one

training sessions at the Presentation Center, as well as a rich online resource of training

materials for students to reference in self-paced study. The design of this initiative is centered

around three major goals:

(1) Identify patterns of common problems/issues faced by students as they prepare their

presentations to allow us, in time, to devise better means and best practices to help

them. This objective will be accomplished by keeping a detailed log of all help topics

that students bring up during their visits to the “Presentation Practice Center,” as well

as by soliciting form-based feedback following visits.

(2) Develop an online resource with multimedia materials that focus on “Improving

Presentation Skills”. This resource will include, but not be limited to, the following:

a. Podcast-style collection of multiple short interviews with faculty in which they

share their views on what they consider important in the design and delivery

of presentations. Recordings will be posted as Audio and Captioned Video,

with length up to 10 minutes. The recordings will be sorted by college for the

nine colleges at RIT. For example, a student from College of Science can

quickly go to the website and look at what Dr. John Kerekes expects from

student presentations. A student from College of Business and NTID will do

the same (as mentioned, all videos will be captioned for NTID students).

b. Videos of Webinars/ Workshops on the topic.

c. The resources will be collected and made available via the new ASC Online

initiative, which the Academic Support Center (ASC) established as its own

online portal for training and self-paced study. Discussions with Dan Hickey

([email protected]) of the ASC have already begun in order to find the

appropriate location on the web to host these training materials.

(3) Gauge student interest/demand for help with their presentations, through the launch

of a small pilot “Presentation Practice Center” to allow us to monitor attendance and

usage patterns.

The main form of data collection will be through feedback forms sent to each student

following a practice session at the Presentation Center, and also hosted online next to the

training materials. These questionnaires will determine what support the students were

seeking when they arrived, what support they received, and identify new means to narrow the

gap, if any, between the two. Faculty feedback will be sought to improve the efficacy of

presentations inside the classroom, and these various metrics will be compiled into a report at

the 6-month mark. With good metrics and feedback, the Presentation Center could use the

PLIG as a springboard into a permanent location on campus, in a model similar to the Writing

Commons.

The project will include materials specifically addressing the above issues and questions such

as How to develop your presentation to catch your audience’s attention?, How to keep the

flow of your talk smooth and coherent?, How to design effective slides, to mention a few.

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STATEMENT OF EFFICACY (continued)

Promoting and Commending Student Involvement in the Proposed Initiative:

In conclusion, I believe the proposal would be incomplete and serve injustice to the RIT

students, had this section been left out. Although I have been actively involved and

participating in the dissemination and promotion of tips for effective presentation design and

delivery since 2008 while in my doctoral degree, and have worked with several international

colleagues on the topic, I would like to take this opportunity and comment the three graduate

students in CIS – Preethi Vaidyanathan, Haleem Syed, and GCCIS – Robert McCartney, for

their initiative, enthusiasm and leadership behind this initiative. After attending their three-day

workshop a few weeks ago during the intersession and seeing their excitement and

enthusiasm they shared with the audience, and after meeting with them the other day and

hearing about their struggle for resources to jump-start this initiative, I proposed to serve as

the “full-time faculty member” behind this initiative and provide the necessary mentorship and

administrative oversight the group requires for their proposal to be acknowledged and

considered for the PLIG initiative.

As mentioned, I am both delighted and honoured to provide the “administrative oversight and

mentorship” necessary to get this project started and take it to new heights, I really believe we

should empower the masterminds behind this initiative – the students – and commend them

for getting it started as a “by students, for the students” initiative and give the credit where

credit is due.

In addition, this initiative also enables us to achieve a two-fold outcome: cater to the students

in terms of making resources available to improve/refine their presentation skills, as well as

engage and employ some of our most talented students and provide them with the

opportunity to exercise their skills and give back to the community.

In closing, I reiterate my utmost enthusiasm and support for this initiative and accept my role

as “formal” full-time faculty mentor supporting this initiative and providing the necessary

administrative oversight and mentorship to cultivate it and grow it into the professional and

development tool it has the potential to become. It is a one-of-a-kind initiative and we all

should be very proud and supportive of our graduate students for taking the time to make a

difference in the RIT community by leading a project of such proportions and relevance.

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IX. DISSEMINATION PLAN (optional)

Provide details about the journal, conference, show, other external vehicle with strong potential

disseminate for dissemination of your results. Include supporting documentation such as

preliminary interest or acceptance with your application, if available. (Please note that special

consideration will be given to proposals that have a defined opportunity for external

dissemination, such as an academic journal or professional conference.)

Teaching and Learning Services will arrange channels for disseminating results within RIT.

We plan to disseminate the proposed developments in several venues:

1. Continuing Education Corner in the IEEE Pulse magazine: The IEEE Pulse is the

flagship publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS)

and as Chair of the IEEE EMBS Education Committee, Dr. Linte seeks new

contributions on education-related activities, as well as career and professional

developments to be shared and disseminated in each issue of the IEEE Pulse (6

issues per year). The magazine is available to all EMBS members free of charge and

is delivered in electronic format six (6) times per year. Hence, I truly believe that 1the

preparation and publication of 1-2 articles in the IEEE Pulse Continuing Education

corner would be a great experience for the students leading the efforts, and I am

committed to facilitating this opportunity.

2. Dissemination at the IEEE EMBS International Student Conferences: To better

reach out to the students and young professionals, the international IEEE

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) organizes several regional

International Student Conferences where students and young professionals benefit

from highly discounted registration and accommodation rates ($50-60/person

registration and shared rooms for under $100/night) to attend these hybrid technical-

career/professional development events. These events are intended to provide a

venue for dissemination of science, practicing oral and poster presentation deliveries,

networking with colleagues, as well as attending career and professional

development workshops that cover contemporary topics such as tips for effective

presentation (oral and poster) design and delivery, scientific writing and manuscript

preparation, career planning and alternate careers in engineering etc. Given the

subsidized travel, the proposed learning initiative and its outcome can be

disseminated to one of the future editions of the EMBS ISC in the North-Eastern US.

3. Local Dissemination and Promotion via Clubs and Chapters: RIT and University

of Rochester house several clubs and chapters – International Society for Optics and

Photonics (SPIE), Optical Society of America (OSA), Biomedical Engineering Society

(BMES), all of which host monthly seminars on contemporary topics of interest to

students and young professionals. As such, we will take advantage of these already-

in-place and well-attended opportunities to promote and disseminate the Presentation

Center and resource sharing repository within the RIT community, as well as beyond,

including University of Rochester and other institutions interested in the topic.

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X. ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

Please address these questions, if needed.

Will your project require assistance for extensive or unusual media, multimedia, simulation,

and/or software development? If so, please explain?

All courses offered by RIT must be accessible to students with disabilities, according to

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act

of 1990 (rit.edu/studentaffairs/disabilityservices/info). Is your proposed teaching approach

accessible to all students, with reasonable accommodation? If not, please explain.

RIT abides by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which

prohibits instructors from making students' identities, course work, and educational records

public without their consent (rit.edu/xVzNE). Will any data gathering or sharing for your

project raise any FERPA issues? If so, please explain.

There will not be the need for extensive multimedia. Multimedia incorporation into the project

will be two-fold. First, there will be short recordings from faculty around campus on best

practices for effective presentations, each limited to a few minutes only. Second, students

who so desire will be able to record themselves practicing their presentations, in order to

facilitate through playback a greater awareness of bad habits and immediate recognition of

areas of improvement. Both initiatives require minimal multimedia support with equipment that

is already purchased and available at the Wallace Center.

Presentation skills are critical for all students, regardless of disabilities or special needs. As

such, the mission of the initiative will be to support every student on campus. We are

currently in talks to bring an Interpreter volunteer onto the staff, in order to have dedicated

walk-in hours with that service available. Outside of those times, interpreters will be requested

for specific appointments, and further all video training materials will be subtitled. There

should be nothing in the program or initiative that is not accessible to all students on campus.

In fact, developing Accessible Presentations for Hard of Hearing Students is a specific form of

presentation support, not commonly available, that we hope to develop through this effort. In

so doing, student presentations themselves would become more accessible to the diverse

student body at RIT. As an initial step, we attended a talk by Dr. Raja Kushalnagar from

NTID. In his talk titled, “Accessible Presentations for Deaf and Hard Hearing Students,” he

addressed how simple adjustments to a presentation can improve communication of the

message to both hearing and hard of hearings students. We will be seeking Dr.

Kushalnagar’s help and expertise in designing this guide as part of this proposal

(http://www.ntid.rit.edu/success/raja-kushalnagar).

http://www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/disabilityservices/info.php

http://rit.edu/xVzNE

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XI. DISSEMINATION AGREEMENT

By completing this grant application, I agree to provide the materials described here, in support of

disseminating what is learned from this project to other faculty at RIT.

I also agree to return all/a portion of the funds that I receive for this project to RIT if I fail to

complete or provide the materials described here.

Full project plan (including roles and responsibilities, milestone dates, and pertinent project

details)

Overview of preliminary findings (may include experiment/study design, lessons learned,

initial data collection, and/or literature review summary)

Final project summary (including data collection, lessons learned, implications for further

study, and which may be in the form of an article abstract, conference presentation outline, or

short report)

Faculty Teaching & Learning Commons posting (a summary of findings, examples of

teaching designs or materials)

Participation in a faculty dissemination event

Final budget accounting (reconciliation of budget provided with your application and the

actual project expenses)

By submitting this application, I accept this agreement.

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XII. DEPARTMENT HEAD CERTIFICATION

I support this PLIG application and budget, and verify that _______Cristian A. Linte __________

is a full-time faculty member in good standing in my department.

Department head name: Daniel B. Phillips

Date: 02/02/2015

Department head signature:

Phone: 5-2309 Email: [email protected]

PLIG 2015 Budget Worksheet

Applicant's Name:

Personnel Purpose/Justification Amount

Full time Faculty/Staff

1 2 Student Workers (10 hrs/wk) Staff the Pratice Center and provide one-on-one 3,000$

2 face time with the students in need of help -$

3 -$

Adjuncts/Part time Faculty/Staff

1 faculty Advisor Provide mentorship and administrative oversight 500$

2 Dedicate 3-5 hrs/wk and be available for one-on- -$

3 one meetings with interested students/faculty -$

T Personnel Total 3,500$

T Benefits - Calculated Automatically 1,180$

Equipment Purpose/Justification Amount

1 -$

2 -$

3 -$

T Equipment Total -$

Licenses Purpose/Justification Amount

1 -$

2 -$

3 -$

T Licenses Total -$

Travel Purpose/Justification Amount

1 -$

2 -$

3 -$

T Travel Total -$

Other (Specify) Purpose/Justification Amount

1 Video editing and captioning 300$

2 -$

3 -$

T Other Expenses Total 300$

Total Award Request 4,980$

Linte CA, Vaidyanathan P, McCartney R and Syeh H

PROVOST’S LEARNING INNOVATIONS GRANTS 2015 APPLICATION PLIG 2… · Flipped Classroom The flipped classroom model (sometimes called the inverted classroom) ... A presentation typically

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