Proposal Template for Blended-Learning Course Redesign

Below is the recommended structure and organization for proposals for blended-learning course redesign. The online submission form (log in using your NAU Gmail account, which you created in the Blended Learning Workshop) follows this structure. You might want to prepare your answers in a text editor and then copy and paste them into the submission form. If you need help with the submission form, contact elc-help@nau.edu.

Your use of this approach will make it easier for the proposal review committee to review your proposal. The committee is looking for clear, succinct descriptions of the proposed course redesigns.

 

Information needed	Example
Personnel
Name of lead instructor who will design the blended course	Pat Jones
Lead instructor's email address	pat.jones@nau.edu
Lead instructor's phone number	928-523-0000
Name of additional instructor (if any) who will help design the blended course	Kelly Johnson
Additional instructor's email address	kelly.johnson@nau.edu
Additional instructor's phone number	928-523-9999
Names of additional instructors who will teach the redesigned blended course	Sara Gonzalez, Vinton Benally
Department	Aviation
Department chair's name	Josiah Fostman
Department chair's email address	josiah.fostman@nau.edu
Department chair's phone number	928-523-9999
Basic course information
Course number	ATC 101
Course title	Introduction to Air Traffic Control
Number of semester credit hours for this course	3
Number and rank of instructors who currently teach this course	6 total: 2 tenured; 1 tenure-track; 3 part-time
Projected number and rank of instructors who will teach this course by Fall 2014	Same as above
How many of the current instructors agree to teach the redesigned blended course? (Note: Proposals in which all instructors agree to teach the redesigned blended course will receive priority consideration and will be eligible for the full departmental budget supplement. Proposals in which not all instructors agree to participate in the redesigned blended course will still be considered, and if approved, the faculty involved in redesigning the course are eligible for the full faculty stipend, but the department won't be eligible for the full budget supplement.)	All 6
Current number of students enrolled annually in this course	362
Current number of sections of this course taught annually	10
Projected or potential number of annual student enrollments in this course by Fall 2014	550
Average DFW rate in this course across all sections taught during the current calendar year (You can view either of two spreadsheets [.xlsx, sorted by course or sorted by DFW rate] to see annual year 2012 DFW rates for 100-level courses that had at least 100 students enrolled and had 20% or higher DFW rates. If your course isn't listed, work with your department chair and the Office of Curriculum, Learning Design, and Academic Assessment to find the current year's DFW rates for your course.)	36%
Is this a gateway course for multiple majors? If so, which majors?	No
In which term will you pilot the redesigned blended course? (Note: Redesigned blended courses that will be piloted in Spring 2013 and fully implemented by multiple instructors in Fall 2013 will receive priority consideration and will be eligible for the full departmental budget supplement. Redesigned courses that will be piloted and fully implemented in later terms will still be considered, and if approved, the faculty involved in redesigning the course are eligible for the full faculty stipend, but the department won't be eligible for the full budget supplement.)	Spring 2013
In which term will multiple instructors teach the refined redesigned blended course?	Fall 2013
Time and cost estimates Contact Dr. Michelle Miller for assistance in calculating these figures. Use the NAU Cost Savings Estimate spreadsheet (.xlsx). Email your completed spreadsheet to karen.pugliesi@nau.edu.
What percentage of your redesigned course will be taught through in-person class meetings?	50%
What percentage of your redesigned course will be taught online or outside of in-person class meetings?	50%
Current number of hours of instructor time per section (refer to NAU Cost Savings Estimate spreadsheet [.xlsx])	174
Proposed number of hours of instructor time per section after course redesign (refer to NAU Cost Savings Estimate spreadsheet [.xlsx])	72
Current cost per student for students completing course with grade of C or better (refer to NAU Cost Savings Estimate spreadsheet [.xlsx])	$84
Projected cost per student for students completing course with grade of C or better after final rollout of redesigned course (refer to NAU Cost Savings Estimate spreadsheet [.xlsx])	$71
Projected cost savings per student	$13
What is your requested budget, if applicable, for one-time monies for hardware, software, equipment, supplies, conference registration fees, subscriptions, etc.? (Do not include the $6,000 course development stipend or the recurring departmental supplement.)	$1300
What expenses will be covered by your budget request?	Conference registration fees & travel expenses for 2013 AERA conference
Course redesign detail Contact the e-Learning Center's Wally Nolan, Dr. John Doherty, or Don Carter for assistance in completing this section.
What kind of blended approach do you intend to take?	Flipped classroom
Provide one or two examples of how your intended learning outcomes are aligned with your planned assessments and learning activities.	Students will be able to correctly identify flight path patterns. They will be assessed through their participation in a role-playing simulation of tower activity. Students will prepare for the role-playing assessment by watching online videos captured from real tower activity, and they will complete online quizzes to cement their skills in flight-path identification.
How do you plan to use in-class time?	Class time will be used for peer discussion, demonstrations, and problem-based learning focused on scenarios drawn from actual air traffic control incidents.
What will students do online or out of class?	Students will watch relevant videos and read texts online. They will complete online quizzes on terminology and pattern recognition. They will participate in an online air traffic control simulation. They will attend a field trip to the local airport to observe tower activities in person.
What kinds of learning activities will you include to give students opportunities to practice the real-world application of their learning?	Students will participate in responsive real-time online simulations of air traffic control scenarios at a fictional airport.
How will you guide students to develop higher-order skills such as communication, analysis or evaluation, collaboration, problem-solving, or creation?	The online simulation emphasizes all of these skills. Additionally, students participate in group problem-analysis projects and do peer evaluation of those projects.
How will you ensure an appropriate level of rigor for the course?	Because the air traffic control profession is quite rigorous, this introductory course will also be rigorous to give students a realistic feel for the profession. Three significant assignments are due in the first two weeks of class with no late work allowed except for verified medical reasons accepted by the university. Students who struggle with the course early on are assigned a peer mentor and are required to meet with the instructor weekly as needed. Assignments mirror real-world problems faced by working air traffic controllers.
How will you accommodate students who have disabilities?	Videos are all captioned because captions benefit many students (for example, international students) regardless of ability. Note, though, that FAA medical requirements for air traffic controllers state certain minimums for visual acuity, hearing, speech, and other physical requirements.
Do you intend to seek certification for this course through NAU's First-Year Learning Initiative?	Yes
What else do you want the review committee to know about the details of your proposed course redesign?	Based on preliminary results from a similar project at another university, we expect a significant improvement in student success in this course.
If you built a sample course module as part of the Blended Learning workshop, do you want the review committee to consider that module as part of your application?	Yes. The module demonstrates the approach we intend to take with this course.
Assessment and ongoing improvement Contact Dr. Sue Pieper of the Office of Curriculum, Learning Design, and Academic Assessment for assistance in completing this section.
What kinds of assessments will you use to gauge students' learning achievements?	Automatically scored online quizzes on content and readings, automatically scored online simulations (similar to points accrued in computer games), participation in in-class problem-solving and discussion, with a rubric provided to students so they know how they will be assessed. Students will also complete a written final exam.
Will you use common assessments across all sections of the course?	Yes
How will you compare student learning outcomes in the redesigned blended version of the course with outcomes from the previous version(s) of the course?	Comparison of previous final exam scores with scores from redesigned course
How will you compare student learning outcomes in sections of the redesigned blended course taught by different instructors?	Comparison of students' simulation scores and final exam scores across sections. Also comparison of NAU students' simulation scores with scores of students at other universities.
What is your longitudinal plan for measuring student learning outcomes in sections of the redesigned blended course taught by the same instructor over time?	Same as above. Comparison of students' simulation scores and final exam scores in each instructor's section(s) over time.
How else will you gauge the effectiveness of your redesigned blended course?	Track number of students who continue into upper-division ATC courses
What mechanism or tool(s) will you use to create an instructor's guide that describes the rationale behind the course design and provides teaching tips and insights to other instructors of the course?	A shared wiki where we document our design decisions and add notes about what works and what doesn't as we pilot the course. The wiki will be an ongoing resource that can be updated by each instructor who teaches the course.
Where will you present your case study or research results based on your course redesign project?	Assuming the paper gets accepted, at the 2013 AERA Conference. We will also participate in a panel discussion at one of NAU's faculty showcases.
How do you plan to improve the blended course over time?	Twice yearly work sessions among the instructors of the course to map needed changes. End-of-semester surveys of ATC students to ask what changes would improve their success in the course.
How do you plan to reallocate instructor time or positions as a result of the course redesign?	By eliminating duplication in prep time for multiple instructors, we can assign two part-time instructors to teach additional sections, which frees one tenured instructor to participate in a three-year FAA-sponsored research project on effects of periodic reassignment, fatigue, and logic problems on controller performance.
What else do you want the review committee to know about your plans for assessment, ongoing course improvement, and reallocation of resources?	If the initial redesign project results in the expected improvement in student success, the department intends to redesign two other courses using a similar blended approach.
What other information do you want the review committee to know about your proposal?	We believe the course redesign has the potential to improve student scores and retention by as much as 12%.