Mastery of the use and interpretation of statistical techniques requires a lot of practice. Similarly, statistics is only mastered with a lot of practice. However, instructors unfortunately only have a finite amount of time available to create an endless supply of new problems and associated answers. They also do not have an endless amount of time to provide hints to help students find their own way past their misconceptions. In addition, it is very difficult for students to receive immediate feedback to understand what they are doing and what they need to do.

The College of Pharmacy curriculum is designed for the students to begin with a foundation of knowledge that they then practice in a laboratory setting followed by application in a real world setting. This project will provide students in the Nonprescription Pharmacotherapeutics/Self-Care sequence opportunity to gain constructive feedback and more consistent practice of their skills prior to moving on to the Community Pharmacy - Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience in their third year and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience in their fourth-year.

To date, we have had a number of sections of CH301/CH302 that have utilized the hybrid framework to varying extents. In this new hybrid model, the in-class learning is supported by a  significant set of online resources to support independent learning outside of the classroom. This approach marries the flexibility and customized nature of web based learning modules to   deliver the factual knowledge and procedural knowledge with relevant, engaging classroom  based instruction that will serve to motivationally engage the students.

New faculty hires have many resources at their disposal to improve their teaching. In fact, so many resources exist that it can be paralyzing. What I propose is not an investment in offices or institutions, but rather in people. By virtue of completing a dissertation, most Ph.D.s are proficient at research. Regrettably, the correlation between research and teaching is not perfect; though a perusal of the teachers in the Academy of Distinguished Teachers shows that a strong correlation very well may exist. Teaching, regrettably, usually only becomes a problem when it is a problem.

SSC 302 is an introductory course that blends the skills of data analysis, basic modeling techniques and inferential statistics. Many UT students complete this course to satisfy their core math requirement. I believe the content of SSC 302 should be made available to students prior to their enrollment here at UT, both to accelerate their preparedness for college and to help inform their choice of major trajectories once they are here.

CS312 is the introductory programming class for computer science majors. It teaches students structured programming: designing and implementing computer programs that solve nontrivial problems. CS312 is the first required course for Computer Science majors. It is part of the four course pre CS program. CS is different than many of the other disciplines in the College of Natural Science. Most students have some exposure to math, chemistry, biology, and even physics during their secondary education. And some have the opportunity to take Computer Science courses.

Often when faculty express an interest in exploring and adopting new teaching, they ask: Where should I begin?  What should I do? How will it help? If an instructor will take even a small step, the next may be easier.  Education specialists advise us to create multiple, low-risk settings that encourage students to try new ideas and test new skills. It would seem that the same advice applies to developing one’s own teaching practice and in encouraging useful change among colleagues.

Many engineering systems are too complex to be studied with experimental or analytical methods. Thus, computational techniques are an essential element in the engineering profession. The current mechanical engineering curriculum introduces these tools during their sophomore year in ME 318 – Engineering Computational Methods, but there is limited opportunity for “spiral learning” to reinforce the concepts and techniques learned.

The primary purpose of the Health Communication Scholars Program was to improve training of graduate students interested in health communication to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration and secure grant funding for research projects. More structured education and experience with this process as graduate students would better prepare these students for expectations they will face as junior faculty–to work with colleagues in other fields, find creative ways to align research interests, and propose projects for competitive funding.

In order to better advise students, we need to have a fuller understanding of how individual students learn in various environments; what strategies tend to work best in online vs blended classrooms; and what types of students are going to profit most from the advantages—and be harmed least by the disadvantages—of each learning environment. The project will use the accompanying grant to fund a study that compares student learning strategies and success in the online and blended versions of Introduction to Ancient Rome (CC 302).