CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirants
I. Nature and Scope of Project
II. CASEE Expectations of Dissemination Channels
III. CASEE Dissemination Channel Benefits
IV. CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirat Proposal Submission, Format, Review, and Selection Process
V. Priority Topic Areas
VI. CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirant Review Criteria
I. Nature and Scope of Project
CASEE Dissemination Channels are research-based seminars, workshops, colloquies, etc. (hereafter referred to as seminars) offered by academic, other non-profit, and for-profit entities that serve to educate the engineering community about either a) rigorous approaches to the conduct and evaluation of education research, or b) the findings which result from such research including pilot and large-scale implementation activities, particularly as they relate to engineering education. CASEE Dissemination Channels are trusted information resources that adhere to high quality standards in the identification, selection, preparation, and transmission of knowledge. To date, CASEE has noted that information in many of its priority research areas is not being disseminated broadly to relevant audiences. To correct this deficit, CASEE has decided to work collaboratively with selected organizations to develop appropriate seminars. CASEE invites organizations to submit proposals for consideration of designation as CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirants. CASEE will work collaboratively with CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirants to develop proposals to funding organizations that may result in the support for seminars in CASEE priority topical areas and in the designation of the seminar as a CASEE Dissemination Channel.
Proposals submitted for consideration as CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirants will be reviewed and selected by a review committee convened by CASEE.
Prior to initiating an application, an electronic mail message indicating interest in designation should be sent to CASEE's director, Dr. Norman L. Fortenberry, at <nfortenb@nae.edu>.
II. CASEE Expectations of Dissemination Channels
During the course of the Dissemination Channel’s two-year affiliation with CASEE, seminar providers are expected to provide high-quality, research-based workshops, seminars, and colloquia to engineering professionals and educators, emanating from a core curriculum. Dissemination Channels are also expected to provide demographic information about their seminar participants to CASEE, and must additionally be willing to share with CASEE pre- and post-seminar evaluation data related to program participants. Further, all Dissemination Channels are expected to provide CASEE with access to any other data or datasets compiled by the seminar provider which relate to the Dissemination Channel-designated seminars.
III. CASEE Dissemination Channel Benefits
There is no cost associated with being designated a CASEE Dissemination Channel; the only expenditure necessary is the time to prepare the proposal/application, which is minimal in comparison to the advantages of gaining the CASEE Dissemination Channel designation. The following are just a few of the advantages associated with this designation that applicant organizations will find most beneficial:
1) Seminars designated as CASEE Dissemination Channels will be highlighted in CASEE outreach materials including its website, brochures, speaking engagements, and the like, during the two-year term of the organization’s Dissemination Channel affiliation. This type of publicity translates into the seminar providers’ access to thousands of engineers and engineering educators throughout the US and abroad.
2) Seminars selected as CASEE Dissemination Channels may display the CASEE Dissemination Channel logo on their web sites and other documentation during the term of their affiliation. This logo, in the engineering education community, denotes workshops, seminars, and similar offerings of superior caliber, which have been approved and sanctioned by CASEE, serving as a clear mark of distinction from other seminar providers.
3) Designation as a CASEE Dissemination Channel provides seminar providers with a captive audience and a “seal of approval” within the engineering community, thereby also enabling providers to more successfully market other of their educational products and services to the individuals and entities associated with the National Academy of Engineering in general, and CASEE in particular.
IV. CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirant Proposal Submission, Format, Review, and Selection Process
Proposal Submission
Submit completed proposals via electronic mail to:
Dr. Norman L. Fortenberry, CASEE Director at nfortenb@nae.edu
Or via regular mail to:
CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirant Review Committee
Attn: Dr. Norman L. Fortenberry
Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education
500 Fifth Street, NW, Room NAS G-11
Washington, DC 20001
Proposal Format
Proposals should be submitted in electronically in either PDF or Microsoft Word format or as hardcopy. Text should be single-spaced and 12-point. Margins must be at least 1-inch on all sides. The total number of pages should be less than ten (10), excluding appendices.
Proposal Review
CASEE will annually assemble a review committee to review, on a quarterly basis, proposals submitted for consideration by CASEE. Applications are due to the CASEE offices by January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 of each year. Proposals will be reviewed and decisions regarding their status will be made prior to the next quarterly due date. Unsuccessful applications may be revised, otherwise updated, and resubmitted during a subsequent quarter.
Should there be any issues, questions or concerns raised by members of the peer review committee regarding the prospective seminar provider’s proposal, Dr. Norman Fortenberry will contact the primary contact person listed on the proposal directly, to request clarification or additional information. Complex issues related to a proposal which are unable to be resolved expeditiously, will be relayed via written feedback to the proposed seminar provider for consideration and resolution, along with a request to revise the proposal and resubmit it accordingly. Once the issue has been resolved and appropriately rectified within the written proposal, a revised version of the proposal may be resubmitted to the review committee during the current or a subsequent proposal review cycle for further consideration.
Proposal Selection
Once a seminar provider is selected for designation as a CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirant , the primary contact person representing the organization will be notified electronically by Dr. Norman Fortenberry, CASEE Director. Upon notification, the Aspirant should be prepared to begin detailed discussions on developing a final proposal to funding entities.
V. Priority Seminar Topic Areas
The following seminar topic areas (based on the CASEE research areas will be given priority consideration during the current CASEE Dissemination Channel selection year:
1) Teachers and Learners
2) Courses, Laboratories, Curricula, Instructional Materials, and Learning Technologies
3) Educational Management and Goal Systems
4) Political, Economic, and Social Influences on Engineering Education
5) Diffusion of Educational Innovations
VI. CASEE Dissemination Channel Aspirant Review Criteria
Proposers should demonstrate adherence to the following criteria in the development and operation of the subject seminar(s): Total 100 points
A. Seminar Curricular Content (45 points)
1. The proposed seminar contributes to enhanced teaching and learning of engineering knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes, and the seminar content is transmitted in such a manner as to model effective teaching and learning practices. The proposed seminar consists of a core curriculum to be used for dissemination of the research-based material.
Describe in narrative format how the proposed seminar demonstrates research-based pedagogical constructs, particularly those that are effective in engineering education. Demonstrate in this narrative the particular teaching and learning concepts to be modeled by the seminar leaders to seminar participants. Further, describe the ways in which facilitators will model the concepts to seminar participants so that practical application of the seminar content is conveyed to participants for ready application in their classrooms other learning environments. Provide a narrative description or list the components of the seminar’s curricular content, providing attestation to its static format and ability to be duplicated in variety of settings and for a diversity of audiences.
25 points
2. The seminar demonstrates an explicit link between the information presented and the underlying education research knowledge base.
Append a bibliography of related research resources that undergird the information to be presented in the Dissemination Channel seminar and/or a narrative which describes the key research resources that support and/or provide a rationale for the teaching and learning constructs to be presented in the seminar.
20 points
B. Seminar Assessment and Evaluation (30 points)
1. The seminar has clearly stated learning objectives for participants, curricula and processes that contribute to the achievement of the learning objectives, and a process by which to evaluate attainment of the learning objectives. The seminar has a system of on-going evaluation that contributes to the continuous improvement of its program(s).
Delineate the participant learning objectives and the expected learning outcomes for participants. If applicable, describe the ways in which the seminar curricular content specifically addresses the nuances of engineering education and any related objectives specific to the engineering discipline. Describe in detail the ways in which student attainment of the learning objectives will be formatively and/or summatively evaluated by the seminar provider. Provide a narrative description of evaluation mechanisms and/or tools in place to ensure consistent and continuous improvement of the proposed seminar objectives, curricular content, etc. Append copies of any and all evaluation or assessment tools to be administered to program participants.
25 points
2. Ability and willingness to provide CASEE with sufficient data on participants such that the nature and extent of impact of dissemination activities may be discerned.
Provide a description of the pre- and post-seminar data to be collected on seminar participants, including any demographic information, survey data, etc. and the seminar provider’s willingness to share this data with CASEE. Detail any other follow-on activities the seminar provider may engage in with program participants in an effort to gauge the seminar’s effectiveness. Describe the ways in which the seminar provider’s collection of the particular data contributes or will contribute to its assessment of the dissemination activity. Delineate the format (e.g. electronic mail, diskette, or manual), in which the seminar provider is willing to transmit this information to CASEE, and the approximate amount of time needed to collect and collate this information, prior to transmission to CASEE.
5 points
C. Adequacy of Seminar Resources (25 points)
1. The seminar provider must have clearly stated criteria for identification and selection of program participants.
Provide a narrative description of the ways in which prospective seminar participants will be selected or identified. Describe particular marketing tools or mechanisms currently in place or projected to be in place for the purpose of identifying participants. Beyond the prospective affiliation with CASEE, describe how engineering educators, in particular, will be targeted and potentially included in the seminar. Describe in the narrative, whether or not participation in the seminar is competitive, requires the payment of a fee, is at the discretion of a host institution, or is open to all that inquire. Further, provide a demographic description of the projected seminar participants to be attracted by this seminar, e.g. researchers, scholar-educators from a variety of disciplines, practitioners, engineering educators only, etc. If this seminar has been rendered in the past, provide an anecdote describing the historical demography of the program participants.
5 points
2. Seminar instructors have appropriate qualifications and experience to ensure the proper operation of the seminar. Classrooms, laboratories, and other instructional facilities are adequate to accomplish to seminar objectives and provide an atmosphere conductive to learning.
Append curriculum vitae of any and all seminar facilitators, instructors, assistants, and the like who will disseminate curricular content to seminar participants. Also include c.v.’s for any staff responsible for seminar curriculum development and revision. These vitae should clearly demonstrate the credentials of the seminar faculty, and their relevance to the seminar content. In a detailed narrative, address the quality of the instructional facilities and the ways in which the facilities will ensure accomplishment of the seminar learning objectives. In instances where the seminar location is not static (for example, if the seminar is held on host campuses or at multiple institutions), provide required components of the facility which are necessary to ensure participant success in the seminar (e.g. size of room or capacity for workshops, instructional technology, etc.)
10 points
3. Institutional support, financial resources, and constructive leadership provided by the seminar provider must be adequate to assure the quality and continuity of the seminar during the projected term of offerings.
Include signed partnership agreements and letters of support from institutional partners, host institutions, sponsors, etc. which will clearly demonstrate the long-term capacity for the continued proliferation of the specified seminar. Discuss the facilitator-participant ratio, and the number of facilitators on staff or under contractual affiliation with the seminar provider for the purpose of disseminating curricular content. Also include a one-page budget associated with the production of the seminar, along with a budget narrative describing any financial or in-kind support currently or projected to be received on behalf of the seminar and its source. Clearly delineate the financial needs of the seminar provider after all other monies have been allocated. (Note: Preference will be given to those applicants who demonstrate the ability to garner financial or in-kind support from other sources).
10 points