Tablet PC Technology,
Curriculum, and Higher Education 2005
Request for
Proposals (RFP) |
|
This RFP has been awarded. To view the award recipients, see Tablet PC Technology, Curriculum, and Higher Education 2005 RFP Awards.
Background
The Tablet PC significantly changes the way students and
teachers interact. This new technology has the potential to dramatically alter
the educational process. The ability to write, sketch, draw, or annotate using
electronic ink and drawing tools; to share results instantaneously; or to
collaborate in real time adds new dimensions to classroom interaction.
We are just beginning to learn how to maximize these new
communication and collaboration resources. When adding the Tablet PC technologies
to undergraduate education, we must rethink how this will improve teaching and
learning. Many questions arise. How does a Tablet PC alter teacher and student
interaction? How will teacher-only tablet class differ from a setting where all
students have one? How will this affect the content of the course or curriculum?
What strategies, tools, and techniques can scale across large numbers of
teachers and students? Are these new pedagogies and strategies applicable to
other disciplines?
Microsoft has made significant investments in the Tablet PC as
evidenced by the work of the Tablet PC and OneNote teams. Microsoft Research
has led the investment in the computing curriculum for higher education. In
2005, Microsoft Research External Research & Programs (formerly University
Relations) funded 13 tablet technology and computing curriculum projects (http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/tec/projects.aspx).
Based on the success of the many tablet technology events
including the Tablet PC in Higher Education Workshops (http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/anderson/tpc/),
the high level of interest in the 2005 Tablet PC in Computing Curriculum
Request for
Proposals (RFP), and
contact with members of the higher education community, it makes sense to
expand the reach of this year’s RFP to include disciplines outside of computing
that are developing innovative uses of tablet technology.
Goals & Objectives
Microsoft Research will use this RFP as a catalyst to
encourage educators to apply resources toward the revising, updating, and
validating curriculum and pedagogy in conjunction with tablet technology in
higher education.
There will be two tracks in this RFP:
- Track I: Tablet PC and Computing Curriculum — projects related to the use of tablet technology in computing curriculum.
- Track II: Educational Value and Validity — projects related to the gathering of evidence and educational evaluation of the use of
tablet technology in the classroom.
Track I: Tablet PC and Computing Curriculum
Similar to the 2005 Tablet PC RFP, which focused on computing curriculum
development, Track I explores the potential of the Tablet PC to help make
computing content and instruction more engaging and effective, resulting in
higher success rates for students, the ability to attract more and better
quality students to computing programs, and opening the world of computing to non-computer
science majors.
Successful projects will develop creative content and curriculum that will be
a role model for other departments and institutions. Examples of such projects
include the development of pedagogy for large enrollment classes in computing by using tablet functionality to increase
student-faculty interaction, courses where new applications for the tablet are
developed, or courses that have students reading 10 KLOC or studying topics such
as bioinformatics, mobile computing, or e-commerce. Consideration will be given
to all computing content areas. All strong proposals are welcome with special
interest in those that complement the current portfolio of funded projects (http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/tec/projects.aspx).
Proposals are welcomed from computer science, computer
engineering, information science departments, and any other department (provided
the focus of the project is on computing content). Projects may consist of a
single course, a series of courses, any number of tools, or any pedagogical approach.
Track II: Educational Value and Validity
Track II is open to all disciplines with the focus of the
project on the evaluation of tablet technology in the classroom. This is not
meant to be for curriculum development although a small part of the project may
address curricula development to ensure that the curricula materials are
appropriate for the tablet and the evaluation efforts.
Successful projects will identify innovative ways to
incorporate tablet technologies into the classroom. Projects should focus on
the execution of these approaches and the gathering of data to add to the body
of knowledge on teaching and learning in higher education. Explicit education
research questions to be addressed should be included.
The expectations for Track II projects include a detailed
assessment plan, gathering of baseline data, collection of several sets of
data, and formative and summative analysis of the data.
Proposals are welcome from all disciplines.
Awards
All awards will be made in $US as unrestricted gifts
to the institution with the understanding that recipients are expected to
provide Microsoft Research with suitable progress reports at least twice
yearly. No indirect costs will be allowed.
The total amount available under this RFP is $500,000.00.
Microsoft Research anticipates making 6–12 awards total, across both RFP
tracks.
- Track
I This is a one-year program. Typical awards for winning proposals in this
track will be $40,000–$50,000.
- Track
II This is a two-year program. Typical awards for winning proposals in
this track will be $60,000– $75,000 per year, for two years.
Note Funding in Year Two
is predicated on the PI’s success in meeting agreed upon milestones and
deliverables set out in the project plan for Year One. Failure to meet these
commitments will result in non-support for Year Two.
Eligibility
Conditions of eligibility listed below will be strictly
adhered to. Proposals not meeting all these criteria will not be considered.
- The
proposing institution must be an accredited baccalaureate-granting college or
university (or international equivalent) with non-profit status. All qualifying
institutions are eligible without regard for geographic location.
- An
academic department will be awarded a maximum of one grant per RFP, regardless
of the number of proposals submitted from the department.
- Collaborative
proposals embracing multiple groups across the organization are encouraged.
- The
commitment of additional resources by the institution and other organizations
are encouraged but not required.
- Proposals
that are incomplete, inaccurate, request funds in excess of the maximum award
available, or are otherwise not responsive to the terms and conditions of this
RFP will, at the sole discretion of Microsoft Research, be excluded from
consideration.
- Proposals
for or on behalf of persons participating in the evaluation process for this
RFP will not be considered.
- Proposals
must evidence a commitment to make any intellectual property created as part of
a funded project broadly available for non-commercial use, including
redistribution, under a non-restrictive license. (A typical example can be
found at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/MSDN-FILES/027/002/097/ShSourceCLILicense.htm.)
Submission Process
Proposals will be accepted in electronic form only at http://microsoft.redwhale.com.
Proposals submitted to Microsoft will not be returned. Microsoft cannot assume
responsibility for the confidentiality of information in submitted proposals.
Therefore, proposals should not contain information that is confidential,
restricted, or sensitive. Microsoft reserves the right to make public proposals
that receive awards, except those portions containing budgetary or personally
identifiable information.
- Complete proposal: 8 pages maximum, in either Microsoft Word or PDF
format, containing full detail on the proposed project (double-spaced, 10-point
font). The title of the proposal must begin with either the “Track I:” or
“Track II:” prefix.
Proposals should touch on the following topics:
- Summary
of the proposed work; indicate whether this is an update of existing core or
elective content, or new material.
- Who
will be performing the work (faculty, research scientists, graduate students,
other)?
- Will
this project involve multiple departments and/or disciplines?
- Which
technologies will be used in the work?
- What
evaluation methods will be used and when will they be used?
- What
are your expectations regarding publishing/presenting/disseminating this work?
- Which
classes will use these materials?
- Explicit
details of deliverables.
- What
opportunities exist for others to build on your work?
- Are
there particular technologies (either commercial or otherwise) that you are planning
on using for this project?
- Detailed
time lines and/or milestones for implementing this project.
- Include
a detailed cost breakdown of how the proposed funding will be spent. Requests
for funds over the indicated amount limit will not be reviewed.
- No indirect costs will be allowed. Provide a detailed budget
describing how the award will be used. No more than 15% of the requested funds
can be used for hardware.
- Include other contributions to this project (cash, goods, or
services), if any, but not such items and facilities otherwise provided on an
ongoing basis. Note: authors of winning proposals will be required to submit an
original letter on department letterhead certifying the commitment of any
additional or matching support described in the proposal.
Selection Process and Criteria
All proposals received will be reviewed by Microsoft
Research and eligible proposals will be evaluated by a panel of subject-matter
experts chosen by Microsoft Research. All evaluations will be conducted
anonymously. Based on evaluations by the review panel, Microsoft Research will
select the most worthy proposals for funding. Microsoft Research reserves the
right to fund proposals at an amount greater or less than the amount requested,
up to the stated maximum amount for individual awards. Due to the volume of
submissions, Microsoft Research cannot provide individual feedback on
proposals that are not funded.
The dual-tracks of the Tablet Technology, Curriculum,
and Higher Education 2005 RFP will allow for continued focus on the creation of
content, materials, and pedagogical practices that provide the broad
foundational elements necessary for teaching concepts of computing sciences and
will begin to identify and support those in other disciplines already using
tablet technologies in higher education to promote educational assessment and pedagogical
change.
RFP winners will be expected to meet all the following
minimum criteria:
- Well-defined goals and objectives that, if achieved, have the
potential to have a significant impact on undergraduate education.
- Measurement of Outcomes Proposals must provide details for
formative and summative evaluation of project goals as well as the numbers of
students expected in the course(s). Evidence of departmental commitment to
incorporate these new methodologies and content into their curriculum are
preferred.
- Potential for wide dissemination and use of intellectual property
created, such as including specific plans for publications, conference
presentations, distance learning and/or plans to distribute content in multiple
formats or languages.
Proposals that indicate novel, active methods of use and distribution are
highly desired. Examples include: classroom or online teaching, dissemination
at conferences, electronic networks, journal articles, and other means.
Faculty with ideas for active engagement with members of the higher education
community such as workshops, site visits or presentations may include these
ideas, but not as part of the budget.
- Completeness Proposals that illustrate the relationship of the
project goals, content, and activities to the greater curriculum are preferred,
including the adequacy of resources available, reasonableness of timelines, and
number and qualifications of identified contributors.
- Qualifications of principal investigator, including previous
history of work in the computing education area, successful completion of
previous funded projects, and other examples such as teaching awards, books
published.
- Other Support Demonstration of university or other support for
the proposal is highly desirable. This may include letters of support from
university officials, multi-disciplinary collaborations, and/or cost sharing/matching
gift arrangements.
- Format Proposals that include, for example, the development of
modular laboratory experiments and manuals, software, CD-ROMs, sample code,
videos, and other courseware are preferred. A suitable license (exhibiting
characteristics similar to the
BSD license) that
allows for further distribution of the created content in the public domain is
preferred. Extra consideration will be given to content delivered in multiple
formats (such as PowerPoint, HTML, Word, PDF, and Microsoft Producer).
- Value Efficient use of requested resources and funding.
In addition to the minimum criteria above, proposals will be
evaluated based on the following:
- Quality of content and other materials created.
- A commitment to deliver the courses in his/her institution and potential
integration as part of the regular curriculum or course offerings.
- Placement of created materials in the public domain, including into the Microsoft
Research Curriculum Repository (http://www.msdnaa.net/curriculum/repository.aspx).
- A commitment to submit one major paper for publication or presentation
to appropriate conferences such as the ACM SIGCSE, Educause, or FIE.
Due Dates
|
Deadline for submission of proposals: |
December 19, 2005, 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (-8 UTC/GMT) |
|
Notification of awards:
|
February 8, 2006 |
|
Public announcement of awards: |
March 1, 2006 at the ACM SIGCSE conference |
Questions concerning this RFP should be sent to Jane Prey,
Program Manager, at urinq@microsoft.com. Please include the phrase “Tablet RFP”
in the subject line of all e-mails to ensure prompt attention.
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