Tablet PC and Computing Curriculum 2004 Request for Proposals

This RFP has been awarded. To view the award recipients, see Tablet PC and Computing Curriculum 2004 RFP Awards.

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 by using electronic ink and drawing tools; to share results instantaneously; or to collaborate by using these tools in real time adds completely new dimensions to classroom interaction.

When adding the Tablet PC technologies to rapidly increasing new knowledge and information in the computing sciences, undergraduate computing education must rethink what it teaches students and how to better enable students to learn. Many questions arise. We are just beginning learn how to best take advantage of these new communication and collaboration resources. What are the ultimate outcomes for computing education? How does a Tablet PC change the interaction between teacher and student, and how will this impact the classroom pedagogy? Are these new pedagogies and strategies applicable to other disciplines? What is the difference between the scenarios of the teacher-only tablet class versus the setting where all students have one? How does this affect the content of the course or curriculum? Are there replicable strategies, tools, and techniques that can scale across large numbers of teachers and students?

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.

Motivation for this Request for Proposals (RFP) is derived from discussions with faculty, the leadership of professional organizations, and internal Microsoft staff. The investment by Microsoft in time, talent, and money for Microsoft Research higher education initiatives is evidence of its commitment.

It makes sense to aggregate the Tablet PC and computing curriculum focusing on how the implementation of this technology in higher education can improve learning.

Goals & Objectives
Microsoft Research (MSR) will use this RFP as a catalyst to encourage educators to apply resources toward the revision and updating of the computing curriculum in conjunction with the Tablet PC to create new and innovative course materials and educational pedagogy. The Tablet PC initiative will fund curriculum development projects that explore the potential of the Tablet to help make computing content and instruction more engaging and effective, resulting in higher success rates for students and the ability to attract more and better quality students to computing programs as well as 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 may include the development of pedagogy for large enrollment classes in computing, using tablet functionality to increase student-faculty interaction, courses where new applications for the tablet are developed, courses which have students reading 10 KLOC, bioinformatics, mobile computing, ecommerce, etc. Consideration will be given to all computing content areas.

Proposals are welcomed from computer science, computer engineering, information science departments as well as any other department provided that the focus of the project is computing education. Also of interest are courses targeting the computing needs of non-majors.

Projects may consist of a single course, a series of courses, or entire curriculum.

It is Microsoft Research's intent to issue a second competitive RFP in the following year that will provide for the development of additional resources for the academic community.

Awards
The total amount available under this RFP is $400,000.00. Microsoft Research expects to make 6 - 12 awards with the maximum award to be $75,000 and the typical award to be $40,000 - $50,000. Funding requests should be prepared with due diligence to ensure that money requested is appropriate for the proposed project.

It is required that no more than 20% of the request be for hardware. The commitment of additional resources by the institution and other organizations are encouraged but not required.

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.

Awards under this program are for one year and are renewable at the sole discretion of Microsoft Research.

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 four year college or university with non-profit status and located in one of the following regions: North, Central or South America or India.
• An institution will be awarded a maximum of one grant per RFP, regardless of the number of proposals submitted from the institution. However, collaborative proposals embracing multiple groups across the organization are encouraged.
• 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 on or 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.)
• It is required that no more than 20% of the requested funds be for hardware. The commitment of additional resources by the institution and other organizations are encouraged but not required.

Submission Process
Proposals will only be accepted in electronic form at http://research.microsoft.com/ur/rfp. Microsoft cannot assume any responsibility for the privacy of information in submitted proposals. Therefore, proposals should not contain information that is confidential, restricted or sensitive. Except for personal (e.g., social security number) and financial information (e.g., salary), winning proposal project details will be made public on Microsoft's Web sites.

Submissions must be in two parts:

1. Complete proposal  8 pages maximum, in either Microsoft Word or PDF format, containing full detail on the proposed project (double-spaced, 10 pt font).
2. Brief summary and contact information  This information will be submitted through a Web form and must summarize briefly each section of the proposal. This information will automatically be placed into a database. Information should be concise and brief.

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)?
• Is this a project that will 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?
• In which classes will these materials be used?
• 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 frames 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.

The required database summary should consist of short responses (250 words max.) to each of the following items:

1. Problem Statement  What is the curriculum area to be addressed and why is it important to the overall degree program of which it is a part? How many students take (or are expected to take) this course annually? Will the proposed project be an update of existing core or elective course content, or new material? Who will be performing the work (faculty, research scientists, graduate students, others?) Who else/what else has been done in this area? What opportunities exist for others to build on the work?
2. Expected outcomes  What tangible assets, if any, will be created or produced as a result of this project? How will the results of this project be disseminated to others?
3. Schedule  When will the project be completed? What milestones will be used to measure progress of the project and when will they be completed. (If the project described is part of a larger ongoing research program, estimate the time for completion of this project only).
4. Use of Funds  Provide a detailed budget describing how the award will be used.
5. Dissemination and Evaluation  How will the results of this project be evaluated, how will they be disseminated?
6. Other Support  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.
7. Qualifications of Principal Investigator: Include a brief description of any relevant prior research, teaching, publication, or other professional experience. A detailed vita or list of publications is not required.

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 2004 Tablet PC and Computing Curriculum RFP will focus on the creation of content, materials, and pedagogical practices that provide the broad foundational elements necessary for teaching concepts of computing sciences.

RFP winners will be expected to meet all the following minimum criteria:

1. Well-defined goals and objectives that, if achieved, have the potential to have a significant impact on undergraduate computing education. Proposals should focus on teaching computing concepts and principles.
2. 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.
3. Potential for wide dissemination and use of intellectual property created, including specific plans for publications, conference presentations, distance learning, etc., as well as 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 computing community such as workshops, site visits and presentations, etc. may include these ideas, but not as part of the budget.
4. 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.
5. Qualifications of principal investigator, including previous history of work in the computing education area, successful completion of previous funded projects, teaching awards, books published, etc.
6. 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.
7. 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 (for example, PowerPoint, HTML, Word, PDF, Microsoft Producer).
8. Value  Efficient use of requested resources and funding.

In addition to the minimum criteria above, proposals will be evaluated based on the following:

1. Quality of content and other materials created to facilitate the teaching of the computing course(s) proposed.
2. A commitment to attend a Tablet PC Computing Curriculum Workshop.
3. A commitment to deliver the course(s) in his/her institution and potential integration as part of the regular curriculum and/or course offerings.
4. Placement of created materials in the public domain.
5. A commitment to submit one major paper for publication or presentation to computing education conferences such as the ACM SIGCSE or ASEE/IEEE CS FIE.

Schedule and Deadlines

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-mail to ensure prompt attention.

Microsoft Word version of this document

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)