Baza natječaja

Call for proposals

The Central European University ’s (CEU) Curriculum Resource Center (CRC) funded by the Open Society Institute’s (OSI) Higher Education Support Program (HESP), is launching a call for applications for a new, experimental one-year research and collaboration grant program.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Fellowship (SOTL Fellowship) CRC invites applications from scholars (full time teaching faculty) from the region to design and implement research projects on their own teaching practice and their students learning. (including selection of content and approach, student assessment strategies, teaching and evaluation methods). The aim of the projects will be to create knowledge on teaching and learning in the disciplines and contexts of our region.

Fellowship aims

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning began as a tool to facilitate professors’ self-reflexivity in the classroom - taking an academic approach (i.e. a research approach) to the question of innovation in their teaching practice and to questions surrounding student learning in their courses. The new program will help develop the higher education practitioners’ own engagement with the scholarship of teaching and learning, moving from reflection to analysis and research of their own courses, classrooms, and teaching contexts. The main aim of the program is to foster these academics’ capacity to become scholars of teaching through project development and writing over one year, through financial resources and methodological support, and by creating a collaborative community of scholars able to influence the discussion on teaching and learning in their contexts (institutions and disciplinary networks).

Fellowship structure

The grant consists of 10 months stipend, support with necessary teaching, research or evaluation resources and ongoing collaborative support. Two Writing Residencies in Budapest are planned, to facilitate project design, proposal and paper writing and peer evaluation, at the beginning and end of the program. For most of the year the participants will teach and reside in their home institutions where they will implement their projects. The date for the first residency is planned at the end of September 2007, the second in July 2008.

Research outcomes and areas for investigation

The research outcome is an original research paper. Solicited projects should aim at the improvement of student learning and creation of knowledge on teaching and learning in the disciplines and in specific institutional contexts. The projects can be based on research of one existing course developed by the applicant, or a cross-analysis of several courses. Areas for investigation include, but are not limited to:

• the connection between the course content and a method of teaching or assessment 
• the link between teaching and research in research-based courses
• the development of graduate level student skills (MA or doctoral level)
• the development of research, writing, or other appropriate skills at undergraduate level
• the development of discipline-specific ways of thinking in a particular approach
• the result on students learning of a specific methodological innovation or new teaching approach
• the impact of a specific aspect of current university context on student learning as documented in the teacher’s own classroom
• the development of interdisciplinary models of teaching and learning in social sciences and humanities

Eligibility

Application is restricted to resident citizens of Eastern- and South-Eastern Europe, the Former Soviet Union and Mongolia. Citizens of new EU member countries (including Bulgaria and Romania) are not eligible to apply. The call is meant for individual research projects.

The nature of the fellowship is to support innovative and high quality university courses and academics who are, or have the potential to become, excellent or expert teachers. Therefore

• Ph.D. or its equivalent
• three years teaching experience
• full time university position
• advanced proficiency in English language

is a pre-requisite.

Documented exposure to faculty development programs, and interest in teaching and learning is an advantage.

Selection process

Research proposals and background documents will be reviewed by a selection committee consisting of CRC SOTL team, relevant faculty and an external SOTL expert. Short-listed applicants might be asked to provide additional materials to their applications, and will be interviewed.

Application procedure

• Fill out a SOTL Fellowship application form which can be downloaded from this website: www.ceu.hu/crc/crc_sotlfel.html  
• Attach one signed reference letter from a senior academic administrator of the institution where the project is to be implemented.
• Attach a curriculum vitae, which should include a list of academic qualifications, list of publications, conference papers and any relevant faculty development experience.
• Enclose a detailed research proposal of two-three pages which identifies one of the preliminary research questions and ideas on research implementation to be developed during the fellowship.
• Enclose background documents relevant to the project, such as syllabi or course descriptions and earlier pieces of work on teaching and learning, if available.

Further information

• For further information, consult the project description available at: www.ceu.hu/crc/crc_sotlfel.html  
• Please send your proposals and any further questions to this email address: sotl@ceu.hu  

Appliacation deadline (emailed application is requested): 03 August 2007