The Daniel F. Breeden Grant

Beverley Rilett (AU Libraries)

Expanding the AlabamaAuthors.org Digital Archive for Teaching and Learning Alabama Authors of the 19th and 20th Centuries (Auburn University Libraries, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, 2023) is a digital archive featuring 150 authors and their books with ties to Alabama. With support from the Daniel F. Breeden grant, this project will develop curriculum modules for Southern literature and digital humanities courses. These modules, integrating digitized texts, author biographies, literary maps, and chronological visualizations into the lesson plans, will enhance teaching and learning in literature and history classrooms. Designed with accessibility and sustainability in mind, these open-access resources will benefit instructors and students nationwide by expanding the Alabama Authors project into an innovative educational tool.

Brittni Sloan (Chemistry and Biochemistry)

Innovative Approaches to Clinical Laboratory Education: Virtual Participation in 2026 Conference The Clinical Laboratory Educators Conference is the most impactful annual gathering for all involved with medical laboratory education. Attendance would provide access to successful teaching strategies, peer engagement, and innovative practices for medical laboratory sciences programs to be utilized.

Dan O'Leary (Industrial & Systems Enginering)

DevBridge (Pilot): A Student-Led Prototyping and Making Environment Complementing ICAMS DevBridge will establish a student-built development environment addressing two needs: a testbed for ICAMS-bound tools and an on-ramp for manufacturing technology skills. This pilot creates a self-contained space with 3D printing, computing, and network infrastructure that complements ICAMS while exposing infrastructure as a learning opportunity. Students gain experience with DevOps practices and Industry 4.0 technologies rarely accessible in educational settings. After a successful pilot, and with additional funding, the lab could expand to provide approximately 70 BET students with valuable after-hours prototyping capabilities. Breeden funding will support a minimally viable setup demonstrating pedagogical value for IoT courses and undergraduate research.

Demi Deng (Hospitality Management)

Elevating Beverage Management Education: Innovative Teaching, Industry Alignment, and Student Success This project on Elevating Beverage Management Education aims to enhance instructional quality in beverage management within the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management by integrating industry-aligned content, simulation-based learning tools, and hands-on experiences. These enhancements will provide approximately 180 undergraduate and 15 graduate students annually with deeper industry insights and practical skills, increasing their competitiveness in the hospitality sector. Additionally, the department will benefit from a strengthened academic reputation and leadership in hospitality education, supporting its strategic goal of expanding beverage management programs and preparing students for success in a rapidly evolving industry.

Georges Fares (Consumer and Design Sciences)

Advancing Design Education: A Mobile Workstation for Enhanced Teaching and Learning This project aims to bridge the technological gap in Auburn University’s interior design studios by introducing a high-performance mobile workstation. Current limitations in hardware restrict students' ability to engage with advanced design tools, including high-quality rendering, 3D modeling, and immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences. The proposed workstation will empower students and faculty with seamless access to resource-intensive software, fostering innovation, technical proficiency, and industry readiness. By integrating cutting-edge technology into design education, this initiative aligns with Auburn University’s commitment to technological advancement, ensuring students gain hands-on experience with industry-standard tools. The project’s impact will be assessed through student and faculty feedback, project quality evaluations, and dissemination of findings in academic and professional forums.

Jia Wu (Consumer and Design Sciences)

Handheld 3D Body Scanner for Inclusive Design in Computer-Aided Apparel Courses This project seeks to integrate handheld 3D body scanning technology into computer-aided apparel design courses and portfolio development classes to enhance inclusive design education. By incorporating accessible, precise body scanning tools, students will be able to develop customized, adaptive, and size-inclusive garments, fostering innovation in functional apparel design. This initiative will benefit students across multiple design courses, improving their technical proficiency, digital portfolio development, and preparation for industry standards. The requested funding of $4,000 will support the procurement of handheld 3D body scanners, software integration, and training workshops, ensuring sustainable curriculum integration and broad impact beyond the grant period.

Jung Eun Lee (Consumer and Design Sciences)

Enhancing Fashion Forecasting Education Through Artificial Intelligence This project enhances fashion forecasting education by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in two key areas: 1) AI-driven forecasting through big data analytics and 2) generative AI (GenAI) for trend visualization. By leveraging Heuritech for AI-driven forecasting and Adobe Firefly (GenAI) for visualizing trends, this initiative encompasses faculty training, instructional resource development, and curriculum implementation. Through hands-on engagement with AI tools, students will move beyond traditional forecasting reports to actively analyze trends using data-driven technology that simulates real-world industry scenarios. This approach equips them with practical AI expertise, preparing them to meet evolving industry demands.

Kenneth S. Sands II (Building Science)

Mobile Wall Mockups to Enhance Student Comprehension of Building System Assemblies This project addresses the challenge construction students face in visualizing and understanding building assemblies by creating Mobile Wall Mockups (MWMs). These portable, interactive mockups illustrate building systems' detailed layers and materials, enabling hands-on, engaging learning experiences. Used primarily in the Construction Materials and Methods and Estimating and Costing courses, the MWMs will enhance student comprehension by directly connecting theoretical concepts with tangible examples. Surveys will assess student perceptions and learning improvements, with findings disseminated through campus workshops and educational conferences. This approach aligns with Auburn University’s commitment to experiential education and offers lasting instructional benefits across multiple courses and disciplines.

Lydia Allison (Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences)

Poverty Simulation for Interprofessional Education This project aims to enhance interprofessional teaching and learning at Auburn University through the use of the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS). CAPS is an immersive experience that fosters empathy, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the impacts of poverty. This grant will support the integration of this experience into multiple courses within the university’s health and social disciplines. The far-reaching potential of this project includes the dissemination of the assessed changes in student knowledge of and attitude toward poverty with the implementation of this experience. This initiative aligns with Auburn University’s commitment to experiential learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and addressing the needs of the community.

Sandy Brooke Freeman (Nursing)

Neonatal Escape Room: Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills in Nursing Students Through Interactive Learning This project aims to redesign an innovative neonatal escape-room simulation to enhance nursing students’ clinical decision-making, teamwork, and competency in neonatal and obstetric care. By integrating immersive, case-based scenarios into the curriculum, students will engage in hands-on learning that bridges classroom knowledge with real-world application. The redesigned escape room will reinforce critical thinking, communication, and implementing interventions. This initiative will improve student preparedness for neonatal and obstetric nursing, ensuring they gain essential skills and confidence in providing high-quality care to these patients and their families. This project also fosters active learning strategies, enhancing faculty teaching methods and student engagement.

Verena Paepcke-Hjeltness (Industrial and Graphic Design)

Framing Intentional Creativity Reintegrating Analog Photography into Industrial Design Education This project will reintroduce analog photography to INDD 3130 Basic Photography for Industrial Design, which integrates photography as a design tool through visual synthesis and storytelling. By engaging with film-based processes, students develop critical thinking, intentional creativity, and a deeper understanding of materiality. Analog constraints encourage deliberate decision-making, problem-solving, and planning, counterbalancing AI-driven automation. This initiative fosters interdisciplinary learning and equips students with a hybrid skill set, blending traditional craftsmanship with emerging digital tools. Funding this project builds on and preserves historical techniques while preparing future designers to navigate technology with greater awareness, adaptability, and control.

Aeriel Belk (Animal Science)

Using Educational Models to Improve Hands-on Learning in Meat Science Teaching and Extension: Hands-on learning opportunities are essential for meat science education, but opportunities are limited based on animal and meat product availability. To improve this, we propose the purchase of three types of meat product educational models. These can be used in conjunction with real meat products to introduce, review, and practice the hands-on activity, or independently for more flexible teaching and extension options. These models will be used as an innovative instructional tool to improve student learning and retention in our animal science curriculum and a wide range of extension and outreach activities.

Alisha Jones and Kathleen Lea (Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences)

Enhancing student learning of vestibular/motor development in pediatrics: As the field of Audiology has evolved, more research and clinical emphasis have been placed on pediatric vestibular/motor development. This proposed project is to contribute to the teaching of Doctor of Audiology students at Auburn University in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) by enhancing student learning of vestibular/motor development in pediatrics.

Andy Holliday (Art and Art History)

Flatbed Plotters for Printmakers: The Process Driven Digital Tool to Bridge Traditional and Contemporary Studio Practice: A contemporary studio arts curriculum must balance historical context with modern practices. Integrating a versatile learning tool into a studio art curriculum can promote adaptability, innovation, and a deeper understanding of creative research. The use of flatbed plotters in the printmaking and studio art curriculum can bridge traditional craftsmanship with digital fabrication techniques by leveraging their precision and flexibility. By enabling students to experiment with traditional and digital media, this approach aims to enrich their creative processes, enhance critical thinking, and prepare them for the diverse challenges of contemporary artistic practice. This incorporation aligns with the university’s educational goals and enables students to explore a synthesis of the digital and handmade.

Angie Lee (Consumer and Design Sciences)

Empowering Tomorrow’s Digital Experts: A Proposal for Integrating Social Network Analysis Tools to Enhance Student Making Data-Driven Decisions: This project seeks funding to acquire social network analysis software (i.e., NodeXL) licenses for students in the Social Media Management (CADS 3810) course. The integration of the SNA tool into the curriculum will provide hands-on learning experiences, enhance analytical skills, and foster digital intelligence in consumer and design sciences education. Students will benefit from practical applications of SNA in understanding social network dynamics, customer segmentation, brand perception analysis, and data-driven decision-making. The proposal outlines how the SNA tool will merit students' learning outcomes and the department, support faculty research, and prepare students for careers in the retail and marketing industries.

Binita Mahato (Political Science)

Planning in Black Belt Alabama: The Planning in Black Belt Alabama project extends the Alabama City Year Program (ACYP) to offer planning services to underserved communities in Black Belt Alabama. The project will provide service-learning opportunities to students enrolled in the Urban Design and Synthesis Studios of the Master of Community Planning program. Currently, the ACYP can only partner with communities located near Auburn due to insufficient funding. The requested funds will support student travel, organize community workshops and open houses, and publish professional planning reports for a selected rural or small town in Black Belt Alabama.

David King (Geosciences)

Proposal to enhance public understanding of Wetumpka impact crater, Alabama USA, by producing a new crater guidebook that is keyed to existing “educational viewpoints” within or near the crater: The main objective of the present proposal is to conduct the field work needed to produce a new guidebook that will strongly enhance learning about impact craters (based on this local example) by Auburn University students and the general public. Classes that will use this guidebook include GEOL 1100 (Dynamic Earth), GEOL 1110 (Earth and Life through Time), GEOL 3060 (Planetary Geology), and GEOL 7170 (Impact and Planetary Geology), all of which are taught each year by the proposer (King).

Imran Rahman (Hospitality Management)

Honing Instructional Acumen in the Contemporary Hospitality Classroom: I am applying for this grant for my teaching and instruction enhancement mission over the next 1 year. I will partake in a few hospitality educator certifications (CHE, CHIA, CAHTA, CHBA). These certifications require rigorous training and education, which will help me enhance my skills and become a more effective teacher in the classroom. My teaching evaluations have consistently ranged between 5–5.4/6 on average. I feel I can improve on it further by adding more practically relevant content and honing my teaching style to more contemporary methods. About 150 students per year across 4 courses will benefit from it

Katherine Crawford and Anthony Campbell (Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work)

Enhancing Clinical Social Work Instruction Through The Use of Video Resources: Breeden grant funding is requested to secure video resources that will supplement teaching of clinical social work skills. Instructors throughout the social work program will be able to utilize the videos to demonstrate and reinforce essential concepts and strategies needed to work with clients from various therapeutic approaches. Students will be able to use these video resources, in and outside of class, to practice new skills through role plays, discussions, and other experiential learning activities. This valuable teaching resource will enhance the experiences of students and prepare them to make meaningful differences in the lives of clients and communities.

Lena McDowell, Lynn Stevenson and Bobby Helmer (Pharmacy Practice)

Impact of a Train the Trainer Toolkit for Preceptors in a Required Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience Course: Pharmacist preceptor training is essential as preceptors deliver approximately 30% of the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. Pharmacy education accreditation standards require programs orient preceptors to the program’s mission, learning expectations, and assessment processes before they precept students as well as foster their professional development. But guidance regarding expectations and best practices for engaging preceptors during training is limited. The objective of this project is to develop and assess the impact of a preceptor training program for preceptors involved in precepting students in the Health and Wellness Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience, a concentrated one-week required experiential course for second-year student pharmacists.

Marko Rudar and W. Brandon Smith (Animal Sciences)

Game theory in animal sciences: Developing an instructional board game to enhance student learning in livestock animal nutrition: Learning-based games are widely used across STEM- and business-oriented disciplines. However, animal sciences have been slower to adopt this concept, instead relying on tactile learning through laboratories as the sole instructional technique outside the traditional lecture. The objective of this proposal is to develop a board game to enhance student learning in livestock animal nutrition. The board game will introduce and reinforce concepts in feedstuff and feed additive selection, new and emerging feed technologies, livestock animal nutrient requirements, and factors that affect that livestock animal utilization of feed for growth and production.

Mohtadin Hashemi and Daniel Merrill (Physics)

Engaged group-based active learning in physics: Physics 1500 and 1600 are the introductory core courses for a large number of majors at Auburn University. Previous active learning modifications to the courses have improved the student learning outcomes. We propose the inclusion of an engaging inquiry-based activity in the courses, which revolves around student-led demonstration experiments utilizing PhET simulations and physical experiments. Based on previous active learning successes, we hypothesize that this activity will enhance learning and retention of concepts, and also increase student engagement in the subject matter.

Seth Perry and Chris Martin (Nursing)

Preparation for Nursing Preceptorship: Auburn University College of Nursing undergraduate students lack the confidence and competence to use central venous lines (CVLs) during preceptorship, the final clinical experience of the program. Skill task trainers are simulated materials and tools commonly used to address psychomotor nursing skills. As a result of facility restrictions during early semesters of nursing training, students are limited in their ability to use CVLs. To prepare students entering clinical areas using CVLs in a boot camp setting, new skill trainers are necessary to address nursing student competence and improve patient outcomes. Project managers will evaluate students before and after using skill trainers and post-preceptorship experience.

Whitnie Willis (Nursing)

Mindful Nursing: Cultivating Well-being and Resilience Through Education: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher certification from Brown University aims to enhance the well-being of undergraduate nursing students at Auburn University College of Nursing (AUCON). Training students on evidence-based stress-reduction techniques will assist in establishing healthy well-being practices and building resilience to create a foundation for a positive and mentally healthy academic journey at AUCON that will transition into professional practice. By prioritizing holistic well-being, AUCON positions itself as a national leader, addressing the comprehensive needs of future healthcare professionals and showcasing excellence in practice, teaching, research, and outreach.

Abdul-Khaliq Murtadha (Theatre)

Travel and Instructional Enhancement for Linklater Certification: An Auburn acting and voice professor, completion of the prestigious Linklater Designation will assist me in teaching University students to discover physiological and psychological habits interfering with their voices and allow the full potential of their voices to emerge. Participation in this rigorous program with senior Linklater Voice faculty will be culminated by my instruction of a 100-minute class as prescribed in Kristin Linklater’s book – Freeing the Natural Voice. Grant support will help me finalize my 50 one-on-one classes with a senior Linklater Voice Faculty member by May; then travel to Alfred, NY to complete my training this June 2023.

Eric Burkholder (Physics)

Improving equity in introductory physics by integrating revision and reflection into assessment: Physics 1600 is a gateway course for engineers at Auburn. As educational researchers, we have been modifying this course (and evaluating the modifications) to improve student learning of physics and persistence in engineering. Data collected previously suggests that our efforts in improving these outcomes for students have been partially successful, but that there is room for improvement, particularly around equity. We propose implementinga radical assessment revision/reflection policy that will allow students multiple attempts to receive credit on every assignment throughout the course. We hypothesize that this will be beneficial for learning and will also reduce student anxiety surrounding assessment.

Erika L. Kleppinger (Pharmacy Practice), Lindsey Moseley (Pharmacy Administration) Lori Hornsby (Clinical Pharmacy Practice)

Escape Box Activities for Enhancing Learning and Application in an Integrated Pharmacy Curriculum: This project will incorporate high-quality game-based activities into the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum at the Harrison College of Pharmacy (HCOP) through the purchase and use of escape box kits. The aim is to increase student engagement through their participation in the escape box activities across the curriculum, while also enhancing their learning and retention of pharmacy concepts and skills. The use of escape box activities within the HCOP curriculum would be a unique approach that aligns with the college’s promotion of active learning, critical thinking, and innovation

Erin Thornton and Kelly Noll (Nursing)

Enhancing Faculty and Student Knowledge of Nursing End of Life Concepts: Nurses develop skills to care for a multitude of client condition(s), providing care from birth through death. The nurse’s role in death is a concept that is uncomfortable to navigate without professional training, resources, and support. It is often omitted from curricula due to the overwhelming obstacles of emotion that can ensue regarding nursing care with death and dying. Faculty training and subsequent student-centered learning will enhance student knowledge of end-of-life concepts and communication skills aligning with Auburn University College of Nursing curricular outcomes and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education

Hae Sagong, Amy Curtis and Lynn Brown (Nursing)

Enhancing nursing students’ understanding of older adults with an “aging” simulation suit: The proportion of the world’s population over age 60 is estimated to increase from 12% to 22% by the year 2050. It is critical for nursing students to understand the older adult’s perception of aging and associated physiological changes. The development of accurate assessment skills is dependent upon this knowledge. Students who wear an aging suit can experience the physical changes associated with growing old. Nursing students must comprehend these normal changes to provide appropriate care for older adults and support adaptations. Nursing faculty believe using the aging suit as an active learning strategy will enhance both theoretical and health assessment courses.

Kasia Leousis (Libraries)

Book Arts Laboratory: Experiential Learning and Teaching Global Book History in Special Collections & Archives: The book plays a central role in the global history of scholarship, technology, and the transmission of ideas. At Auburn University, students and facultyregularly engage with original materials related to the history of the book in Special Collections & Archives that align with their curricular goals and student learning outcomes. Diversifying these materials will show the process of book production within a global perspective from the medieval era to present. Along with diversifying the book history materials, this grant emphasizes experiential learning through the acquisition of equipment and supplies that students will use for hands-on engagement and active learning

Kristen Tordella-Williams (Art and Art History)

Sustainable Foundry Startup Funds: I am developing a new sustainable foundry for the Department of Art and Art History and am requesting support to purchase a sand muller and an honorarium for a visiting expert. The muller will be used to mix sand and binding materials to create reusable molds for cast metal projects. The visiting expert will help us fabricate our own furnace that will melt aluminum, bronze, and iron fueled by recycled vegetable oil. Foundry offers a complex, engaging, and exciting experience for students and has the potential to connect with programs across campus and the community

Lisa Moyer (Human Development and Family Science)

Poverty simulation workshop: I am seeking a Daniel F. Breeden Grant from the AU Biggio Center in order to purchase a poverty simulation kit from Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS). The kits will allow me to provide workshops by providing a realistic experience of living in poverty. The poverty simulation helps bridge the gap from misconception to understanding and allows a hands-on experiential activity that will increase understanding and promote empathy through an intentional and purposeful process. The simulation will also facilitate problem-solving skill development for participants, an important resiliency trait (Fullan, 2005).

Myoung-Gi Chon (Communication and Journalism)

Designing a New Course on Digital Media Analytics in the Time of AI: With the proliferation of social media platforms and the increasing role of artificial intelligence (AI), it has become imperative for public relations (PR) professionals to acquire skills in digital media analytics. This project aims to develop a new course on digital media analytics for PR students, which will equip them with practical knowledge to thrive in the AI era. To accomplish this goal, the principal investigator (PI) will use the grant to explore analytics programs for data and hire research assistants to create teaching materials for the digital media analytics class.

Piper Cumbo and Jennilyn Wiley (Libraries)

Non-traditional approaches to media and financial literacy: Micro-credentials & stock ticker Auburn University Libraries is known for innovative and successful approaches to information and media literacy instruction. We seek to complement our existing literacy toolkit by incorporating: 1) the Credly platform to create and administer digital badges and 2) a stock ticker to enhance the future Media Literacy Center in the Ralph Brown Draughn Library. This stage of our longer-term vision pilots an introductory media literacy badge and adds a novel teaching accessory for use in workshops on financial media literacy—necessary infrastructure that will allow us to continue to support student success in new and current ways.

Rachel Helms (Nursing)

Disaster Preparedness and Trauma Simulation: Disaster preparedness and interprofessional training are key components of undergraduate nursing education. Faculty within the College of Nursing have identified a disaster simulation activity as an engaging way for students to apply their knowledge of these competences. This grant will support the purchase of supplies needed for this activity. Senior level nursing students, as well as students from other disciplines, who complete this activity will be better prepared for clinical practice, both individually and within a team.

Wendy DesChene (Art and Art History)

Advancing Tradition Painting Methodology Through Progressive Touch Screen Technologies: This grant would support classroom improvements that combine advanced digital touchscreen tablets and tools into classical painting classes. Today’s tablets are expanding approaches in traditional 2-D areas and encourage inventive pictorial languages leading to more competitive student portfolios. Greater touch sensitivity and improvements that mimic canvas/paper now diminish the gap between the traditional and digital bridging wet painting and digital art forms like animation. Additionally, this technology allows student creatives to view in-progress artwork directly on the tablet’s surface fostering curricula development and innovation from a wide range of courses beyond Painting classes while inspiring innovative applications across campus.

April Simons (McWhorter School of Building Science), Instructional Videos for Enhancing Structures Education for Building Science and Architecture Students

The majority of today’s students seek online supplements to classroom instruction via YouTube videos. Many of these videos do not line up with classroom instruction which confuses students and hinder learning. Over the past 3 years, the PI has leveraged the Biggio Center’s Learning Glass and Auburn Online to record 10 instructional videos which have been used in the Structures courses within the McWhorter School of Building Science. These videos have been impactful so far based on student feedback. The PI seeks to create more instructional videos and enhance in-person instruction using learning aids, specifically for the topic of “Trusses” in the Structures of Buildings 1 course. Approximately 550 students take this course per year and enrollment is mixed between Architecture and Building Science students. The videos could also be used for other programs across campus or even those beyond campus if the videos are published online. The PI seeks funding to purchase physical models to use for recording supplemental videos and for student use for hands-on learning in the classroom.

Chad Rose, Scott Martin and David Bevly (Mechanical Engineering), Student Learning through Hands-On Haptics

This project seeks to create hands-on controls and robotics coursework to improve the quality of dynamic systems and controls courses offered in the department of mechanical engineering, and to serve as a step towards interdisciplinary work for mechanical engineers in the areas of extended reality (XR), haptics, and human-robot interaction. Specifically, this project will support the creation of hardware for initial implementation in MECH 3140, System Dynamics, which will aid in the presentation of principles of haptic environments and dynamic systems (springs, dampers, inertias).

Felicia J. Tuggle (Sociology), Kelly Krawczyk (Political Science), and Peter Weber (Consumer and Design Science), Participatory Philanthropy and Service Learning

This grant supports the purchase and use of the Foundation Directory Online (FDO) database of over 100,000 foundations, corporate giving programs, grantmaking public charities, and sponsoring companies. Students and faculty will use the FDO database to conduct research on the giving priorities, trends, and geographic distribution of foundations that support sustainable development, protect civic space, and build capacity of community serving organizations. Research will be used to (1) map current funding, (2) compare existing funding priorities, trends, and distribution with actual community needs, and (3) develop recommendations for foundation program officers to help them become more responsive to community needs.

John Linhoss, Jess Campbell, Jeremiah Davis, William Batchelor and Yin Bao (Biosystems Engineering), Jessica Starkey and Charles Starkey (Poultry Science), Enhancing student knowledge of poultry house electronics through development of Interactive Poultry House Environment Simulators

Commercial poultry production is the largest agricultural industry in Alabama employing over 86,000 people and providing an economic impact of $15.1 billion to the state. Students from the Biosystems Engineering, Biological and Agricultural Technology Management, and Poultry Science degree programs routinely begin technical careers in poultry production. Poultry companies have recently stressed that for students to be competitive in the current job market, they must be able to navigate electronic control systems used to regulate the internal environment of commercial poultry houses. The goal of this project is to develop interactive, hands-on poultry house simulators that teach students how to program and troubleshoot common electronic controllers.

Sarah Cogle and Amber Hutchison (Pharmacy Practice), Incorporation of crash carts into acute care pharmacy education

Pharmacists are expected to practice in collaborative healthcare teams, including responding to emergency situations in hospitals. The pharmacist’s role in this setting is to ensure the appropriate, timely, and safe provision of medications from a cart stocked with medications and supplies to treat cardiac arrest situations, or a “crash cart”. This proposal seeks funds to purchase two crash cart simulation kits for use in two acute care elective courses and two required laboratory courses in the PharmD curriculum. Integration of the crash carts into these courses will allow students to receive hands-on training to better prepare for high-stress, clinical environments.

Spencer MIllican and SueAnne Griffith (Electrical and Computer Engineering), All AUBoard –The modular and student-safe teaching tool for hands-on advanced circuit learning

A simple truth makes advanced circuit use and development education difficult: students break things. Accidents result in costly and time-consuming repairs, and the emotional impact on students can be significant. Instructors instead may rely on simulations, but such methods are detrimental compared to hands-on learning. We propose the creation of a new circuit learning board for the university which cannot be broken by students and may be easily expanded for use among classes both inside and outside of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. The result can be a nationwide education standard centered around the university.

SueAnne Griffith (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Creation of a Hands-On Model for Cyber-Physical System Security Education

The PI proposes the creation of a small-scale physical model of the hardware, control devices, and network for a traffic light and crosswalk; this model will be designed and implemented by the PI and a team of student researchers. As cyberattacks against traffic systems are a well-documented concern, this model will allow students in the PI’s cybersecurity laboratory and those enrolled in classes on cybersecurity to expand beyond the usual methodology of using simulated systems and instead allow for a more impactful hands-on learning experience with a model representative of and relevant to real-world security threats.

Theordore Kilgore and Michel Smith (Mathematics and Statistics), Preparation of a textbook for Introduction to Real Analysis

The project is to produce a textbook for the Introduction to Real Analysis course sequence at Auburn University. The text should be freely available at no charge to our students and to others, for download as a PDF file. Real analysis plays a central role in the upper-division curriculum in mathematics and also in secondary mathematics education.

Anna Ruth Gatlin and Lindsay Tan (Consumer and Design Science), Ben Bush (Industrial Design) and Kevin Moore (Interior Architecture), Integrating Model Chairs: Object-Based Learning in Design-Based Courses

Active learning pedagogy has been shown to have excellent results in many fields. One form of active learning, object-based learning (OBL), engages students through the integration of physical artifacts into the learning environment to allow learners to touch, move, and manipulate content. OBL can impact existing active learning techniques. This Breeden Grant proposal is requesting funds to purchase artifacts to implement an OBL intervention (27 chair models) in two history courses in the Interior Design program. After testing this intervention they will also be shared with Industrial Design and Interior Architecture for use in courses across all three majors

Elijah Gaddis (History), Race and Landscape in the Loveliest Village on the Plains

This project will offer the first comprehensive course on the history of Auburn University. With a focus on the building of Auburn and its relationship to surrounding communities, the teaching and learning in this course will deepen both of our understanding of Auburn’s past and its legacies. Students will engage in primary source research and learn digital mapping and exhibition skills in order to build a significant, collaborative, final project on African American workers and their role in building and maintaining Auburn University. This process will uncover new histories and shine new light on important, unheralded stories of Auburn’s past.

Jamie Harrison (Curriculum & Teaching), Linguistic Sustainability Community Engagement

Breeden grant funding is requested to support collaborative work with Auburn Online to develop a virtual exhibition hall for an outreach event hosted by the graduate students of my Applied Linguistics in Second Language Acquisition course. The outreach event is a direct outcome of a culminating project for the Fall 2020 course, and this virtual venue will give my students an authentic audience for their academic posters about endangered languages while also providing an outreach event to raise community awareness about an aspect oflinguistic sustainability.

Lauren Woods (Art & Art History), Contemporary Cast Sculpture Drawing: Bringing Greater Diversity and Inclusion Into the Studio Art Classroom

Drawing cast sculptures remains a fundamental practice in an academic figure drawing curriculum. Students draw plaster casts of human forms to transition from drawing a still-life in introductory studio courses to drawing a live model in upper-level studio courses. The overwhelming majority of the casts available for purchase are reproductions from Greek and Roman antiquity, the Italian Renaissance, and the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which together provide a heavily idealized and Euro-centric vision ofthe human form. This project aims to introduce a contemporary and inclusive approach to this practice by attaining diverse, naturalistic portrait sculptures from a living artist. 

Lena McDowell and Pamela Stamm (Pharmacy Practice), Courtney Gamston, Lynn Stevenson, Bobby Helmer and Kimberly Braxton-Lloyd (Clinical Affairs and Outreach), Impact of Student Pharmacists Providing Remote Telehealth Population Health Services in a Required Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience Course

In a required Population Health Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE), student pharmacists complete population health-based patient care activities utilizing remote access to the electronic health record and telehealth for Veterans enrolled at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Student pharmacists access patients’ charts to identify those who are eligible for interventions, contact patients via the telephone, and document recommendations and interventions for the healthcare team to view. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of students utilizing a second computer screen by assessing the change in their pre and post-course self-assessment data and number of interventions performed.

Noah Breuer (Art & Art History), Expanding innovative student publishing opportunities through Letterpress Printing

Letterpress printing provides students the opportunity to create a variety of printed ephemera and to embody the dual roles of visionary artist and hands-on craftsperson. If funded, this grant will facilitate the acquisition of a Letterpress and supporting materials, allowing the Department of Art & Art History to expand its existing printmaking resources and foster innovative publishing opportunities for Auburn students in the College of Liberal Arts and the university at large. The equipment will be used to support a variety of coursework, enable self-directed studies, interdisciplinary and cross-departmental collaborations, as well as promote community projects and intercollegiate exchanges.

Peter Weber and Congrong Ouyang (Consumer and Design Sciences), Integrating Virtual Site Visits and Interviews in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies Education

The grant supports the development of video interviews with local nonprofit leaders and virtual tours of local nonprofit organizations to be used in online courses in the philanthropy and nonprofit studies (PNPS) program. Students in four PNPS courses (two per semester taught by two different faculty members) will produce the videos in the academic year 2021-22 as regular course assignments (direct impact during grant period). The resulting videos will be used in subsequent courses across the PNPS curriculum (indirect impact beyond grant period). The grant will support the purchasing of instructional equipment to produce the videos and hire a student. 

Adrienne Wilson (Theatre) and Courtney World (University of the South), Research Travel for the Bill Evans Tap Legacy Project

This application is a request for travel funds to help facilitate a collaboration with Courtney World, Associate Professor at Sewanee, The University of the South. We are planning a legacy project to honor our mentor, Bill Evans, by formally documenting his contributions to the world of tap dance. This will be accomplished by traveling to Port Townsend, WA to meet with Mr. Evans for 1-2 weeks. Through the process of interviews, discussion, and physically learning of the work through Mr. Evans, Professor World and I will develop lesson plans and performance work to share with our students. 

Amna Salman and Salman Azhar (McWhorter School of Building Science), Creating Augmented Reality (AR) based instructional tools to enhance students’ understanding and conceptual clarity in concrete design and construction

Augmented Reality (AR) is a digital technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world, thus providing a composite view. AR is being integrated in many ways in various architecture/construction schools and industries around the world. One can create virtual objects and step inside to view and manipulate. Currently at McWhorter School of Building Science 2D drawings, jobsite photos, and/or field trips are being used to teach students about the design and complexities of concrete structures. Experience shows that all students do not fully understand the subject matter through 2D drawings and photos. Field trips while valuable are hard to plan due to time, safety, and cost limitations. Creating and using 3D AR models of different processes in concrete construction could be an engaging and meaningful experience to both architecture and building science students and it can increase their interest in the subject matter. This project has four goals; 1) Creating 3D AR models of typical reinforced concrete structural members; 2) Deploy the AR models in BSCI 3440: Structures of Building-II course; 3) Evaluate their efficacy through students’ surveys and interviews; and (4) Develop guidelines for AR content development that could be used by faculty members in building science and/or other programs.

Andrea Smith and Morgan Yordy (Nursing), Engaging Nursing Student in Dosage Calculation Through Escape Room

Medication administration and dosage calculation is a critical skill for nursing students to learn as it is a core focus of patient safety in healthcare. These skills are essential to ensure the nurse is administering the right drug and the right dose to eliminate medication administration errors. The purpose of this project is to engage nursing students in active learning by providing an escape room activity that will facilitate their development of dosage calculation knowledge and skill. 

Betty Patten (Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling/EAGLES) and Kara Schall (Communication Disorders), Certified Social Skills Training

Appropriate social skills are an essential function of gaining and maintaining employment and provide all individuals with the opportunity to be successful. Consequently, individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities are less likely to secure jobs because of social skills deficits making it challenging to navigate everyday interactions with peers. Fortunately, implements an evidence-based social skills curriculum that explicitly teaches appropriate social skills can help. This Breeden proposal is requesting funding to support bringing a distinguished trainer to Auburn University to train Auburn University faculty, and Mental Health, Special Education, and Communication Disorders graduate students to become certified PEERS Providers.

Erica Kierce (Nursing), Mental-Health First Aid Training

Mental-Health First Aid (MHF A) is a training program that teaches the learner how to identify and assist individuals experiencing mental health or substance use crises within the community. This proposal is to use Breeden Grant monies to cover the travel and training of one faculty member in the adult MHF A-training. After completing the MHF A training, this faculty member will be certified to teach this program to all Auburn University School of Nursing students as  part of their mental-health nursing curriculum. This training will improve student confidence, interpersonal skills, and understanding of core course content. 

Jeanna Sewell (Pharmacy Practice), Friday Night at the ER for Interprofessional Education

The purpose of this proposal is to request funding for the simulated learning exercise Friday Night at the ER®️ and for facilitator training. IPE is an integral part of educating health professions students to enter the workforce prepared to interact with other health care professionals to better care for patients. Funding would purchase 6 simulation kits, allowing a minimum of 24 students in teams of 4 to participate in the experience.  Funding would enhance the learning opportunities provided in the IPE program by promoting understanding of complex problem-solving, data-based decision making, and communication within the healthcare environment.

Kelly Strickland, Hopewell Carroll (Nursing), and Kelly Brumbeloe Schweck (Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling), Enhancing Student Preparedness Through an Interdisciplinary Health Awareness Workshop

The Auburn University School of Nursing and Special Education Program within the College of Education's Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling currently partner to increase effectiveness of health education and health interventions for individuals living with disabilities (IL WD). In efforts to further promote health for IL WD and foster an inter­professional relationship between schools, faculty plan to develop an Interdisciplinary Disability Health Awareness Workshop (IDHA W) for nursing students and special education students. If funded, the interdisciplinary workshop could have a lasting impact on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of students regarding the health of IL WD. 

Kevin Astle and Allison Chung (Pharmacy Practice), From Exam to Practice: A comparison of student pharmacist performance on standardized patient cases during OSCEs and in the community pharmacy setting

Student pharmacists learn a variety of clinical skills, including conducting physical exams, administering point-of-care testing, and recommending over-the-counter medications. Traditional examinations are not sufficient to adequately assess student performance on these skills thus Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are utilized to provide for an authentic testing environment. While OSCEs have been utilized to assess clinical skills in the classroom environment it is unknown how well this translates to a real community pharmacy setting. The objective of this project is to compare the student pharmacist perfmmances on OSCE scenarios within didactic examinations with real life encounters in the community pharmacy setting. 

Matthew Hoch (Music), Hearing and Recognizing Musical Elements in Real Time:Takeaways from Vanderbilt University’s Musicianship Intensives and Implementation of These Concepts in the Classroom and Studio

The Ploger Method, a systematic approach to the aural perception, is a comprehensive musicianship training designed by Marianne Ploger. This system provides tools for musicians to “become increasingly self-realized in the practice and expression of their musicianship through augmented understanding and awareness of perceptual, cognitive, and aesthetic principles.”1 This travel grant will fund two levels of training in the Ploger Method at Vanderbilt University in the May of 2020, where the courses are instructed by the creator herself.

Min Zhong (Biological Sciences), Transformative Use of Virtual Reality in Project-Based Learning of Introductory Biology Course

As an active learning strategy, project-based learning (PBL) is widely advocated in STEM disciplines. Incorporating PBL into the lower-level science core courses has been challenging due to the large class size. Utilization of the Virtual Exhibition Hall (VEH) as an innovative instructional platform is proposed to resolve this problem. In this project, more interactive functions will be developed in the VEH and SoTL research will be involved. The objectives of this project are to examine the effectiveness of PBL and to assess the use of VEH in the introductory biology courses.

Sara Driskell and Ana-Franco Watkins (Psychology), Laboratory and Activity Development for Introduction to Psychology EASL Modules

Psychology’s Authentic Liberal Arts sections of Introduction to Psychology are taught in EASL spaces, and faculty are encouraged to implement active learning practices. To help our faculty meet these new challenges, we will use this grant to create a series of daily active learning laboratories and activities that align with our Introductory modules and can be checked out by any Introductory instructor. These laboratory boxes will include a variety of in-class laboratories, activities, and demonstrations that will allow Introductory students to gain hands-on experiences and practice with Psychology concepts such as optical illusions, flashbulb memories, optimism, experimental design, and more.

Sean Smithgall (Pharmacy Practice), Let’s Talk About it! Enhancing Learner Experience through Educational Podcasts

Podcasts are an alternative way for students to receive information and also improve confidence presenting material. Can creating and presenting podcasts enhance the student’s overall learning experience and passion towards learning This project aims to give pharmacy students an innovative way to create and share information related to technology use in health care to both patients and other health care providers. Students completing blogs on health care technology, mainly app based programs, will create and participate in an educational podcast. Student learning experience, self-confidence, and enthusiasm for learning will be assessed.

Stephanie Shepherd and Stephanie Rogers (Geosciences), Enhancing Field-Based Education: Training Faculty and Students to use Ground Penetrating Radar

Funding is requested to support a training course for faculty and students to learn geographic applications of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). This technological training will help faculty in the geoscience department develop expertise to facilitate field-based lessons. This gain in knowledge will benefit field-based courses in Geoscience, Archaeology, and the Humanities through interdisciplinary teaching endeavors. With the integration of GPR in these courses, students will gain real world experience using scientific methods to address authentic, open-ended problems which will in turn foster an appreciation for how geographic knowledge is relevant to problems and questions outside of traditional science.

Amrut Sadachar (Consumer and Design Sciences), Bridging the gap between academia and industry: Needs assessment and incorporation of relevant tools in apparel retail merchandising curriculum

The overarching purpose of the proposed project is to find the three to five most relevant tools that the apparel retail merchandising industry uses and expose students to them to prepare them well for their professional careers. Overall, 190-230 students will be positively impacted by this project. Activities planned to achieve the goals of this project include literature search, qualitative data analysis, survey of industry professionals, and faculty travel to two major trade shows. Direct and indirect assessment will be conducted to evaluate the success of this project. Knowledge will be shared with colleagues via internal and external conferences.  

Amy Serafini, Jason C. Bryant, and Andrew Pendola (Educational Foundtaions, Leadership, and Technology), Educational Leadership Simulations for Aspiring Principals

The purpose of this proposal is to acquire Educational Leadership Simulations as a unique opportunity to advance the principal preparation program. The simulation experience introduces aspiring principals to common real-world leadership situations and allows them to “practice” through trial and error, prior to experiencing such a scenario while on the job. There is little existing in the literature related to simulations for aspiring principals. A qualitative research study has been designed to evaluate simulated experiences as a teaching/learning method. The findings will have valuable implications not only for our program, but for the field of educational leadership.

Emily Friedman and Derek Ross (English), Book Lab Cart

Special Collections and the department of English have a longstanding collaboration, teaching students about the history of ideas and texts through the changes in book technology. This ranges from introductory literature surveys to advanced courses in book production, document design, and rhetoric. This grant creates a “book cart” of instructional materials that can be "checked out" and wheeled anywhere in Mell/RBD Library. The cart will contain a variety of in-class exercises, handouts, and demonstration materials that allow for hands-on interaction with elements of historic and modern book production, including a tabletop press, type, sample book bindings, and the like.

Heather Delgado (Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling), Enhancing Learning in the Counseling Classroom: The Incorporation of Simulated Mental Health Assessments

The goal of this project is to provide counseling students with a experiential learning opportunity that involves the use of mental health assessments. The instructor will incorporate evidence-based clinical mental health assessments for each student enrolled in the counseling assessment course, which will allow for the opportunity to practice administration and interpretation skills related to assessments. I am seeking funds to assist with the purchase of four mental health assessments and trainings for the instruction to increase the teaching effectiveness of the counseling assessment course. Both will enhance the learning and professional growth of the counseling students at Auburn University.

Jamie Harrison (Curriculum and Teaching), Integrating Active Learning into a Distance Course through Omni Educational Practices

Breeden grant funding is requested to support collaborative work with Auburn Online to completely redesign one core course for the ESOL Education program, CTES7420/26 Applied Linguistics in Second Language Acquisition. The impetus of this redesign proposal is to make the course more accessible to current and future online students enrolled in this course. In addition to this practical outcome, three other goals are established: 1) to integrate elements of omni educational practice into the traditional brick-and-mortar classroom setting; 2) to develop and pilot a professional development module for area teachers to support their work in K-12 schools with English language learners; and 3) to use this course as an introductory graduate level opportunity for pre-service teachers interested in developing their capacity for teaching English language learners prior to graduation.

Lea Eiland and Allison Chung (Pharmacy Practice), Impacting student pharmacists’ learning through the use of pediatric simulation models

Pediatrics patients are difficult to represent truly in classroom teaching. Simulation-based models are an alternative to having actual patient representatives. Although, simulation-based medical education has increased over the years, our school of pharmacy has not offered simulation in the pediatric elective. This proposal is seeking funds to purchase two half-body pediatric simulation trainers to be incorporated into two new pediatric pharmacy electives. Integrating simulation into these revised courses will provide an experiential level of teaching and assessment within classroom courses. Students will be able to practice physical assessment skills, such as listening to real-life heart rates and breathing sounds.

Mahmoud Mansour and Ray Wilhite (Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology), Enhancing the teaching of anatomy with high resolution CT, MRI and resin casts of joint spaces, air sacs and plastinated specimens

One of the difficult aspects of anatomy to understand is the size, location and morphology of joint spaces, bursas, and tendon sheaths within the body. Resin casts of these spacesand blood vessels allow the students to appreciate their extent and position relative to the surrounding structures. High resolution CT and MRI data will enable us to produce three-dimensional models that will complement the resin casts. The objectives of this project is to produce a series of high quality teaching tools to enhance the teaching of gross anatomy in both the small (VMED 9111) and large animal (VMED 9121) courses.

Marta Miletic (Civil Engineering)and Jeffery Kim (School of Building Science), Virtual Immersion: Bridging the Gap between Construction Management  and Civil Engineering Students' Learning and Performance in Structural Analysis

There is a commonality in some coursework for students in Building Science and those in Civil Engineering. This research study will focus on the early academic similarities of these two disciplines with particular attention on how students learn about the physical properties of built structures – structural analysis. Because the concepts of structural analysis are often theoretical and “unseen”, the researchers have planned an intervention within the classroom that will introduce the students to these concepts in a more visual manner. Students will have access to a visually immersive tool that will scaffold their learning experiences with these abstract concepts.

Melissa Singletary and Mahmoud Mansour (Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology), Incorporation of Virtual Reality to Enhance the Teaching of Small Animal Gross Anatomy in the Veterinary Curriculum 

Anatomy is a challenging subject with the quantity of information, need for spatial relationship, and functional comprehension which make it difficult for students to move beyond memorization-based learning. However, due to its foundational nature in the veterinary curriculum it is key to establish methods to connect memorization-level knowledge holistically to enhance the students understanding and application. The use of Virtual Reality as a supplemental educational platform in gross animal anatomy could be such a method that allows bridging in student learning. This project applies new innovative Virtual Reality software and technology to enhance the student learning experience.

Toni Carter and Delaney Bullinger (Libraries, Research and Instruction Services), Interactive Online Information Literacy Modules: Extending Our Reach  

Auburn University Libraries and Auburn Online have partnered to create interactive information literacy tutorials suitable for freshmen-level courses. The project aims to solve both logistical and pedagogical issues that have hindered librarians’ abilities to reach these hundreds of students. It will empower novice composition instructors to integrate information literacy instruction throughout the semester, affording students an authentic and impactful learning experience. The project will kickstart the Libraries’ mission to support online education in the absence of a dedicated e-learning librarian. As a bonus, this partnership could serve as a model for other academic libraries’ attempts to solve scalability issues. 

Virginia Kunzer (Music), Travel to the National Flute Convention

The Auburn University Music Department is committed to providing opportunities for musically talented students to develop as musicians, educators, performers, and scholars. This requires faculty to continually adapt their teaching methods and practices to be relevant in an evolving musical and educational landscape. The purpose of this proposal is to fund travel to a national convention with the goal of gaining exposure to new pedagogical methods, performance techniques, practice strategies, and ways in which to implement technology to ensure that the students of the Auburn Music Department receive informed, inspired, and relevant instruction.

Carolyn Huntington (Animal Sciences), Acquisition of a Video Camera and Projector to Enhance ePortfolios

Breeden Endowment funds are requested to purchase a video camera and projector to enhance development of ePortfolios for students in Animal Sciences. As our students in the Muscle Foods and Equine options complete high impact experiences to graduate, these pieces of equipment will allow them to make critical decisions about which aspects of this work they choose to showcase as well as how to articulate their experiences with the most impact for their intended audience.

Channing Ford (Harrison School of Pharmacy), Travel to the 2018 Association of Standardized Patient Educators Conference

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are essential to assess clinical and communication skills of future healthcare providers. OSCEs have long been part of assessing medical students prior to clinical practice; however, most pharmacy schools are hesitant to embrace OSCEs as a core assessment strategy. In recent months, the Harrison School of Pharmacy implemented a new competency-based curriculum focused on the practice-ready graduate, embracing OSCEs as effective assessment strategies for achieving that goal. This travel proposal outlines a funds request to attend the 2018 Association of Standardized Patient Educators Conference to better understand the role of OSCEs in our evolving curriculum.

Eduardus Duin (Chemistry and Biochemistry), Sectioned MALDI-TOF Instructional Display

Mass spectrometry is a critical technique which is taught to all chemists. Our current courses cover the theoretical aspects of this topic but do not have any physical displays of mass spectrometry instrumentation. We are therefore requesting funding to convert our nonfunctional MALDI-TOF into a display model to enhance student training. A website will also be created for virtual instrument interaction and will be improved based on user data and interest. If funded, the results of the physical and virtual display will be presented at the Conversations in Celebration of Teaching session.

Hongjoo Woo (Consumer and Design Sciences), Trip on a Mission: Leveraging Front-line Innovation and Technology to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Merchandising Curriculum

Although technology is transforming the landscape of the retail industry, the current Apparel Merchandising curriculum does not yet fully reflect industry trends and student needs. The purpose of this travel grant is to support early-career faculty’s attendance at a National Retail Conference dedicated to digital retailing in the global era. The objectives of the travel center on acquiring tangible and intangible course resources and recruiting industry guest speakers to leverage front-line innovation and technology for five or more courses, enhancing student learning, faculty competence, and teaching program at Auburn University. Plans for assessment and dissemination of the outcomes are provided.

James Shepard (School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences), Travel to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nagodoches, TX to present paper at the Biennial Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Information literacy is a learning outcome required of all Auburn University students. We describe a multi-year collaboration between a faculty member and a librarian to improve information literacy performance by natural resource policy student teams assigned to create a position statement about controversial natural resources issues. We initiated information literacy lectures and graded exercises, rubrics for bibliographies and papers, and an iterative approach to position paper writing. We used nonparametric statistics to compare student performance before and after enhanced information literacy education. Information literacy training resulted in significantly higher bibliography scores in reference quantity, reference authority, and citation format.

Jung Won Hur (Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology), Attending Annual EdTechTeam Southern Summit and Georgia Educational Technology Conference

I am requesting travel funds to participate in (a) Annual EdTechTeam Southern Summit Featuring Google for Education and (b) Georgia Educational Technology Conference. The Southern Summit will focus on the integration of G Suite for Education and Google tools in K-12 classrooms, while K-12 educators will share their technology integration ideas at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference. I am teaching technology integration courses for pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and school administrators, and knowledge that I will gain by attending these meetings will greatly help approximately 280 College of Education students learn effective ways to integrate latest technology into curriculum.

Kelley Noll (School of Nursing), Enhancing Student Application of Communication, Diversity, and Community Concepts Through Childbirth Education Classes

The overall purpose is to enhance student learning in communication, diversity, and community health concepts that align with Auburn University School of Nursing (AUSON) curricular goals as well as educate an underserved population. The specific community population is pregnant women and their significant other, actively involved with services provided by Women’s Hope Family Life Center (WHFLC), a non-profit organization. Learning needs of faculty and students have been identified through the teaching of a comprehensive prenatal course in the fall 2017 semester.

Kristin Leitterman (Music) Establishing a Comprehensive Reed-making Curriculum

The most crucial part of a double reed player’s instrument is the reed, which they make by hand. Currently, the reed-making curriculum at Auburn University is fractured and incomplete. Over the course of the next three semesters double reed students will have access to all supplies needed for reed-making and instructed with weekly reed-making classes as well as in their private lessons. Their skill levels will be assessed through a specific rubric at three points throughout the semesters to objectively measure the impact of the added instruction time and consistent access to better quality supplies.

Lynn Brown (School of Nursing), American Nurses Association Quality and Innovation Conference

Auburn University’s School of Nursing prepares professional nurses to provide patient-centered, culturally competent, evidence-based care for diverse populations in a dynamic healthcare environment. Nurses must assume leadership roles and practice within a constantly changing health care system. Professional nurses apply quality improvement strategies to minimize the risk of harm to patients. The purpose of this Breeden grant proposal is to request funds to attend the American Nurses Association Quality and Innovation Conference with the goal of communicating the latest strategies, best practices, and research with students and faculty.

Rebecca Maxson (Pharmacy Practice), Improving Metacognition Abilities of Fourth Year Student Pharmacists

Fourth year student pharmacists complete 8, five-week long, Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) in pharmacy practice settings. As they are nearing graduation, students are open to discussing their future pharmacy practice. Themes of professionalism, advocacy, caring, and life-long learning can be discussed in depth. The aim of this grant is to expand a current APPE metacognitive reflective activity by purchasing Kindle Fire devices and building a library of appropriate books and movies. Data on student perceptions as well as the quality of their reflection will be gathered and analyzed.

Robert Bubb (Human Development and Family Sciences), Increasing Intercultural Knowledge and Diversity Awareness Through Experiential Learning and Community Interaction

Breeden Grant funding is requested to support the development of a project to increase student intercultural knowledge and diversity awareness through in-classroom and hands-on field activities and community collaboration. The proposed year-long project will pair 30 undergraduate students with 30 members of the Auburn African American community to jointly write the biographies of individuals interred at historic African American cemeteries. The project will include the creation of a website dedicated to housing the resulting biographies. Significant narratives will be presented locally in the community and at university, regional, and national conferences, and published in news outlets and academic journals.

Sarah Watts (School of Nursing), Purchase of the Poverty Simulation Program and travel to the facilitator training course

Faculty leaders from Auburn University have developed an interprofessional education (IPE) initiative to prepare students to be able to effectively collaborate within a multidisciplinary team. This proposal aims to fund the purchase a simulation program to include in IPE activities. The simulation program strives to raise awareness for poverty and develop cultural competence and empathy in participants. If funded, the program can have a significant impact, as it would allow future healthcare providers involved in IPE the opportunity to understand the challenges people living in poverty face and potentially impact their future professional practice.

Scott Simkins (English), Aural Pedagogy Applied to Identity Exploration and Enhanced Active Learning: An Interdisciplinary Partnership

In a global society and a digital age, a deeper understanding of language and its role in identity is essential to the success of undergraduate students in both the English and the Communication Disorders departments. To gain this understanding, learning should happen in and out of the classroom, it should be introspective, and it should incorporate 21st century technology. So, specifically, this grant will initiate course design and redesign based on the incorporation of audio-recorded assignments. In turn, this grant will serve the long-range goal of creating a pool of material from which to create a regular, interdepartmental podcast about language and identity.

Sweta Byahut (Political Science), Alabama City Year Program

The Master of Community Planning Program (MCP) at Auburn has a long history of engagement with underserved communities in Alabama. The hallmark of the MCP program is the opportunity for students to engage with communities throughout Alabama and the Southeast in nearly every class. This provides numerous benefits to communities, the public, students, and faculty. This Breeden Grant project will increase the effectiveness of outreach projects in the MCP program, will help students understand the interconnectedness of complex urban problems and different classes in the program, and will serve as a model for outreach projects in the future.

Annie Campbell (Fine Arts: Ceramics), Enhancing Studio Curriculum Development Through Participation in The National Council for Education in the Ceramics Arts 2017 Conference

I am requesting funds to attend the 2017 conference of the National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts. As new faculty at Auburn, this conference will provide a multitude of opportunities to enhance my teaching practice and the university’s ceramics studio. NCECA is in its 51st year and draws thousands of ceramic artists and educators from the world over with the common goal of expanding our teaching and artistic practices. The lecture and panel discussions addressing higher education curriculum development will be particularly strong next March. Attending the conference will have a demonstratively positive impact in my ceramics classes.

Ashley Curtiss (Chemistry and Biochemistry), From cookbook chemistry lab experiments to peer-reviewed publications; how we make our laboratory experiments more impactful to both the student and the greater scientific community

Standard laboratory exercises are being abandoned so that students can gain experience doing new experiments on original compounds. The honors laboratory sections of Freshman (General) and Sophomore (Organic) chemistry will make a series of novel chemicals that have research relevant motifs. Students from upper level chemistry laboratory sections (mostly non-honors) will analyze these chemicals using instrumental analysis. Owing to the fact these are original compounds, the successful result of this work will be a peer-reviewed journal publication that spans students from freshman to seniors.

Brandee Appling (Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling), Enhancing the Application and Practical Experiences of Students in the School Counseling Program

Our goal is to redesign current course content to have a more intentional focus on school counseling curriculum. We want to develop and implement two school counseling special topics courses to be offered as part of the school counseling program of study and integrate new program wide initiatives to enhance the practical application experiences of our students. We are seeking funds to assist in the process of course investigation, development, and implementation. The implementation of these courses will enhance the overall learning and practical exploration of school counseling graduate students at Auburn University while increasing their knowledge, skills, and employability.

Christopher McNulty and Karen Sonik (Department of Art & Art History), Studio Art & History of Art, 3D Printing and the Arts: A Digital Humanities Initiative

3D printing has revolutionized modes of preserving, engaging with, and teaching the history of art and has provided contemporary artists with powerful new digital tools to examine and create three-­‐dimensional art. The process of scanning artifacts for 3D reproduction and subsequent analysis democratizes access to the great art objects of the world, helps to secure cultural heritage, and galvanizes student interest in learning new technology. The objective of this project is to purchase a 3D printer for integration of 3D printer training and technology into (introductory and core to advanced) art history and studio art courses.

Donna Burnett (Nutrition, Dietetics & Hospitality Management), Assessing Effectiveness of the ServSafe® Online Course: A Pilot Study

The proposed study aims to assess effectiveness of the ServSafe® online course, as evidenced by ServSafe® exam scores following online course completion. A convenience sample of 40 NDHM students will be recruited via department listserv. Pre-test exam scores will serve as baseline data; retrospective data of ServSafe® exam scores that followed traditional course instruction will serve as comparison data. A post-test survey will explore the online course experience. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize data. Paired-samples t-tests will assess differences between pre-test and ServSafe® exam scores, and independent-samples t-tests will assess differences between ServSafe® exam scores and retrospective data.

Hilary Joyce (Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work), Increasing Competency in Trauma-Informed Practice

Knowledge and skills in trauma-informed practice is critical for social workers. This proposal requests $4,000 to invite an expert in trauma, adoption, and attachment to speak at the Annual Social Work Month Symposium hosted by the Auburn University Social Work Program. The project aims to increase students’ knowledge and skills regarding treatment and interventions for children and families impacted by trauma and to provide faculty members with one-one one time with an expert in the area of trauma-informed practice. The knowledge obtained through the guest speaker will benefit faculty, students, and community members.

Marisha Speights Atkins (Communication Disorders), Improving Learning Outcomes in Phonetic Transcription Using Automated Software Tools

When learning procedures for assessment and diagnosis of speech disorders, it is critical for speech-pathology students to receive quality training and practice in transcribing speech representing a variety of speech disorder types and severities. However, materials for providing such oppotiunities are limited in their quality and availability. This project is designed to address this need by developing phonetic transcription training software modules. These modules will serve to suppoti instruction in phonetic transcription of atypical speech production, with the aim of improving learning outcomes and clinical training for students in Communication Disorders programs.

Matthew Hoch (Music), World Music as a Gateway to Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Enhanced Teaching and Learning, and Cultural Outreach and Awareness

Music curricula in higher education tend to focus exclusively on Western art music, neglecting the plethora of world music traditions that exist across the globe. In addition, most music professors in higher education are products of American conservatory training, which likewise emphasizes the “Bach to Brahms” canon. This travel grant will fund directed training and study in non-Western music that goes “beyond the canon,” directly impacting students within the current Auburn University music curriculum while simultaneously paving the way for specific interdisciplinary and collaborative projects across the university and within the community. Integrating world music into curricular and outreach endeavors will enhance the teaching and learning process as well as increase cultural awareness and understanding.

Stefanie Brueckner (Department of Geosciences), Enhancing the understanding and interpretation of geological data by using graphic software as active learning tool

Students of geology are trained to understand complex principles involving different scientific concepts applied to the evolution of our Earth through time and the formation of rocks and minerals. An important aspect in this training is the data presentation and interpretation. However, undergraduate students often struggle to comprehend the different geological concepts from solely lecture-based material including graphs. To overcome this obstacle in learning, software programs IgPet and SigmaPlot will be used as active learning tool in upper level undergraduate geology classes allowing students to familiarize with both software and geological principles resulting in an enhanced understanding of geological data and their interpretation.

Elizabeth Kling (Theatre), Increasing Teaching Efficacy with Applied Music Students through Somatic Voicework™️
Of the current musicals running on Broadway, 40% require rock-style singing. The pedagogy of rock singing is part of a cutting-edge field known as Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM)- Somatic Voiceworks™️. This codified system of singing techniques can maximize versatility and employability for Auburn University's theatre graduates. During the 2015-2016 school year, theatre students will be trained and evaluated in CCM-somatic singing, including rock stylisms. Progress will be measured three times during the school year according to the Theatre Department's rubric in order to quantify the impact of CCM-Somatic Voiceworks™️ pedagogical techniques on teaching efficacy and student learning.

Marilyn Cornish (Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling), Enhancing Counseling Psychology Students’ Theoretical Orientation Development
The proposed project is designed to increase Counseling Psychology PhD students' theoretical orientation development. Specifically, funds would be used to purchase DVD's from the new Psychotherapy in Six Sessions series. Structured assignments in the COUN 8910 (Advanced Practicum in Counseling) course would utilize these DVDs to enhance students' theoretical orientation knowledge and provide them with real-world examples of their theoretical orientation at work. Assigned papers and presentations would further enhance students' learning and development. The learning achieved from this project may increase the quality of students' counseling and make students more competitive for the nation-wide pre-doctoral internship application process.

Melanie Duffey (Consumer and Design Sciences), Senior Exhibit
In the field of interior design, industry connections are critical to student job placement, and faculty professional development, curriculum assessment, and program accreditation. The proposed instructional enhancement project will enable the program to develop a critique and assessment program with an exhibition outcome for interior design students at the senior curriculum level. The grant will provide financial support for prominent industry professionals to attend the preliminary and final critiques/assessments and support the exhibition of the student work. The project will have a direct benefit to the instructor (Strategic Priority 2, 3), students (Priority 1), the University's overall teaching program (Strategic Priority 4) and the university's assessment initiative (Strategic Priority 5) by developing an avenue for formal oral communication and presentation skills or students and enhancing the connections between the professional interior design industry and academia.

Cathleen Erwin (Political Science), Team Based Learning Collaborative Annual Conference
I am requesting travel funds for the Team-Based Learning Collaborative Annual Conference to be held in March 2015 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Attendance and participation in the conference provides a tremendous opportunity for immersion in the community of education who are dedicated to supporting faculty who have implemented or wish to implement Team-Based Learning. It will support my goal of developing expertise in the utilization of TBL, not only for the benefit of my students by also to be able to serve as a resource for colleagues who are interested in adopting the TBL methodology in their classrooms.

Margaret Fletcher (Architecture), The Pedagogy of Tools
Within architectural education, as instructor we find ourselves struggling to describe complex constructions without the tools needed to convey these ideas. The default is often simply describing the process with our hands. This proposal seeks funds to develop studio props and tools needed to demonstrate the instruction of orthographic projection, paraline projection and perspective projection to beginning design students. The use of these material tools will allow students to gain a firm grasp on the visual representation of spatial constructs and allows the instructor to effectively deliver those complexities within a system of projected descriptions - pedagogy through tools,

Margot Fox (Nursing), 2015 ATI National Nurse Educator Summit
The National League for Nursing (NLN) Nurse Educator Competencies provides a framework for achievement of excellence through use of innovative teaching strategies. The nurse educator role is multi-faceted, occurs in diverse academic and clinical environments, and presents challenges for new faculty. Opportunities for professional development encourage the novice educator to exemplify excellence in teaching and provide a foundation for success of faculty and students. The intent of the proposed travel is to participate in a nurse educator summit to explore learning strategies and evaluation methods that maximize student success and improve program outcomes in the Auburn University School of Nursing.

Yasser Gowayed (Polymer and Fiber Engineering), A function-based design approach for engineering classes
The creation of a function-based approach to teach design to senior engineering students is proposed. New pedagogies for active learning can be utilized to create step-by-step procedure allowing students to witness how scientific discoveries drive engineering design. The main problem with this approach is that delivery of information requires more time and instructors may not be able to cover all needed material for the class. Proposers are requesting travel funds to attend an ASEE conference to learn of recent innovations in teaching engineering students to help them implement this approach in their classes.

Ameya Kolarkar (Physics), Learning Assistants for Improved Student Learning in Physics Courses for Non-Majors
We propose the introduction and implementation of an innovative element of active learning in General Physics core courses which will impact around 1000 students per academic year. Undergraduate students, trained by us in pedagogy and learning outcomes, will be embedded in the courses as Learning Assistants. They will improve student learning in the core Physics courses, enhance student interaction with faculty and facilitate active learning among students. Besides improving the image and quality of General Physics instruction, the program has potential to effect a systematic transformation in teaching and learning across Auburn.

Ann Lambert (Nursing), The Use of an Empathy Belly Simulator to Enhance Learning in an Undergraduate Maternal Health Nursing Course
One of the ways that nurses provide excellent care is through empathy. Often, nursing student have not developed the feeling of empathy. Beginning student are attempting to put several pieces of knowledge together, usually focusing on the physical aspects of nursing care. Creating an environment in which the students are allowed to experience what patients are feelings, increases the students' perceptions of what patients may be undergoing. Empathy is defined as the ability to associate with other through experiences that directly affect them. This responsiveness allows the students to have insight into what the patient is living through. 

Jeffery LaMondia (Civil Engineering), Undergraduate-led Development of Practical Geographic Information System (GIS) Course Tutorials
This project will teach and guide undergraduate students from varied disciplines in civil engineering to develop practical tutorials showcasing how GIS can be applied to their field in exciting ways (while highlighting different skill sets) for a geographic information systems (GIS) course. Additionally, and online database of GIS materials and tutorials will be developed as students complete class projects and share them with all Auburn students and faculty, who may share, learn, and be inspired to explore their own practical GIS applications. The feasibility of updating the course with these student-generated, timely materials will be studied.

Lynn Mandeltort (Chemistry and Biochemistry), Instructional Improvement in General Chemistry: Undergraduate Learning Assistants
We propose the introduction of evidence-based teaching innovations in General Chemistry, a curriculum impacting more than 4,500 students per academic year. We plan to train and utilize undergraduate students as learning assistants (LAs) for peer learning in active classroom settings. We will undertake three specific sims within this transformations: Aim 1: Improved student outcomes. Aim 2: Systematic change in Auburn Chemistry and College of Science and Mathematics. Aim 3: Enhanced connection between students and instructors. This project will form the critical foundation for moving towards active learning in the hard sciences at Auburn.

Apryl Alexander (Psychology), Risk Assessment Training for Graduate Students in Clinical Psychology

Increasingly, psychologists are requested to offer opinions regarding risk to public safety. Over the last two decades, empirically-based risk assessment tools have been developed to guide psychologists' opinions on risk for violence, suicide, and violent and non-violent re-offending. Unfortunately, few graduate programs in psychology provide risk assessment training, which is typically only available at the post-doctoral level. This proposal aims to provide extensive training and resources in risk assessment to graduate students in the Clinical Psychology program. The requested materials will be used to provide training on several risk assessment measures and adequately prepare students for future practice.

Chih-hsuan Wang (Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology), Enhancing Learning in Educational Research and Statistics Courses through Mobile Device

The purpose of this project is to integrate technology into educational research and statistics courses to enhance students learning experiences. This project will explore mobile applications that can be appropriately integrated with the teaching pedagogy, learning materials, and course activities that have been used by instructors. Furthermore, researchers will create or modify the materials and activities to facilitate students learning. Finally, the researchers will encourage online students to participate in the class synchronously through mobile applications. The effectiveness of this project will be evaluated during 2014 Fall semester, and the results will be presented in professional conference and manuscript will be prepared for publication.

David Blersch (Biosystems Engineering), Life in the Balance: Enhancement of Ecological Engineering Curriculum with the Balanced Aquarium Concept

Undergraduate education in ecological engineering requires experiential learning for student development of analytical capabilities that are simultaneously holistic and reductionist. In addition, fundamental ecological concepts that form the basis of ecological engineering tool-sets are often lacking in the academic background of engineering students. This proposal supports the development of an ecological engineering laboratory experience for the Auburn University Biosystems Engineering Department based on the classic balanced aquarium concept that intensifies learning in fundamental concepts of ecological organization and development through microcosm experiences. Support is requested primarily for equipment and supplies for this laboratory, with matching funds secured from departmental sources.

Kevin Moore (Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture), City Scenarios

We plan to test a new pedagogical approach by coordinating mandatory fourth-year design studios and history courses dedicated to urban architecture. Our aim is to foster historically and theoretically aware practices of urban design. The Breeden Grant would enable us to invite external experts to direct workshops aimed at all fourth-year faculty and students. We envisage four workshops, each dedicated to a crucial urban issue: Demographics, Water Systems, Food Networks and Energy. Anticipated outcomes are student projects-district plans and urban buildings-displaying an understanding of historical issues and the socioeconomic implications of designing in urban environments.

Lauren Weigel (Industrial and Graphics Design), The Creative Problem Solving Institute’s Annual International Conference

Design thinking, creative problem solving skills and innovation skills are key attributes of successful industrial designers. The Creative Problem Solving Institute is an annual international conference hosted by the Creative Education Foundation. The conference focuses on systematic, repeatable approaches to creativity, innovation, and leading change. This proposal outlines how the skills that I learn while attending this conference will lead to actionable approaches that I can apply in the classroom and while advising students.

Leah Robinson (Kinesiology), The Use of Multimedia Teaching Strategies to Support KINE 2251 Students’ Teaching Effectiveness

Breeden Endowment funds are requested to purchase tablets to enhance our KINE 2251 students' ability to design, develop, and implement effective movement, physical activity, and fitness instruction to children and youth using multimedia teaching strategies. The integration of multimedia teaching strategies will facilitate the learning process and allow KINE 2251 students to acquire hands-on experience while providing a service-outreach to the Auburn community. We hope that the incorporation of this strategy will enrich the teaching effectiveness and preparation of the KINE 2251 students while enhancing the teaching and learning environment for young learners that the course serves.

Luxin Wang (Animal Sciences), Purchasing teaching resources to better enhance the teaching efficiency / outcomes of the food safety program

The purpose of this proposal is to get funding for the purchase of teaching resources, "Incorporating Food Safety in Product Development" and "Recall and Lessons Learned", to enhance teaching efficiency. In Auburn, although several food/meat/poultry science related courses tried to cover different perspectives of food safety, one imp01iant topic-"how to better incorporate food safety in product development process", is still lacking. The PI of this proposal is the instructor for "Sensory Evaluation" and "Microbiology of Meat and other Foods" and believes that the new materials will help with incorporating this much needed topic to existing courses and enhance learning outcomes.

Matthew Hoch (Music), Enhancing Teaching Effectiveness with Applied Music Students through Instruction and Acoustic Feedback

Although there is considerable opportunity to apply scientific concepts and technology to music pedagogy, many educators do not take advantage of these invaluable tools for instructional enhancement. Over the course of the next year, Auburn University music students will be instructed and assessed for the first time utilizing instrumentation and innovative software programs that will give them immediate, direct, and visual feedback on their performance. Student skill levels will be assessed according to a specific rubric at three points throughout the academic year to objectively measure the impact of these pedagogical techniques on teaching effectiveness and student learning.

Peter Christopherson (Pathobiology), Improving Communication Skills of Veterinary Students

I have been invited to attend a professional training program called the Bayer Communication Project (BCP). The goal of this training is to provide faculty members in veterinary medicine the skills to appropriately tra.i.n veterinary students, as well as other faculty members, using specific communication modules and videos pertaining to clinical communication skills. The outcome of this training, as it pertains to Auburn University, is that Auburn's veterinary program will continue to advance its curriculum and stay current with the demands of our profession and clientele, and will remain a leader in the area of veterinary health care and healing.

Tanya Johnson (Nursing), Nurse Executive / Nurse Executive-Advanced Review Course Workshop

Two critical factors stated in the mission of Auburn University School of Nursing are to exemplify excellence in teaching and to ensure graduates are prepared to assume leadership roles in the provision of nursing care. It is vital for nurse educators to integrate leadership theory and best practices in patient safety, quality, finance, and regulatory environments across the curriculum. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) serves as an exceptional resource to enhance nursing leadership competency and skill set. The intent of the proposed travel is to participate in an educational workshop, sponsored by ANCC, whereby preparing faculty member a better grounded preparation for enrichment of course content in a 5th semester Nursing Leadership course NURS 4910 - Professional Nursing Leadership in Complex Systems.

Amber Hutchison (Pharmacy Practice) Geriatric sensitivity training to improve student pharmacist attitudes and perceptions on aging

The Pharmacy Practice fu.l)erience (PPE) sequence at Hanison School of Pharmacy serves as a component of the Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences required for accreditation. For PPE, students provide pharmaceutical care to community-dwelling patients. Over 90% of the 388 patients in the program are greater than 65 years of age. The aim of this grant is to procure SECURE Project geriatric sensitivity kits for use in a program during pharmacy school orientation in order to improve student awareness of issues associated with the aging adult. Data on student perceptions and attitudes on aging will be gathered and analyzed.

Anthony Moss (Biological Sciences), Acquisition of a MakerBot Replicator 2X for Enhancement of Biology STEM education

I propose to obtain a MakerBot Replicator 2X three dimensional printer to build replicas of biological structures at multiple levels of organization. The instrument will be used by multiple professors in the department in the delivery of their classes, serving well over 1000 students per year, from Principles of Biology to Microbiology, Organismal and Marine Biology, to Virology, Cell Biology, Immunology and Physiology. The tool will be made available to any faculty member interested in integrating a model into their coursework. Support for materials will, after the initial purchases, come from the regular teaching accounts.

Chandana Mitra (Geology and Geography), Weather Instruments for Climate Literacy and Education

Climate science has gained importance as an interdisciplinmy subject involving climate change debate, extreme weather events worldwide, global temperature increase, impacts and overall sustainability. The 'Climatology' class offered by Dr. Chandana Mitra highlights the basics of weather and climate and ties it with contempormy issues of sustainability. This Breeden Award proposal is requesting funds to acquire weather insh11111ents to provide hands-on experience to Auburn University students for the Climatology course along with other environment related courses across campus. The students via active learning will learn the significance of weather measurements and correlate them with global wanning and climate change.

Danielle Wadsworth (Kinesiology), Incorporating IPADs into student led physical activity promotion programs

The request from this endowment is to purchase IP ADs and IP AD accessories for students enrolled in Exercise Prescription for Special Populations and Advanced Exercise Prescription courses. The IP ADs will be used to: develop and implement personal exercise prescriptions for clients recrnited from the Auburn University community; create and disseminate short exercise videos; and create and post exercise blogs. The integration of this technology will facility the learning process and allow students to acquire hands on experience while providing a service to Auburn University and the sunounding community.

Danilea Werner (Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work) Increasing Empathy Toward Older Adults with Dementia Symptoms

As the population ages, Social workers will need to be prepared to provide treatment to those suffering from dementia. Innovative teaching modalities in social work education, particularly in the field of gerontology is expanding, but still lacks in regards to proper instruction to convey the complex humtm dynamics related to older adults and dementia. The proposed cmTiculum consists of physical sensory deprivation techniques that simulates dementia induced confusion and occurs with aging (i.e. numbness in fingertips). Students' ability to empathize with their clients is critical in developing competency in social work practice and will be evaluated using a pre-posttest design.

Jill Narak (Clinical Sciences), Digital Imaging: Using Digital Photos and Video as a Teaching Tool

The assimilation of basic science knowledge into the artful practice of medicine is oftentimes a difficult transition for veterinary students. Conceptualizing clinical neurology just cannot be achieved without actually witnessing patients' deficits. The aims of this project are to capture examples of canine and feline intracranial, spinal cord, and neuromuscular disease localizations with photographs and video without disrupting the flow of cases within the hospital. Video and photographic images obtained will then be utilized in lectures to underclass veterinary students and incorporated into online autotutorials for senior veterinary students.

John Gorden (Chemistry and Biochemistry), Auburn Summer Undergraduate Research in Experiment Development

A unique summer research opportunity in educational laborato1y design for freshmen and sophomore STEM students is described. Student researchers will work closely with instructors to redevelop Honors General Chemistry laborat01y experiments with pedagogical and technological improvements. Positive outcomes are expected at the individual, course, and university levels in accordance with Priorities I (Elevating Academics) and 4 (Developing our People) of the Auburn Strategic Plan. Student researchers will develop project planning and laborato1y skills, appreciation for education research, and will produce experimental procedures to benefit foture students. Promotion of the program to other STEM and non-STEM disciplines will be encouraged.

Kasia Leousis (Library of Architecture, Design and Construction) Materials Lab for the Library of Architecture, Design and Construction

The development of a Materials Lab for the Library of Architecture, Design and Construction would offer students in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction a hands-on and interdisciplinary sensory experience of building and construction materials. Materials research is a key component to students' learning in design disciplines. The tactile and visual experience of handling physical building materials samples allows students to investigate and discover materials in new ways. This proposal identifies the key reasons for creating a Materials Lab and the necessary funding for the equipment and travel essential to implementing this project successfully.

Lisa Kensler (Educational Foundations, Leadaership and Technology), Outdoor Classroom Project with Opelika City Schools

This instructional effort brings together approximately 140 undergraduate and graduate students f om Agriscience Education, Elementary Education and K-12 Educational Leadership in service-learning activities designed to support classroom learning and the Outdoor Classroom Project. The PI's developed this project as a scholarship effort in partnership with Opelika City Schools, East Alabama Food Bank and Keep Opelika Beautiful, Inc. to promote localism (leveraging community capital to address identified needs). Participating schools include Southview Primary (K-2), Northside Intermediate (3-5) and Opelika Middle School ( 6-8), where outdoor classrooms are being established to promote interdisciplinary education in support of local food sustainability and city beautification.

Miriam Marty Clark (English), AAEEBL Annual ePortfolio Conference

This is a request for travel funds to support my participation in the AEEBL Annual ePortfolio Conference, July 29-August 1, 2013, in Boston, MA. The narrative outlines my role in the implementation of the ePortfolio Project at Auburn and shows how the knowledge I gain at the conference will benefit teaching, advising, faculty collaboration and meaningful assessment in my own department and at the university level.

Robert Finkel (Department of Industrial Graphic Design), Engaging History, Enhancing Craft, and Exploring Design through Letterpress Imaging

Letterpress printing gives designers the opportunity to function in the dual roles of both the form-giver and the producer of the final designed artifact. Within graphic design education, letterpress is a chance for students to engage with graphic design history, be aware of materials, explore digital and analog techniques, and further enhance their craftsmanship. This proposal aims to expand the letterpress resources of the Department of Industrial and Graphic Design primarily for the course Letterpress Imaging. The requested equipment and materials will be used to develop a professional quality letterpress studio which will enable future courses and support self­directed studies, interdisciplinary collaborations, and promote community projects and international exchanges.

Teresa Gore (Nursing), Improving Teaching Effectiveness on Patient Safety Using Simulation: Focus on Hand Hygiene

Reports of adverse patient outcomes due to medical errors and preventable cornplications are alarming. Nurses have the most direct contact with patients and hand hygiene is reported to be the single most effective method to reduce hospital acquired infections. More active learning within simulation is needed to guide students to diligently practice appropriate hand hygiene. Proposed teaching strategies include a new simulation experience that incorporates technology and visual cues to improve consistency in hand hygiene practice. Future plans are to use the pilot data to determine if learning effectiveness is transferred to actual practice in the clinical setting.

Brigitta Brunner-Johnson (Communication & Journalism), Developing International Opportunities for Public Relations Students and Faculty

Veena Chattaraman (Consumer Affairs), Incorporation of Pen-Based Digital Drawing Tools in Apparel and Interior Design Instruction for Effective Design Communication

Amanda Gale (Consumer Affairs), Work Series of Lightning Solutions

Rosetta Giuliani-Caponetto (Foreign Language and Literature) Italy for Beginners

Melanie Iarussi (Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling), Graduate
Student Training in Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Jay Mittal (Community Planning), Advanced Course in Statistical Analysis of Geospatial Data for Environmental Studies

Traci O’Brien (Foreign Languages and Literatures), Onsite ACTFL oral Proficiency
Interview Assessment Workshop

Chris Qualls (Theater), Chris Qualls Film Project – “The Ugliest Dog in the World”

Rebecca Retziaff (Community Planning), Documentary Film: DIVAS Against All Odds: Documenting Invisible Voices

Sara Baird (Music), Masterclass in Indian Classical Music

Since Fall 2010, Auburn University students have had the unique opportunity to study North Indian classical and semi-classical music through the new course, Indian Music Ensemble (MUSI 1220). Taught by Dr. Raj Chaudhury, this class allows students to learn in a hands-on environment about the cultural proactive of music in India. The course is being offered in Spring 2011 for the second time. This Breeden Award proposal is requesting funds to sponsor two master classes through an Artist-in-Residence program during the 2011-2012 academic year to expand the impact of the course and provide outreach to the community.

Judith Blumsack (Communication Disorders), Video Materials for Instructional Enhancement

Teaching doctoral audiology students involves both academic and clinical instruction. In the classroom students learn about indications for interpretation of various audiological tests (e.g. hearing, balance) and measurements, and they learn how to use the necessary equipment through their clinical experiences and clinical methods classes. Sometimes the academic exposure precedes clinical experiences. To help students better understand such topics as signal averaging and noise, live demonstration with the equipment has been used. Students have reported that such demonstrations are very helpful, but having a demonstration available on DVD would be significantly more effective, because students could more easily see the demonstrations, and they could view the demonstrations repeatedly. 

Mitchell Brown (Political Science), Enhancing Student Learning through Multi-Course Coordination & Learning Module Integration: Year Two Continuation

In this grant application, we ask for $3,000 to support the continuation and dissemination of a teaching experiment to enhance student ability to envision a program-based solution to a real public policy problem and to develop an appropriate mechanism for assessing the effectiveness of the program-based solution. These funds continue the experiment that began in Fall 2010 funded by a Breeden Endowment grant and involving POLI 7350 and POLI 7520. The experiment adds POLI 6150 (Intergovernmental Relations) in Year Two. Our project is developed around four goals: coordinated instruction, assessment and dissemination, and planning for future curricular development.

Gisela Buschle-Diller (Polymer and Fiber Engineering), A Laboratory Experience in the Life Cycle Assessment of BiopolymersGarmaz, Magdalena, Architecture, Light Studies

The course Polymers from Renewable Resources is a fairly new class added to the curriculum of Polymer and Fiber Engineering for senior (PFEN 4200) and graduate students (PFEN 7610). Topics in this class address the growing importance of bioplymers in daily life and the raw materials for their manufacture other than petroleum. The course prepares students for a new direction in polymeric materials. This proposal requests funding for the development of a semester-long project in which students first-hand experience the properties of biopolymers, learn to process them into shapes of everyday plastic objects and study their decomposition under aerobic conditions.

Magdalena Garmaz (Architecture), Light Studies

This proposal asks for a funding for two-semester long fifth year architecture design studio (ARCH 5010 and ARCH 5020) that will focus on the studies of daylight in the process of a design of a building. These studies will combine testing of aesthetical and thermal properties of light in order to produce design solutions that are not only visually appropriate, but also highly inventive and energy-efficient. The funding will be used to bring in a leading lighting expert, and to purchase supplies and equipment needed to execute these studies.

Christopher Locke (Sociology), Increasing Empathy Toward Mental Health Clients with Psychotic Symptoms 

Social workers provide the majority of treatment to those who suffer from mental illness. Innovative teaching modalities in social work education, particularly in the mental health field, are lacking in regard to proper instruction to convey complex human dynamics such as psychotic systems to students. the proposed curriculum consists of audio material that simulates auditory hallucinations (i.e., hearing voices) often experienced by clients with these symptoms. Students' ability to empathize with their clients is critical in developing competency in social work practice. A pretest-posttest design will evaluate students' affect and willingness to interact with these clients in various hypothetical situations.

Edward Lowenstein (Forestry and Wildlife Sciences), Attend the 9th Conference on University Education in Natural Resources

Faculty from the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences (SFWS) have regularly attended the BCUENR in the past and are scheduled to host this conference in 2014. Unfortunately, given current budgets, the SFWS cannot guarantee that funds are available to fund faculty travel. Resources are requested to allow the AU local coordinators for the 2014 conference to attend the 2012 conference so that they can both continue to learn about new and unique approaches to teaching, but also to develop/strengthen relationships with current and past conference coordinators, attend the business meeting, and form the steering committee for the 2014 conference.

Margaret Marshall (Office of University Writing), Archive: Faculty Resources for Writing Instuction

Dr. Margaret Marshall, director of the Office of University Writing, seeks funding for the development of an online archive of writing resources for Auburn's teaching faculty and staff. The archive, which will be password protected, will include but will not be limited to a variety of instructional aids, sample assignments, handouts, and workshop materials. As such, it will provide easily accessible, sustainable, and technologically relevant resources for faculty. Though the compilations of such resources has already begun, funding is necessary to convert them into a format that is viable for electronic archival purposes.

David Martin (Hotel and Restaurant Management), Certified Hospitality Educator

The authors propose that they attend an educational workshop with the purpose of attaining the titled of Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE). The workshop is intended to prepare attendees to pass the CHE exam as well as enhance their teaching abilities and provide networking opportunities with other hospitality educators. Administered by the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute, some of the topics include: Planning the Course, Understanding Learning Theory, Interactive Teaching Methods and Creating a Positive Classroom Culture. Students will directly benefit by the authors increased knowledge base on teaching methods and strategies to enhance student learning.

Heather May (Theatre), Shadowing a LORT or Broadway Stage Manager

Although I am a member of the professional stage manager's union (Actors' Equity Association/AEA), I have not stage managed since 1995. As the head of the Department of Theatre's BFA program in Management, it is essential that I have current experience in the field in order to adequately prepare students for the profession. I would use funding from a Breeden Endowed Grant to cover expenses so that I could afford to shadow an AEA stage manager from the early stages of the rehearsal process through opening night at either a League of Resident Theatres (LORT) or a Broadway Theatre.

Sara-Louise Newcomer (Clinical Sciences) 2011 Faculty Development Program of the Bayer Annual Health (BAH) Communication Project 

I have been invited to attend a training called the Bayer Communication Project (BCP). The goal of this training is to provide faculty members in veterinary medicine the skills to appropriately training veterinary students, as well as other faculty members, using specific communication modules and videos pertaining to clinical communication skills. The outcome of the training, as it pertains to Auburn University, is that Auburn's veterinary program will continue to advance its curriculum and stay current with the demands of out profession and out clientele, and will remain a leader in the area of veterinary health care and healing.

Keith Roozen (English), Digital Media and Composition Institute 

Dr. Kevin Roozen seeks funding to attend Ohio State University's two week institute, Digital Media and Composition (DMAC) in Columbus, Ohio. Upon returning from the institute, Dr. Roozen will work to develop curriculum that incorporates new developments in digital media into composition coursework and GTA education in the English Department. He will also contribute what he learns to Aubrun's outreach work with the Super Emerging Scholoars program. As well, he will adapt relevant resources into the development of workshops that enhance faculty understanding and use of digital literacies on the Auburn University campus at large. 

Sushil Adhikari (Biosystems Engineering)

Learning While Playing: This proposal seeks funding to purchase some accessories required to integrate Labview®️ software and purchase some robots to teach programming language that are important to engineering students. The motivation behind writing this proposal is based on the instructor's personal experience and observing students' reaction while teaching several courses at Auburn. Students are always excited when they are challenged with real world applications and they enjoy the most when we do things that are applicable in their daily life. The scientific question to answer in this project is the level of effectiveness of laboratory classes when students are presented with real-world problems. 

Salman Azhar (The McWhorter School of Building Science)

To Develop a Handbook and Guidelines for Building Information Modeling (BIM) based Special Thesis for BSCI Undergraduate Students: Undergraduate students in the Building Science program have to complete a 'Thesis Project' during their final semester. The comprehensive project requires students to produce accurate estimates, schedules and other construction documents for a commercial building. Traditionally, students use manual methods and spreadsheets to complete their work. During the last 3 years, the use of Building Information Modeling (or virtual construction techniques) has boosted-up in the construction industry and many students are interested to use it for their thesis. Currently no formal guidebook is available to help such students. The purpose of this project is to develop a handbook and guidelines for senior students to work on and for the BSCI faculty to evaluate these special BIM-based theses. 

LaKami Baker (Department of Management)

The Experiential Classroom: This proposal request is to obtain funding to attend the Experiential Classroom Clinic hosted by Oklahoma State University. The Experiential Classroom provides training to new faculty teaching entrepreneurship on how to be effective in the classroom through the sharing of best practices. Those in attendance will not only observe the masters in action, we will perform live teaching in front of students and receive critiques from some of the top entrepreneurship educators in the field. In addition, participants will be provided with multiple tools and resources along with guidance on structuring a class that facilitates student interaction.

Christy L. Bratcher (Animal Sciences)

Meat Science Video Series: Understanding the large scale picture is important for students enrolled in Meat Sciences courses. While the state of Alabama and Auburn University have some processing facilities, they do not have the capacities of large scale production facilities. Auburn University is doing a great job preparing students for high paying opportunities in large companies, but the students would benefit exponentially by learning about larger sized operations in the Midwest while they are preparing for jobs and completing their degree. With a series of videos that tours facilities, students will be allowed learning experiences that could not be captured in our state alone.

Toni C. Dean (Auburn University Libraries)

“How-To” Library Videos: Auburn University Libraries plan to create a series of short videos (approximately 60-120 seconds each) for use by students both in the library and virtually. These "how-to" videos will cover topics such as reading citations, finding books in the library, and keywording for search terms. They will be shown in information literacy classes to introduce or reinforce a concept and will be utilized at the reference desk for answering questions. Most importantly, the videos will be available at the library website for students to use at their point-of-need. An example of such a video branded for Cornell University if available here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDGJ2CYfY9A.

Eduardus Duin (Chemistry and Biochemistry)

Sectioned NMR Magnet Display: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a critical technique which is taught to all chemists. Out current courses cover both the theoretical aspects of this topic and hands-on training of the students using the NMR spectrometer. The hands-on training would be greatly enhanced by having a sectioned NMR magnet display. This would give the students a much better understanding of the inner workings of the NMR magnet, in particular the positing of samples inside the magnet. Funding is requested to convert our old 250 MHz NMR magnet into a display model.

James E. Groccia (Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology)

PBL Conference: Funding is requested for airfare and lodging to attend an international conference in Aalborg, Denmark to learn problem and project based learning and assessment methods. As a result of attending this conference I will conduct a series of faculty development workshops to train faculty to design courses integrating this instructional methodology. Assessment will include both process and outcome measures resulting in dissemination workshops and publications.

Kathleen Hale (Political Science)

Enhancing Student Learning through Multi-Course Coordination & Learning Model Integration: In this grant application, we ask for $3,000 in funds to support a teaching experiment to enhance student ability to envision a program-based solution to a real public policy problem and then to develop an appropriate mechanism for assessing the effectiveness of the program-based solution. The courses involved include POLI 7350 (Seminar in Public Administration) and POLI 7520 (Program Evaluation). Our project is developed around three goals: coordinated instruction, assessment, and dissemination and future planning. These courses are repeated annually, and if out teaching "experiment" is successful we hop to replicate it in future iterations of these courses. 

Almitra Medina (Foreign Languages and Literatures)

Implications for a Foreign Language Program: the Impact of Studying Abroad on Understanding Fast L2 Speech: Although studies have investigated the effects of studying abroad on second language (L2) learning, surprisingly none has examined how participation in a study-abroad program can affect comprehension of fast L2 speech. On this cross-disciplinary study, combining the fields of second language acquisition and audiology, L2 participants' understanding of normal-speed speech and time-compressed speech before and after involvement in their respective Spanish program will be examined. Furthermore, it will be investigated whether staying abroad with a Spanish-speaking family or living with other English-speakers in the dorms abroad plays a role in understanding fast Spanish. This investigation aims to shed light on the type of environment that is best for student learning in terms of listening comprehension. Implications for foreign language programs, and indeed the Spanish section at Auburn University, will be drawn. 

Leah Elizabeth Robinson (Kinesiology)

Travel for Training on Physical Activity and Public Health: Financial assistance is requested to aid in enhancing my pedagogical skills. Funds will enable me to participate in a Postgraduate Course in Physical Activity and Public Health. This 8-day educational training course will enhance my teaching compentancies in the physical activity and public health. The knowledge acquired from this course will be integrated into my courses, aid in the development of a new pediatric physical activity and public health course, and will provide my students with the most current practices and knowledge to assess, measure, treat and prevent health-related conditions once they enter the workforce.

Maobing Tu (School of Forestry)

Visualize Forest Biorefinery in Video Podcast: from Woody Biomass to Biofuels: Forest biorefinery for biofuels production is an interdisciplinary science and experimental technology. It involves wood chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and chemical engineering. Video podcast can be utilized to focus students on science concepts and chemical processes that can be abstract and difficult to grasp or measure. To enhance students' learning environment for a better understanding of forest biorefinery, we will visualize three major steps in the bioconversion processes: biomass pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation through video podcasting. This proposal seeks teaching and learning development funds to produce high-quality video podcast for two biofuels-oriented courses: Forest Products Biotechnology and Biomass chemistry Characterization.

Yu, Weikuan (Computer Sciences and Software Engineering)

Operating System Concepts Made Easy and Fun: In view of the importance of the Operating System to computer science majors, this proposal describes a project that aims to make the teaching and learning of operating systems concepts an easy and fun process. A new instructional platform will be established to enable hands-on projects for the students, motivate the integration of different hardware and low-level software components by the students, and infuse an in-depth understanding and good command f the system administration and programming skills in the students. This project will use both real computer systems and virtualized clusters to bring students at different levels for intensive interactions and effective learning.

Hassan H. Abbas, Robert W. Barnes and James S. Davidson (Civil Engineering)

Incorporation of Physical Models and Sensors in Instruction and Recruitment: The use of physical models and sensors will be incorporated in both laboratory and lecture instruction in two Civil Engineering courses and two Interdepartmental Engineering courses with high student enrollment at Auburn University. It is anticipated that this effort will result in an enhanced student learning experience and an enhanced instructor teaching effectiveness. If awarded, The Breeden grant will be used exclusively for purchasing instructional equipment and supplies. The instructional equipment will also be used for recruitment/outreach purposes, such as in E-­‐DAY and TIGERs Camps.

William R. Ashurst and Tim Placek (Chemical Engineering)

Making It Real—Experimenting with Engineering Concepts in Everyday Life: Chemical engineering students are exposed to laboratory experiments so they may observe natural phenomena and utilize engineering principles. However, the current experiments involve large scale equipment with complex operating procedures that, from the students perspective, tend to obscure the very underlying phenomena and principles that are to be investigated. That is, “they cannot see the forest for the trees”. Based on our initial observations from attempts to create simplified engineering experiments from everyday items, the idea of “Making It Real” (MIR) experiments seems to generate enthusiasm and engineering interest from the students and provides the groundwork for lifelong learning.

Amia Baker (Reference Department)

Information Literacy Video: The author proposes to create a video that can be used to introduce information literacy topics which will spark student interests and participation in library sessions. I would like to produce a video based on the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards about the use of keywords, synonyms and Boolean operators to create efficient and effective searches. My goals for the video are to introduce the topic to the students, compare and contrast how you search differently in library databases versus the Internet, and bring up points for discussion with the class.

Fred J. Caldwell and R. Wayne Waguespack (Clinical Sciences)

Video Based Instruction Module Development for the Enhancement of Teaching Elective Equine Surgical Procedures to Veterinary Students: The intent of this project is the creation of up to twelve video based instruction modules of elective equine surgical procedures. These modules will be used in the clinical phase of their training in the College of Veterinary Medicine program. During the brief period the students spend on the VMED 5601 Equine Surgery and Lameness rotation in their fourth year, it is impractical to expose them to all of the elective surgical procedures they would be expected to perform upon entry into equine practice. The generation of these modules would enhance their clinical experience and make them better prepared upon completion of their veterinary education at Auburn University.

Aimee Callender (Psychology)

Techniques to Improve Learning and Memory: A Laboratory-­‐Based Study of Instructional Techniques: One of the goals of education is to provide students with a basic foundation of knowledge, however it is a challenge for students to learn and retain the information. The proposed project will directly compare two methods for improving learning and memory, repeated testing and multi-­‐media encoding. These methods can be used by instructors in a classroom setting as well as by students during independent study.

Cathleen M. Giustino (History)

Teaching the History of the Cold War through the Digital Display of Art, Architecture and Design at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels: I am building a website for teaching the history of the Cold War through art, architecture and design at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels (EXPO’ 58). Through virtual technology, original documents, and rich images, the exhibitions installed in the American, Soviet, and Czechoslovak Pavilions will be recreated and explored. The website will be useful for teaching the history of modernism after World War II. It will show that the Cold War superpower rivalry was fought not only with threats of nuclear annihilation, spies, and rockets, but also with art, consumer goods, and promises of “the good life”.

Kristen Helms (Pharmacy Practice)

Comparison of written and multiple choice assessment tools in a Problem-­‐based Learning (PBL) Curriculum: The success of problem-­‐based learning (PBL) in medical curricula appears to center more on the students’ abilities to solve problems and utilize resources than their efficiency of knowledge acquisition. Assessment of these skills for individual students is often difficult using the traditional and efficient multiple choice examination format. Written short-­‐answer examinations may offer a better assessment method with the potential for diminished grading efficiency. This research will determine whether written examinations better meet the needs of the PBL learning style and whether continuation of this assessment style if feasible.

Raymond P. Henry (Biological Sciences)

Microsurgical Success Rate when Training with a Model Rat Versus Live Rat: Animal Physiology (BIOL 6240) and Mammalian Physiology (BIOL 6600) are upper level physiology courses with a laboratory portion that requires the experimental use of live animals. Several microsurgical skills are required for the experiments to be successful, and we currently have a training lab that allows the students to gain hands-­‐on experience performing these techniques. Using the rat as a model, we divide 24 students into pairs and allow them to practice these techniques; they include: vessel cannulation, tracheotomies, and bladder cannulations. We are requesting funds to purchase 6 Microsurgical Developments PVC-­‐Rats from Braintree Scientific, Inc., in order to assess the surgical competence of students that use these new training models vs. the competence of those using the live models.

Judith A. Hudson (Clinical Sciences)

The Use of 3D Engine Technology for Case-­‐Based Teaching in the Veterinary Curriculum : The objective of the project is to develop an educational and cost-­‐effective tutorial for teaching case-­‐based veterinary medicine using a 3-­‐dimensional software engine. The tutorial will be built using the C4 engine developed by Eric Lengyel (Terathon Software) and commercially available models of characters and objects contained within a database. The tutorial will follow a role-­‐playing game format in which students navigate within a virtual hospital interacting with animal patients and virtual veterinary equipment within a virtual hospital interacting with animal patients and virtual veterinary equipment and instruments. The project will enable instructors to offer students a safe environment in which to explore diagnostic options thereby reinforcing principles learned in didactic classes.

Jung Won Hur (Education Foundations, Leadership & Technology)

Development of Online Learning Modules for Digital Citizenship Education: The purpose of this project is to create online learning modules focusing on digital citizenship and to explore methods of integrating those learning modules into a teacher education program. The modules will be rooted in case-­‐based learning and integrated into EDMD 3300, Instructional Technology for Educators, to assist future teachers in understanding the safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology. The effectiveness of the modules will be evaluated during the 2009 fall semester, and the results will be published in a journal.

Nancy W. Noe (Reference & Instruction) and Michelle Ann Sidler (English)

‘Train the Instructor’—Web Evaluation: One of the stated outcomes of Auburn University’s general education curriculum is that students will be information literate. In an effort to provide a framework for information literacy (IL) within that curriculum, Auburn University Libraries and the Department of English worked collaboratively to scaffold IL learning objectives and opportunities into ENGL 1120 (English Composition II) classes.  As English begins to revise ENGL 1100(Composition I), the Department and Libraries has proposed a ‘Train the Instructor’ project: embed a specific information literacy outcome into the sequence (website evaluation) and provide faculty with the necessary resources and training to ensure student learning.

Laura Plexico, Daniel Phillips and Michael Moran (Communication Disorders)

Using Virtual Clients to Enhance Teaching Effectiveness in Communication Disorders: The Master’s program in Speech-­‐Language Pathology requires that students obtain contact hours with clients in order to develop skills required for certification and state licensure. The certification standards allow for clinical skills to be developed and demonstrated “by means other than direct client contact in clinical practicum experiences, such as…simulations…”. The purpose of this project is to pilot the development of video-­‐based “virtual client” software for use with students in the speech-­‐language pathology program. Two virtual clinical scenarios will be developed and then used as an instructional method to promote student critical thinking and clinical effectiveness with the intake interview process.

Karla P. Simmons (Consumer Affairs)

Travel for Training on Apparel Specific Software, Gerber Technology, Accumark: This teaching project will support the training for appeal specific software from Gerber Technology (GT). The Accumark software system houses technology for pattern making and design, grading, and marker making. As the main departmental instructor of this technology, I am in need of this training update to instruct the CAHS students in the total product development process.

Jocelyn Zanzot and Mathew Davis (Landscape Architecture)

Summer Workshop Series: Videography for Designers: The Breeden Grant will fund an intensive summer workshop series: Digital Videography for Designers led by Professor Davis, at Philadelphia University, a recognized expert in the field. In conjunction with AU Professor Zanzot’s seminar on the topic, this workshop is designed to enhance both teaching and learning capacity in the School of Architecture. Digital video is an important tool in the research and design of public urban space, yet is currently not offered to AU students. The funding will also support a graduate student to construct a website and video archive-­‐enabling virtual dialogue and continued advancement of this medium.

Lourdes Betanzos and Gilda Socarras (Foreign Languages and Literatures), Computer Adaptive Placement Test Adoption and Application

Sandra Forsythe, Wi-Suk Kwon, and Sang-Eun Byun (Consumer Affairs), Attend ‘Market Week’ in New York City with Dillard’s Retail Buyers

Changhoon Jung (Political Science), Service Delivery in American Cities and Counties

Annette Kluck (Psychology), Introduction to the MMPI-2-RF Workshop

Libba McMillan (Nursing), Travel Grant Request: 6th National Nursing Education Congress

Ann Beth Presley (Consumer Affairs), Creativity Workshop

Linda Cain Ruth, Ross Heck, and Bruce Dupree (Building Science and Industrial Design and Alabama Cooperative Extension Service System), Ending at the Beginning. Beginning at the End: Development of a Textbook for BSCI 1100 History and Introduction to Construction

JoEllen Sefton (Kinesiology), Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Certification Course

Michael Squillacote, J.Vincent Oritz, Orlando Acevedo, and Anne Gorden (Chemistry), Improvement of Organic Chemistry Laboratory Courses 2071 and 2081”

Elizabeth Wagner (Animal Science), Supplemental Teaching Materials for the Equine Science Option in the Department of Animal Sciences

Sanjeev Baskiyar (Computer Science and Software Engineering)

Supplementing Computer Architecture Instruction with Comic Strips: This project proposes a bold new initiative in supplementing computer architecture instruction with comic strips developed using the “Socratic Instruction Method” which emphasizes dialog. We believe that our approach will help deal with challenges in learning and teaching computer architecture. It will instill critical thinking and creativity among students and produce better computer scientists and engineers for the next generation information technology needs of the nation and world.

Debra Beard (Clinical Sciences)

Funding for EduCause Institute Learning Technology Leadership Program: The objective of this project is to provide support for The College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) curriculum faculty in the use of instructional technology by training a faculty member in for a leadership role in this area, specifically by providing funding for me to attend the EDUCAUSE Instituted Learning Technology Leadership Program 2007. The program is designed to broaden perspectives and develop leadership abilities, enabling participants to assume leadership roles in applying learning technology to improve teaching and learning within their institutions. As the chair of the Instructional Technology committee for the CVM, I am in a position to provide informal and formal leadership to support other faculty in their instructional endeavors.

Lindy Biggs and Matthew Williams (History)

Sustainability in the Curriculum Workshop: The Fall Line Project: This proposal requests funding for a workshop that will be the second in a series of yearly workshops to help integrate sustainability and environmental literacy into the Auburn University curriculum. Through the curriculum workshops our goal is to enhance knowledge of sustainability and provide faculty with tools and skills to begin changing their courses. Thereby, we will build a strong foundation for education for the future.

Philip Chaney (Geology & Geography)

Hazards Education: Teaching Hazards Courses: The Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005 and the Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster of 2004 awakened many people to the need for expanding opportunities in the field of natural hazards education. In response to this growth, a panel discussion session has been organized for the forthcoming meeting of the Association of American Geographers at San Francisco, CA. I was invited to serve as a panelist because of my previous teaching and research experience in natural hazards. Participation in this project will provide an opportunity for me to exchange ideas with instructors from across the U.S., which will contribute to my efforts to enhance the educational experience for AU students.

William Daniels and Jeff Terhune (Fisheries & Aquaculture)

Global Training in Aquaculture: The Uganda Experience: Dr. Jeff Terhune, Assistant Professor, and I plan to take my Aquaculture Production class on the road to Uganda to train undergraduate and graduate students using Uganda as the living classroom. The goal is to train students in aquaculture and international development but also to provide a truly cross-­‐cultural experience working side-­‐by-­‐side with Uganda students and farmers. This will be the first time that this course or any Fisheries course has been taught in an international environment. It is expected that based upon the success of teaching this in Uganda, the course will be taught again on a regular basis in Uganda or another country where AU is actively involved in aquaculture development and will serve as a catalyst for other courses to be taught likewise.

Peter Walter Grandjean (Health and Human Performance)

Development of Instructional Multimedia to Improve Practitioner-Client Interaction in a Curriculum-Based Health Assessment Outreach Program: The purpose of this project is to develop instructional multimedia designed to enhance the learning and practice of knowledge, skills and abilities related to practitioner-­‐client interaction during health assessment and exercise program management. Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students in the Health Promotion Program will develop video-­‐recorded segments of rehearsed health assessments (case scenarios) designed to enhance understanding of pulmonary function, body composition, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility, and cardiovascular responses to exercise through graded exercise testing. These case scenarios will be developed, edited and made available to our students in different formats. Our students will be able to view the scenarios—during and outside of class and prior to actually working with a client—in order to analyze and discuss optimal ways to interact with people they are learning to serve.

Mahmoud Mansour and Elaine Coleman (Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology)

Plastinated Specimens for Teaching Veterinary Gross Anatomy: The object of this project is to craft permanent plastinated specimens for gross anatomy instruction. The proposal will benefit both freshmen and senior veterinary students seeking to refresh their anatomical information. Finished plastinated structures will be displayed in glass cabinets in the veterinary gross anatomy laboratory with disclosure of the Daniel F. Breeden Endowed Grant Program as the source of funding. This project will produce dry, safe, odorless and durable plastinated specimens. As much they will be valuable adjunct tools for teaching gross anatomy of large and small animals.

Daniela Marghitu (Computer Science and Software Engineering) and Elizabeth Zylla-Jones (Communication Disorders)

Enhancing Graduate Students’ Professional Skills Using Instructional Technology and Assistive: Educational Technology Applications in Auburn University Summer Outreach Computer Literacy Program for Children: This is a multidimensional computer literacy program, designed to enhance computer knowledge and technology skills for a targeted population of typical and special needs children, ages eight to fourteen. It was developed by the Auburn University Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering and the Auburn University Department of Communication Disorders. The objective of this program is two-­‐fold. The first objective is to offer the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering and the Department of Communication Disorders graduate students the opportunity to work with peers from different disciplines, knowledge of serving children from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, knowledge of working with special needs children in an inclusive program, understanding of the current level of effectiveness of educational computer programs, and ideas to enhance these educational computer applications both on the technological and pedagogical level. The second objective is to provide the community with a computer camp geared toward both typical children and children with special needs.

Theresa McComick (Curriculum and Teaching)

Annual Conference of the National Council for the Social Studies: This proposal seeks funds to attend a conference on teaching, learning, and research in the specific content area of social studies education. As an elementary social studies teacher educator, and an eager scholar of teaching and learning, this conference is an opportunity to learn and collaborate with other teacher educators surrounding the topic of teaching and learning in my specialized field. Since I am the only elementary social studies teacher educator in the College of Education, I have a strong desire to participate in professional development opportunities that provide me with examples of effective and innovative instructional strategies for the courses I tech along with developing research agendas with other teacher educators in my field. Specifically, this proposal seeks funds for the costs of registration, meals, travel (airline), and hotel accommodations for four nights.

Natasha McCurry (Building Science)

A Manual for Teaching Shop Drawings and Submittals: New building science graduates, interns, and co-­‐operative education students, are frequently tasked with checking submittals and shop drawings. This task is often viewed, by the student, as one of minimal importance because their superiors have handed-­‐off the task to someone who is not proficient in the knowledge that is necessary to perform this task, which could be better performed by very experienced workers. The applicant has attempted to implement teaching/learning modules that would sufficiently prepare the students for their upcoming careers, with respect to the knowledge necessary to perform these tasks; and has realized the need for a set of guidelines and hands-­‐on examples that must come from the experts in the industry. Since a manual is not currently available, the applicant proposes to visit and interview industry professionals in order to create such a manual.

Nancy Noe (Reference & Instruction)

Library Instruction Workshop: Recent national assessments indicate that students’ ability to locate, evaluate and effectively use information is not at the level expected of undergraduate college students. To address in part this deficiency, library teaching faculty recognize that there is a need to move away from “traditional” library instruction to a more effective teaching model. Effective library instruction focuses on specific outcomes, actively engaging students and teaching the skills student’s need to not only successfully complete their classroom assignments, but providing them with the necessary information literacy skills essential for their academic and work careers. By bringing in an outside expert in library instruction and information literacy to conduct a workshop, library teaching faculty would develop a greater understanding of information literacy concepts and skills and learn to develop more effective and engaging library instruction sessions.

Mary Ann Potter (Consumer Affairs)

Talking Walls: The goal of this Grant is to enhance student learning in selected interior design subject matter. The proposal is to purchase a digital camera and with the use of a computer create custom-­‐made educational media for three Interior Design classes. With the service of E-­‐Reserve available through RBD Library, these media will be available to students at any time from any Internet-­‐connected computer by accessing the University website and entering the assigned password for the course E-­‐Reserve materials. An additional element of the Proposal is to create a photographic documentation of Interior Design students engaged in the full range of class activities that support the Interior Design program’s compliance with Standards set by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation, the accrediting body for Interior Design programs.

Sharon Roberts (Biological Sciences)

American Society for Microbiology Scholars in Residence Program: The purpose of this program is to train microbiology faculty to perform research on student learning in microbiology. I proposed to study the impact of assignments designed to develop students’ metacognitive abilities on their performance and confidence in the discipline. I am seeking funding from the Breeden endowment to cover travel, room and board and registration.

Carolyn Robinson, Amy Wright, Beth Clendenen and Raymond Kessier (Horticulture)

Horticulture Study Abroad Program in England: The Horticulture Study Abroad Program to Myerscough Agricultural College in Bilsborow, England is a six-­‐week program led by Myerscough faculty that includes class time lectures; hands-­‐on experience and training in British landscape garden design, care, and maintenance; and weekend travel throughout England and parts of Europe. This grant would aid our faculty members to travel to England to expand both their teaching philosophy as well as enrich their course content. As a University, our challenge is to create citizens of the world, what better way than to promote study abroad programs such as this and incorporate more worldly views in our courses.

Cheryl Seals (Computer Science) and Laura Suh (Biological Science)

Student Teaching to Enhance Student Learning: The development and refining of innovative teaching methods are finding increased support on college campuses. Here we describe a student learning method that requires the student to transfer information from one faculty member to another. Student-­‐Teaching is a proven method for increasing a student’s retention of information. There are several goals for this study: 1. To instruct a student in web page design using computer software; 2. To study the dynamics of student learning and teaching; 3. To develop a web page for the faculty member that will be supportive of their research program and easily modified by someone new to web page design and development.

Michelle Sidler (English)

English Composition II Curricular Training: The results of University-­‐wide assessment such as the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) indicate that the writing skills of Auburn students are slightly lower than those of peer institutions and that Auburn students tend to write less throughout their academic careers than at comparable schools. In response, the University is investigating ways to support writing throughout the curriculum. To support the University’s commitment to writing instruction, the Composition Program is transforming the first-­‐year writing core sequence, developing its curriculum to better support writing in the core and in upper-­‐level disciplinary courses. By concentrating on specific theme-­‐related issues, students’ writing will include deeper inquiry, more sophisticated research, and academically-­‐rigorous writing situations.

Elizabeth Spangler, Elizabeth Welles and Elizabeth Whitley (Pathobiology)

Construction of a Case-based Microscopic Image Database that Illustrates the Results of Diagnostic Tests for Diseases in Veterinary Species: Veterinary students must be able to become familiar with features of both normal and abnormal findings in order to correctly interpret the written results that they receive. To facilitate this process, we propose to create a web-­‐based digital repository of cytologic and histopathologic images from cases representative of those that often confront a practicing veterinarian. The format of the database will provide an overview of a problem through presentation of a specific case with photomicrographs that illustrate the results of both cytologic and histopathologic evaluations. This will be accompanied by a brief discussion of how these diagnostic strategies contribute to the diagnosis. A further aim is to emphasize that various diagnostic imaging modalities complement one another, and that interpretation of each followed by a synthesis of the information gained is the optimal path to reaching a diagnosis and developing a treatment plan.

Ken Tilt and Wheeler Foshee (Horticulture)

Teaching New Product Introduction: Propagation, Production, and Marketing of Nelumbo nucifera and Nelumbo lutea: Faculty and students trips to China, Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand over the past six years has led a multi-­‐state, international project to evaluate the potential of Lotus as a crop for the Blackbelt region of Alabama to help offer economic stimulus to this depressed area. The project will be designed as a hands-­‐on educational offering to teach the history and culture of this crop as well as the basic physiology of this special water plant. Students will also be taught the planning and current progress of the developing BMP’s for production and marketing of this new crop. The research process will be taught and students will be involved in propagating, planting, fertilization, pest management and asked to assist on the thought process of shipping and handling of the product. New students will be taught the research process and older committed students will be taught production management skills. We will be looking for participation and ideas to improve the process from their fresh and varied perspective.

Carole Zugazaga (Sociology)

Insider’s Look at Washington Politics: A Public Policy Seminar for Professors (Conference): I am submitting this application in order to participate in a seminar entitled “Insider’s Look at Washington Politics: A Public Policy Seminar for Professors” offered by The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) this summer in Washington, DC. The seminar is designed specifically for faculty who teach about American government and politics and is designed to provide insights into how public policy is formulated, to help faculty to reinvigorate subject matter and teaching material for courses, and to foster discussion of current policy issues with national leaders and public policy experts. I believe that each of these activities will serve to enhance the educational experience of students who enroll each Spring and Fall in my SOWO 4090 Social Welfare Policy class. I am confident that this seminar will enable me to become a better, more informed and experienced teacher, advisor and mentor to students at Auburn University.