2012 Hybrid Challenge Mini-Grant Recipient Project Descriptions

This information comes from the faculty, their abstract overview of course redesign projects and bulleted summary of the case for why students will best learn from this proposed hybrid technology-enhanced course. In alphabetical order.

Margo Bagley & John Duffy, School of Law
Law 8010: Patent Law
The availability and scope of patent protection is increasingly important in the knowledge economy. Advances in biotechnology, controversial uses of patent rights, and divergent court opinions are impacting this area in far-reaching ways. This course will explore many of these developments while maintaining a primary focus on the principal rules pertaining to patent protection and enforcement and the policies underlying these rules. Neither a technical nor scientific background is necessary for this course.
Expected enrollment: 40 undergraduates

Abstract:Our proposal is to modify an existing course, patent law, to include a supplemental online video component comprising 5-10 minute, high quality, instructional videos of at least four seminal United States Supreme Court patent cases.   The format is consistent with modern flipped classroom” experiments, which incorporate explanatory lectures into students homework with more classroom time for discussion/problem-solving.  The videos will not include images of the instructor but will instead focus exclusively on the cases being taught. We will be able to focus students attention on specific passages in each case (displayed on screen in the videos) and to explain the importance of the text in those passages.  Law students must develop the analytical skills necessary to read such materials with care, so an extreme emphasis on such texts has great pedagogical value.  The videos will help students learn directly from primary source materials and serve as bridges between such materials and class lectures.

Glen Bull & Mable Kinzie, Curry School of Education
EDIS 3450: Teaching with Technology
This course provides an introduction to integration of technology into the K-12 classroom, focusing on approaches specific to the pedagogies of each content area.
Expected enrollment: 120 undergraduates

Abstract: The U.S. Department of Education forecasts that half of all high school courses will be taught online by 2020. It is critically important to prepare future teachers to teach effectively in this new environment. In response to this need, the Curry School of Education will pilot a Teacher Education course supported by the University's Hybrid Challenge initiative.

The pilot implementation will employ the Curry School's Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) foundational design for Effective Classroom Interactions (ECI) in online environments. Two new, Curry School-developed online tools will be evaluated in the pilot: Discourse, a discussion tool developed with the explicit goal of supporting online courses, and Display, a tool developed for presentation of interactive video-based teaching cases. Student engagement and performance will be compared with a traditionally-taught section of the course. The model developed will subsequently serve as a template for other teacher education courses.

Matthew Burtner, Music
MUSI 2350: Technosonics: Digital Sound Art Composition
Technosonics explores the history, theory and practice of digital music and sound art composition. Students learn tools and techniques while exploring music of many genres and traditions. Digital tools have changed the way we make and listen to music. Through composition, performance and social media this class will engage directly with the living practice of digital music. Students compose original compositions and these can be preformed via the Digitalis podcast on the iTunes store. We also form a MICE Orchestra, an orchestral-scale human-computer ensemble using mobile computing for live, interactive performance. Through NOMADS, a unique, UVA-designed social network we will interact with one another and with students at other universities.
Expected Enrollment: 240 undergraduates

Abstract: The large course format poses difficult challenges for teaching composition. Among them: how can the instructor provide appropriate individual attention to student work? In 2006 I created the Technosonics: Digital Sound Art Composition course (MUSI 2350, 240 students). In addition to being a popular class, Technosonics is an ongoing arts education experimentation lab. We have developed new education approaches, and numerous open source technologies such as computer music composition software, the MICE Orchestra, and recently the NOMAD System. NOMADS (Network-Object Mobile-Agent Dynamic System) is a UVA-developed technology, invented by Burtner and developed by the Interactive Media Research Group (IMRG) in the Music Department. NOMADS consists of a network client/server-based architecture and a suite of specific applications used for group collaboration. Participants interact with the system through their own phones, tablets, laptops and other web-enabled devices over the wireless network. The system transforms the way large groups collaborate in presentation contexts. For example, students can dynamically participate in large lecture classes, concert audiences can interact with performances, and remote groups can collaborate and share in real time. NOMADS participants access a suite of software tools for individual and group expression across existing wireless networks. The software parses participant input, revealing valuable group trends and allowing individual expression. We will use NOMADS to create an augmented, interactive classroom in Technosonics. The professor and students will collaborate in a local forum context using a combination of network and in-person engagement. We will harness social networking approaches to turn the augmented classroom into a vibrant music design forum.

Charles M. Grisham, Chemistry
CHEM 1410/1610: Introductory College Chemistry and CHEM 1411/1611: Introductory Chemistry Laboratory
Introduces the principles and applications of chemistry. Topics include stoichiometry, chemical equations and reactions, chemical bonding, states of matter, thermochemistry, chemical kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases, electrochemistry, nuclear chemistry, and descriptive chemistry of the elements. For students planning to elect further courses in chemistry, physics, and biology. Three class hours, three course credits. The companion Laboratory Course is two credits.
Expected Enrollment: 1250 undergraduates

Abstract: Technology enhancements to CHEM 1411/1611 (Introductory Chemistry Laboratory) will put versatile computational and modeling tools in students' hands in their first semester of college, in a framework that is both visually compelling and easy to use. The goal is that students will not only improve their performance in introductory chemistry but also learn to use these powerful computational and modeling tools, both in subsequent courses (of all kinds) and also in their anticipated professional careers.

Mathematica, from Wolfram Research, is a powerful computational software package used broadly in science, engineering, mathematics, architecture, and many other fields. The University has a site license for Mathematica but it is vastly under-utilized at UVa. This project will create a wide array of software "bridge" packages that will make programming in Mathematica much easier for any student. Students will use these bridge packages to study, model, and solve chemistry problems and to create interactive animations that clarify challenging chemical concepts, for themselves and for other students.

Martien Halvorson-Taylor, Religious Studies
RELC/J 1210: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
Studies the history, literature, and religion of ancient Israel in the light of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Emphasizes methods of contemporary biblical criticism.
Expected enrollment: 180 undergraduates

Abstract: I will use the Hybrid Challenge Mini-Grant for RELC/J 1210 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible to develop my students' capacity to think critically about the biblical text in preparation for section meetings. Working in clusters of five, students will use NowComment to work through the assigned biblical readings for 4-5 of their sections. Using NowComment, I can present the reading assignments line by line on the web. Students will be required to submit original comments and to respond to their fellow students' comments. These two tasks will prompt students not only to read for textual data, but also to reflect on how to read a text well because they are holding each other accountable for being responsible readers. I believe this effort will help us create and sustain a community of critical engagement between our class meetings and will free up class time from going over the basics of the readings so that we can deepen our inquiry into those readings.