A virtual collection of plants for Architecture students, graphics teaching videos for computer science students, a new cutting table to create intricate clothing for costume design students and a comprehensive Web site for women's studies students were among the projects that the Teaching Resource Center and Faculty Senate displayed Friday.
This is the third year that the Teaching Resource Center has allocated $100,000 from a $300,000 grant from the Office of the Vice President and Provost to fund the University Teaching Initiative Forum - projects that were created by various faculty, Faculty Senate Chairwoman-elect Patricia H. Werhane said.
Werhane gave the opening remarks in front of about 25 faculty members in Wilson Hall.
William R. Johnson, Senate Academic Affairs Committee chairman, said after this year his committee will be assessing the success of the University Teaching Initiative.
"The Provost wants an evaluation of the UTI," Johnson said. "We are going to discuss if it should be continued, and what we have learned."
Werhane spoke about the history of the teaching initiative.
"A couple of years ago, the Faculty Senate surveyed things people do in the classroom and encouraged the Provost" to provide the grant, she said.
She added that 38 projects were funded in the program's first year, and 31 were chosen for this year.
After listening to Werhane, faculty members observed poster and panel presentations by several of the grant winners.
Computer Science Prof. David Luebke displayed educational computer graphics videos, which he said he used the grant money to buy.
"Computer graphics are very useful if they are used right," Luebke said. "Their teaching implications are very vast."
Holly Shulman, studies in women and gender professor, talked about her program's new Web site, which includes course listings and faculty resources.
Architecture Prof. Kathy Poole and second-year graduate student Adriane Fowler put together a Web site which gives landscape architect students access to a virtual database of wetland plants, as well as a physical collection of plants.
Engineering Profs. John O' Connell and T.C. Scott used their grant money to design projects that will help their students understand the connection between equations in textbooks and real-life applications, Scott said.
"We wanted to generate some simple experiments that were cheap and easy to build, so we can show them to people at other schools," he said.
Electrical Engineering Prof. Gang Tao and Engineering graduate student Avinash Taware exhibited a digital control system that could be used in everyday applications, such as to control air temperature and for cruise control in automobiles.
Costume Design graduate students Shana Alberry, Janine McCabe and Leslie Thompson wore clothes they had made on a new cutting table funded by the grant, including a costume from the Drama Department's upcoming production of "Marisol."
To apply for a Teaching Initiative grant, a faculty member, department or school can submit a project proposal costing up to $5,000 to Johnson by early 2000.
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