Request for proposals for AY 2023–24 courses

Deadline for proposals is Dec. 2, 2022, at 4:30 p.m.

Supported in part by a grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation, RLE Courses use a suite of best practices to engage first- and second-year students and increase both retention and life-long well-being. They are inquiry-based, small-cohort courses in any discipline that foster student identity, agency, and sense of purpose. Students explore questions for which there is no certain answer and frame questions iteratively to inform their next steps. The products of RLE courses have clear and perceived meaning outside of the classroom, and they are an important first step for our students on their transition from knowledge consumers to knowledge producers. Funding is available for two types:

Research Learning Experiences

These one- to four-credit courses are for first-semester, first-year students. With their inquiry- based design and small cohorts RLE courses set a foundation of independent critical thought that future research and scholarship endeavors will build upon. During a pre-semester “bridge” experience, these courses can also connect students:

  • To the campus community
  • To a research mindset
  • To one or more academic disciplines
  • To a UMaine identity

While it is not required, many RLE courses are also woven into and support a faculty member’s professional scholarship. For example, RLE students may write character dialog that could be included in a creative production; conduct interviews that will be used in historical research; or collect data that will be included in a peer-reviewed manuscript. The instructors of RLEs may also qualify for additional financial assistance to finish scholarly works using RLE products.

Advanced RLEs

ARLEs are three (or more) credit courses that dive deeper into a course-based research in students’ second to fourth semesters. An increased sense of purpose in these courses comes from outside collaboration. Student work is relevant to, and occurs as dialog with, an external stakeholder who informs the area of inquiry. ARLEs that travel out of state can qualify for additional funds (see funding levels). Past ARLEs traveled to the Bahamas to explore mosquito-borne diseases, worked with a conservation non-profit to design trails, or met with hospital administrators to explore improvements to the business side of healthcare.

All RLE courses should:

  • Consist of a small student cohort led by a full- time faculty or staff member to build mentoring connections that can last (24 students max)
  • Have at least one-credit-hour worth of RLE pedagogy, which can stand alone (i.e., a one- credit course), be linked to a new or existing course (e.g., as a linked lab or recitation section), or embedded in a new or existing course (e.g., a three-credit course that presents at least 1/3 of its content using RLE pedagogy).
  • Participate in the UMS-wide assessment of these courses, which will include such activities as: distributing student surveys; taking instructor surveys; judging student work using provided rubrics; participating in 1-2 half-day assessment workshops prior to or after the course.
  • Include the learning outcomes (outlined in more detail below) that are shared among all of these courses across UMS (more info and assistance available through CITL).

What is “Research” or a “Research Mindset”?

All RLE courses are meant to provide scholarship experiences for our students, regardless of their degree program or career interests. These courses provide them with a mindset that will help them participate in or prepare for conducting “research,” which we define as a process or approach for scholarly exploration. A research mindset is one that allows students to explore questions for which there is no certain answer and to frame questions that inform how they will make their next steps. Key to this process is an iterative approach, where students expect to encounter obstacles as they begin their exploration in their area of inquiry, and are encouraged to develop skills to overcome those obstacles and continue their exploration.

RLE courses should be an authentic expression of inquiry from a discipline and not consist merely of cookbook exercises that provide exposure to practice. There are many ways to express the RLE pedagogy, and we encourage you to come up with a design that you think will make the best experience. Students in these courses might do things like:

  • Design an artistic performance to create a particular audience experience
  • Conduct bench science to better understand the inner workings of a cell
  • Use literature and interviews to construct a map of a local historical event
  • Gather data to assess the promise of investment in a new business sector
  • Design and execute a sampling protocol to assist with the conservation of an endangered species
  • Participate in a local town planning process that will lead to decisions about how land is used

Proposal Funding Levels & Restrictions

Funds are available to support all RLE courses. These funds may be augmented by other sources. The Harold Alfond Foundation Grant supporting this work will not cover overload wages for instructors teaching RLE courses during the regular semester, so courses must either be within load or overload pay must come from another source. Up to $500 of the funding below may, however, be used as instructor stipend to support course preparation for new or significantly revised RLE courses. Wages for student peer or near-peer mentors is encouraged as a high-impact teaching practice. The maximum awards for centralized funding for each course section are:

1st Year Research Learning Experience (RLE)

$3000 maximum budget for the regular semester, with additional funding possible to
support tailored bridge experiences (see below).

Advanced RLE (ARLE)

$3000 maximum budget for regular courses. $6000 maximum budget for those ARLE
that travel out of state (prep and approval from DLL required)

Instructor Creative Scholarship

RLE/ARLE Instructors may apply for up to $750 after the completion of their class to
support creative work that uses student products from any RLE/ARLE. Funds are not
guaranteed and awards will occur on a rolling basis.

Open Q&A sessions will be held:

All RLE Courses are required to include at least one of the following dispositional and cognitive learning outcomes:


Cognitive

  • Students will formulate appropriately scoped topics or questions that will guide their scholarly exploration.
  • Students will describe their iterative approaches to exploration for work without a defined answer.
  • Students will effectively communicate with collaborators about their experience.
  • Students will demonstrate responsibility for the discovery process.


Dispositional

  • Students will identify the relevance/applicability of their experience beyond the RLE course.
  • Students will reflect on how their exploratory process has helped them develop as learners.
  • Students will explain the importance of belonging to a community for their learning.

Options for First-Semester RLE Bridge Week Experiences

First-semester RLE courses (not ARLEs) also require an intensive week-long “Bridge” experience prior to the regular semester, paired with the regular course meetings during the semester.

If you submit a proposal to fund a new, revised, or existing RLE course, you will be responsible for designing the regular semester experience. You have options, however, for the size of your involvement in the Bridge experience linked to your course—from very little to complete responsibility—and there are more funds available for more involvement.

Instructors who are off contract during bridge week may request additional compensation in their budgets for work under these models. Instructors may apply for both the “one-day field trip” and the “partially tailored bridge week” funds, if they are interested in doing both.

Black Bear Bridge (BBB)

Your students attend a 5-day generalized experience for RLE students in all disciplines that lays a foundation for a “research mindset” and introduces them to campus.

  • You will attend a poster session on the Friday morning before classes start
  • Student & Academic Affairs handle all costs for the week.

One-Day Field Trip

Your students attend the BBB, but spend Wednesday with you for an introductory activity (on or off campus) relevant to your course, but focused on team building and fun.

  • You are in charge of Wednesday and attend the Friday Poster Session.
  • Up to $75 per student to cover your field trip costs. S&AA covers the remainder of the bridge week expenses.

Partially Tailored Bridge

You design the curriculum for Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri mornings. Student and Academic Affairs handles the details for Wednesday and all afternoons and evenings.

  • You are in charge of M, Tu, Th, and F from 9 a.m.- noon
  • Up to $75 per student to cover your morning curriculum for the week.

Fully Tailored Bridge

Students move into their dorms on Sunday and then you fully design a week with them (on or off campus) until the Maine Hello, Friday at noon.

  • You are in charge of the full bridge experience.
  • Up to $6,000 total per course section to cover costs, including travel, housing and dining costs.

Black Bear Bridge (BBB)

Your students attend a 5-day generalized experience for RLE students in all disciplines that lays a foundation for a “research mindset” and introduces them to campus.

  • You will attend a poster session on the Friday morning before classes start
  • Student & Academic Affairs handle all costs for the week.

One-Day Field Trip

Your students attend the BBB, but spend Wednesday with you for an introductory activity (on or off campus) relevant to your course, but focused on team building and fun.

  • You are in charge of Wednesday and attend the Friday Poster Session.
  • Up to $75 per student to cover your field trip costs. S&AA covers the remainder of the bridge week expenses.

Partially Tailored Bridge

You design the curriculum for Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri mornings. Student and Academic Affairs handles the details for Wednesday and all afternoons and evenings.

  • You are in charge of M, Tu, Th, and F from 9 a.m.- noon
  • Up to $75 per student to cover your morning curriculum for the week.

Fully Tailored Bridge

Students move into their dorms on Sunday and then you fully design a week with them (on or off campus) until the Maine Hello, Friday at noon.

  • You are in charge of the full bridge experience.
  • Up to $6,000 total per course section to cover costs, including travel, housing and dining costs.

To apply for funds please fill out the provided proposal and budget templates and submit them to Eden Kalyanapu, via email at eden.kalyanapu@maine.edu, by: Dec. 2, 2022, at 4:30 p.m.

Research Learning Experiences are funded with generous support from the Harold Alfond Foundation as part of UMS TRANSFORMS