The 2nd call for AL led projects

20th March 2020

eSTEeM is the OU centre for STEM pedagogy. We work by promoting innovation, scholarship and research in teaching, learning and engagement. Our goals are to provide evidence-based scholarship in support of teaching excellence in the STEM Faculty. Much of our work is organised on a project basis aimed at the delivery of new educational outcomes, evaluations and assessments, where appropriate these are reported externally as contributions to STEM pedagogy.

eSTEeM routinely supports projects led by members of the faculty to investigate teaching and learning in STEM. Many ALs have already participated in eSTEeM projects through their work on project teams. We are delighted to announce the 2^nd call for scholarship projects exclusively for OU STEM Associate Lecturers.

We would like to receive fully worked up scholarship project proposals by individual Associate Lecturers or groups of Associate Lecturers.

We envisage receiving project proposals which focus on key aspects of the Associate Lecturer role including, but not limited to: synchronous and asynchronous tuition, correspondence tuition and student support in STEM disciplines. We are also specifically interested in AL led projects which focus on the tuition and support needs of students from our widening participation target groups including BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) students, students with mental health issues, students with disabilities and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds or with low previous educational qualifications.

For examples of the types of projects previously funded by eSTEeM please visit the ‘Projects’ tab.

Key information

eSTEeM projects normally run to completion within 18 months.
Projects will be funded by eSTEeM – day lecturer days (up to a maximum of 30 DLs over an 18-month period) and expenses. The DL allowance may be shared amongst a number of ALs working on the same project.
In addition, eSTEeM may provide support for conference attendance to inform or disseminate project findings and expenses to attend eSTEeM community events.
Scholarship skills development and mentoring will be provided by eSTEeM.
All Associate Lecturer project proposals will require approval from your lead line manager (for each AL on the project team).
All eSTEeM funded project teams are required to submit interim short reports on a regular basis and a final project report within 2 months of completion.
We continue to encourage the involvement of students in STEM scholarship activity. Therefore, we are prioritising projects which involve students as collaborators/co-investigators on the project and not just as participants in a study.

Application process

Please download a project proposal form, please complete and submit it to esteem@open.ac.uk by 17.00 on Friday 29^th May.
Completed project proposals will be reviewed by the eSTEeM Coordination Group and proposers will be notified of the outcome by the 26^th June.
Project proposals which meet eSTEeM’s selection criteria will then be subject to approval from any relevant module team chairs. eSTEeM will seek this approval on behalf of the project team.
Please note that funding is limited and we anticipate funding up to a maximum of 10 proposals in this round.

What to do next

Pre-bidding Workshop, Tuesday 7^th April, 19.00-20.30 via Adobe Connect

We will be holding an online pre-bidding workshop to assist colleagues with the preparation of their eSTEeM project proposal, so please come to the workshop with a specific project in mind. As we will be conducting some breakout activities, places will be limited and available on a first come, first served basis. Please also ensure that you have a fully enabled microphone and confirm your attendance by visiting the registration page by Friday 3^rd April. Please note that attendance to the workshop is not remunerated.

In the meantime, if you have an idea, but not a defined project, and would like to discuss it further in the first instance, then please feel free to contact the eSTEeM management team (esteem@open.ac.uk) or your staff tutor.

AL Skills register

Many eSTEeM projects require assistance with the collection of quantitative and qualitative data. Therefore, if you do not wish to lead a project but would be interested in being involved within a project team, then please complete the skills register and return it to us at esteem@open.ac.uk. We will keep your details on file and when an opportunity arises, we will try to match ALs according to their skills, experience and research area interest.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 17.00 on Friday 29^th May 2020.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to receiving your proposals.