Kelly Richmond Pope: Accounting

This grant was created to enhance the instructional quality of DePaul's ACC 303 undergraduate cost accounting course. Because many students lack the practical knowledge to completely grasp the subject matter in a cost accounting course, Dr. Pope decided to implement a project entitled "The Cookie Project" to enhance the student's learning experience. The project was designed to give students a hands-on experience on business planning, budgeting, strategic marketing and financial statement preparation.
The project activities allowed the students to not only have hands-on experience with business formation, but it also allowed them to take part in product creation and development and product marketing, along with tracking product costs and summarizing the results using managerial accounting reports.

Delvin Grant and Yujong Hwang: Accounting

This grant was designed to improve and modernize the information technology infrastructure that supports MIS courses in the School of Accountancy and MIS, allowing for the expansion of new information technology (IT) applications to support and enhance new and existing courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. Prospective beneficiaries of this grant are the undergraduate MIS and E-Business programs, the MBA MIS concentration, and the Masters in Business Information Technology. The grant will help acquire the following applications for use: SharePoint Server 2005, SQL Server 2005, Rational Software Architect, Visual Studio 2005, and Reporting Services 2005.

Jane Eva Baxter-Gordon: Anthropology Program

Dr. Baxter-Gordon received funding to support travel to the Bahamas during July of 2008 on a significantly revised study abroad program. She strived for updated preparation courses to keep the course content current and relevant for students, and also to keep the material engaging and vibrant for the instructor. Her proposal requested funding to visit Nassau and Great Abaco in order to meet primary goals in relation to the desired program changes. Visiting Great Abaco to develop curricular materials for student activities, identifying new archaeological sites appropriate for student training and research, and creating new collaborative learning exercises to support student research were the three goals Dr. Baxter-Gordon set in her grant proposal. The funding to support travel to the Bahamas was an essential part of this course revision process.

Thomas S. Mondschean: Economics

This grant was awarded to Dr. Mondschean to enhance both the quality and quantity of the podcasts he intends to complete in the next two years. He plans to develop podcasts on various topics for his Money and Banking course that students can download for additional review. In addition, he plans to develop online materials that will cover approximately one half of his MBA Business Conditions Analysis course. The materials and additional learning tools that he develops will enhance student learning.

Julie Hwang: Geography

This grant was given to Dr. Hwang to support her efforts in enhancing an advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) curriculum geared to urban sustainability.
The proposed course GEO244 (GIS III) will elaborate on the use of GIS in illuminating selected issues in urban sustainability. GIS, or broadly defined geotechnology, was named one of the three most emerging employment fields according to the Department of Labor (2004). Gearing the advanced GIS curriculum to urban sustainability rests upon the reflection that there is a need for rethinking GIS pedagogy, which is in high demand. GIS is a multidisciplinary, application-driven, and methodology course. GIS is primarily concerned with "how" to address geographic problems mainly through quantitative approaches that are also powered by advances in geotechnology. The study of GIS education (corroborated by the author's observation in the field) indicates that students learn more effectively when methods (GIS) are amalgamated with real-world subject matters (urban sustainability). Completing the proposed course, students will be more proficient in applying GIS methods to urban sustainability issues, and synthesizing related themes in compliance with coherent empiricism.

Elizabeth Hardman: School of Education

This grant was awarded to Dr. Hardman's project, which is designed to enrich DePaul's quality of instruction by infusing training in the empirically validated Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) into to the course of study offered by the Language, Literacy, and Specialized Instruction (LLSI) program for special education teachers. Hardman, a member of the special education faculty, will obtain certification in SIM by attending two summer institutes offered from the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas. She will then collaborate with the LLSI faculty to determine where SIM training can be incorporated into existing methods courses. When the project is completed, LLSI teacher candidates will receive training in SIM as a part of their coursework, which will allow them to implement the model in their classrooms and should also enhance the quality of instruction in every school that employs one of DePaul's special education graduates.

Kevin Downing, Jennifer Holtz, and Beth Rubin: School for New Learning

James A. Montgomery and Margaret Workman: Environmental Science

Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Workman see vast potential for online learning in the Environmental Science Program. DePaul's Vision Twenty12 Strategic Plan sets an ambitious course for the University to become a leader in the delivery of innovative, technology-based and flexible high quality educational experiences for its students. This grant will help the Environmental Science Program (ESP) increase its limited online learning experiences for students enrolled in its courses. With increasing interest in environmental issues among the American populace, with the expected increase in both the number of high school graduates in the next two years as well as adult learners, and with the explosion of online learning programs at many American universities, the ESP is poised to develop a variety of online learning experiences for multiple audiences with varying needs.