Faculty

Chemistry Review Resource

This project aims to develop a web application to enhance students' review processes in chemistry courses. Currently, past exam and workshop problems are provided in PDF form. While helpful, these resources require students to manually search through years of materials, using their judgment to identify relevant problems. This process is inefficient and limits the precision with which students can address specific areas of difficulty. The proposed web application will allow students to search for practice questions based on criteria such as topic, module, exam, and question type. Each question will link to corresponding OpenStax textbook sections and time-stamped lecture recordings covering the tested concepts. These features will help students focus on learning goals and track their progress, creating a motivating feedback loop. Lightboard recordings will enhance the quality of the lecture clips as needed. Using UR IT-supported tools, the platform will launch for CHEM 204 in spring 2025. Following a successful pilot, it will expand to other chemistry courses and, eventually, other disciplines within the University.

Using AI Tools to Fast-Track Content Creation

This project proposes using three AI tools—Synthesia, Hey Gen, and Eleven Labs—to accelerate content creation. Instructional designers (IDs) from each group will collaborate with subject matter experts (SMEs) to develop microlearning videos, online modules, communications, or podcasts using these tools. These AI tools will address time constraints SMEs face, streamline workflows, and enable “optimization of teacher roles.” According to Training Magazine’s Leveraging AI for L&D white paper, AI tools will create “draft” videos as “thought starters” that IDs can rework and refine.  Synthesia creates “studio-quality videos” from text or a slide deck using AI-generated avatars. It is already being widely used within the industry. Hey Gen creates “studio-quality videos” from text with AI-generated avatars but also translates videos of up to 30 minutes in 175+ languages/dialects.

Enhancing Student Support through the URcourseBot: A Collaborative Pilot Program

This project will pilot the use of the URCourseBot across schools to provide innovative support for faculty and students. This initiative responds to the rapid development of AI by fostering adaptive and forward-thinking strategies that enhance education at the University of Rochester. Simon Business School has developed and piloted this, and it is currently operating within a small-scale team. This project proposes to collaborate with two schools, Simon Business School and Warner School of Education, as a team for large-scale support across schools within the University of Rochester. 

AI READE (AI REsearch And DEvelopment): A pilot project for integrating generative AI Tools in Business, Education, and Nursing at the University of Rochester

In the swiftly advancing field of artificial intelligence (AI), the profound impact of Generative (Gen) AI tools on higher education is unmistakably clear. However, a recent study by Tyton Partners (2023) notes that nearly half of college students use a GenAI tool, while only 22% of faculty have adopted these technologies into their own practice. This is a quintessential moment for establishing cross-disciplinary working groups that pilot and evaluate AI tools to support the University community in feeling more comfortable and confident in GenAI technologies. Our proposal centers on two main goals: 1) advancing faculty and student knowledge and use of GenAI and 2) establishing a working group to pilot emerging GenAI multimodal and plugin capabilities that have the potential to significantly benefit course content creation and assessment and feedback to students.

Digital Professional Excellence Badges

This project will evaluate and implement a digital badging tool for the University. It will start with two schools, the Warner School of Education and the School of Nursing. In the Warner School of Education, this project will impact the six pathways to earn a micro-credential and digital professional excellence badge. Specifically, the micro-credentials are Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Leading Organizational Innovations, Decision Making with Data, Professional Learning, Policy and Social Change, and Online Learning. Each micro-credential and associated badge require the completion of nine-credits in the Warner School with some choice within each program. In the School of Nursing the pilot would focus on both student learning and faculty development. The Center for Lifelong Learning (CLL) would like to offer badging for the Care Manager Education Program (NSG084.Continuous.252525) The use of micro-credentials and an associated digital badge would allow students to connect their achievement to their social media, such as LinkedIn profiles to display their accomplishments. Additionally, the School of Nursing would like to offer micro-credentials for completion of different faculty development activities done through Blackboard that can also be linked to social media profiles, such as LinkedIn to display their accomplishments. The pilot would include two tracks of faculty development, one for new faculty and master’s in nursing education students (two courses) and one for new and current faculty and master’s in nursing education students (four courses).

Leveling Up Hy-Flex teaching and Learning

This project is a continuation of the 2022 grant award Personalizing the Hy-Flex Experience. We have continued to increase our hy-flex knowledge base at the University and there is further interest to continue exploring and supporting hy-flex teaching and learning. This project maintains the existing work and will expand in two ways: 1) enact a systematic dissemination strategy that supports increased engagement in hy-flex at the University and 2) expand technical support outside of the Warner School to two additional graduate schools and a fellowship.  

Playposit

This project is a pilot of PlayPosit, which is a tool used to create activities within video content. The goal of the project is to leverage PlayPosit to enhance student learning activities. PlayPosit can be used synchronously or asynchronously and facilitates dynamic, engaging learning experiences by incorporating various activities (eight different question types or “build your own template”) into the assignment. PlayPosit provides an opportunity for a university license and is easy to use. Faculty could potentially create their own interactions within video content with minimal assistance. 

Harmonize

This project is a pilot of Harmonize, which is a new discussion board platform that provides a modern, engaging experience. It offers the capability of incorporating text, images, and multimedia within posts seamlessly, including the ability to annotate images as part of the discussion. In addition to providing a discussion board that is more sophisticated, Harmonize offers capabilities that could possibly eliminate the need to support other platforms at the University. This pilot will allow faculty and staff to see how well it performs in those areas and the potential to reduce technology fatigue among both faculty and students.  

Personalizing the Hy-Flex Learning Experience

The Learning in the Digital Age (LiDA) research center in the Warner School recently organized forums to identify current challenges faculty and students experience in HyFlex environments and explore opportunities to improve the HyFlex delivery model. This project seeks to address the challenges faced by faculty at the University who wish to increase engagement and find balance when teaching in hybrid-flexible environments. The goals of the project are to pilot recommended and innovative strategies when teaching HyFlex to address challenges noted and document implementation to strengthen delivery methods beyond the scope of the project partners. The project includes piloting three hardware strategies over three academic semesters in a variety of courses and contexts.

Standards-Based Assessment of Individual Students’ Music Achievement

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, faculty at the Eastman School of Music developed a web application designed to collect standards-based achievement from secondary instrumental students who Eastman student teachers were working with (in many cases virtually) in fall 2020. This was broadened with several instrumental music teachers in early 2021. In spring 2021, ESM faculty collaborated with the Goergen Institute for Data Science in AS&E, to sponsor a capstone project—where Goergen students analyzed individual student data. This project will now expand with additional digital instrument technology and the enhancement to the web application to run new pilot studies with both elementary-aged students and collegiate instrumental music education majors and develop a model for commissioning new musical repertoire units for the web application to be written by composers from diverse backgrounds.

Communicate with Canva

Acquisition of Canva Pro licenses will pilot the exploration of instructors in the Writing Speaking and Argument Program in AS&E, students, and staff producing high-quality, professional presentations, and marketing materials for the communication of academic ideas, course-related events, and enrichment opportunities.

Articulate 360 Instructional Design Trial

The University of Rochester School of Nursing (SON) Instructional Design (ID) team works with faculty to utilize best educational practices to create engaging activities for faculty and students. Acquiring Articulate 360, an instructional software tool will enable the ID team to exponentially expand interactive content that aligns with active learning strategies across a variety of SON programs. Specifically, the ID team will use Articulate 360 to design self-check quizzes, escape room activities, and a free introductory module.

The 21stCentury Resident Didactic Model: Enhancement with Technology

Formal didactics in the University of Rochester neurology residency program consist of four weekly lectures. Given current challenges with the didactic curriculum, this project integrates technology to facilitate synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences and modernize the curriculum. Additional technologies to optimize sessions will include: 1) simulation technology for procedural education; 2) multiple-choice question bank software for resident assessment and development of a question bank; and 3) interactive case-and problem-based learning web module.

The Adoption of Extended Reality as a Teaching Pedagogy at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC)

This project aims at establishing an extended reality (XR) lab at the URMC as a space that enables the use of virtual reality (VR) and different forms of XR for learning. This project intends to provide students and healthcare professionals at the URMC with VR as a high-end technology for medical training. With the preliminary success of a pilot study on the use of VR in empathy training for SMD students, and with the increasing interest in the technology among medical educators, it has become essential to establish an accessible and sustainable space that is well-designed and well-equipped for VR training.

Fostering Scholarship and Use of Educational Technology in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Educational Interventions: An On-line Faculty Development Program

The goal of this project is to develop a community of medical educators with skills in scholarly approaches to designing and evaluating effective, meaningful DEI interventions while integrating educational technology. By creating a partnership between the Medical Center and the Warner School, we will bridge expertise in DEI education in general with a focus on medical education specifically. Sessions will be held every four to six weeks. By integrating educational technology into the delivery of the program, along with explicit teaching about how to use the technology simultaneously with the discussion of each topic, the project aims to foster knowledge and skill development along with the development of a community of practice. Discussions will also be framed by theoretical literature from a variety of fields, along with a focused examination of practical educational efforts aimed at improving equity across the landscape of medical education.

Technology to Support the Synchronous Hybrid Virtual Classroom

The goal of this project is to create a synchronous hybrid experience for new hire orientation, staff and leadership development classes, and departmental meetings. State-of-the-art technology will create the experience of in-person participation for hybrid teams and integrate with existing technology used at the University and will support Nursing, Learning and Development, and Human Resources.

Using AhaSlides to Gamify New Hire Orientation

Onboarding new hires at the University of Rochester Medical Center has taken a dramatic turn in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many activities are now done virtually or condensed to shorter formats. This pilot project of a new instructional software application will provide an easy route for educators to create microlearning, in the form of interactive games, to review key points and better engage new hires during the instructor-led portion of orientation, whether it is over Zoom or face-to-face in a classroom. Procurement of educator licenses for the AhaSlides program will allow educators to create gamified slides for orientations at the University, department, and unit level. This is especially critical for Nursing Practice, the largest department at the University of Rochester, which is onboarding more than 1,000 nurses per year.

eTheoryLive: AP Music Theory

The Institute for Music Leadership (IML) and the Eastman Community Music School’s (ECMS) joint proposal, eTheoryLive: AP Music Theory, will focus on the design, production, implementation, and assessment of an online AP Music Theory course. This project will aim to increase the national and international reach of ECMS and IML and will function as a pilot of ECMS’s large-scale online distance learning program, which will provide online individual lessons and academic group classes to K-12 students and adults. The course may serve as a model for future AP-level courses offered by the University of Rochester.

Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR)

UtilizingImmersive Virtual Reality (IVR) in the Clinical Training of Medical and Nursing Students and Health Professionals, a project from the Warner School of Education, the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the School of Nursing, and the Institute for Innovative Education, will support IVR as a pedagogical strategy to develop high-end clinical training programs. This project will be utilizing existing technologies in the Reality Lab @ Miner Library in the Medical Center. The project aims to better train healthcare students and professionals in decision making, critical thinking, and clinical reasoning by integrating the technology of IVR.

UR Launch Pad 

Arts, Sciences, & Engineering, the Warner School of Education, and the overall University Community will benefit from Rettner Hall’s UR Launch Pad Collection project. Rettner Hall, designed as a hub for innovation on River Campus, will update and bolster their equipment collections to improve student, faculty and staff’s access and understanding of digital technology. This lending technology library will give future educators access to new technology in order to encourage innovation in and out of the classroom.      

Padlet Backpack

Padlet Backpack, a project from the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Institute for Innovative Education, and the School of Nursing, will utilize an innovative on-line platform which will encourage students and instructors to serve as collaborators by posting documents, photos, videos, and more to a class-specific board, allowing active engagement outside of the physical confines of the classroom.

Webwork 

Arts, Sciences, & Engineering and the Department of Mathematics will further the use of Webwork at the University of Rochester by hosting a two-day regional Webwork conference in the summer of 2020. Webwork, scientifically proven as an effective teaching tool, relies on a repository of questions and answers which have been curated and selected by instructors. This conference will enable the ongoing development of Webwork and professional development and support of instructors.

Piloting Blackboard Ally for Courses with UR Faculty and Students

The goal of the project is to create more accessible content for all students through instructor training and implementation of Blackboard Ally. Professors in AS&E, Eastman, SON, SMD, and Warner will be able to review, measure, and change their content to provide a more inclusive learning environment.

Piloting the Yellowdig Online Software Platform

The goal of the project is to explore a new, innovative tool for student and instructor interaction within the University Blackboard system. Professors in SON, SMD, and Warner will facilitate meaningful exchange in their courses in the spring and summer semesters.

Enhancing Medical Education with a Shared Virtual Reality Lab

The goal of the project is to explore new methods and virtual reality technologies for 3D visualization of anatomy. Professors in SON and SMD will use immersive content that will encourage active student participation.

Technology Tools for Online Teaching & Learning

The goal of this project is to create Light Boards and a One Button Studio. Professors in AS&E and SMD will be able to easily produce high-quality videos which will impact their students through innovative instructional experiences.

Mediate: A Time-Based Media Annotation Tool

The goal of this project is to enable opportunities for students to annotate multimedia content in their media literacy assignments and research. Professors in AS&E and Eastman will expand on the existing Mediate project to enhance the experience in their courses.

Qwickly Attendance

The goal of this project is to expand the pilot of the Qwickly tool. Professors in AS&E, SON, SMD, and Warner will streamline the process of taking student attendance in their courses.

Gradescope

The goal of this project is to introduce a new tool into the University Blackboard system that improves the grading process of exams in science and mathematics. Professors in AS&E and the Simon School will pilot Gradescope to more efficiently and consistently assess student performance.

Ultrasound at the Bedside: Point-of-Care Ultrasonography for Third-Year Medical Students

The goal of this project is to build on recent advancements in Point-of-Care (POC) ultrasound as an educational tool. Professors in SMD and SON will use POC ultrasound as a cost-effective means to facilitate the translation of basic science knowledge into bedside clinical care.

Teaching with Technology Showcase

The goal of this project is to capture and share promising and effective experiences of University of Rochester faculty who are using innovative approaches to instruction. The River Campus Libraries will collaborate with professors in AS&E and Warner to build an initial web presence for this success stories. It is anticipated that this will expand to all of these Educational IT Innovation Grant projects and involve faculty from all schools.