Grants

Small Research Grant Information

Grant Award Announcement

Instructional Connections, LLC, (IC) is pleased to announce our most recent round of research grants totaling $33,148.00 has been awarded to 4 partner institutions. The grants awarded will support scholarly and public discourse and foster the next generation of research around academic coaching. These grants reflect our commitment to innovation in education. The grant awardee and title of their research project is listed below:

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Dr. Tracia Forman, Principal Investigator

Title: Facilitating Achievement through Instructor-Learner Interaction

Louisiana State University
Dr. Sunyoung Park, Principal Investigator

Title: The Effect of Academic Coaches on Student Performance in Intensive Online Learning Environments: Comparisons of Three Courses

University of North Carolina Wilmington
Dr. Melissa Scott, Principal Investigator

Title: Developing Teaching Assistant Guidelines to Improve the Effectiveness of Online Learning in RN-BSN Courses

Purdue University Northwest
Dr. Meghan McGonigal-Kenney, Principal Investigator

Title: Student Engagement in an Online Environment: Academic Coach Experiences

Instructional Connections Commitment to Research & Innovation

Instructional Connections (IC) provides small research grant opportunities for faculty within our partner institutions to conduct research around the efficacy of the Academic Coaching Model in an accelerated course environment across a variety of disciplines. Our goal is to advance the understanding of online learning and its relationship to coaching to continuously improve the learning experience for students. Therefore, we anticipate proposals to demonstrate a strong research design, and stringent analytic methods. In addition, proposals should present a clear and compelling explanation as to how the research proposed may be significant for educational practice. Each proposal should provide a conceptual framework and discuss related research, showing how it will contribute to understanding in ways far beyond the present study.

The call for proposals will end on June 30, 2024. We are open to proposals that seek to research innovative approaches and outcomes around the areas of student support, faculty support, assessment/grading, student persistence, teaching practices or other salient areas of research that involve the Academic Coaching Model. Proposals which are quantitative are highly desirable, however qualitative research proposals will also be considered.

Grants will range from $5,000 to $10,000 and must be completed within a 9 to 12-month time frame. Consideration for submitting an ongoing longitudinal study (3 years or less) may be given if the proposal presented is sufficiently compelling to warrant that consideration. The eligibility requirement for submitting a proposal is the following:

You must be a faculty member at an IC partner institution and currently teaching a course that uses IC Academic Coaches
You must possess a desire to further scholarly research in the area(s) of student support, faculty support, assessment/grading, student engagement, student persistence, teaching practices or other salient areas of research that involve the Academic Coaching Model
You must not use this grant in conjunction with other grants or funds

2024 Grant Application Submission is OPEN!

Our current grant submission process will close on June 30, 2024.

Please sign up for early notification of our future round of grant opportunities HERE.

URL Link: 2024 Small Grant Application

Instructions for Submitting a Proposal can be found HERE

IC Small Grant Budget Policy: IC Budget Policy | IC Grant FAQ’s for Applicants: IC Grant FAQs

Instructional Connections has compiled abstracts for completed research on our academic coaching model, Summary IC Research Abstracts as of 2023

The Application Process

There are 7 parts to the application process. You are required to complete all parts of the application in order for your grant application to be considered.

Section I.

Principal investigator contact information

Section II.

Employment and educational credential information

Section III.

Research interests and methodologies

Section IV.

Proposal summary

Section V.

Proposed budget allocation

Section VI & VII.

Proposal submission

Signature/Submit

Proposal Evaluation

The following criteria will be used to evaluate proposals:

Overall presentation of a concise, cohesive and compelling project proposal
Research which will add to scholarly literature currently available on the topic
Detailed information on the method which will be employed to analyze, or make meaning of the data
Presentation of the educational significance, the research questions, and the proposed activities (data collection and analyses)
Presentation of a budget and timeline for the project that fits within a 1-year timeline

The Evaluation Process

Each of the criteria will be given a point value from 1-20 points. A maximum point value of 100 points can be assigned for any given proposal. A committee comprised of academic peers and IC officers, will review the proposals. Each committee member will submit their individual scores, which will then be averaged. Once the decision is made, IC will contact the grant awardee. Award decisions are conveyed within six weeks of the award committee completion of the review process.

Once the grant is disbursed to the institution, your time frame for the research begins. If an extension of time is required for completion of the research, you will need to submit a request in writing to IC at least three months prior to the end of the original date of completion, with a full explanation for why the extension is required.

Note: Current employees (full-time, part-time or independent contractors) of Instructional Connections are ineligible to apply for grants.

Questions about the grant process can be directed to:
Dr. Harriet Watkins, Chief Academic Officer at
[email protected].