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Distance Learning Research and Development Grant (Up to $10,000)

View the Distance Learning Research and Development Grant


Priorities

The Distance Learning Research and Development Grant is a collaborative effort between the Center for eLearning and Connected Environments (CeCE) and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP). The grant program is intended to support activities that contribute timely, practical, and evidence-based distance learning innovations in support of the mission, vision, and goals of the University of Central Oklahoma. This grant supports distance learning research and development activities in the following areas of focus:

  • Learning Effectiveness: activities focused on improving learning outcomes based on learner or instructional factors;
  • Learning Design and Development: initiatives aimed at creating and evaluating new methods of designing and developing instructional systems using evidence-based guidelines;
  • Delivery Methods: initiatives focused on developing and evaluating emerging distance learning delivery methods; and,
  • Instructional Efficiency: activities aimed at examining methods related to efficiency in learning and instruction.

Goals

Research and development initiatives conducted through the distance learning research and development grant should focus on creating new knowledge and enabling educators and instructional designers to use and benefit from distance learning innovations. This includes, but is not limited to, sensitivity to skill-level, cost, criticality to the learning environment, and general practicality and use in teaching, learning, and instructional design.

Objectives

  • Practical: Research and development projects should focus on solving pressing and challenging problems faced by distance learning educators and instructional designers. This includes leveraging existing technologies, knowledge structures, and learning environments to address the research problem.
  • Cost Sensitive: Attention should be given to research and development projects that allow educators and instructional designers to use them without the cost and/or resource restrictions that commonly inhibit the adoption of ideas and practices. All projects should be released in the creative commons domain to encourage adaptation and re-sharing of ideas.
  • Iterative: Research and development initiatives should report findings and progress on an on-going basis to encourage critical dialogue from the community of researchers and practitioners. This includes but is not limited to refereed academic publications, professional publications, public forums, self-published whitepapers and blogs, and informal communities of practice.

Collaborative groups who have received a grant through the ORSP for three (3) consecutive years and have not applied for external funding (private, state, or federal) are ineligible to apply for a 4th year.

Research assistants receive full-time, ¾-time, ½-time and ¼-time assistantships or work 20 hours, 15 hours, 10 hours or 5 hours per week, respectively. Assistants are only allowed to work on campus a maximum of 20 hours per week in assistantship positions (RA and/or TA).  Faculty are encouraged to split their RA awards into ½-time or ¼-time RAs to increase the number of students engaged in the research project.

The purpose of awarding reassignment time is to provide faculty with time for research above and beyond that available given a normal teaching load. Consequently, applicants cannot be paid overload salary while holding a Distance Learning Research and Development Grant award.

Please note: A one-page progress report is required to be submitted by faculty at the end of the fall and spring semesters during the academic year in which funding is received through the Distance Learning Research and Development Grant Program.

Support for the Distance Learning Research and Development Grant is a collaborative effort between the Center for eLearning and Connected Environments (CeCE) and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) at the University of Central Oklahoma.

If your project requires an IRB approval, an IRB application does not need to be completed at the time of your on-campus grant application, but the IRB approval must be obtained before your research project begins. For more information on the IRB application process, visit the Office of Research Integrity and Compliance website.

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