2025 – Marquette Democracy Project

• Dr. Jessica Rich – Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Interdisciplinary International Affairs major, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
• Mr. Dinesh Sabu – Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Performing Arts, Diederich College of Communication
• Mr. A.Jay Wagner – Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies, Diederich College of Communication

The grant contributes toward adapting the already successful Marquette Democracy Project into a regularly offered cross-college set of courses in the undergraduate curriculum. The adapted Marquette Democracy Project will invite social justice advocates from around the world to campus and integrate these visits into coordinated courses taught by professors in political science, journalism and digital media.  The project intends for students in these courses to produce and document the visits, allowing them to build knowledge and skills in a real-world setting. Incorporating these research-informed, high-impact learning practices into coursework will also help advance the university’s Student Success Initiative and support the current campus initiative to build partnerships with the community and bridge globally renowned activists with Milwaukee-area activists and nonprofits. Finally, the project will support the professional development of faculty by building “communities of practice” among professors from different disciplines with a shared interest in activism and social justice. 

2024 – Civic Conversation and the MCC Methods of Inquiry Course

• Dr. Amber Wichowsky – Professor of Political Science, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
• Dr. Amelia Zurcher – Professor of English, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the University Honors Program

This project seeks to adapt the successful Marquette Civic Dialogues Program into the CORE 1929/1929H course in the Foundations Tier of the MCC.  Project proposers are currently teaching, in one section of CORE 1929H, a pilot version of the proposed curriculum, which offers students regular, small-group practice in civic reasoning and dialogue and collaborative problem-solving to build measurable academic and professional skills. The proposed curriculum is informed by substantial research in best practices, and proposers will perform rigorous assessment.  The project plan is to scale the curriculum over three years into about a third of the MoI classes in the Foundations Tier, which will require not only substantial ongoing assessment and development but also training of instructors and peer facilitators.

2023 – Improving Student Outcomes in Calculus-based Introductory Physics

• Dr. Jax Sanders (team manager) – Assistant Professor of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences.
• Dr. Andrew Kunz – Professor and Chair of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences. 
• Mrs. Melissa Vigil, Laboratory Supervisor in Physics, College of Arts and Sciences.
• Dr. David Haas, Assistant Professor of Practice in Physics, College of Arts and Sciences. 

In FY 2022-23 the physics department began to implement significant changes in the introductory calculus-based physics sequence (PHYS 1003/1004) to improve student introductory calculus-based physics sequence (PHYS 1003/1004) to improve student engagement and learning outcomes.  In turn these changes will work to decrease the courses high DFW rates and improve overall student success.  The purpose of this proposal is to improve upon, and expand, a pair of the recent changes that have been identified as both popular and beneficial to students: 1) course embedded tutors (Learning Assistants) for the studio classroom, and 2) improved access and functionality of the newly commissioned Physics Help Room.

2022 – Scaffolding Student Success in Marquette University Coursework

• Ms. Cheryl Brenner, Mathematics Content Specialist, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)
• Dr. Joshua Burns, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
• Dr. Nakia Gordon, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
• Dr. Christopher Stocker, Assistant Chair and Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
• Dr. Marta Magiera, Associate Professor of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
• Dr. Leigh van den Kieboom, Associate Dean, College of Education

The purpose of this project is to support the design of a 6-credit developmental mathematics course: Pre-Calculus, Elements of Calculus + Learning Community Support, through the collaborative efforts of faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Education, Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (MSSC), and Educational Opportunity Program (henceforth EOP). The initiative will create a course offering to support underprepared students in: (1) learning requisite skills and concepts for college-level mathematics courses, (2) successfully completing MATH 1400 (Elements of Calculus), and (3) developing problem-solving strategies and study habits via a supportive student learning community.

2021 – Development of the Cloud-based Laboratory Information System to Enhance the Understanding of Hospital Laboratory Operations by Allied Health Care Students

• Dr. Valerie Everard-Gigot, Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Laboratory Science
• Dr. Erik Munson, Assistant Professor, Clinical Laboratory Science (project manager)
• Dr. Sandi Van Den Heuvel, Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Programs, College of Nursing
• Dr. Jill Guttormson, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, College of Nursing
• Dr. Sheikh Iqbal Ahamed, Chair, Department of Computer Science

The SARS-CoV-2 infection pandemic has cast light on the importance of the hospital laboratory. The progression of specimen acquisition to final laboratory results can be stepwise and routine, while in other scenarios, obstacles may be encountered that can interfere with generation of results and potentially confound clinical management of patients. In order to provide Nursing and Clinical Laboratory Science students with an increased understanding of real-world hospital laboratory operations, the following is a proposal for the development of a computerized clinical laboratory database known as a Laboratory Information System (LIS). Pedagogic content, as well as accumulating contributions to this living database, will be fostered by faculty collaboration between the College of Nursing and the Department of Clinical Laboratory Science at Marquette University. The cloud-based system will be developed by a doctoral student within the Marquette University Department of Computer Science under faculty guidance.

2020 – Bringing Mass Incarceration into the Classroom: Expanding the Blended Course Model

• Dr. Darren Wheelock, Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Sciences
• Dr. Theresa Tobin, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Development
• Dr. Robert Smith, Harry G. John Professor and Director of CURTO
• Ms. Xhelili Ciaccio, doctoral student, Department of Philosophy

This proposal seeks to build on existing efforts at Marquette to address mass incarceration and reentry in the Milwaukee area. Specifically, it proposed to expand “the blended-course” model that brings traditional Marquette students into the classroom with currently/formally incarcerated students (C/FI students). Currently, only one such course is offered at Marquette University, PHIL 4931: Narrating Freedom: Gender, Race, and Mass Incarceration. This proposal outlines efforts to increase the number of blended courses to four by the spring of 2021. Expanding blended course offerings advances efforts by a broader coalition of Marquette faculty and staff to generate programs that both educates a chronically underserved population and exposes traditional Marquette students to the lived experiences of individuals that are/have been incarcerated. This blended course model is a high impact educational experience for both types of students but also creates pathways to higher education for current and released prisoners, a group that is severely underrepresented in educational attainment beyond high school.

2019 – Promoting health equity through a community of practice and public health education

• Dr. John Mantsch, Professor and Chair, Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences
• Dr. Joseph Byonanebye, Clinical Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences
• Dr. Nilanjan Lodh, Assistant Professor, Clinical Laboratory Science, College of Health Sciences
• Mr. Joshua Knox, PA-C, MA, Clinical Associate Professor, Physician assistant Studies, College of Health Sciences

The widening disparities and inequalities in health across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups represents one of the most significant challenges faced by modern society.  Consistent with our mission, vision, and guiding values, Marquette University has a unique opportunity to address health inequity by educating the next generation of leaders in health-related fields.  Building on the momentum of recent initiatives focused on raising awareness of and addressing health disparities (e.g., the SWIM initiative), as well as campus-wide strengths in health equity-related areas, this teaching enhancement award application brings together an interdisciplinary team of Marquette educators and community partners with the goal of promoting teaching and learning related to health equity.  The award will enable the establishment of the following two interrelated entities:  1) a Community of Practice (CoP) that will bring together public health and global health-focused faculty members from across campus as well as nonacademic partners from the Milwaukee community and beyond to a) address current and future public health challenges, that can be met through education; b) develop  curricular innovations and fill curricular gaps at Marquette in the areas of public health and community health; c) determine and implement best practices related to public health instruction; and d) identify ongoing scholarly activities and community initiatives that may provide opportunities for Marquette students. 2) a new interdisciplinary minor in public health with two tracks: one focused on global health and the other focused on community health issues in greater Milwaukee. The minor will include access to high-impact, “experiential” learning activities in the field of public health, such as service learning, internships and undergraduate research opportunities.  
 
By creating a formal community focused on health equity education, this proposal will leverage the diverse interdisciplinary strengths and perspectives at Marquette and in the broader community to inspire and prepare our students to serve as future leaders in the battle against health disparities and inequalities as well as advocate for health equity.

2018 – Development of an Interdisciplinary Curriculum to Advance Graduate-Level Research Training

• Dr. Lynne Knobloch-Fedders, Assistant Professor of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology, College of Education (Project Team Manager)
• Dr. Mauricio Garnier-Villarreal, Research Assistant Professor of Nursing, College of Nursing
• Dr. Brooke Magnus, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences.

This project is designed to develop and implement an interdisciplinary curriculum to advance the sophistication of graduate-level research training via collaboration among three participating academic units: the Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology (CECP) in the College of Education; the College of Nursing; and the Department of Psychology in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences. This initiative will expand the range of innovative, interdisciplinary course offerings in advanced research methods and quantitative data analysis, as well as create new learning tools for these courses. It will also establish a collaboration among participating faculty from each academic unit to promote best practice pedagogy and support professional development.