Carnegie Mellon University

See below for details on previous winners of ProSEED grants.

BrainHub seed grants are funded through generous gifts from Henry L. Hillman and Kris Gopalakrishnan.

Spring 2016

  • “Optoflex: An implantable micro-laser neural probe” - The creation of a neural probe implant prototype to record and stimulate neuronal activity across large areas of the brain. (Maysam Chamanzar, Faculty, ECE; Elias Towe, Faculty, ECE; Alison Barth, Faculty, Biological Sciences)
  • “Development and in vivo evaluation of ultra-compliant ultra-miniature intracortical probes for brain-computer interfaces” - The creation of neural probes deployed using biocompatible, dissolvable needles designed to increase performance by minimizing tissue damage and inflammation. (Burak Ozdoganlar, CIT; Aryn Gittis, MCS; Gary Fedder, CIT)
  • “Scaling up the number of stimuli for studying the inferotemporal cortex” - Development of a statistical method that will fill in gaps of data sets to study higher-order brain areas, such as the inferotemporal cortex. (Byron Yu, Faculty, CE/BE; Carl Olson, Faculty, CNBC)
  • “Identifying how the brain visually processes natural scenes” – CMU and Fordham University will develop algorithms to search potential visual stimulus images to better understand the visual perception system’s brain mechanisms. (Aarti Singh, Faculty, ML; Michael J. Tarr, Faculty, Psychology; Daniel Leeds, Faculty, Fordham University)

Spring 2015

See the CMU Homepage Story for more details on the winners

  • "Multiplexed Nanomaterials-Based In-Vivo Intracellular Electrical Activity Measurement Platform" - Developing nanomaterials for high-resolution neuron recording. (Tzahi Cohen-Karni, CIT; Aryn Gittis, MCS; Sandra Kuhlman, MCS)
  • "Harnessing Attenuation of High Spatial Frequencies for High Resolution Portable EEG, and an Application to Face Recognition" - Developing a high-resolution and portable EEG. (Pulkit Grover, CIT; Shawn Kelly, CIT; Jeffrey Weldon, CIT; Lori Holt, DC)
  • "Computational Analysis of In-Vivo Calcium Imaging Data for Studying Dynamics of Neural Circuits" - Creating computational tools for neuroscience data analysis. (Sandra Kuhlman, MCS; Ge Yang, CIT)
  • "Connecting Musical Structures, EEG Signals and Affective States" - Discovering how the brain listens to music and how it affects our mood. (Tai Sing Lee, SCS; Roger Dannenberg, SCS; Richard Randall, CFA)
  • "Mechanobiology of Neural Responses in engineered Nerve Integrated Tissue" - Studying how mechanical forces influence neuronal behavior. (Manojkumar Puthenveedu, MCS; Philip LeDuc, CIT)
  • "High-Fidelity Computational Modeling and Simulation for Traumatic Brain Injury" - Creating advanced diagnostics and interventions for traumatic brain injury. (Kenji Shimada, CIT; Anirban Jana, Pitt. Super Comp Center; Walter Schneider, PITT)
  • "Challenges for Machine Learning in Research and Clinical Neuroscience" - (Aarti Singh, SCS; Barnabas Poczos, SCS; Timothy Verstynen, DC; Irina Rish, IBM)

Fall 2014

  • “Measuring Brain Changes During Stress Management Training” - Testing a computational method to analyze three-dimensional structural magnetic resonance images of the brain on subjects learning mindfulness practices. (Gustavo K. Rohde, SCS; J. David Creswell, DC)
  • “Computational and Biological Approaches to Delineate the Neural Circuitry of Learning Creating” - A model system for studying learning at the neuronal level. (Steve Chase, CIT; Aryn Gittis, MCS; Sandra Kuhlman, MCS)
  • “Statistical Methods to Identify Early Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction in Parkinson’s Disease” - Studying activity of neuronal networks in a mouse model of Parkinson’s Disease to identify changes that could be early biomarkers of the disease. (Aryn Gittis, MCS ; Valerie Ventura, DC)
  • “Inferotemporal Cortex as an Adjustable Filter” - Determining if differences in inferotemporal cortex neuron function help the brain to pick out familiar images from a cluttered background. (Carl Olson, DC; Sripati Arun, Indian Institute of Science)
  • “Understanding the Topology of Neural Networks: An Information Processing Approach” - Using an experimental and computational approach to model how neuronal pruning leads to improved brain function and facilitates learning. (Ziv Bar-Joseph, SCS; Alison Barth, MCS)
  • “Mind Altering Bugs”: Identifying Bacterial-Dependent Gene Expression Changes in the Drosophila Brain - Studying how the fruit fly’s micro biome impacts gene expression in the brain and, as a result, shapes complex behaviors. (Brooke M. McCartney, MCS; N. Luisa Hiller, MCS; Carleton Kingsford, SCS; Aaron Mitchell, MCS)
  • “ConnPort: Creating a Standardized Interface to Access Human Connectome Data” - Development of an interface for accessing optimized, publicly available datasets for machine learning and statistics students to explore computational problems of brain connectivity. (Timothy Verstynen, DC; Barnabas Poczos, SCS; Aarti Singh, SCS)
  • "Interpreting the Outputs of Dimensionality Reduction Using Spiking Network Models” - Creating a foundation for understanding how many different neurons work together to give rise to brain function. (Byron Yu, CIT; Brent Doiron, University of Pittsburgh; Matthew Smith, University of Pittsburgh)

Spring 2016

  • “Carnegie Mellon University’s Society for Biomaterials (SFB) Student Chapter” – Establishment of a local chapter of the Society for Biomaterials (SFB).  The CMU SFB Student Chapter strives to establish a strong campus community to encourage multi-disciplinary interactions in the area of biomaterials. (Sara Abdollahi, CIT, Graduate Student & Co-President; Himali Ranade, CIT, Undergraduate Student & Co-President; Sai Gopalkrishna Yerneni, CIT, Graduate Student, Secretary and Treasurer; Raghav Garg, CIT, Bylaws Chair; Christopher J. Bettinger, Faculty Advisor)
  • “Museum of Broken Relationships” – A local installation of “The Museum of Broken Relationships” in Zagreb, Croatia curating stories and items related to failed personal relationships. (Jane Bernstein, DC, Faculty; Chris Klug, UL, Faculty; Shirley Saldemarco, UL, Faculty)
  • “Interdisciplinary Teaching at CMU: Building a Faculty Team” –A workshop series bringing faculty members together to enhance interdisciplinary teaching at CMU by exploring infrastructure models and share best-practices. (James Duesing, CFA, Faculty; Jennifer Keating-Miller, DC, Staff)
  • “Theater Architecture Documentation” – An interdisciplinary program within the School of Drama and School of Architecture that will publish research and design studies from three different studios from San Francisco, London and Havana, Cuba.  The design studies will be used in existing courses and available for future course development.  (Hal Hayes, CFA, Faculty; Richard Block, CFA, Faculty)
  • “Urban Ecology Course” –  Development of course materials and templates for a course focusing on urban environments, sustainability, climate change and many other aspects of urban ecology is interdisciplinary in nature. Guest speakers are invited to add to student experience. (Eleni Katrini, CFA, Faculty)
  • “Crowd-sourced Encyclopedia for Database Management Systems” – Development of a tool that will be used in researching and teaching database-related sources in School of Computer Science. (Andy Pavlo, SCS, Faculty; Dana Van Aken, SCS, Graduate Student; Joy Arulraj, SCS, Graduate Student)
  • “Diversity Diaries” – An event for students, faculty and staff to share experiences of living and working at CMU in order to foster and enhance diverse community relationships. (Olivia Roy, CIT, Undergraduate Student)
  • “Wellness/Self-Care Retreat for Student Leaders” –  A Retreat for CMU student leaders providing instruction in wellness and self-care practices.  Leaders will then relay and share resources and practices with their organizations. (Helen Wang, Student Affairs, Staff; LeShaun Jones, DC, Undergraduate Student; David Kosbie, CIT, Faculty; Therese Tardio, DC, Faculty)
  • “Women@SCS Student Faculty Lunch Series” – Student-Faculty lunch series for female undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty members to connect and strengthen affiliations. (Sara Xiang, SCS, Undergraduate Student)
  • “ColorsCMU 241k Grand Challenge” –an initiative and event designed to connect the various multicultural entities and organizations within the CMU community. (Chrystal Thomas, MCS, Undergraduate Student; Sharon Wu, MCS, Undergraduate Student; Debomita Basu, CIT, Undergraduate Student; Ridhi Surana, CIT, Undergraduate Student)
  • “The Arts in Society: Connecting Communities and Bridging Disciplines” – An interdisciplinary course available to undergraduate students focusing on the importance of arts in society, giving students the opportunity to explore their role as citizens and connect with youth communities in Pittsburgh.  (Judith Schachter, DC, Faculty; David Busch, DC, Graduate Student)

Fall 2015

  • “BiasBusters@CMU” –  A campus-wide initiative modeled after Google’s Bias Busting @ Work, provides BiasBuster sessions to raise awareness of unconscious bias, try to understand our own biases and discuss the potential to reduce bias in the CMU community. (Carol Frieze, Faculty, SCS; Ty Walton, Staff, CMARC)
  • “What’s in a camera? Learning broad engineering concepts by deconstructing and constructing a camera” – An outreach program for middle and high school students in the Greater Pittsburgh Area to explore engineering, specifically imaging and optics in a camera. (Aswin Sankaranarayanan, Faculty, ECE)
  • “Experiential learning for high-school students participating in SUCCEED (SUmmer Center for Climate Energy and Environmental Decision-making)” – An outreach program for high school students in the Greater Pittsburgh Area to broaden their knowledge of the environment, climate change and energy by experiments, activities and field trips coordinated by CMU PhD students. (Parth Vaishnav, Staff, Engineering & Public Policy; Inês Azevedo, Faculty, Engineering & Public Policy; Lauren Cook, PhD Student, Civil Engineering; Michael Craig, PhD Student, Engineering & Public Policy; Kenneth Sears, PhD Student, Engineering & Public Policy)
  • “Hispanic/Latino Alliance” – A campus-wide initiative to sustain connections with language and culture through Greater Pittsburgh Area resources and a CMU mentoring program to improve the quality of life for Latino/Hispanic students, Hispanic Studies students and Latin America and Spain study abroad participants. (Mariana Achugar, Faculty, Modern Languages; Felipe Gόmez, Faculty, Modern Languages; Tardio Therese, Faculty, Modern Languages)
  • “Interdisciplinary Design Course: Mars Habitat” – An Interdisciplinary course for CMU students from a broad range of disciplines to use their skills and test ideas to create a physical mockup of an inflatable Mars Habitat. (Christina Ciardullo, Faculty, CFA; Daragh Byrne, Faculty, CFA)
  • “Playinaround” – College of Fine Arts and the Hillman Cancer Institute plan a partnership to create an innovative, immersive and therapeutic concert series for cancer patients by focusing on the experience and atmosphere to foster connections and provide comfort. (Laurel Beatty, Undergraduate Student, CFA; Alex Marthaler, Graduate Student, CFA; Monique Mead, Faculty, CFA)
  • “Digital Humanities Working Group” – A campus-wide initiative to create and sustain conversation among students and faculty regarding Digital Humanities, an emerging field bridging the sciences, the arts and the humanities. (Christopher Warren, Faculty, DC; Molly Steenson, Faculty, CFA; Kyuhu Shim, Faculty, CFA)
  • “Carnegie Mellon International Faces Film Festival (Youth Outreach Program)” – An educational program offered to the greater Pittsburgh area schools to give students an opportunity to foster critical thinking and enhance academic engagement using film, field trips and workshops. (Jolanta Lion, Faculty, DC)
  • “CMU Idea Space: Tech Solutions to Gun Violence” – A cross-campus, cross-universities and wider Pittsburgh area collaboration using the previous brand, CMU Idea Space, to facilitate interactions regarding technology-based solutions for gun violence. (Liza Tresser, Graduate Student, TSB; Ziheng Zhu, TSB; Katherine Poggensee, HC)
  • “Project Ignite” – A CMU student outreach organization that provides mentorship to high school students in the greater Pittsburgh area interested in subjects at a professional and higher academic level. (Jonathan Merrin, Undergraduate Student, SCS; Eric Reeder, Undergraduate Student, CIT; Allison Perna, Undergraduate Student, CIT)
  • “inter·punct Vol. 2, inter·view” – A student-run journal for architectural theory and discourse plan to publish and circulate the second volume, which focuses on the importance of interdisciplinary approach and discussion of architecture among CMU community and peer institutions. (Christopher Ball, Undergraduate Student, CFA; Mark Terra-Salomao, Undergraduate Student, CFA)
  • “Playtest Night: Supporting Game Design and Development at CMU” – A regular, interdisciplinary event for game designers across the CMU community to playtest game designs, support feedback and to encourage community connections across disciplines. (Rachel Moeller, Undergraduate Student, CFA; Judeth Oden Choi, Graduate Student, HCII; Jessica Hammer, Faculty, HCII)
  • “YesPlus – Your Enlightened Side” – A wellness based program, YesPlus Retreat, to provide techniques for well-being, stress-management and personal resilience for CMU students, faculty and staff members through workshops. (Vinitha Ganesan, Graduate Student, MCS; Sneha Challa, Graduate Student, HC; Gaury Nagaraju, Undergraduate Student, DC; Angela Lusk, Staff, Student Life)
  • “Energy Week Student Competitions” - A Campus wide competition during Energy Week, which includes student/team competitors regarding research, policy and education.  (Deborah Stine, Faculty, Scott Institute)

Spring 2015

  • "CMU Collegiate Recovery Community" - (Lauren Aikin-Smith, staff, University Health Services; Kelley Shell, staff, University Health Services; Christin Bongiorni, undergraduate student, CFA)
  • "ECE Outreach Mobile Lab Supplies" - (Katie Costa, staff, CIT; Jaime Kang, undergraduate student, CIT)
  • "What is Statistics? An Interactive Platform that Engages and Educates the Non-Statistician" - (Paige Houser, staff, DC; Rebecca Nugent, faculty, DC)
  • "The Aesthetics of Play" - (Jesse Kauppila, graduate student, CFA; Leah Wulfman, undergraduate student, CFA)
  • "Young, Black and French: A Documentary on Race and Citizenship in a Global Context" - (Mame-Fatou Niang, faculty, CFA; Kaytie Nielsen, undergraduate student, CFA)
  • "Arts Greenhouse: The University and Urban Youth, A Cooperative Learning Experience" - (Judith Schachter, faculty, DC; Natalie Ozeas, faculty, CFA; Paul Crocker, staff, CFA)

Fall 2014

  • “Project Rwanda: Connecting CMU-Pittsburgh, CMU-Rwanda and Everyone in Between” - Student run programs and activities to strengthen the bond between CMU Pittsburgh and CMU Rwanda campuses. (David Baboolall, undergraduate student, DC; Renee Camerlengo & Shernell Smith, staff, Office of the Dean of Student Affairs; Abhinav Gautam, undergraduate student, CIT)
  • “Veterans Campus-wide Engagement Initiatives” - New activities on campus recognizing the service of veterans in the CMU and surrounding communities. (Kelly Campbell, staff, Office of General Counsel; Jamie Brandon, staff, Campus Affairs Systems)
  • “CMU Global Public Health Brigades’s Public Health Education Mobile Application” - Development of a mobile app for health education. (Ming Wu undergraduate student, DC; Wendy Chou, undergraduate student, DC;  Jason Hong, faculty, SCS)
  • “Advanced Manufacturing Engineer Training and Apprentice Project” - Establishing new processes and metrics for improving machining training for CMU students, and improving the connection with apprenticeship programs in Western PA (Lawrence Hayhurst, staff, CIT; Burak Ozdoglanar, faculty, CIT; Thanassis Rikakis, faculty, CFA)
  • “You Are What You Eat: 5 Minutes to 5 Weeks After Eating” - Development of educational animations about nutrition and the physiological processes around healthy and unhealthy eating. (Jinny Kim, undergraduate student, DC)
  • “NeuroArt Initiative: Art+theBrain” - A new course aimed at the development of a variety of art project inspired by neuroscience. (Patricia Maurides, faculty, CFA; Marlene Behrmann, faculty, DC)
  • “Pittsburgh Memoir Project” - Interviews and micro-documentaries of Pittsburgh community members. (Jane McCafferty, faculty, DC; Laurie McMillan, staff, Office of Student Life)
  • “A “WikiRhetoric” for Rhetorical Practice in the Disciplines” - Launch of a wiki to complement ENG 76-101 and improve writing in the disciplines. (Ryan Roderick, Graduate student, DC; Pierce Williams, graduate student, DC)
  • “Bridge for Billions” - An online platform that enables the creation of innovative businesses rooted in developing regions. (Pablo Sanchez Santaeufemia, graduate student, CIT; Jils George, graduate student, CIT; Jacklynn Pham, graduate student, CFA/DC)
  • “You Are What You Eat: Providing Nutritional Guidance in High Stress Oriented Programs from Mellon F.I.T.” - New nutritional programs integrated with the Mellon F.I.T. Initiative. (Jon Willcox, graduate student, MCS; Olivia Molinar, graduate student, MCS; Pawel Krys, graduate student, MCS)
  • “ACTIVATED ANAMORPHS: Performative Inhabitables and Interactive Prostheses” - An interdisciplinary project and performance based studio course involving wearable sculpture, prosthetic apparatus, DIY costumes and identity-based performance. (Spike Wolff, staff, CFA; Scott Andrew, graduate student, CFA)
  • “Wheelchair for the Developing World” - Development of a prototype wheelchair design for the developing world using readily available, low cost bicycle components. (Carlos A. Giron, graduate student, CIT; Sidharth Raghu, graduate student, CIT)

Spring 2014 (Select Projects)

  • "The Pitch Project" — Planning and hosting an intense 1 Day business plan and pitch presentation challenge competition for students from all disciplines. (Principal: Alexander Brown)
  • "Symphony App" — Collaboration of members of the School of Music and School of Computer Science to develop an app to enhance the classical music concert-going experience. (Collaborators: Norman Sadeh, Denis Colwell, Salem Hilal)
  • "Moneythink CMU" — Development of community outreach initiatives (information sessions, mentorship etc.) aimed at improving financial literacy, particularly amongst K-12 students in urban environments. (Collaborators: Anusha Kukreja, Jillian Ward, Satvika Neti, Kathleen Conway)
  • "Art, Technology and Conflict in Contemporary Northern Ireland" — A new course developed through collaboration between English, Art and SCS Faculty members. (Collaborators: Jennifer Keating-Miller, John Carson, Illah Nourbakhsh)
  • "Mellon Fitness Intensity Training (F.I.T.)" — Enhancing quality of life for faculty, staff and students in the Mellon Institute with local exercise programs. (Collaborators: Olivia Molinar, Jon Willcox, Nathanuel Frezzell, Pawel Krys)
  • "Young Adult Science Fiction Lecture Series" — Bringing Sci-Fi/Fantasy writers to campus for public lectures, in conjunction with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and Parsec, a Pittsburgh-based charitable and literacy organization focused on Sci-Fi and Fantasy writing. (Collaborators: Diane Turnshek, Barbary Carlson, Ian Betancourt)
  • "Optical force sensor for screening breast lesions in primary care" — A GuSH-CW grant for a pilot study for the design of a new device and system for less invasive, lower cost breast screening. (Collaborators: Molly Blank, James Wissman)
  • "Integration of Conductive Material Deposition with Existing FDM Technology" — a SURG-CW grant aimed at investigating new methods for printing conductive materials in additive manufacturing processes. (Collaborators: Shepard Emerson, Ruban Kopli)

EQT Seed Grants are made possible by a gift from the EQT Foundation and are administered through the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation

Fall 2014

  • “Optimization Models for Water Management in Shale Gas Development” - Developing tools for improved decision making about water management in shale gas operations, to reduce costs and minimize environmental impact. (Meagan Mauter, CIT; Ignacio E Grossman, CIT)
  • “Quantifying Microstructural Distributions in Oxide Fuel Cells: The Path to Reliable and Sustainable SOFCs” - Studying microstructure of solid oxide fuel cells to improve their performance and enhance commercialization potential. (Paul Salvador, CIT; Shawn Litster, CIT; Anthony Rollett, CIT; Robert Suter, MCS)
  • “Development of Alternative Proppants for Enhanced Unconventional Oil and Gas Production” - Testing whether coal ash could be a better proppant in shale gas extraction. (Athanasios Karamalidis, CIT; Kelvin Gregory, CIT; David Dzombak, CIT; Robert Tilton, CIT)

Spring 2016

  • “Improving Writing Instruction” – A computer-aided teaching tool provided to help students with high-level writing composition decisions. The tool will be scaled to support many courses, specifically undergraduate studies. (Danielle Wetzel, Faculty, DC; Necia Werner, Faculty, DC; Suguru Ishizaki, Faculty, DC; Xizhen Cai, Faculty, DC; David Kaufer, Faculty, DC)
  • “Understanding Students’ Intrinsic Motivations for Engaging with TEL Tools” – A study aimed at using design-based research methods to identify student motivation, perceptions, usage and evaluation of online TEL options. (Stacie Rohrbach, Faculty, CFA)
  • “Creating a Digital ‘Vienna 1900’ Course” – A cultural course highlighting the architecture and urban planning at the turn of the 20th century in Vienna.  This interdisciplinary course will use a digital interface as a learning tool. (Gabriele Eichmanns Maier, Faculty, DC; Francesca Torello, Faculty, DC)
  • “Prototype for Collaborative Skills Training” – Online tools to teach CMU students how to work as a part of diverse teams by using a prototype module to teach basic conflict communication skills. (Ralph Vituccio, Faculty, ETC)
  • “Creating a Virtual Space to Teach Chinese Pragmatics” – By using a game engine software to create an interactive learning space to teach Chinese pragmatics, students will learn formulaic expressions that will increase their success of learning a second language. (Naoko Taguchi, Faculty, DC)
  • “Using Video-Based Tutorials of Biological Experiments to Improve Student Comprehension of Science Literature” – Videos will be created to help new students better understand techniques used and referenced in the scientific literature, particularly in cellular and molecular biology. (Shoba Subramanian, Faculty, MCS)
  • “Assisting and Analyzing Children’s Learning Without School” – Evaluating and improving on RoboTutor, a software to help children in developing countries learn literary and numeracy (Jack Mostow, Faculty, SCS; Amy Ogan, Faculty, SCS; John Stamper, Faculty, SCS)
  • “Using Interactive Lab Activities to Improve Statistics Education” – The design of a set of interactive modules to improve learning outcomes in statistics.  The assessment of effectiveness and comparison to existing exercises will increase learning outcomes and will provide information for students to successfully overcome obstacles.  (Alexandra Chouldechova, Faculty, HC; Christopher Genovese, Faculty, DC; Philipp Burckhardt, Ph.D. Student, HC)
  • “Teaching Programming to Engineering Students Using TEL” – By building a TEL platform for engineering students to adapt to software application changes, this will provide student performance evaluation, optimal exercises for students, data-driven performance analysis and feedback based on programming skills and knowledge. (Xuesong Liu, Faculty, CIT)

Fall 2014

  • “Improving Early Literacy by Redesigning E-books” - Exploring e-book design strategies to reduce competition for attention between words and pictures, and to support development of reading skills in young children. (Anna Fisher, DC; Kenneth Koedinger, SCS)
  • “Sensor-based Assessment of Student in situ States in Attention and Cognition during Computer-based Geometry Problem-Solving Tasks” - Testing a sensor-based assessment method using machine learning techniques to understand differences among learners. (SeungJun Kim, SCS; Anind Dey, SCS; Vincent Aleven, SCS)
  • “Math Primer” - Furthering development of an Open Learning Initiative (OLI) course to provide CS majors and others the math background to pursue the CS theory track. (Klaus Sutner, SCS)
  • “Strategically Segmented Problem Solving” - Developing a novel mechanism to help students gain strategic insight into problem solving using two OLI courses (Logic and Proofs, and Cloud Computing). (Wilfred Sieg, DC; Majd Sakr,SCS: Norman Bier, Simon Initiative)
  • “Creating and Assessing the Impact of Interactive Video on Communication Learning” - Producing interactive videos for high-demand workshops (on paraphrasing, and on creating scientific posters) and comparing their effectiveness to live workshops. )Joanna Wolfe, Global Communications Center)
  • “Facilitating Online Course Engineering with Adaptive Tutors Using Intelligent Pedagogical Agents” - Developing a working prototype of a TEL authoring tool using an intelligent teachable agent to be embedded with OLI courses to enhance student active learning opportunities. (Noburu Matsuda, SCS; Norman Bier, Simon Initiative)
  • “Teaching Special and General Relativity Using Mobile Devices” - Using the sensors in mobile devices to make effects of relativity more experiential for learners and thus improve understanding of these difficult to master concepts. (Ira Rothstein, MCS)
  • “Toward a Blended Classroom for Thermal Sciences” - Using video modules, systematic assessment, and general analytics to improve learning outcomes in several Mechanical Engineering classes on thermal sciences. (Venkatsubramanian Viswaminathan, CIT)

Spring 2014 

  • "Bootstrapping Academic Bootcamp" — Using crowd sourcing and machine learning techniques to automate the creation of assessments and personalized lesson plans for learning almost any topic. (Jeff Bigham, Emma Brunskill, Aniket Kittur)
  • "Bringing Scientific Teaching to Introductory Biology" — Co-designing and implementing instructional modules to incorporate active learning in multiple biology courses (Maggie Braun, DJ Brasier, Jon Jarvik, Fred Lanni, Brooke McCartney, Jon Minden, Mohamed Bouaouina, Jonathan Finkel, Ken Hovis, and Gordon Rule)
  • "Multiple Choice Question Management System for Bootstrapping Learning Cycles" — Building and assessing a system for students to learn by explanation as they generate and evaluate quiz questions and then use them for practice. (Wolfgang Gatterbauer, R. Ravi)
  • "Developing Playtest Skills in Hybrid Game Design Environments" — Creating a set of workshops to promote students' development of playtesting skills. (Jessica Hammer, Jodi Forlizzi, Mike Christel)
  • "Reproducible Research: Computing in Science and Engineering" — Developing a new undergraduate course that integrates professional tools so engineering students can learn and practice modern methods of reproducible research. (John Kitchin)
  • "Using Clickers to Engage a Group in Collaborative Problem Solving and to Inform Cognitive Tutor Development" — Developing clicker-based problem-solving activities to promote student learning and cognitive tutor development. (Javier Lopez, Albert Corbett)
  • "Collaborative Argument Diagramming to Improve Students' Understanding of Argumentation and Ability to Argue" — Customizing an argument-diagramming tool to enhance and research students' learning in two large, introductory courses. (Bruce McLaren, Maralee Harrell)
  • "Prose Style Module" — Developing and deploying an online module to teach prose style and provide a platform for research on the acquisition of writing skill. (Christine Neuwirth)
  • "Testing Internal/External Material Use in a Virtual Teaching Assistant" — Examining students' use of a virtual teaching assistant that reviews lectures, presents assessments and provides specific tutoring assistance. (Eric Nyberg, Maxine Eskenazi, Alan Black)
  • "Development of self-paced tutorials in organic chemistry for the life sciences" — Developing a series of tutorials on essential topics in organic chemistry and then testing their effectiveness across multiple contexts. (Gordon Rule)
  • "Refining and deploying a tablet app to study and facilitate children's word learning" — Using a game-based app to research children's word learning and improve the game's design via experimental data and machine learning analyses. (Erik Theissen, Vincent Aleven, Emma Brunskill, Jordan Lippman, Amy Ogan)
  • "Modular Course Design, Social Learning, and the Hybrid Classroom" — Developing and testing multiple methods for combining online resources with in-class, peer-led problem solving. (David Yaron, Jonathan Minden, Gordon Rule)