Eberly Center › Eberly Center Fellowship Programs for CMU Instructors of Record › Wimmer & Eberly Active Learning Incubator (WEALI) Fellowship for the Development of Teaching

Wimmer & Eberly Active Learning Incubator (WEALI) Fellowship for the Development of Teaching

To encourage and foster the professional development of instructors as educators.

Which active learning strategies work best in particular educational contexts? …for whom? …and why?

Applications due Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 11:59pm.

Active Learning Incubator Fellows may receive up to $5000 and copious in-kind support from a team of Eberly Center colleagues to:

participate in a monthly special interest group (SIG) of instructor-scholars discussing peer-reviewed literature on active learning and instructors’ experiences (August 2026 - May 2027);
design, pilot, and refine inclusive teaching strategies using active learning in a Fall 2026 CMU course enrolling a minimum of 19 students;
transfer and implement one or more refined active learning strategies to a Spring 2027 CMU course enrolling a minimum of 19 students (Note: Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 courses may differ because active learning strategies are transferable, but neither course may be one the applicant is teaching for the first time);
measure the impacts on students’ learning and attitudes in the Spring 2027 course; and
disseminate research findings in the following ways: on the Eberly Center Teaching as Research website, at an Eberly Center event, AND via a submission of a scholarly article to a peer-reviewed journal/conference.

Who is eligible?

All CMU instructors of record (faculty, staff, postdoc, graduate students) teaching on the Pittsburgh or Doha campuses are eligible to apply.
- We especially encourage applications from early career faculty members. “Early career” faculty members include those with a continuing appointment (i.e., teaching, tenure, research, or library track instructors) teaching at CMU who have five or fewer years of teaching experience at the university level as the instructor of record, either at Carnegie Mellon or elsewhere.
Active Learning Incubator proposal ideas must be implemented in a Fall 2026 and a Spring 2027 CMU course (these can be different courses) with expected enrollments of at least 19 students each semester.
Prior experience with active learning strategies or educational research is NOT required.
Strong interest in learning about, implementing, and collecting outcomes data on active learning strategies, whether or not your ideas for implementing active learning are fully formed.
We are interested in seeing the quality of your ideas, and will not be evaluating the quality of your writing. Proposals prepared by generative AI will not be reviewed.

Funding

Fellowship award payments occur in three stages, following successful completion of expected fellowship milestones in Fall 2026 ($1500) and Spring 2027 ($1500) and when dissemination requirements are met ($2000).

Relevant dates

Applications due Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 11:59pm.

Expectations for Fellows

Fellows commit to work closely with Eberly Center colleagues as they:

regularly attend SIG meetings;
design and teach a Fall 2026 and a Spring 2027 CMU course, with the option of teaching in an Eberly Center classroom designed for active learning (1308 or 1309 Tepper Quad);
receive individual consultations in Summer 2026, Fall 2026, and Spring 2027 on the implementation of:
- inclusive active learning strategies to target specific, challenging learning objectives, including one to two classroom observations of key class sessions;
- relevant technology-enhanced learning tools to facilitate active learning during class sessions; and
- teaching as research methods and study designs;
collect, analyze, and interpret data on student outcomes (with Eberly Center assistance) measured in Spring 2027;
communicate Spring 2027 research findings and lessons learned as enumerated above after Spring 2027.

Application Process

The request for proposals for the 2026-2027 Academic Year is available here. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 11:59pm.

Preview the application questions...

Instructor details
Questions 1-3

S27 Course Context
During S27, participants will implement a teaching as research (TAR) study, developed in F26 in collaboration with Eberly Center colleagues. The following questions will be used to evaluate the alignment/suitability of a S27 course that you teach for a TAR study that applies what you learned, piloted, and/or refined earlier in this program.

4. What S27 course number would you (as an instructor or record) propose for this project?
(NOTE: This course cannot be a new prep; i.e., you must have taught this course at least once at CMU prior to S27. This would be the course in which you conduct a teaching as research study, applying what you learned from your F26 teaching experience.)

5. What is the course title for this S27 course?

6. What is the typical enrollment per section of your S27 course (MUST be at least 19 students per section)?

7. How many sections of your S27 course do you expect to teach?

8. Do you expect to teach your S27 course with any co-instructors?
If yes, please identify who they are.

9. What measurable competency(ies) do many of your students struggle with in the S27 course proposed above?

10. Historically, have you observed differences in student learning outcomes in this S27 course (e.g., do some student groups perform differently than others overall or on particular assignments)?
If yes, please briefly describe the observed differences in student learning outcomes (including the relevant assessment/assignment).

11. The previous time you taught the S27 course, what types of in-class instruction and practice did students receive to help them achieve the competency(ies) listed in item 9 above? Check all that apply

Lectures or guest lectures
Quizzing and/or testing on the material
Whole-class discussions
Small group activities during class (e.g., discussions, think-pair-share, problem solving, role playing, simulations, debates, working in project teams)
Individual practice activities during class (e.g., clicker questions, individual writing exercises)
Hands-on laboratory experiences
Individual presentations
Group presentations
On- or off-campus field trips
Other____

Potential impact of active learning (or a particular implementation strategy) in S27

12. What are 2-3 new active learning interventions (or modifications to strategies you have already tried) that you would be willing to implement during your S27 class sessions that would target (and potentially enhance the development of) the competency(ies) listed in item 9 above? You may refer to this resource for active learning strategies.

13. How do you predict that your use of active learning will affect student learning or equity of outcomes in your course?

14. How would you make the implementation of active learning inclusive and accessible for all students?

15. How could you include a comparison group within a course section or across sections (or semesters) to help measure impacts of an active learning intervention (please see the assessment design 1-pager for examples)?

S27 Course Deliverables

16. Which of the following types of assessments/student deliverables are a part of your S27 course? (please check all that apply)

Quizzes
Exams
Papers, essays or written reflections
Homework assignments or problem sets
Projects (completed individually)
Projects (completed in a group)
Presentations (completed individually)
Presentations (completed as a group)
Other ___

F26 Course Context
During F26, participants will practice and refine implementation of active learning strategies in preparation for a S27 TAR study. In F26 and S27, you may teach different courses or the same course. The goal is that your F26 practice will be transferable to your S27 course. The following questions will be used to evaluate the alignment/suitability of a F26 course that you teach to practice and refine active learning strategies with Eberly Center support and feedback.

17. What F26 course number would you (as an instructor or record) propose for this project (i.e., as an opportunity to pilot and refine active learning techniques)?

18. What is the course title for this F26 course?

19. What is the typical enrollment per section of your proposed F26 course (MUST be at least 19 per section)?

20. How many sections of your F26 course will you teach?

21. Do you expect to teach your F26 course with any co-instructors?If yes, please identify who they are.

22. Do students in your F26 course struggle with the same measurable competency(ies) identified in item 9 above (i.e., in your S27 course)?
If yes, which one(s)?

23. To what extent would the active learning strategies identified in item 12 above be transferable (i.e., you could also implement them) for your F26 course?

Informational Interview

24. Due to limits on the number of fellows we can support, finalists may be invited to have a brief informational interview with an Eberly Center colleague to provide additional information to help determine the alignment of their course with this fellowship experience. Please suggest 3 dates/times when you could meet for 30 minutes on Zoom during the month of April 2026.

Apply to be a Wimmer & Eberly Active Learning Incubator (WEALI) Fellow

Interested faculty can find more information and apply here

Past Wimmer Faculty Fellows

Past Fellows and project descriptions can be viewed here

Eberly Center Fellowship Programs

Our year-long fellowships provide CMU instructors the opportunity and funding to enact more substantial changes in their teaching and courses. Fellowship programs are application based and limited in number.

See Eberly Center Fellowship Programs here…

Any questions about the program may be directed to eberly-assist@andrew.cmu.edu.

Applicants may request a consultation with an Eberly colleague on their project idea and evaluation plan prior to submitting a proposal. Please request a consultation at least one week prior to the submission deadline.