![[Xavier Seal]](/images/xavier-seal.png)
![[CAT+FD Logo]](/images/cat-site-icon.png){kind=icon}
Technology Infusion Projects Initiative
Forty Xavier faculty successfully completed projects through CAT's Technology Infusion Projects Initiative between 1999 and 2006. Although the initiative is no longer active, we are maintaining this page for historical purposes.
Faculty interest in using information technology in the classroom remains extraordinarily high at Xavier University. Of the faculty members who completed the technology survey in 2001, more than 80% indicated a moderate to high level of interest in incorporating computer technology in their classes. (For more information about this survey, see Scholarship & Reports > Faculty Technology Use.)
Experimentation with new technologies is a part of the faculty development and technology puzzle — only one part, but a new, sometimes confusing and sometimes expensive part. The Center's inititative for Technology Infusion Projects supports faculty use of such technologies as Blackboard (a Web-based course management system, for which a site license was purchased by the University), WebBoard (a Web-based conferencing system for which the University also has a site license), course websites, videoconferencing, JSTOR and other on-line databases, and discipline-specific courseware such as simulations, CD-ROMs, etc.
We plan to sponsor five cycles during the grant period; the cycles will overlap one another, and each cycle involves two semesters or a summer and one semester. This long cycle will allow faculty members to develop, implement, assess, and, if necessary, redesign the technology projects. We anticipate supporting a total of 35 Technology Infusion Projects during the grant period.
The Center's Instructional Design Specialist, Dr. Gayna Credle, was the primary coordinator for this initiative.
Phases
Each Technology Infusion Project consists of two phases:
Phase 1: Planning & Development
Faculty will be compensated for time spent to explore, learn, plan and develop technology resource materials. It is hoped that shared learning and collaboration will occur by providing a venue for faculty to meet and discuss projects throughout the funding period. Center staff will assist in exploration of pedagogical and technical issues, seek solutions to problems, and inspire faculty productivity and innovation. Emphasis will be placed upon plans to assess the project impact upon student learning and/or the learning experience. After faculty complete the first half of Phase I, each project's progress will be evaluated by members of the Center's Advisory Group in order to ensure project success before moving into the second phase (Phase II). The evaluations will provide faculty involved in the projects an opportunity to "hear" the voice of an outside reviewer before moving into the project's second phase.
Phase 2: Implementation and Assessment
During this phase, faculty will infuse technology into courses at Xavier. Special attention will be given to implementing the of assessment plans. At the conclusion of the funding period, faculty are to report on findings. Faculty will present a progress report as part of an end of semester TIP Symposium. A report on final results will be made available to the Foundation and the Xavier University community.