Teaching development projects

Small grants for staff pre-major review

Six grants of up to £500 are available on a 'first come first served' basis for staff involved in course developments or wanting to introduce new ideas/ approaches into their teaching, where some small funding would prove useful (eg for further training; for research assistant support; to purchase specialist software/ equipment).

Applications should be submitted to the Director of the Teaching and Learning Centre (DTLC), and can be dealt with more or less immediately. In some cases, the DTLC may refer applications to the deputy director responsible for teaching matters. We will inform you if this is necessary.

You need your convener's or institute director's support in order to apply. You may also wish to discuss the application with your mentor.

Grant-holders will be asked to submit a brief report indicating how the funds have been used no more than 12 months after the grant has been awarded. We may use brief details from this report in the Teaching Matters newsletter.

Anyone wishing to apply for funding should complete The LSE Teaching Development Fund: small grants for staff pre-major review  (Word document) and return it to the Teaching and Learning Centre (H417c). Please feel free to contact the office before applying for further clarification, or to discuss possible options to take projects forward. (Contact: Liz Barnett, email: l.barnett@lse.ac.uk or ext 6623).

The LSE Teaching Development Fund

For the past five years, there has been funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to support the enhancement of teaching quality. The funding is due to finish in 2007, and we have limited funds available between now and the end of next academic year.

Much of this money has been given to departments in the form of small grants for developing innovative approaches to teaching. For the first three years, much of this funding went to projects experimenting with use of technology in teaching. Other projects included:

• developing student teamwork skills within the LSE curriculum;
• putting together resource materials on funding sources for students;
• setting up an internship programme;
• developing case studies for teaching purposes in different subjects; and
• putting together resource and support materials for class teachers supporting specific courses.

For the past two years, funding for WebCT course development has been managed by the Centre for Learning Technology. As such, the Teaching and Learning Centre HEFCE funding is now being used primarily to develop projects where learning technology is not the key focus (though could still be an important element of it). Individuals, course teams and departments are welcome to apply for funding.

Funds can be used to buy out small amounts of staff time, to buy in additional help (eg a research assistant or specialist support), or to purchase specialist equipment.

If you wish to apply for funding please complete the The LSE Teaching Development Fund form (Word document) and return it to the Teaching and Learning Centre (H417c). Please feel free to contact the office before applying, for further clarification or to discuss possible options to take projects forward. (Contact: Liz Barnett, email: l.barnett@lse.ac.uk or ext 6623).

The Director of TLC reviews applications as and when they are submitted, and discusses decisions on funding with the deputy director responsible for teaching matters.

Centre for Learning Technology Development Fund Grants

The Centre for Learning Technology (CLT) has earmarked funding to encourage individuals and departments to explore the use of new technologies in teaching and learning. Individuals are welcome to apply for funding.

You can use funds for agreed purposes to encourage the development of innovative learning and teaching using the new technology. Previous grant-holders have mainly used the funds to support developments within the WebCT virtual learning environment but other uses will be considered. Please note that these grants are for development purposes. Departments are expected to support any recurring costs (including updating and maintenance) arising from the project.

If you wish to apply for funding please complete the The LSE Teaching Development Fund form (Word document) and return it to Steve Ryan in the Centre for Learning Technology (S186), email: s.ryan@lse.ac.uk, ext 6008. Please feel free to discuss your proposal with him or any staff within CLT prior to submission. The maximum funding is £4,000 but in most cases we anticipate grants will be about £2,000.

^