Launched in 2021, the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s microgrant program aims to enhance institutional capacity for leveraging teaching and learning data to improve courses and programs. This initiative encourages innovation, exploration, and iteration in educational practices, with a focus on implementing actionable changes in course design, teaching methods, and progression pathways.
Over the first two years, the microgrant theme has been how to use data to support diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB); we’ve supported a variety of impactful and important projects.
This year’s microgrant program focuses on a critical question: How does engagement with online course content impact student performance? We’re exploring:
- Student interaction patterns with online materials
- The relationship between engagement and assignment outcomes
- Insights into student preparation for assignments, quizzes, and exams
Participants have been selected for the 2024-2025 program year, and while they were not required to describe DEIB as a key project focus, the microgrant program will continue to support DEIB and accessibility for student success.
Projects are structured using an action research framework; participants plan or take actions for course or program improvement based upon what they learn. (This is different than an educational research project that requires IRB review.) This is designed to be an iterative process that starts with a question and results in a course or program change, or a plan for action. Project awardees share back to campus about their project at a year-end campus event.
Action research framework
Text version
- Identify a question to address in a course or program; submit a proposal.
- Identify potential data sources.
- Consult with data governance, evaluation, data analysis, pedagogy.
- Gather, analyze & validate data.
- Take action or plan for action.
- Present process/projects.
Types of questions
Each project explores specific questions based on their interests, and with the DEIB focus we’ve seen broad themes across the first two years. Many looked at how aspects of student identity impacted their experience: such as demographics, cultural factors, first language, or choice of major. They also examined the class environment itself – things like size, disciplinary content, expectations around student participation in class, teaching methods, and how those fostered feelings of belonging or a student seeing themself as part of the profession.
Quantitative and qualitative data
The types of data collected have been a mix of qualitative and quantitative data, specifically chosen for each project. They have looked at enrollments, performance assessments, engagement in the classroom or LMS, student perceptions and reflections, third-party classroom observations, and peer feedback from group work.
What people say
Based on my reporting of this research to my department, I’ve been connected with department leadership and our director of corporate relations. This mini-grant has had an immediate, tangible impact on our department’s DEIB efforts. We’ve made 3 years of progress in just 1 semester.
I had a fantastic time meeting and learning from the LACE group (Learning Analytics Center of Excellence). The teaching techniques they shared with me have made a significant difference, and my students have quantifiably enjoyed the new strategies (as seen in the poster).
Our goal was to evaluate current strategies to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment in our 1st-year, team-based engineering course. This microgrant has provided us with valuable resources to analyze current data, and plan new strategies to promote inclusion in the future.
Impacts & Insights
Each project provides more specifics about their action plan on their posters and in the presentation slides. Several broad categories of impacts are common across the portfolio of microgrant projects.
- Pedagogical/curriculum changes: instructors describe changes to their course/program materials or teaching strategies. For example, incorporating different active learning activities like pair-share and murkiest point.
- Expanded or ongoing use of data: some participants have specific plans to iterate on their use of data. For example, one instructor created a chatbot to answer student questions, based on course materials. Others are planning to continue data collection and analysis, after obtaining IRB approval.
- Increase impacts through ongoing communication: awardees are sharing about their microgrant project work across campus and also at other national and international conferences. (The 2023-2024 cohort presented at LAP24, a global virtual conference on June 19, 2024 sponsored by the Society for Learning Analytics Research ‘SoLAR’).
We’re excited to see how impacts continue to ripple and grow. Grantees are:
- Thinking about this as ongoing work – not a project with a defined start and end point. Impacts continue as conversations broaden to other colleagues, departments, divisions.
- Sharing across divisions, which provides new learning strategies and approaches to try locally.
- Expanding outreach through team teaching – beyond the original course/microgrant project.
- Sharing and discussing projects with key stakeholders – department chair, curriculum committee, assessment committee, other instructors.
Looking at the numbers:
The program has grown each year, with more projects awarded and students impacted, as well as expanding to other units on campus.
| 2022 to 2023 | 2023 to 2024 | 2024 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 4 projects | 5 projects | 7 projects |
| 6 awardees | 8 awardees | 11 awardees |
| 3 schools/colleges | 4 schools/colleges | 5 schools/colleges |
| ~1530 students initially impacted | ~3000 students initially impacted | ? students (TBD – fall 2024) |
Support for Data-Empowered Educational Practices
The microgrant program builds on the foundation we’ve built and continues to develop our ability to use data from the teaching and learning environment to better serve our learners, instructors, educational professionals, and the institution. It’s an example of a Data Empowered Educational Practice (DEEP), which is a framework for campus groups to collaborate, share data, and explore how we can strategically use data to drive success for the student experience.
This program is successful due to the support, contributions and collaborations across multiple units; it’s a collaboration between the Division of Information Technology, Learning Analytics Center of Excellence and Academic Technology and the Division for Teaching and Learning, Student Learning Assessment and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Mentoring.
The microgrant program is renewed annually, pending funding. If you are interested in learning more about the next grant cycle, please email LearningAnalytics@office365.wisc.edu.
Project Support
Support throughout the academic year includes a stipend, along with consultations to refine and scope questions. Participants need to have questions they can reasonably explore within the timeframe of two semesters, while still enabling them to take meaningful action in their course. Support includes expertise and consulting about data governance, transparency and student privacy, data collection and analysis, pedagogical strategies, evaluation and surveys, and storytelling with data.
Awardees collaborate with peers in the program through regular cohort meetings, where they can learn from each other and connect with individuals in other units across campus. Participants are also invited to participate in optional sessions about data empowered educational practices/learning analytics through the UW–Madison Learning Analytics Community of Practice.
The microgrant awardees work closely with the teaching and learning and student record data stewards, to support and align data goals with campus policy. This work has helped to improve our processes and communication about data governance. A high-level overview document of the data governance process was created to provide some background and an overview about data governance, and to make sure project participants are aware of the steps involved. Each project completes a data inventory which is the basis for conversations with data stewards.
LACE news
List of articles
Dr Kim Arnold earns distinguished director status
UW–Madison awards distinguished status to those who demonstrate an exceptional level of expertise in their field. Arnold is director of the Learning Analytics Center of Excellence (LACE), a Division of Information Technology unit within Academic Technology.
July 16, 2024Seven microgrant recipients awarded for data-driven education practices
The University of Wisconsin–Madison has announced the recipients of its annual microgrant program, aimed at advancing data-empowered education practices (DEEP). These grants, administered by the Learning Analytics Center of Excellence (LACE) in partnership with the …
May 16, 2024Microgrants in support of student success in online course content
Apply for a microgrant to explore how engagement with online course content impacts student performance. Deadline: Apr 21.
March 20, 2024Take a DEEP dive into teaching and learning data for student engagement and success
The 2024-2025 theme for the microgrant program focuses on enhancing student learning by drawing on data to empower key educational practices. Faculty and instructors from all disciplines are encouraged to apply.
December 5, 2023Microgrants awarded in support of diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging
Data Empowered Educational Practices (DEEP) microgrant recipients are a diverse group of instructional faculty and administrators, each using teaching and learning data to support student success.
September 27, 2023- More Learning Analytics Center of Excellence posts
