Ripon College faculty receive funding from ACM

Ripon College faculty are involved in two of the six projects that received funding in the Fall 2014 cycle of Faculty Career Enhancement Program of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest.

Preference was given to projects that best leverage opportunities for incorporating technology-enabled teaching techniques — such as online courses, blended learning strategies, and other innovative uses of technology — into course offerings and course design at liberal arts colleges in ways that enhance student learning and engagement.

Religion Professor Brian Smith and colleagues from Lake Forest College and Colorado College received funding for “Religious Studies, Classroom Technology and Digital Humanities.” This will enable them to travel to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta next November and participate in a daylong workshop about how to incorporate technology more effectively into the teaching of religion.

McKenzie Lamb, Andrea Young and Chester Ismay, all assistant professors of mathematics and computer science, and colleagues from Luther College, Grinnell College and Coe College received funding for “Harnessing Big Data: Planning for Collaborative Courses in Data Science.” This project will provide an opportunity for representatives from Ripon, Coe, Luther, Macalester and Grinnell to meet and create a plan that would allow faculty at ACM schools to share expertise and resources in data analysis.