1st Innovation In Teaching Awards Announced

• Fifteen proposals have been funded through Pitt's first Innovation in Teaching Awards, the provost's office announced.
• The annual awards program funds faculty proposals for the development of innovative teaching techniques and materials, according to Andrew R. Blair, vice provost for faculty affairs.
• Project proposals were reviewed by the Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence, a group of faculty appointed by the provost in 1998. Blair, who chairs the group, said the council advises the provost "on means of encouraging instructional development and teaching excellence in all of our academic units. These goals are realized through the sponsorship of special programs and the dispensing of grants to faculty on the basis of curricular- and technology- driven proposals."
• The program is open to faculty members seeking funding for the development of innovative projects that will strengthen Pitt's teaching mission.
• The award period covers projects to be undertaken between May 1, 2000, and April 30, 2001. Sixty-eight proposals were submitted in all, with the total amount funded of $207,662. The provost's office declined to provide a per project breakdown of the awarded money, although the largest number of projects (23) were awarded between $20,000 and $25,000.
• Following are the project directors and co-directors for the funded projects: Kirk R. Pruhs, Associate Professor, Computer Science, FAS; co-director: John Ramirez, Lecturer, Computer Science, FAS- "Animating Algorithms Using Java for Computer Science 1501."
• Project directors: Donald M. Chiarulli, Professor, Computer Science, FAS, and Martha E. Pollack, Professor, Computer Science-Intelligent Systems Program, FAS- "Mobile Robots for Teaching Undergraduate Computer Science."