Planning Testbeds and Applications for Undergraduate Education

To continue the exploration of digital library research efforts and testbeds for undergraduate education, NSF anticipates providing up to $1 million for digital library projects submitted to the Special Emphasis: Planning Testbeds and Applications for Undergraduate Education within the Digital Libraries Initiative - Phase 2. The purpose of this addendum is to provide supplemental information to the Program Announcement NSF 98-63 and the description of this Special Emphasis in that announcement.

Successful applicants are expected to demonstrate high potential to advance undergraduate science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) education. Areas of particular interest for DLI-2 proposals to NSF include:

• Planning grants for the construction, coordination, and maintenance of a national digital library for SMET education. Proposals should address organizational structure, business models, user needs, integrative functions that will work in education context, and interoperability among existing and projected distributed components of the library.

• Evaluation: Impact of digital libraries on teaching and learning, usability

• Quality assurance: Mechanisms for acquisition and selection and for peer review and annotation of curricular materials

• Collaboration: Digital learning environments, tools that support collaboration in teaching and learning with robust linkages among distributed collections

• Collection development: Collection development is distinct from content development. Other NSF programs – for example the Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program – provide support for content development. Collection development refers to the development of validated, substantial, and coherent collections of resources for SMET education.

Related NSF Undergraduate Education Digital Library Program Announcement: "Element 2: Application of Digital Libraries to Undergraduate Earth Systems Science Education" in NSF program announcement Geoscience Education NSF 99-44

Recent Reports on Digital Library Applications for Undergraduate Education

• General background information on digital libraries may be found in the Report of the SMETE Library Workshop held at the National Science Foundation on July 21-23, 1998, to explore the idea of national digital library for undergraduate science, mathematics, engineering and technology education.

• Serving the Needs of Pre-College Science and Mathematics Education: Impact of a Digital National Library on Teacher Education and Practice. Proceedings from a National Research Council Workshop.

• " A National Digital Library for Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology Education" published in D-Lib.

• "Developing a Digital National Library for Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology Education: A Report of a National Research Council Workshop, August 7-8, 1997."

• Report from Digital Libraries and Education Working Meeting, held at the National Science Foundation on January 4-6, 1999.

Examples of Recent Digital Library Projects with Emphasis on Undergraduate Education

• 98-17406: Agogino, UC Berkeley, $200,000, "Using the National Engineering Education Delivery System as the Foundation for Building a Test-bed Digital Library for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education." Focus: Evaluation of digital library prototypes emphasizing processes and linkages
• 98-16026: Maly, Old Dominion University, $80,355 "Planning Grant for the Use of Digital Libraries in Undergraduate Learning in Science." Focus: Evaluation of digital library impact on teaching and learning
• 98-16644: Kappelman, UT-Austin, $287,147, "Virtual Skeletons in Three Dimensions: The Digital Library as a Platform for Studying Web-Anatomical Form and Function." Focus: Domain/discipline specific curricular applications
• 97-52606: Shelton, Loyola College of Maryland, $ 99,932, "The Internet Science Institute: A Web-Based Method of Involving Students in Scientific Inquiry." Focus: Domain/discipline specific curricular applications
• 97-52658: Pfaender, American Society of Microbiology, $155,054, "C3: Connection, Collection, and Correlation." Focus: Domain/discipline specific curricular applications
• 97-52482: McCauley, University of Southwestern Louisiana, $108,205, "An Information Resource for Curriculum Development and Program Enhancement in Computer Science." Focus: Domain/discipline specific curricular applications
• 97-52190: Knox, The College of New Jersey, $278,752, "A Digital Computer Science Teaching Center." Focus: Domain/discipline specific curricular applications
• 97-52408: Fox, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, $87,000, "Curriculum Resources in Interactive Multimedia (CRIM)." Focus: Domain/discipline specific curricular applications

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comments to dli2 coordinators
7.4.1999