This year the Shark Tank Open was held a little differently. Typically faculty and staff present their project ideas to an audience and a panel of judges (the sharks) in an effort to receive up to $25,000 in innovation funding.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 5th Annual Shark Tank Open event was cancelled and instead the innovative ideas were pitched virtually. Presenters recorded their pitches in April of 2020 and sent them in, where panelists reviewed and scored as they would in-person.
Educational Innovations at the Minnesota State system office is pleased to share the results of the spring 2020 innovation funding round.
Sixty-Four (64) unique applications were submitted and twenty-one (21) were selected for funding in FY21. The projects selected are ambitious and diverse, embodying the creativity and inventiveness of Minnesota State.
Educational Innovations extends its congratulations to the following campuses and project recipients:
| Campus | Title, Grant Type, and Description | Funding Amount |
| Bemidji State University | Northwoods Queer Outreach Small Seed Grant Northwoods Queer Outreach is an initiative that aims to increase queer and transgender representation, support and acceptance across the Bemidji State University campus and within the Bemidji community. NQO will provide valuable education and resources for the LGBTQIAP2S+ student community, while promoting a welcoming and inclusive environment for all. Goals for the project include administering a climate survey on queer/trans issues, connecting with community partners to serve as a resource for queer/trans education, and grow advocacy through teaching, learning, and practice. | $9,974 |
| Bemidji State University | Hispanic Cultures through a Media Lens Small Seed Grant Bemidji State University is creating an open textbook for use in Hispanic Film and Media courses titled Hispanic Cultures Through a Media Lens. Through the development of this textbook, the use of audiovisual materials can be used in Spanish courses and beyond to engage students in foreign language learning and cultural diversity. By designing activities that emphasize critical analysis, students will develop skills in constructive skepticism and approach the content with intrigue and inquisitiveness. This open textbook will be made available in both Spanish and English versions. | $10,000 |
| Century College | Creating High Quality Open Adaptive Online Courses Using Faculty Mentor Small Seed Grant Century College is creating an opensource series of online courses in Biology, Anatomy and Physiology I and II, and Microbiology using open textbooks from OpenStax and other OER materials. This innovation will help faculty teaching these courses offer hybrid online/at-home laboratories that provide learning experiences comparable to that of face-to-face classrooms. This project utilizes commercially available lab kits through eScience labs, and makes course materials available through Minnesota State Opendora. | $10,000 |
| Central Lakes College | Learn to Live Small Seed Grant Mental health therapy is traditionally provided through in-office visits, creating barriers for access such as social stigma attached to in-person visits, long wait lists to schedule appointments, and lack of facilities in rural areas. Central Lakes College is rolling out its Learn to Live© program, providing student online access to free mental health therapy. Through this initiative, CLC hopes to address equity gaps by making access to online mental health therapy available to all students regardless of their socioeconomic status and geographical location. | $10,000 |
| Central Lakes College | Students Takeover OER Large Seed Grant The Students Takeover OER initiative trains students to assist faculty with OER authoring, resource discovery, and course redesign with an accessibility focus. Many faculty in have difficulty finding time to undertake OER work. Trained student OER specialists will work diligently under faculty tutelage, helping to author OER materials that can be used in future courses at Central Lakes College. | $25,000 |
| Inver Hills Community College | Biological Anthropology Lab and Activities Book Sustaining Grant Inver Hills Community College is creating a lab and activities book to accompany the open access textbook Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology. This book is created in partnership with faculty from California State University, the University of Hawaii, and Grossmont College, and made available through a collaboration with the Society for Anthropology in the Community Colleges, a branch of the American Anthropological Association. | $10,000 |
| Minnesota State University, Mankato | The Finding Your Place Podcast Part II – Expanding Reach and Impact Sustaining Grant In an effort to improve the retention and success of first-year college students, a team of diverse college students are trained in the art of audio storytelling and co-produce podcast episodes designed to make visible the hidden dimensions and potential barriers of college. Episodes are designed to connect directly to the experiences of students who may initially feel disoriented or out-of-place: first-generation students, working-class students, students of color, LGBTQ students, and non-traditional students. Further funding for this project is helping introduce the podcast to more campuses in Minnesota State. | $10,000 |
| Minnesota State University, Mankato | Maverick’s First: Creating a Community of First-Generation College Students and Scholars Sustaining Grant Previously the I’m First project, Maverick’s First is the first program of its kind at MSU Mankato that means to engage the 43% of students who are first generation college students. An interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff are organized around the effort, delivering a series of events, communications, and engagement opportunities to first-generation students across campus. Through these efforts first generation students are building relationships, connection, and persisting. Sustaining funding for the project is helping to expand the reach of campus efforts. | $10,000 |
| Metropolitan State University | The Communication for Social Change Hub: An Accessible Resource for Students and Communities Small Seed Grant The Communication for Social Change Hub (CSC Hub) is conceptualized as an online resource for faculty, students, practitioners, and community members who are working on social and behavioral change projects that are grounded in communication. The CSC Hub will include resources such as readings, interactive objects, and lessons on communication for social change; a blogging space for contributions from students, practitioners, and faculty; and learning modules that will support course offerings at Metropolitan State as well as individuals and organizations working on social and behavior change projects around the world. | $10,000 |
| Metropolitan State University | Expanding Faculty Capacity for Accessible Design Small Seed Grant Metropolitan State University is extending and expanding faculty capacity for the creation and implementation of accessible course materials. The project serves to bring faculty development programs currently offered at Metro State to other campuses in Minnesota State. The project includes an evaluation of Blackboard ALLY, a tool for identifying and remediating non-accessible materials in D2L courses. | $9,995 |
| Minneapolis College | Culturally Responsive Pedagogy at Minneapolis College: An Intensive, Cohort Training Sustaining Grant Minneapolis College is embedding equity and inclusion throughout its institutional policies, practices, and procedures. A key component to this broad approach is ensuring faculty can access opportunities to weave inclusion and mindfulness into their teaching and learning practices. The Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) Training Program provides faculty the foundation to implement CRP practices in their classrooms and help every student succeed. | $10,000 |
| Minneapolis College | Culturally Responsive Inclusion Trainers Corps (CRIT Corps) Large Seed Grant CRIT Corps aims to ensure student voices are empowered to advocate for supports, practices, and pedagogy for under-served students. Two principle trainers help lead the effort, and these trainers are current or former students with a deep understanding of the challenges under-served students face. The corps is tasked with elevating student voice and experience to more consistently guide campus activities and ensure members of the communities most impacted by Minnesota’s educational disparities have a chance to help guide the practices that most impact students. | $24,900 |
| Minnesota State University Moorhead | Growth, Resilience, Initiative, and Transformation (GRIT) Program Small Seed Grant Minnesota State University Moorhead’s GRIT Program is designed to retain and support students that do not meet automatic admission criteria and are admitted as a conditional student. GRIT creates an opportunity for students to get connected with a success coach, learn the best success strategies and participate in programming specifically designed to build a student’s academic capacity. | $10,000 |
| Minnesota State University Moorhead | Finding Refuge: Using GIS technology to unite natural, historical, cultural, and creative experiences in the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge Large Seed Grant MSUM’s Center for Geospatial Studies, in partnership with the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR), is creating an interactive digital map highlighting artistic, literary, and creative experiences inspired by the natural, historical, and cultural landscapes contained in the 43,000+ acres of the TNWR. This project brings together students from the humanities and GIS students to produce collaborative works that further enhance the rich geographical and cultural history of the TNWR. Throughout the program students gain unique skills in the area of interdisciplinary collaboration, public engagement, and applied problem solving. | $19,560 |
| St. Cloud State University | Creating an Age-Friendly SCSU Small Seed Grant St. Cloud State University is implementing age-friendly principles set forth by the Age-Friendly University (AFU) Global Network, and in so doing, become one of the campuses in Minnesota to join the Age-Friendly University Network. A few of the age-friendly principles include: • Encouraging the participation of older adults in university core activities • Promote the pursuit of second careers • Recognize the range of educational needs of older adults • Promote intergenerational learning Widen access to online educational opportunities for older adults • Ensure the university’s research agenda is informed by the needs of an ageing society • Increase understanding among students of the longevity dividend • Enhance access for older adults to the university’s range of health and wellness programs • Engage actively with the university’s own retired community • Ensure regular dialogue with organizations representing the interests of the aging population | $10,000 |
| St. Cloud State University | Light Board for Online Lectures Small Seed Grant St. Cloud State University’s use of lightboard technology will allow instructors to produce high-quality online lecture videos that reflect best practices and open up more in-class work time in flipped classroom designs. The resulting video productions can be used in any developmental online mathematics course at SCSU. Although situated in the mathematics department, faculty from across the university are invited to explore the use of the technology in their own teaching. | $10,000 |
| St. Cloud State University | Peer Wellness Coaching: Improving Belongingness and Retention at St. Cloud State Small Seed Grant Peer Wellness Coaching is a free service that offers all students at St. Cloud State University an opportunity to discuss their personal goals in a collaborative and encouraging environment.Peer Wellness Coaching provides a way for students to connect with a peer and learn of campus resources available to them. This connection increases their sense of belonging and overall health and wellness. Peer Wellness Coaches are graduate students from a variety of disciplines, including: Social Work, Rehabilitation and Addiction Counseling, College Counseling and Student Development, and Higher Education Administration who are specially trained in Motivational Interviewing. | $10,000 |
| St. Cloud Technical and Community College | Integrating OER Anatomy & Physiology Texts with Virtual Reality Large Seed Grant Biology faculty at St. Cloud Technical and Community College are collaborating with the Visualization Laboratory at St. Cloud State University to develop and write Anatomy & Physiology I laboratory experiences aligned to the OpenStax A&P text objectives. These laboratories will be accessible to instructors within the Minnesota State system wishing to incorporate head-mounted display virtual reality laboratories into their classroom. | $25,000 |
| Saint Paul College | Environmental Science OER Course Materials for distribution on Minnesota State Opendora Small Seed Grant St. Paul College is developing open source supplementary materials for use in an introductory Environmental Science course, and share with all Minnesota State faculty through Opendora. This project is developing three types of resources for faculty use: online learning activities, study guides, and a test bank. | $10,000 |
| Saint Paul College | Sustaining the Gamification of Writing I at Saint Paul College Sustaining Grant Fundamentals of Writing I is a required course for many students at St. Paul College, including students entering the trades who take it as a sole writing course. For students who struggle with writing, the course can be a particularly challenging. To assist all students, Fundamentals of Writing I will be gamified as a means to channel extrinsic motivation and help more students succeed. | $10,000 |
| Winona State University | Bridges Health: An Interprofessional Clinical Education Model Serving Students, Faculty, and the Community Large Seed Grant Bridges Health is an emerging pedagogic model at Winona State University providing innovative clinical education and training to a wide variety of students to effectively prepare for entry into practice in today’s complex healthcare environment. This innovative model collaborates with community organizations to form academic-community partnerships that serve students and the local community. Through this approach, academic faculty and students are mobilized into these community organizations in form of Bridges Health, an inter-professional student-led, faculty-guided clinic. The clinic provides health services to marginalized, uninsured, and under-served groups in rural settings, who otherwise would not have access to such health care. While doing so, inter-professional students are engaged in a learning environment fostering development in inter-professional practice, leadership, service, care of under-served groups, and social entrepreneurism. All of this occurs while students achieve individual student competencies and learning outcomes associated with their program of study. | $25,000 |
To learn more about all innovation projects funded through Educational Innovations, visit the new Innovation Funding Gallery or the ASA Newsletter’s Stories of Innovation Series.
The next Innovation Funding round will be announced in November 2020. Faculty and staff can learn more on the Innovation Funding SharePoint (log in with StarID@MinnState.edu).
Questions? Please contact Stephen Kelly.
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