2006-2007ACADEMIC YEAR

PROJECT PROPOSAL FORMAT

DEADLINE: Monday, October 9, 2006

Please submit proposals electronically to:

Dr. Andrea Hardin, Director of Institutional Research and

Title III Activities

Name: Ihsuan Li

Division/Dept: Business and Economics

Phone: 478-757-5191

Date Proposal Submitted: 10/4/06

Course Name(s) and Number(s) to be impacted: all Economics courses I teach at Wesleyan College

Specify if this is an application for:

__X__EQUIPMENT AND OTHER GRANT (hardware and online course) for Spring 2007.

Narrative: Please answer these questions

I. Specify how the class would differ from how you have traditionally taught it, describing innovative strategies to be employed.

The grant proposal is for two related components: first, two STATA NetCourses offered by STATA corporation on their website. The courses I would like to take are web based, they are NetCourse 152 and 461 (Advanced Stata Programming and Univariate Time Series Using STATA). Second, I am requesting a portable external hard drive (such as Seagate Portable ST9100801U2 100 GB RPM 8Mb Cache) for backing up my work desktop data.

Traditionally, to prepare for the quantitative courses I teach at Wesleyan I use my laptop at office. It runs a STATA v9 SE version of the statistical software. This software allows me to incorporate programming skills into my courses, skills that are becoming increasingly necessary in the workplace. However, due to advances in the computer science field, my skills need to be updated as often as the science changes. One way to catch up with the advances is to take online courses directed to programmers who are busy and who cannot afford to be physically present at the College Station corporate headquarter of STATA Corp.

Related to the above is the increasing necessity to back up the hard drive of any laptop, especially one that is used daily to prepare classes, write research, and run econometric programs. The external hard drive will allow me to save all data in the laptop every night and safeguard information in the event of a virus attack or the computer crashing. This is a common sense preventive exercise that should be adopted by everyone using a computer in the workplace.

II. Discuss how your project would have benefits extending over time beyond this particular class or semester and how many students would be impacted.

The STATA NetCourses will benefit all Wesleyan students who take economics courses beyond fall semester 2007. I have incorporated the use of STATA for data analysis in introductory macroeconomics, to regression analysis in advanced courses such as Money and Banking and Econometrics.

The benefits of the external hard drive are time and effort saved, on every aspect of teaching and research, given no small probability of computers crashing nowadays. In so many words, it saves time and resources to Wesleyan and reduces the probability of disrupting classes and research at school.

III. Indicate software/equipment needed to accomplish the project and itemized cost estimate.

The cost of the two NetCourses is $296 and $125, a total of $420. The courses are offered during the fall and spring semesters. The courses are delivered online. A certificate will be provided to students who successfully complete these courses. There is no additional software or hardware required for me to complete the NetCourses, I will be using my office laptop to access online materials.

The cost of the external hard drive is $142.99 priced 10/4/2006 from newegg.com (model and specification detailed in part I).

Total cost for the online courses and hard drive is $562.99, not including taxes and shipping.

IV. Detail special training you will require in order to accomplish the project.

Will this involve consultation with the Instructional Technologist? NO

V. Describe your assessment plans or how you will know that students are learning more effectively.

Assessment of the benefits of the external hard drive will be based on a reduced number of help tickets regarding saving the hard drive of my laptop (as it happened many times in the past) by providing a copy of the ticket log from my office to Computer Information Resource Center at Wesleyan College.

In terms of the NetCourses, I will provide a copy of the certificate of completion of the two courses, and provide a copy of the future syllabi where technology (STATA) is incorporated as integral part of the course.