Recognizing outstanding contributions that advance instructional approaches within the decision sciences

Co-sponsored by Alpha Iota Delta (the national honorary in the decision sciences), Prentice Hall, and the Decision Sciences Institute

The advancement and promotion of innovative teaching and pedagogy in the decision sciences are key elements of the mission of the Decision Sciences Institute. At the President’s luncheon during the 2008 Annual Meeting, the 30th presentation of this prestigious award, co-sponsored by Alpha Iota Delta (the national honorary in the decision sciences), Prentice Hall, and the Institute, will be made.

The Instructional Innovation Award is presented to recognize outstanding creative instructional approaches within the decision sciences. Its focus is innovation in college or university-level teaching, either quantitative systems and/or behavioral methodology in its own right, or within or across functional/disciplinary areas such as finance, marketing, management information systems, operations, and human resources.

The award brings national recognition for the winner’s institution and a cash prize of $1,500 to be split among the authors of the winning submission. Authors of each of the remaining finalist entries share $750. Author(s) of the winning submission will be encouraged to prepare a paper for possible publication in Decision Line.

Please do not resubmit previous finalist entries. Submissions not selected for the final round of the competition will be considered for presentation in a regular session associated with the conference’s Innovative Education track. Therefore, competition participants should not submit a condensed version of their submission to a regular track.

All submissions must adhere to the following guidelines and must be received no later than April 1, 2008.

Instructions

Applications must be submitted in electronic form using instructions on the conference Web site at
http://www.decisionsciences.org/Annualmeeting

A tentative summary of instructions appears below; however, applicants should consult the Web site instructions before submitting. Submissions will consist of one document electronically submitted using the conference Web site, and one supplemental letter sent via U.S. mail.

Electronic Submission Notes

1. Number of documents and their format: The electronic submission must consist of one document, in Adobe PDF format, completely contained in one file. Graphics and images may be integrated into this one document, but no separate or attached files of any kind are permitted. No audio, video, or other multimedia of any form can be included. Nothing may be separately submitted by any other means, including disks, videotapes, notebooks, etc. Further information about maximum file size, etc. can be found on the electronic submission form.

2. Anonymity: Include no applicant names, school names, Web sites, or other identifying information in your document. This information is captured separately on the electronic submission form. Applicants not adhering to this policy will be ineligible for consideration.

Document Format

Competition finalists will closely adhere to these format requirements.

1. Length: Your one electronically submitted document can be no more than 30 total pages when formatted for printing.

2. Title Page: On the first page, provide the title of the submission and a table of contents. Number all pages in your submission in the upper right-hand corner.

3. Innovation Summary: On the second page, explain why your submission provides a new innovative approach to teaching. You may also incorporate this into the abstract to be entered separately on the electronic submission form.

4. Summary Section: On the next 3 to 7 pages, present a double-spaced summary of your submission, with the following headings:

a. Topic or Problem toward which your approach is focused.

b. Level of students toward which your approach is focused.

c. Number of students with whom the approach has been used.

d. Major educational objectives of your approach.

e. Innovative and unique features of your approach.

f. Content: Describe the content or substance of the material addressed with your approach. Indicate why you focused your innovative efforts on this material or content.

g. Organization: Explain how you structured the material or content, unique features of your approach, and how your approach contributes to student learning.

h. Presentation: Discuss how you designed the explanation and illustration of the material or content, what is unique about your approach, and how its use makes learning more effective.

i. Effectiveness and specific benefits of your approach to the learning process: Indicate how your major educational objectives were met, benefits derived from the presentation, students’ reactions to the presentation, and how you evaluated the effectiveness or benefits derived. It is essential to include measures of the success of the approach, which may include, but should not be limited to, instructor or course evaluations.

j. Transferability: Explain how this innovation could be used by other institutions, professors, or courses.

The Summary Section will be used for the first round of reviews and may also serve as the Proceedings version for both finalists and papers accepted for presentation in regular sessions.

5. Expanded Section: This is the complete, full version of the submission that should stand alone without the summary section. The expanded section may not exceed 21 pages, including exhibits. This document is used in the second round of reviews and permits you to describe the content, organization, presentation, and effectiveness in more detail. In addition to the same information provided in the Summary Section, you may:

a. List experiential exercises, handouts, etc. (if any), which are part of your innovative approach and explain where they fit in your approach.

b. Add any other discussion or material that you feel is essential to an understanding of your submission.

c. Appendix. Attach copies of illustrative material, especially any that you have developed, and a copy of the most recent course syllabus in which the innovative activity was used.

The total length of your electronically submitted document, including appendices, must not exceed 30 pages. The text must be double-spaced, using 11-12 point characters, and a minimum of one-inch margins.

Page Counts

Title Page = 1 page

Innovation Summary = 1 page

Summary Section = 3-7 pages

Expanded Section = less than or equal to 21 pages

TOTAL SUBMISSION = less than or equal to 30 pages

Supplemental Letter

In addition to the document submitted electronically, send a letter via US mail to the competition coordinator (address given below) from your department chair, head, or dean attesting to the submission’s authenticity. Include a self-addressed, stamped postcard or envelope that will be returned to confirm receipt of the supplemental letter.

Evaluation

The materials will be evaluated by the Institute’s Innovative Education Committee. All submissions will be blind reviewed. Therefore, it is important that all references to the author(s) and institutional affiliation are entered only on the electronic submission form and do not appear anywhere in the submitted document itself.

The submissions will be evaluated in two phases. All submissions will be evaluated for (1) content, (2) organization, (3) presentation to students, (4) transferability to other institutions, professors, courses, etc., and (5) innovation. Consideration will be given to the clarity of the presentation of the innovative features of the submission and the demonstrated effect it has had. Phase two will be the finalists’ presentation at the annual meeting. Both the written submission and presentation will be considered in the final voting for the award.

All applicants, including the finalists, will be notified by June 16, 2008. If you are one of the finalists, you will be required to attend the Instructional Innovation Award Session at the annual meeting in Baltimore. At that session, each finalist will do the following: (1) present a review or summary of the submission, (2) conduct an in-depth presentation or a discussion of a specific component of the submission (selected by the finalist), and (3) respond to questions from the audience.

This session has two purposes: to provide an avenue for the Institute’s members to see and discuss innovative approaches to education which could be used in their classes, and to enable the authors of the innovative packages to “bring their approaches to life” and add another dimension to the evaluation process.

The Committee invites your participation in this competition to recognize excellence in innovative instruction.
Please remember that all submissions must be received by April 1, 2008.

Instructional Innovation Award Competition Coordinator
Nancy Lea Hyer
Owen Graduate School of Management
Vanderbilt University
401 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37204
nancy.lea.hyer@owen.vanderbilt.edu