Four educational research projects proposed by Missouri S&T faculty were funded for 2019-20 as part of a mini-grant program that promotes scholarly inquiry into a question about teaching and learning. The Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) provided nearly $13,000 to fund the following projects:

• “The Impact of Awarding Digital Badges on Engineering Student Attitudes and Habits,” led by Dr. Joan B. Schuman, associate teaching professor of engineering management and systems engineering, received $2,540.
• “The Effect of the Sequencing of Linear Algebra (Math 3108) on Student Success,” led by Dr. Xiaojing Chen-Murphy, instructor of mathematics and statistics, $2,889.
• “Making it Personal: Evaluating the Impact of a Self-reference Writing Assignment on Memory Retention of Course Material,” led by Dr. Jessica Cundiff, assistant professor of psychological science, $5,000.
• “Development and Evaluation of an Early Alert System to Identify ‘Academically’ At-risk Student,” led by Dr. Nicolas Libre, assistant teaching professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, $5,000.