Innovative Approaches to Strengthen Undergraduate Education

Duke’s faculty and school leaders continually seek out educational innovations that will enrich the undergraduate experience. The Undergraduate Program Enhancement Fund (UPEF), managed by the Office of the Provost, empowers faculty to experiment with novel approaches.

Across the last five years of UPEF grants, cross-cutting themes include active and experiential learning, team-based collaborative projects, interdisciplinarity and community-engaged scholarship, real-world application and scalability. The most common type of project is curriculum development and course redesign.

A Culture of Teaching Innovation 

“UPEF grants have played a vital role in sustaining a culture of teaching innovation in Trinity,” said Deborah Reisinger, dean of undergraduate education for Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. “UPEF helps faculty both develop and scale high-impact practices that strengthen our undergraduate teaching, while advancing our core values of curiosity, connection and intellectual exploration.

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“Funding has supported expanding the language curriculum to include content-based instruction tied to global issues,” she continued, “allowing students to build language proficiency while deepening their ability to think across cultures and disciplines — an essential component of a liberal arts education. Another project developed a team-based, mentored research program in history that connects students with Durham nonprofits, allowing them to collaborate on real-world projects. These kinds of grants strengthen the long-term impact of Trinity’s curriculum by contributing to meaningful undergraduate experiences.”

One current grant: Trinity’s Cinematic Arts program offers courses in narrative, documentary, experimental and artists’ cinemas, along with skill-based learning in screenwriting, cinematography, editing, animation, installation and sound design. Through UPEF, the school is strengthening the program by improving introductory offerings and enhancing technical instruction. A new year-long, collaborative capstone is designed to support more ambitious student projects. The aim is to create a more cohesive curriculum, foster collaboration and improve student outcomes while maintaining a balance between critical studies and creative practice.

Building Technical Excellence With Character

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“At Pratt, we have always believed that technical excellence and strong moral character are not competing priorities; they are the same priority,” said Jerome Lynch, Vinik Dean of the Pratt School of Engineering. “The engineers who will solve the grand challenges of our time will need more than deep expertise. They will need the wisdom to deploy that expertise in ways that are honest, just and truly beneficial to the communities they serve. Character Forward is our commitment to making that formation intentional. Through our [current] UPEF grant, we are expanding this work.”

One current grant: Character Forward at Pratt is a partnership with the Kenan Institute for Ethics and the Divinity School. The initiative equips faculty to integrate ethics and character formation into their teaching, cultivates student leaders through both coursework in ethics and technology and sustained cohorts with alumni mentors, and fosters moral and intellectual community around questions of ethics, technology and engineering pedagogy. Thanks to a UPEF grant, the initiative is offering “Character-ize Your Course” grants to faculty and increasing student and alumni engagement in fellowship programming.

Preparing Students to Be Leaders

“Grants from UPEF have supported our faculty in piloting innovative programs that prepare our undergraduates to be future leaders,” said Lori Bennear, Stanback Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment. “For example, the Climate Scholars Program uses UPEF funding to integrate coursework, research, community engagement and professional development focused on the climate crisis. Our faculty are constantly thinking of new ways to fulfill students’ evolving interests and needs, and this funding source has allowed us to test and develop new ideas that enhance our offerings.”

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One current grant: The Nicholas School is piloting a six-week summer program, Marine+, to provide interdisciplinary, team-based research experiences for undergraduates. Students will complete a primer in experimental design and research methods, then work in teams to conduct faculty-mentored research projects on marine ecosystems. Based at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC, the program emphasizes collaboration, scientific communication and hands-on learning while fostering connections with faculty and peers. Marine+ will serve as a gateway to longer-term research programs and lower barriers to research participation through stipends and mentorship.

Hands-on Experience

“Duke’s UPEF grant program has given Sanford faculty the freedom to test new ideas in teaching and research,” said Manoj Mohanan, interim dean at the Sanford School of Public Policy. “For our students, these awards translate into something tangible: hands‑on experience, opportunities to meet with policymakers, close collaboration with faculty and a clearer view of how policy is actually shaped beyond the classroom. 

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“In the past, UPEF awards have enabled Sanford faculty take large groups of public policy students to D.C. for immersive policy experiences at the White House and Congress. I am particularly thrilled about this new UPEF award to support Professor Joab Corey’s efforts to pioneer innovations in teaching economics and to increase student engagement with foundational public policy concepts.”

One current grant: A new project at the Sanford School seeks to transform economics education into a more interactive, student-centered experience aligned with real-world policy applications. The UPEF grant is supporting Sanford economics faculty to incorporate active learning pedagogy through a digital repository of interactive teaching tools and associated faculty training. Resources will include simulations, games, a bank of video clips, and collaborative exercises that replace traditional lecture-heavy approaches. Faculty will be trained to implement and adapt these methods, and students will be recruited to pilot the use of these active learning strategies.

Learn More

Read highlights from four other UPEF-supported projects: first-year computing for engineers; History+ summer program; Climate Scholars; and Sanford Pathways.