Welcome

The Allen Institute for Research on Learning, Information & Technology, named in honor of Dr. Bryce L. Allen, provides a unifying and dynamic umbrella for the research and development activities of faculty, staff, and students in the School of Information Science & Learning Technologies (SISLT). The Allen Institute offers an infrastructure of support and a collaborative space wherein the vital inquiry of SISLT can be enhanced. Bryce Allen represented the best of collaboration and creative research; the goal of The Allen Institute is to continue in this noble tradition.

The Allen Institute houses numerous, on-going R&D projects including the following:

Assessing Women in Student Environments: URL: http://www.engr.psu.edu/awe/
Point of Contact: Rose Marra
AWE offers exportable assessment instruments, literature resources and capacity building tools.
CANS: Context-aware Activity Notification System: URL: http://cansaware.com/
Point of Contact: Jim Laffey
Developing tools for use in the SAKAI course management system.
eThemes: URL: http://ethemes.missouri.edu
Point of Contact: Laura Wedman
Email: ethemes@missouri.edu
An online database of content-rich, age-appropriate resources for teaching and learning.
Information Experience Laboratory: URL: http://ielab.missouri.edu
Point of Contact: Neeley Current
Laboratory and enterprise for for research, teaching and service in technology usability.
iSocial: URL: http://isocial.missouri.edu/iSocial/
Point of Contact: Jim Laffey
Developing virtual environments for individuals with autism (partnering with Thompson Center).
KidTools Support System (KTSS): URL: http://kidtools.missouri.edu
Point of Contact: Gail Fitzgerald
Computer-based performance support tools for children and youth with learning disabilities and/or emotional/behavioral disorders.
Materials Science Problem-Based Learning Project: Design, implementation, and assessment of a problem-based learning (PBL) version of a materials science course in the mechanical engineering curriculum. In order to establish effects, data are being collected in a a traditional version of the course and a PBL version of the course.
National Girls Collaborative Project: URL: http://www.ngcproject.org/
Point of Contact: Rose Marra
Design, develop and test performance tools and assess the effectiveness of activities designed to recruit and retain women in engineering and science.
Project Whistlestop: URL: http://www.trumanlibrary.org
Point of Contact: Tom Kochtanek and James Borwick
The digital library for the Truman Presidential Library.
Prototyping the Engineer of 2020: URL: http://www.nae.edu/nae/engeducom.nsf/weblinks/MCAA-5L3MNK?OpenDocument
Point of Contact: Rose Marra
Data-mining to examine six institutions of higher education that appear to be successful in developing the “Engineer of 2020”.
StrategyTools Support System (STSS): URL: http://strategytools.org
Point of Contact: Gail Fitzgerald
Computer-based performance support tools for adolescents with learning disabilities and/or emotional/behavioral disorders to help them prepare for transition to post-school settings.
Supporting Collaboration in Engineering Education (SCEE): Point of Contact: Rose Marra
SCEE will develop an online, customizable environment – the Engineering Education Collaboration Environment -- in which students will manage and implement collaborative activities associated with engineering design projects. The project will include dissemination, testing and research in several engineering classrooms at multiple institutions.
SWE-AWE Project: Increasing Assessment Capacity in Engineering Outreach: Point of Contact: Rose Marra
Building capacity in the engineering outreach community by updating and transitioning the previously NSF funded award “Assessing Women in Engineering” (AWE) to the Society of Women Engineers to more broadly disseminate a comprehensive set of assessment tools and recreate a platform for sustainability and maintenance of this valuable resource.
This Week in Newsy: URL: http://newsy.missouri.edu/
Point of Contact: Laura Wedman 
Email: ethemes@missouri.edu
 An online database of age-appropriate, news-related media resources for teaching and learning.
Virtual Resource Center for Behavioral Disorders: URL: http://vrcbd.missouri.edu
Point of Contact: Gail Fitzgerald
Resources for teaching children with emotional & behavioral disorders: multimedia cases, instructional guides, learning assessment materials.

The Allen Institute also provides professional support for SISLT PhD students and also has close working relationships with other University of Missouri R&D enterprises.