Premier Award 2013 Submission

We welcome your submissions for the 2013 Premier Award. The submission deadline is Friday, July 12, 2013, 5 p.m. ET. The Premier Award competition is open to a wide range of submissions of "high-quality, non-commercial courseware designed to enhance engineering education." In addition to reviewing the eligibility info and submission info below, we would like to point out a few specific items:
  • We strongly suggest that you review past Premier Courseware (especially the submission packets, such as those from Project Links and West Point Bridge Designer). While each year is slightly different, past submissions can provide you a good sense of the types of materials that the judges and the competition value.
  • We also strongly suggest that you take the time to carefully prepare your submissions, these play an important role in the overall evaluation of your courseware because the Premier Award "is about the entire experience and not just the courseware."
  • If you submit a course or class website for review, we strongly recommend that you highlight the portions of the website that contain content that can be used in a variety of settings outside of the particular class that you are submitting for review.
  • If you submit a tool or environment for review, we strongly recommend that you include a specific implementation of the tool that "enhances engineering education".
  1. Submit your courseware to Engineering Pathway (EP) by completing a catalog record with a link to your courseware or to a page describing the courseware. Log in will be required so please register first if you are not registered.

  2. Provide copies of your courseware for judging purposes.
    • If your courseware is distributed on CD or DVD, then you must provide us with ten (10) copies of the courseware on either CD or DVD.
    • If your courseware is downloadable from a website or ftp server, please provide the appropriate URL in your submission documentation and during Cataloging (Step 1 above). We will download your courseware and distribute it to the judges.
  3. Experience shows that submissions that are accompanied by a short video demonstration of the courseware are much easier for our diverse panel of judges to more quickly understand the intricacies of operation. Provide a screen capture demonstration of your courseware with voice over, not to exceed seven (7) minutes, and in Flash (.flv), Windows Media (.wmv) or QuickTime (.mp4/.mov) file format. Please provide a URL on a publicly accessible web or ftp server so we can download your video demonstration, or submit ten (10) copies on CD or DVD with your submission packets. We must be able to run a copy of your video demonstration locally (i.e., we will not stream the video). You may want to use the Free Trial version of Camtasia Studio for Windows from Premier Award sponsor TechSmith, or Snapz Pro X for Macs from Ambrosia software. View an example video (Camtasia Studio video of 2007 Premier Courseware, Arcade).

  4. Complete the online submission form.

  5. Provide three (3) printed copies of your submission packet, with the following items:
    1. Cover letter, not to exceed 2 pages*, that must include:
      • clear statement that you are authorized to submit this courseware for the competition;
      • full contact information for the submitter;
      • clear statement of who holds the copyright(s) for the courseware and its components;
      • names of all authors and contributors,their affiliations and whether they have been contacted regarding this submission;
      • clear statement allowing Engineering Pathway/NEEDS to become a non-exclusive distributor of the courseware, as submitted, for the 2012 Premier Award competition (see also Eligibility Information); and
      • brief, two to four sentence description of the courseware suitable for promotional purposes (e.g., see the text used to describe the Premier Courseware of 1997).
      • If a login is needed to access the submission, or teacher-specific portions of the site, please provide a generic login and password the judges can use during the review process.
    2. Co-Authors, Dean's and Department Chairs contact information.
      We will acknowledge your submission to the co-Authors as well as their Dean's and Department Chairs. Provide full mailing addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses for each co-Author, as well as for their Deans and Department Chairs.

    3. Body, not to exceed 10 pages*.
      The text in the body should provide a comprehensive overview of your courseware, how it is used with learners, and how it meets the evaluation criteria. You may wish to take a look at an example from 2000 - Project Links Submission Packet or West Point Bridge Designer Submission Packet. The examples provided in the bullet items below are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather illustrate the types of information you should include.
      In the body, you must include a:
      • Specific response to each of the 2012 Premier Award Evaluation Criteria. View Adobe Acrobat File of the 2012 Evaluation Criteria.
      • Description of the impact of this courseware. For example, what topic areas are covered in the courseware? How and where has the courseware been used? In a lab or lecture section? At a different institution? In different departments? How many learners have been impacted by the courseware? A single class? An entire department?...
      • Description of how the courseware is used by a learner. Description of the support materials used in conjunction with this courseware, including pedagogical objectives, learning goals, lesson plans, instructor's and user's guides, etc.
      • Description of the evaluation and assessment performed to assess improved student learning through use of the courseware. For example, was student learning improved? How was student learning measured? Was some process/product (e.g., report writing, test scores, etc.) measurably improved?
      • New: Are there any other programs, either commercial or non-commercial, that are similar to your submission? If yes, how is your submission similar or different? And, what makes your submission stand out from others?
      • New: Identify any specific operating systems, software or applications required to use the submission (e.g., Linux, MATLAB, Java, etc.).
      • Letters/Statements of Reference. These letters/statements should be by instructors other than the author(s) that have either adopted or adapted the courseware. Ideally one or more of these instructors will be at a different institution than the author(s). Up to three can be included in the Body, any others may be included in the Appendix. This section is optional but adoption and/or adaptation by others may be viewed as a key measure of your courseware.
    4. Resubmission Documentation, for resubmission only, not to exceed 2 pages*. If you are resubmitting courseware submitted for a previous competition and meet the Eligibility guidelines, you are required to provide additional documentation. You must include a:
      • Concise description of how the courseware has changed since the previous submission.
      • Description of how your changes address the suggestions for improvement provided with your previous submission.
    5. Appendix, can include:
      • Additional Letters of Reference.
      • Journal or Conference Papers describing the courseware and its use.
      • Learner evaluations, surveys and survey results.
      • Any additional supporting material that may assist the judges in evaluating your courseware.
      • * Page Specifications
        • Paper: US Letter size (8.5" x 11")
        • All A4 or nonconforming pages will be cropped as necessary to meet the US Letter size (8.5" x 11") requirement. Under extreme cases nonconforming submissions may be rejected.
        • Three hole punched required
        • 1" Margins all around
        • Font:10 to 12 point, Times, Times New Roman, or equivalent
        • Line Spacing: At the discretion of the submitter.
        • Do not bind (i.e., paper tape, velo, spiral, etc.) or staple your submission. You may choose to use binder clips or rubber bands to separate each copy of your submission
  6. Provide the elements of the submission packet electronically as an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file. (Don't forget that you must also send the paper copies as described above.) These may be transmitted electronically as a file attachment to e-mail, CD or DVD. We will use this electronic version of your materials to supplement your courseware record in EP/NEEDS.


All items must be completed and arrive by Friday, July 12 at 5 P.M. Eastern Time. Send submissions to:

2013 Premier Award
c/o Joe Tront
Virginia Tech
359 Durham Hall
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0111

Note: Submitter and/or graduate students and technical staff must be available August 1 - September 30, 2013, to work with EP/NEEDS staff. Due to the nature of the judging and production of the Premier Courseware of 2012 materials, this will require rapid response and unfortunately we won't know the exact time that we may need your assistance.

Note: Courseware submitted to the 2013 Premier Award competition must be distributable through Engineering Pathway and on a Premier Courseware of 2013 CD-ROM. (Repeated from the Eligibility Information.) By submitting to the Premier Award competition the submitter acknowledges that a) they retain sufficient rights to allow EP/NEEDS to become a non-exclusive distributor of the courseware as submitted for the 2013 Premier Award competition, b) they will transmit to EP/NEEDS a full working version of their courseware (in some cases previews or demos of the courseware may be acceptable) in September if it is selected as the 2013 Premier Courseware (even if their courseware is web-based), and c) they will work with Engineering Pathway staff to ensure their courseware runs smoothly from a Premier Courseware of 2013 CD-ROM or USB memory stick.


If you'd like more information about the Premier Award or how to become a sponsor, please contact Professor Joe Tront at Virginia Tech via email at [email protected].