City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: FEBRUARY 28, 2018
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Grant Application to the U.S. Department of Education Institute for Education Sciences (IES) Small Business Innovation Research Project (SBIR) Program.
BODY
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ISSUE: Application for a grant to the federal government's Institute for Education Sciences (IES).
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council authorize the City Manager to:
1) Ratify the application to IES for a grant of up to $15,944;
2) Approve the acceptance of funds from IES for up to $15,944, if the grant is approved; and
3) Authorize the City Manager to execute the necessary documents that may be required.
BACKGROUND: Alexandria Archaeology (AA), a division of the Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA), will partner with the lead applicant, Dig-iT! Games, LLC, to undertake the grant activities. The AA component of the grant seeks $15,944 from IES to create an inquiry-based online high school educational archaeology game focused on the archaeology of Alexandria's Hotel Indigo site. The game will require students to think analytically and critically to evaluate data and make reasoned, evidence-based arguments based on 18th century documents and archaeological artifacts from the Hotel Indigo site. The grant will fund equipment for a new artifact photo studio for Alexandria Archaeology, staff time and one summer intern.
The goals of the overall project are to:
1) Create an engaging game product for high school students using artifacts and other
archaeological objects, primary and secondary sources, and summaries of real life analysis of the artifacts;
2) Develop and implement a model to capture learning and non-learning data to support
the required research testing and game assessment reports for the educator a...
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