SPICE Treasure Hunt #3: Logic Model

What are treasure hunts and how can they help you prepare an NSF proposal? These treasure hunts have been created, tested, and updated by the Supporting Proposal Incubation and Creation for Educators at Two Year Institutions (SPICE) community. Each will involve questions, suggestions, and tasks to assist in the process of submitting an NSF grant proposal. These treasure hunts are not exhaustive and should be a basis for continued discussion in our forum spaces. We will also have forum space for suggestions and updates of the treasure hunts, as they will constantly evolve with use.    Why is this important? From the SPICE Glossary, a logic model is a visual representation of a program or initiative that illustrates the connection between its resources, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts. The ITYC solicitation specifically says “Providing a clear statement describing the alignment among the proposal objectives, knowledge building and project outcomes is recommended. A logic model or framework to illustrate coherence and alignment is recommended.” Not only are they useful for guiding reviewers and program officers through your project, they also allow you to make sure you are connecting all your big ideas with actionable activities and goals.   What should you expect to get out of it? You will have a logic model that will help you write your proposal and guide reviewers and program officers through your proposal. It is a tool that can be used to guide discussions among collaborators (e.g., your evaluator, advisory board). It can also help you organize your project activities in a way that is actionable.    Suggestions for getting started Start with your one-pager from Treasure Hunt #2 and the template and examples of logic models as well as additional resources can be found here.