November 2025
Good morning from the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE)! We are pleased to present our November newsletter, which includes some recommended podcasts, information about upcoming programs, and a link to the Academic Integrity Office’s latest blog post.
PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS
Who doesn’t love a good podcast? Here are some recent podcast episodes on timely topics related to teaching and learning in higher education:
- A Different Way to Think about AI and Assessment | Teaching in Higher Ed
- Managing Hot Moments in 2025 | Intentional Teaching
- Mastering Active Learning in Large Classes | Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning
- Strategies to Support Neurodivergent Learners | Think UDL
- Teaching Students When (Not) to Use AI | Designed for Learning
NOVEMBER CTLE PROGRAMS
Faculty Panel: “Building a Research Team with Undergraduates in Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences”
Interested in expanding your research and creative activity to include undergraduate researchers? The path to building a lab or research team isn’t always as clear for faculty in fields outside of STEM. This session will feature a panel of SU faculty members who have successfully engaged multi-level research teams that include significant undergraduate contributions. Join us for a conversation about how to design projects that provide opportunities for collaboration with undergraduate students, establish a working structure, recruit and train students, and find funding to support the team. Co-facilitated by Kate Hanson, Director of Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) and Jessamyn Neuhaus, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE).
November 3, 12:00-1:00 p.m., Zoom
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Discussion and Idea-Sharing: Classroom Civility in Politically Polarizing Times
Educators today are increasingly having to navigate political polarization in the classroom. No matter what your discipline or subject area, in these politically fraught times we all need to work with students to cultivate classroom civility. As a follow-up to the November 4 workshop facilitated by the SU Community Standards Office, “Managing Political Differences in Academic Spaces,” the CTLE is hosting an informal brainstorming/idea-sharing/support session for any instructor looking for ideas about how to encourage civility and create psychological safety for students during potentially tense, politically-charged moments in the classroom. Come share your wisdom of practice, recommended strategies, and best teaching tips. Facilitated by Jessamyn Neuhaus.
November 11, 1:00-2:30 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
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Brown Bag Lunchtime Workshop: Using In-Class Workshops to Increase Student Engagement and Save Instructors Time
Dr. Mark Brockway, one of the 2025-2026 Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows and Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science, will facilitate this interactive session about adding in-class workshop activities to in-person class meetings. Student workshops are an effective way to increase student engagement in course materials and concepts, connect students to the world outside the classroom, and foster productive relationships between students and instructors. In workshops, students learn by doing, which helps transform course concepts into long-term skills students will take with them when they leave the class. Despite their benefits, workshops are often not used as an instructional tool because instructors lack the knowledge, time or resources to use them. The goal of this workshop is to bridge that gap by showing instructors how to quickly and easily create their own workshops, giving participants templates for established workshop activity ideas, and offering an easy method for incorporating workshops that saves instructor time. Bring your own brown bag lunch and beverage!
November 12, 12:00-1:30 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
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Workshop: AI in the Classroom: Experiencing Student Perspectives
Dr. Doug Yung, one of the 2025-2026 Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows, and Teaching Professor of Medical and Chemical Engineering, will facilitate this interactive studio where faculty step into a student role to use plug-and-play AI tools on realistic course tasks. Teams tackle rapid challenges in writing, brainstorming, and ethics, then compare outcomes to surface shortcuts, friction points, and blind spots. A guided debrief links the experience to classroom culture, academic integrity, and equity, translating insights into practical guardrails and teaching moves. Each participant leaves with a concise set of course-ready practices, sample prompts, and a debrief guide, and contributes takeaways to the CTLE resource bank.
- November 13, 12:45-1:45 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
- November 14, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Zoom
DECEMBER CTLE PROGRAMS
Student Panel Discussion: Student Perspectives on Using Generative AI
What do our students really think about generative AI? The answers may surprise you! Come to this panel for insights and real talk about students’ experiences, perceptions, and concerns about generative AI in learning and teaching. The panel will include time for questions from the audience. (Note: If you are interested but unable to attend the panel, we will be hosting another student panel discussion about generative AI early next semester.)
December 2, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
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Workshop: Maintaining Rigor and Academic Honesty in the Age of AI with Transparent Teaching Practices
Join us for an information-packed session about the many ways that research-based transparent teaching practices are a proven, high-impact way to facilitate student learning and success–even in this moment, when generative AI is dramatically altering many aspects of higher education. Facilitated by Ebony Graham, CTLE Faculty Developer and SCOT Coordinator; Kate Marzen, Director, Office of Academic Integrity; and Jessamyn Neuhaus, Director, CTLE. This interactive presentation will include time for questions and short discussions. We are offering one in-person session and one Zoom session.
- December 3, 10:00-11:30 a.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
- December 3, 2:00-3:30 p.m., Zoom
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Faculty Portfolio System (FPS) Work Session: Documenting Your Teaching Effectiveness
Although it’s standard practice to consider an instructor’s Course Feedback Forms during employment, tenure, and promotion reviews, these forms are only one type of limited evidence about teaching and should never be the sole basis for evaluating teaching. Fortunately, the Faculty Portfolio System (FPS) and the CV update form allow faculty to include and upload numerous different types of evidence when documenting teaching improvements, innovations, and effectiveness. In this working Zoom session, CTLE Director Jessamyn Neuhaus and Victoria Weber, FPS Administrator and Functional Business Analyst, will be on hand to answer all your questions about the variety of artifacts and evidence you can present to demonstrate your teaching efficacy, and where and how to upload it in the FPS.
December 8, 3:00-4:00 p.m., Zoom
“BEYOND AIO POLICY” BLOG
The initial conversation with a student we suspect may have violated the Academic Integrity policy is difficult and can be daunting. But meeting one-on-one with a student to discuss your concerns about a possible violation is not only a vital part of our responsibilities as educators but also essential for student learning. In her November blog post, Academic Integrity Office (AIO) Director, Kate Marzen offers numerous tips and suggestions for the best way to talk with students you suspect may have engaged in a violation of the Academic Integrity policy. Click this link to read the blog: Beyond AIO Policy.
PEDAGOGICAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH STUDENT PARTNERSHIP
Looking for a way to make your Spring semester bloom? Plant a seed by signing up for the SCOT program now!
If you’re unfamiliar with the SCOT (Students Consulting on Teaching) program, it is a short-term partnership between a faculty member and a student consultant who is trained to help faculty gather learner feedback. The purpose of SCOT is to support faculty in making small, meaningful teaching changes that are informed by both broad research on learning and student feedback in a specific course.
For more information on the program, please visit the CTLE site. If you’re interested and ready to apply, you can apply here! The faculty application window is November 3rd to December 16th, and spots will be filled on a rolling basis.
If you have any questions about the SCOT program, please contact the SCOT Coordinator, Ebony E. Graham.
FACULTY FELLOW DROP-IN HOURS
Two of our MP Faculty Fellows are offering drop-in hours this semester for individual consultations and conversations. No registration or appointment necessary! Just come on by.
Come brainstorm with Mark Brockway about ways to increase your students’ active learning and engagement in the classroom any time between 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the following days:
- November 3: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
- November 10: 548 Bird Library (Mower Faculty Commons)
- November 17: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
- December 4: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
- December 8: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
Come by and talk with Doug Yung about ethical, creative, and responsible uses of generative AI in teaching and learning any time between 1:15 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on the following days:
- November 6: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
- November 20: 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
ICYMI
The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies is offering a Feminist Pedagogy workshop titled “On Discomfort,” facilitated by Dr. Miriam Ticktin.
- November 4, 12:00-2:30 p.m. (Sims 319)
CTLE IN THE NEWS
Check out Jessamyn’s most recent interview about her new book, Snafu Edu: Teaching and Learning When Things Go Wrong in the College Classroom, for the Top Hat podcast “Higher Listenings:” Snafu Happens: A Love Letter to Imperfect Teaching | Higher Listenings.