Teaching Efficiently with LLMs | April 14, 2025
During a hands-on talk, Assistant Teaching Professor Jon Flynn demonstrated how large language models (LLMs) can enhance teaching practices, streamline course management, and accelerate the development of high-quality educational materials. His slides are available here.
Dialogue Across Differences in the Classroom | April 4, 2025
As part of the Provost's "Rice Reflects" series, we explored strategies for planning an facilitating effective dialogues across differences. Participants resources are available here.
Increasing Reading Engagement with Perusall and AI | March 11, 2025
Assistant Teaching Professor Todd Ferguson described how he has used Perusall to increase student engagement and improve the quality of assessments in his courses. His slides are available here.
Reading Group: A Light in the Tower ~ A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education | Spring 2025
Session 1, February 26: In this session, we explored the complex challenge of responding to the "normalization of suffering," systemic burnout, and inconsistent or unclear service expectations; themes from the small group discussions are summarized here.
Session 2, March 26: In this session, we focused on the complexities of personal disclosure and the challenge of balancing "helpful" rigor with support; themes from the small group discussions are summarized here.
Session 3, April 16: In the final session, we continued the conversation about rigor while also exploring the book as a whole--interesting and challenging ideas, key takeaways, and advice for colleagues. Themes from the small group discussion and selected responses to exit tickets are summarized here.
Symposium: Building Trust with our Teaching and Feedback to Enable Learning | January 2025
Access the slides for this year's keynote and workshop here. A short video recap of the event, including interviews with some of our Faculty Fellows, is available here.
If you're interested in reading more by Peter Felten, consider these books, available through the CTE Library:
- Transforming Students: Fulfilling the Promise of Higher Education
- Engaging Students as Partners in Learning and Teaching: A Guide for Faculty
- Undergraduate Experience: Focusing Institutions on What Matters Most
After the event, attendees shared the changes they are planning to make in their courses based on what they learned in the symposium; read their ideas and share your own in this collaborative document! You might also like to read this short piece by Rice history professor Caleb McDaniel, discussing how he integrated an idea from this year's symposium into his first day of class.
The January, 2025, issue of Teaching and Learning Inquiry features a special section on building trust in teaching. We encourage you to explore these articles as well.
Reading Group: Teaching with AI | Fall 2024
Session 1, September 17: Amanda Barnett and Amy Birkhead (Teaching and Learning Technologies) facilitated our discussion of Part 1: Thinking with AI. In this session, we discussed
- our initial thoughts on the use and integration of AI and teaching
- the role AI currently plays in our classrooms/disciplines and how we see that role evolving over time
- our individual experiences with AI in our personal lives, our scholarly work, and our teaching
- our own AI literacy and our confidence in helping students increase their AI literacy
Read more here.
Session 2, October 17: Rhonda Humbert and Seth Tyger (Digital Learning) facilitated our discussion of Part 2: Teaching with AI.
Session 3, November 20: Tom McCabe (CTE) facilitated discussion of Part 3: Learning with AI.
A ChatGPT-generated summary of key discussion themes and recommendations from attendees can be accessed here.
Reading Group: Improving Learning and Mental Health in the College Classroom | Fall 2024
Session 1, September 11: In this session, we discussed the ways that we talk about mental health in the classroom and strategies for helping students feel supported; themes from the small group discussions are summarized here. Click here to browse various goals to address mental health or wellbeing that participants set for themselves after the session.
Session 2, October 9: In this session, we discussed the ways that we connect our course content to real-world issues and to bigger questions about students' purpose; we also shared strategies for demonstrating high levels of concern or providing high levels of support for students in our courses. To view summaries of this discussion, including specific strategies to implement in your courses, click here. Feel free to contribute to our collaborative document by adding your own goals related to connection or support.
Session 3, November 3: In this session, participants discussed ideas for departmental initiatives to foster community and belonging among students. We also talked about ways that instructors can incorporate wellness-related practices into their courses to create a supportive learning environment. Themes and suggestions from the small group discussions are outlined here. Feel free to contribute to our collaborative document by adding your own goals related to fostering a class environment that supports wellbeing and learning.
Pedagogical Sciences in Practice: Peer Evaluation of Teaching Tool | 22 November 2024
In this session, Laura Kabiri, Elizabeth McGuffey, Praise Mayor, and Rebecca Schreib presented an interactive tool they developed for creating customized peer evaluation of teaching forms. Access the workshop slides here.
Pedagogical Sciences in Practice: Research Showcase | 30 October 2024
Sandy Parsons (Psychological Sciences): Student Attitudes Towards AI in the Classroom & Proposed AI Usage Scale
Beth Beason-Abmayr (BioSciences): Leveraging Assessment to Drive Student Engagement and Success
Rodrigo Ferreira (Computer Science): Co-Creative Futures: Gen AI in New Materialist Pedagogical Theory and Practice
Teaching Award-Winners Showcase | 18 October 2024
Carl Caldwell (History): On Posing the Right Questions
Geoff Wehmeyer (Mechanical Engineering): Making Assignments "SCARY" (in a good way)
Colette Nicolaou (Psychological Sciences): Aristotle's Triangle: How a Clinical Psychologist Turns a Lecture into a Conversation
Pedagogical Sciences in Practice: Introduction to the IRB | 5 September 2024
In this session, Catherine Barber gave an overview of the umbrella IRB process and explained how you can join the protocol to conduct teaching and learning research in your classes. Access the Powerpoint slides for the event here.
New Faculty Orientation | 21 August 2024
- Powerpoint slides presented at New Faculty Orientation
- Faculty Teaching Handbook