Teaching in the CTEI

CTEI

0.0 (0)
Education

Produced by the Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation (CTEI) at Rush University, Teaching in the CTEI features conversations with faculty and staff on topics related to teaching and learning at one of the nation's leading academic medical centers.

Jul 9

What Should Students Learn if AI Can Do the Work?

We're back! After an extended hiatus, Teaching in the CTEI has returned with a 3-part episode series on AI in higher education. We're so happy to be back and have lots to discuss in the coming months! This first episode welcomes Dr. Elle Corvette, Dr. Felicitas Hartung, and Professor Chris Friend to the conversation, and attempts to tackle the big questions about AI's role in teaching & learning. For example, "What are we pretending still matters educationally because we're attached to tradition?" and "What do you think higher education could realistically look like in 10 years if AI continues advancing rapidly?". Topics include the value of critical reasoning, metacognition, grading and its alternatives, career readiness, and the importance of human relationships and community building. We are so grateful to our guests for their participation and thoughtful insights! Elle Corvette, Ph.D., is Director of Faculty Development and Immersive Learning at William Peace University located in Raleigh, NC. She holds dual doctorates in Interdisciplinary Art Practice/Research & Critical Studies (Goldsmiths, London) and Educational Psychology (Tennessee, Knoxville). Her research centers on high-impact, peer-to-peer pedagogy and experiential learning, emphasizing reflective mindfulness and student-centered instruction. She has spent her entire career trying to help make higher education worthy of the students showing up for it. She is not done yet. Felicitas Hartung, Ph.D., is Associate Director of Digital Scholarship in the Center for Educational Effectiveness at UC Davis. Her work focuses on supporting innovative and inclusive teaching practices, faculty development, digital pedagogy, and the thoughtful integration of generative AI in higher education. Drawing on experience in teaching and educational development across Germany and the United States, she brings a perspective that connects instructional practice with broader questions about learning, assessment, and institutional change. Her current scholarship explores how higher education can respond to AI-driven transformation while preserving meaningful forms of intellectual, emotional, and relational engagement in learning. Trained as both a historian and educator, she is particularly interested in the future of expertise, assessment, and human-centered teaching in AI-rich learning environments. Chris Friend is Assistant Professor of English in New Media and director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Kean University in Union, NJ. His research examines pedagogy and digital composition practices through the lenses of identity and student agency. References and recommended reading: Bertram Gallant, T., & Rettinger, D. A. (2025). The opposite of cheating: Teaching for integrity in the age of AI. University of Oklahoma Press. Blum, Susan D. (Ed.). (2020). Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead). West Virginia University Press. Blum, Susan D. (2025) Ungrading Five Years On: A Movement, A Backlash, a Rebranding, a Story. Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND-4.0. Bowen, J. A., & Watson, C. E. (2025). Teaching with AI: A practical guide to a new era of human learning. 2nd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press. Clark, D., & Talbert, R. (2023). Grading for growth: A guide to alternative grading practices that promote authentic learning and student engagement in higher education. Routledge. Ferrandino, Joseph. (2016). Student Achievement in Undergraduate Statistics: The Value of Encouraging Failure. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 16. 1-18. 10.14434/josotl.v16i6.20261. Hao, K. (2025). Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI. Penguin Press. Mintz, S. (2025, June 27). A blueprint for tomorrow: Transforming your university into a forward-facing institution. Inside Higher Ed. Inside Higher Ed.
01/29/2025

Your Trusty GenAI Sidekick: Timesaving Tips for Busy Faculty

In this first episode of a two-part series, Angela leads a panel discussion on the role generative AI can play in helping faculty complete their many tasks and responsibilities. Panel experts discuss ways generative AI can be used to create and modify course materials, refine individualized feedback to students, and save time with common, but time-consuming tasks, such as writing emails and letters of recommendation. Our guests also discuss concerns both faculty and students share about the ethical implications of using AI in teaching and learning. We are so grateful to our guests for their participation and brilliant insights! Find the episode transcript and summary here. Justin Shaffer, PhD, is the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and a Teaching Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering and in Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Shaffer is the author of the forthcoming book High Structure Course Design which gives practical hands-on advice for creating STEM courses that engage students in and out of the classroom and improve student outcomes. Dr. Shaffer is an award-winning educator who has taught 8500+ students since 2012 in the areas of chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, biology, and anatomy and physiology and has published 25+ peer-reviewed journal articles and teaching materials on the efficacy of high structure courses, active learning, and related topics. Dr. Shaffer is the founder of Recombinant Education where he provides STEM program characterization and professional development to faculty and administrators in the areas of course and curriculum design, evidence-based teaching practices, and discipline-based education research. Lilian Mina is Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives at the Graduate School in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She’s also Associate Professor of English and the Director of Freshman English program. She researches and publishes on digital writing ad teachers’ use of digital technologies in teaching writing. She leads AI-related initiatives at UAB. WIth colleagues at the English Department, she created different integration models of GenAI technologies in all English courses. She also led a university-wide committee that created guidelines on the use of AI technologies in graduate research projects. She leads professional development on using AI in teaching writing, mentoring graduate students in the age of AI, and ethical and responsible use of AI detection tools. Dr. Heidi Watson-Held is an Instructional Designer in the eLearning Design Innovation Group in the Smeal College of Business at The Pennsylvania State University. Heidi has worked for the Pennsylvania State University for 25 years in program design, development, and delivery in a variety of capacities. She completed a D.Ed. in Administration and Leadership – Higher Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2012. She received my M.Ed. in Adult Education from Pennsylvania State University in 2004. Heidi has been teaching for Purdue University in their Learning Design & Technology program in the department of Curriculum and Instruction since 2016. Heidi enjoys teaching and learning with AI, designing courses, creating video shorts, and working on assessments. When she is not working for Purdue or Penn State, she is involved in gardening, painting, taking care of family, or writing stories. Andrew Bell, PhD, is a technology consultant in the Teaching and Scholarship Hub where he consults with University of Richmond faculty on effective integration of digital tools into their teaching and scholarship. Andrew is also an instructor in the FYS (First-Year Seminars) program, Robins School of Business, and Psychology department where he teaches courses in neuroscience and data analysis.
12/10/2024

The Art of Group Work: Part 2

In this episode of Teaching in the CTEI, we explore the nuances of team-based learning with Dr. Trevion Henderson, Dr. Tara Mason, and Dr. Robin Fowler. Our guests discuss power dynamics in student teams, strategies for creating inclusive group environments, and methods for teaching effective collaboration skills. From managing diverse perspectives to addressing systemic inequities, this conversation offers practical insights for educators looking to enhance team-based learning in their classrooms. We are so grateful to our guests for their participation and insights! Episode transcript. Trevion Henderson is Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University School of Engineering. Henderson earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan. He received his M.A. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The Ohio State University, where he also earned his B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering. Dr. Henderson holds secondary appointments in the STEM Education program in the Department of Education and the Institute for Research on Learning and Instruction (IRLI). As a first-year professor at Tufts, Trevion will teach courses on engineering design education and engineering education research methods. Tara Mason, Ph.D., is the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Consultant at the Center for Teaching and Learning. She provides faculty development that supports inclusive, accessible, and assets-based pedagogy, with a specialized focus on challenges and opportunities for students with disabilities. Before joining UC Berkeley, Dr. Mason directed a special education teacher preparation program at both the graduate and undergraduate levels as a faculty member at a public liberal arts university in Colorado. Before her university career, she worked as a K-12 educational professional. She is the author of a mentoring guidebook, Mentoring Partnerships: A Guidebook for Inclusive Special Education, and her research interests include faculty development, joyful pedagogy, UDL, and ways to create equitable and inclusive teaching environments. Robin Fowler is a Teaching Professor in Technical Communication and an Engineering Education researcher at the University of Michigan. Her teaching is primarily in team-based engineering courses, and her research focuses on equity in communication and collaboration as well as in group design decision making (judgment) under uncertainty. She is especially interested in how power relationships and rhetorical strategies affect group judgment in engineering design; one goal of this work is to to understand factors that inhibit full participation of students who identify with historically marginalized groups and investigate evidence-based strategies for mitigating these inequities. In addition, she is interested in technology and how specific affordances can change the ways we collaborate, learn, read, and write. Teaching engineering communication allows her to apply this work as she coaches students through collaboration, design thinking, and design communication. She is part of a team of faculty innovators who originated Tandem (⁠tandem.ai.umich.edu⁠), a tool designed to help facilitate equitable and inclusive teamwork environments.
10/29/2024

The Art of Group Work: Strategies for Effective Collaboration

After a brief hiatus, Teaching in the CTEI is back! We're excited to return with a two-part series on an equal parts challenging and potentially transformative cooperative learning strategy, group work. In this episode, Angela and guests, Lindsay Wheeler, Lynn Mandeltort, Chris Hamstra, and Prabhani Kuruppumullage discuss the ins and outs of organizing, facilitating, and assessing group work. All university faculty from different disciplines, our guests reflect on the types of projects best suited for group work, how to ensure equitable participation among group members, and common challenges and how to overcome them. We are so grateful to our guests for their participation and insights! Correction: POGIL (discussed around 9:42 minutes) should be Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry, not peer-oriented. Thanks for the correction, Lynn! Episode transcript. Lindsay Wheeler is Associate Professor and Senior Associate Director in the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Virginia. She leads the CTE's research and assessment efforts to drive program development and understand the impact of various programs. Lindsay’s teaching interests include implementing inclusive and reflective teaching practices, developing and utilizing inquiry-based curricula, supporting TAs in instruction, and implementing active learning strategies in large-enrollment courses. She has taught large introductory chemistry laboratory courses, small foundational chemistry courses, and seminar courses to graduate and undergraduate students in the sciences. Lynn Mandeltort is Assistant Director of Engineering Education Initiatives in the Center for Teaching Excellence and Assistant Professor, General Faculty at the University of Virginia. She works with instructors and teams across disciplines to advocate for effective teaching and develop equitable curricular experiences. She regularly facilitates programming for course design, collaborative learning, large enrollment courses, and transparent teaching. Her current interests include relational pedagogy, curriculum redesign, and co-teaching. Chris Hamstra is an award-winning instructor, speaker, writer, and global traveler who serves as an Associate Professor of Communication. As a two-time Fulbright Specialist Scholar (Greece 2023 and Iceland 2019), he has helped global leaders to fine-tune their Leadership Life Stories. Chris began his career in radio and television as a disc jockey and sports reporter. Chris Hamstra has a passion in the areas of communication, storytelling, and leadership, that connects individuals toward their personal and professional goals. Chris serves in the Online and In-person classroom and actively seeks connection among learners. Prabhani Kuruppumullage is an associate research professor in Statistics at Penn State University and serves as the director for online classes offered via Penn State World Campus by the Statistics department. Prabhani joined Penn State in 2018 and has collaborated with Penn State Shreyer Institute of Teaching Excellence on multiple projects. One of her main research interests is how group work can be incorporated into online asynchronous classes. She and her collaborators recently received an NSF improving undergraduate STEM education (NSF-IUSE) award which will focus on approaches to foster team-based learning in asynchronous online and hybrid learning environments.
05/10/2024

One From the Vault: What Does an Instructional Designer Do?

Now that we've hit our 3-year anniversary (woohoo!), we are due for a little hiatus. But, don't worry, we'll be back with new and exciting episodes soon. In the interim, we are revisiting our greatest hits. By far, our most popular episode is #13 from August 2022: What Does an Instructional Designer Do? Looks like so many of you want to know, so let's jump right in! In this episode, Angela speaks with a handful of Instructional Designers working at Rush and various universities throughout the country about their profession. Among other topics, these designers share their passion for their work and the many, often surprising ways they support faculty, from simply helping to lighten the workload when getting a course off the ground to offering insight into creative solutions for teaching problems and course design by applying their expert knowledge of learning tools and online pedagogy. The big takeaway: Your course is still yours. We're just here to help you make it happen and realize your vision! A big thank you to our guests: Peg Checchi: Instructional Designer, Rush University Cindy Cooper: Instructional Designer, Eastern Kentucky University Steve Shisley: Instructional Designer, Eastern Kentucky University Courtney Hebert: Sr. Learning Experience Designer, Louisiana State University Episode ⁠transcript⁠
04/05/2024

Building Trust in the Age of AI

Establishing and maintaining a culture of trust in the classroom isn't easy and the advent of generative AI has made this task all the more challenging for teachers at every level. In this episode, Angela and guests, Nadine Lerret, Wendy Zajack, and Laura Dumin discuss their strategies for building and maintaining trust in their classrooms in the age of AI. While emphasizing ethical, responsible, and transparent use by both teacher and student, guests reflect on to what degree they use AI in their teaching and allow students to use it in their learning. Concrete steps for building trust, as well as positive and negative experiences and how to overcome them are also discussed. A big thank you to our guests for their insights and for leading the way in this emerging field! Episode ⁠⁠transcript⁠⁠. Nadine Lerret: Dr. Nadine Lerret obtained her PhD in Immunology from RUSH University in 2011. She is currently an associate professor and the program director for the Medical Laboratory Science program here at RUSH University. Her position as a passionate educator and director in the underrepresented field of medical laboratory science enables her to spread enthusiasm and knowledge while serving as a mentor for the next generation. Dr. Lerret has been exploring the use of AI alongside her students in the classroom and also as an administrator in higher education and recently gave a talk at the 2024 Clinical Laboratory Science Educators Conference titled “Elevating Education: Harnessing ChatGPT and Generative AI for MLS Educators and Program Directors”. She is also giving a RUSHU Tedx talk next month focused on the use of AI in healthcare education. Wendy Zajack: With more than 20 years of experience in public relations, marketing, media relations and internal communications, Dr. Wendy Zajack thrives on working to make complex topics easy to understand, exciting and relevant to broad audiences. She spent her corporate career working for large, global organizations building messaging for multiple audiences and using a variety of marketing channels. She now spends her time thinking about the intersection of education, communications and technology and how to thoughtfully deliver tailored, personalized and impactful curriculum to adult learners. She is a faculty director and associate professor of the practice for a master’s level Integrated Marketing Communications and a Design Management Communications program in the School of Continuing Studies. She is an active blogger and enjoys speaking at industry conferences and universities about the power of branding and communications, personal branding, salary negotiation, business marketing trends, importance of ethics, online education, education technology as well as educating millennials and GenZs. Laura Dumin: Dr. Laura Dumin obtained her PhD in English from Oklahoma State University in 2010. She is a professor in English and Technical Writing at the University of Central Oklahoma. She has been exploring the impact of generative AI on writing classrooms and runs a Facebook learning community to allow instructors to learn from each other https://www.facebook.com/groups/632930835501841 When she is not teaching, Laura works as a co-managing editor for the Journal of Transformative Learning, directs the Technical Writing BA and advises the Composition and Rhetoric MA program, and was a campus SoTL mentor. She has created four micro-credentials for the Technical Writing program and one for faculty who complete her AI workshop on campus.
02/26/2024

The Value of Centers for Teaching and Learning

In this episode, Angela and guests, Stephanie Richter, Melody Buckner, and Laura Ramp discuss the value of university centers for teaching and learning (CTLs). While they may go by many different names and acronyms, CTLs are vital resources for faculty, offering among other things, instructional, curricular, and LMS support, and as always, a sympathetic ear. Our guests, all leaders at their respective institutions, reflect on the variety of services provided by their centers and how CTLs can support faculty especially in times of change or difficulty. Also discussed are suggestions for how CTLs can demonstrate their value at their institutions. We are so thankful to our guests for their participation and insights and for the work they do to support faculty and students! Stephanie Richter serves as the Director of Teaching Excellence and Support in the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Northern Illinois University. Melody Buckner serves as the Associate Vice Provost of Digital Learning and Online Initiatives for the University Center for Assessment, Teaching, and Technology (UCATT) at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Laura Ramp serves as Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at PennState Harrisburg. Episode transcript.
01/18/2024

The Emotional Labor of Teaching - Part 2

In Part 2 of this series, Angela continues this important conversation with three new guests: Drs. Tomeka Dowling, Caleb Simmons, and Darlene Ritz. Building upon topics discussed in Part 1 , Angela and guests reflect on the often unseen emotional labor of teaching. Topics discussed include managing student issues and needs and societal norms around emotion in the classroom. Guests offer suggestions for how to cope with these often unwritten expectations. TW: This episode contains a discussion of domestic violence. Please listen with care and contact the Nation Domestic Violence Hotline if you need help. CTEI extends a big thank you to our guests for their participation! Dr. Tomeka Dowling is an Assistant Professor and Director of DNP Curriculum and Operations at Rush University College of Nursing. As director of a nationally ranked DNP program, she is focused on ensuring standardized processes within the program, college, and university that promote educational equity, inclusive learning environments as well as integrate instructional strategies for diverse learners. Dr. Dowling has a passion to move beyond the rhetoric of inclusion and diversity to integrating strategies that promote inclusion in, and resilience beyond, the classroom. Dr. Caleb Simmons is the Executive Director of Online Education overseeing Arizona Online, UArizona's online campus serving over 9,000 students. He is also Professor of Religious Studies, and Faculty Director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program. He specializes in digital and online learning and religion in South Asia, especially Hinduism. He has recently been named a Center for University Education Scholarship (CUES) Distinguished Fellow for his research on online pedagogy. Dr. Darlene C. Ritz is Higher Education Product Specialist for Beyond Campus Innovation and is dedicated to improving the student experience in online learning. Darlene has been in the classroom for two decades and understands that education is a transformational process, and requires a holistic approach. Episode transcript.

Produced by the Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation (CTEI) at Rush University, Teaching in the CTEI features conversations with faculty and staff on topics related to teaching and learning at one of the nation's leading academic medical centers.

Creator

CTEI
Years Active

2021 - 2026
Episodes

31
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© CTEI
Show Website

Teaching in the CTEI

Courses

Courses

Updated Weekly