Preconference Workshops
The Teaching Professor Conference offers a selection of 2.5 hour preconference workshops to further enrich your conference experience. The cost is $299 for each preconference workshop. The workshops are held Friday, June 6 in the morning and afternoon before the conference begins.
Enrollment is offered during conference registration.
If you have already registered for the conference and would like to add a workshop to your registration, call 608-246-3590 to enroll.
Friday, June 6, 2025 - 9:00—11:30 AM
Equity-Centered Assessment Efforts to Advance Student Learning
Presented by Joseph Levy, EdD, Associate Vice Provost of Accreditation and Quality Improvement, Excelsior University
Inequities in student learning exist at every institution, but they don’t have to. Moreover, a tangible and university-wide area to leverage for moving the needle on equity in student learning is assessment practice. This preconference workshop provides assessment context and engagement challenges as relevant background for showcasing how assessment can be used to advance equity-related initiatives to best support student learning. Participants will explore the role of accreditation considerations and how compliance mindsets can work against true continuous improvement efforts, equity-oriented and otherwise. This interactive workshop equips participants with actionable strategies for integrating equity-focused practices into assessment and includes guided opportunities to develop personalized plans for implementing these practices at their own institutions.
Dr. Joseph D. Levy is currently associate vice provost of accreditation and quality improvement at Excelsior University. He is a member of the Student Affairs Assessment Leaders (SAAL) Board of Directors, co-creator and instructor for the Applying and Leading Assessment in Student Affairs open course, and endorsed speaker for the National Institute of Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA). Author, presenter, trainer, and consultant, he enjoys leveraging his academic and student affairs experience from multiple institutional types to talk assessment, quality assurance, and institutional betterment.
Friday, June 6, 2025 - 9:00—11:30 AM
Empowering Digital Citizens in an Immersive Era: Integrating Digital Fluencies and Technology Tools (AI and XR) into Higher Education
Presented by JJ Wallace, PhD, Associate Professor of Health and Exercise Science, Transylvania University
In a world increasingly defined by digital innovation, higher education faculty are tasked with equipping students not only with foundational digital fluencies—Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy, media literacy, Extended Reality (XR) literacy—but also with the ability to engage critically and responsibly with these transformative technologies. This preconference workshop blends conceptual exploration with hands-on practice, providing participants with a comprehensive framework for fostering digital fluency while experiencing the potential of AI and XR. Through a combination of interactive activities and demonstration/practice, participants will learn to design activities and assessments that integrate digital experiences and foster critical digital competencies. Additionally, participants will engage in hands-on XR experiences using Meta-Quest 2 Headsets, mixed reality glasses, and the Apple Vision Pro. Together, we will explore the intersection of fluency and immersion, preparing educators to empower adaptable, digitally fluent learners ready for the challenges of an evolving technological landscape.
Juanita (JJ) Wallace, PhD, is an associate professor of health and exercise science at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. Her current work has focused on the liberal arts and pedagogical practices using engaged learning strategies and integrating technology into the classroom. Her research and pedagogical practices have focused on technologies like virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI).
Friday, June 6, 2025 - 9:00—11:30 AM
Becoming a (More) Present Professor
Presented by Liz Norell, PhD, Associate Director of Instructional Support, The University of Mississippi
Drawing from the recently released book, The Present Professor: Authenticity and Transformational Teaching, this workshop equips participants to gain deeper self-understanding through a series of reflection and discussion activities. Our goal will be to develop greater presence with students in ways that feel more authentic and psychologically safe. During their time together, attendees will engage in a mix of individual activities, reflections, and small-group discussion. Each of these activities is intentionally designed and specifically connected to teaching; while we’ll focus on the engaging activities, we’ll also touch on the evidence underlying these practices and how they connect to (more) present, (more) authentic teaching.
Liz Norell, PhD, serves as the associate director of Instructional Support at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), where her role encompasses the Center’s core services and includes specialized responsibilities. She supports faculty engaged in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) projects, offering guidance on design, execution, analysis, and publication. Norell also acts as a department liaison for social sciences and applied sciences and coordinates CETL’s assessment activities, managing systems for event registration and evaluation.
Friday, June 6, 2025 - 1:00—3:30 PM
Cultivating Learning Sanctuaries: Designing Spaces to Grow Together
Presented by Mays Imad, Associate Professor of Biology and Equity Pedagogy, Connecticut College
This interactive workshop explores the concept and transformative potential of “learning sanctuaries”—spaces that nurture resilience, foster connection, and empower educators and learners to thrive despite adversity. Rooted in the principles of systemic and relational resilience, the session will blend theory with practical strategies for creating environments that inspire students to “bounce forward” from challenges. Drawing on insights from neuroscience, trauma-informed practices, and the relational nature of teaching and learning, participants will engage in activities that illustrate how to design classrooms, virtually or in-person, as sanctuaries of growth, collaboration, and wellbeing. We will examine how intentional course design, emotional attunement, and community building can transform education into a radical act of hope and empowerment.
Mays Imad is an associate professor of biology and equity pedagogy at Connecticut College. Previously, she taught for 14 years at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona, where she also founded the teaching and learning center. A Gardner Institute Fellow, an AAC&U Senior STEM Fellow, and a Mind & Life Institute Fellow, Imad researches the social determinants of wellbeing and their effects on students’ ability to learn and thrive. A nationally recognized expert on trauma-informed teaching and learning, Imad works with faculty across disciplines and institutions to promote inclusive, equitable, and contextual education—all rooted in the latest research on the neurobiology of learning.
Friday, June 6, 2025 - 1:00—3:30 PM
We Teach Because We Love: Guiding Students to Reach Their Full Potential
Presented by Bryan Dewsbury, Associate Professor of Biology, Florida International University
In this workshop, we will discuss the notion that teaching students as whole human beings requires cultivating more than their technical skills. This means that while technical preparation is critically important, the ways in which we engage with each other, carry out difficult dialogue, and do collective problem-solving matters as well. Attendees will make these implicit expectations explicit. We will consider “love” in this context as the belief in our ability to take students from their place of readiness toward seeing their full potential. We will also explore mechanisms to assess these approaches in ways that inform our future equity-minded teaching approaches moving forward.
Bryan Dewsbury is an associate professor of Biology at Florida International University (FIU). He is the principal investigator of the Science Education And Society (SEAS) research program, which blends research on the social context of teaching and learning, faculty development of inclusive practices, and programming in the cultivation of equity in education. He is an associate director of the STEM Transformational Institute where he directs the Division of Transformative Education. He is also a Fellow with the John N. Gardner Institute where he assists institutions of higher education cultivate best practices in inclusive education. He is the creator and executive producer of the Massive Open Online Course called Inclusive Teaching. He is a co-editor of the book, The Norton Guide to Equity Minded Teaching. He has led faculty development workshops in over 150 institutions across North America, Europe and Western Africa. He is the host of the podcast Knowledge Unbound where he interviews people who do transformational work in education across the globe. Dewsbury grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and immigrated to the United States in 1999.
Friday, June 6, 2025 - 1:00—3:30 PM
AI's Impact on the College Classroom: Practical Strategies for Pivoting in the AI Era
Presented by Kevin Yee, PhD, Director of Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning, University of Central Florida
By now, many of us have seen first-hand that students ARE using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). If they use GenAI to skip effort, they risk shortcutting their learning. But it’s hard to know what to do to prevent this. We’ll explore the issues and consider adjustments to take-home assignments or assessment structures in general. In the end, we’ll focus on practical solutions that will encourage students not to take inappropriate AI shortcuts. We will also talk about faculty uses of GenAI for their own workflows, such as helping them teach, grade, or engage in research.
Kevin Yee, PhD, has worked in educational development since 2004, serving as director of various teaching centers since 2012. He joined UCF’s Faculty Center in 2022. He has also previously held 9-month faculty positions at Duke University, Pomona College, and the University of Iowa. He earned his PhD in German Literature from UC Irvine in 1997, and has taught a wide assortment of German language and culture courses. More recently, he’s been developing resources for faculty related to AI Fluency and how to use generative AI (such as ChatGPT) in the college classroom, as well as ways faculty can use AI in their day job. He has been an invited speaker on these and other topics in pedagogy both domestically and internationally. In early 2025, he added the role of AI coordinator for the entire university, helping to track, connect, and publicize “AI for All” efforts across all UCF stakeholders (faculty, staff, students).