Spring Teaching and Learning Conference 2026

Fall Conference

The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) invites all educators and community members to join us for our annual Spring Conference and Best Should Teach Celebration 2026.

Held on March 5, this conference will take place at the Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE), room E390. This event will bring together educators and leaders from across campus to discuss strategies for promoting the success of all students. This year’s theme isTeaching Forward: Student-centered Practices in a Changing Educational Landscape.

Morning refreshments and a catered lunch will be provided and will include vegan and Halal options. Please by Friday, February 27, if you’d like to join us for lunch. Participants are welcome to attend the full conference or drop in for specific sessions based on their interests and availability.

See our exciting lineup of discussions, presentations, and panels below! We hope you’ll join us for this opportunity to learn, connect, and innovate together!

Lastly, if not having access to campus parking is a potential barrier to you attending, please contact the CTL atCTL@colorado.edu. We will do our best to assist you with this.

Following the Spring Conference, the CTL will be hosting our annual Best Should Teach Award Ceremony from 6:00-9:00 PM MT at the CASE Chancellor's Hall. Read more about this open-invite ceremony and celebration here.


📅 When:

Thursday, March 5, 2026 from 9:00 AM MT - 4:30 PM MT

📍³:
  • InPerson: Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) E390

  • Online: via

Schedule, Sessions, and Presenters:


Thursday March 5, 2026

Please log in to your Boulder Zoom account with your IdentiKey and password before joining a session on .
Time
9:00-9:15 AM MT

Welcoming Remarks from the CTL

Presenter: Preston Cumming, CTL Professional Development Lead

9:20-9:50 AM MT

Title: Promoting Student Learning Through Balanced Well-Being

Global events of the past few years have profoundly impacted the mental health and emotional wellness of young adults. June Gruber has been studying this impact on college students and other young adults, considering ways instructors, students, and others can address this mental health challenge. Gruber’s work on the science of well-being and emotional diversity offers an evidence-based path toward more balanced emotional health to support student learning.

Presenter: June Gruber, Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience,The Science of Emotional Health and Learning

10:00-10:50 AM MT

Title:Compassionate Collaboration in the Classroom

Cultivating compassion within the context of teaching and learning can be a powerful resource for sustaining care for ourselves and our students—especially in times of challenge and change. In this interactive session, participants will pause to reflect, engage in compassion practices, and learn practical strategies for fostering student collaboration. Together, we’ll consider how compassionate collaboration can nurture belonging, curiosity, and joy in K–20 classrooms.

Presenters:

Hosted by: Kelly Gildersleeve, Assistant Director of the CTL

11:00-11:50 AM MT

Title:CTL Excellence in Teaching with Technology Recipient Panel: Our Past and Current Innovations in Teaching

Each year, the CTL awards the Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award to a faculty member who was nominated by their peers and students for their commitment to teaching with technology. In 2023,Bethany Wilcox was recognized for her use of technology to help students engage with course materials in meaningful ways that further their abilities to visualize the complexities of physics while simultaneously building their confidence as learners and leaders in the classroom. In 2022,Nicole Jobin was recognized for her use of technology as not only a tool, but also as a great equalizer in her classroom, placing students as co-creators, rather than passive learners, of their knowledge. In 2021,David Paradis’ colleagues and students recognized his commitment to lifelong learning, his passion for teaching, and his desire to constantly improve his use of technology in the classroom. We welcome these amazing faculty members to come discuss their past, current, and future endeavors into technology in the classroom!

Panelists:

  • Nicole Jobin, Teaching Professor, History, 2022 Recipient
  • David Paradis, Teaching Professor, History, College of Arts & Sciences Teaching Professor of Distinction, 2021 Recipient
  • Bethany Wilcox, Associate Professor, Physics, 2023 Recipient
12:00-12:50 PM MT

Title: CTL Lead Graduate Teaching Fellow Panel: From Where Have We Seen Teaching Come, and Where are We Going?

Come join several CTL Lead Graduate Teaching Fellows as they discuss the current and future states of graduate teaching across campus. These Fellows provide peer support of teaching through their roles within the CTL. This places them in an insightful position for this unique discussion.

Panelists:

  • Kate Arnold-Murray, Doctoral Student, CTL Lead, Linguistics
  • Emily Swertfeger, Doctoral Student, CTL Lead, History
  • Stevi Ibonie, Doctoral Student, Former CTL Lead, Psychology/Neuroscience
  • Sean Ang, Masters Student, CTL Lead, Asian Languages and Civilizations

Hosted by: Preston Cumming, CTL Professional Development Lead

12:50-1:15PMBreak to grab lunch before next session (catered lunch available in CASE E390)
1:15-2:15 PM MT

Title:Faculty and Student Panel on Implementing the Canvas Template to Promote Student Success

Developed by the Center for Teaching & Learning, Office of Information Technology, Digital Accessibility Office and Continuing Education with a group of faculty partners, the new Canvas Template for Student Success was designed to help educators build more consistent, effective Canvas courses to support student learning and success. After initially launching for campus-wide use for the Spring 2025 semester, the Template has been downloaded into over 1,100 courses, receiving positive feedback from both educators and students. Attend this session to learn more about faculty experiences adopting the Template, student experiences in Canvas, and how to get started using the template in your own courses.

Panelists:

  • Erin Furtak,Professor of STEM Education

  • William Kuskin, Professor and Chair of the English Department

  • Catalina Holly (she/her),junior at majoring in Math and Secondary Education

  • Emelia Mantz (she/her), senior at majoring in Information Science, with minors in Sociology and French

Facilitated* and organized by:

  • Karen Crouch, CTL Instructional Design and Technology Consultant
  • Kelly Gildersleeve, Assistant Director of the CTL
  • Jacob Henry, Academic Technology Professional, Office of Information Technology
  • Amanda McAndrew*, CTL Assistant Director - Teaching, Learning, and Technology
2:30-4:30 PM MT

Title:Teaching, Learning and AI: Community Perspectives

Join us for a participatory session exploring diverse faculty and student perspectives on AI, teaching, and learning. The session will feature lightning talks by faculty spanning a range of approaches to supporting student learning in the context of AI–from redesigning their courses to limit AI use to working with AI tools to enhance student learning. The session will also feature a student panel to address student perspectives. Rounds of lightning talks will be interspersed with periods for facilitated discussion designed to foster cross‑campus dialogue. All viewpoints and experiences with AI are welcome as we explore this rapidly changing landscape together. You’re welcome to stay for the full session or drop in for any portion that fits your schedule.

Agenda with presenters & lightning talk titles:

  • 2:30 pm Welcoming remarks and icebreaker
  • 2:45 pm Eric Klinger, Faculty Director, Writing Center I Teaching Professor, Office of Undergraduate Education
    • Why Writing is More Important Than Ever in the Age of GenAI
  • 2:55 pm Jeremiah Contreras, Associate Teaching Professor, Accounting, Leeds School of Business | Kala and Shiv Khatri Endowed Faculty Scholar, Faculty Director of Digital Innovation for Teaching and Learning
    • Who is Doing the Thinking? The Future of Course Design
  • 3:05 pm Rick Stevens, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, Associate Professor, Media Studies, CMDI
    • AI in CMDI: Literacies and Applications
  • 3:15 pm Casey Fiesler, Associate Professor, Information Science, Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, CMDI
  • 3:25 pm Facilitated discussion
  • 3:40 pm Rebecca Machen, Director of STEM Instruction, SASC, Lecturer, Department of Mathematics
    • Using Generative AI Data to Inform Teaching Practice in Gateway Mathematics Courses
  • 3:50 pm Student panel
    • Student Perspectives on Teaching, Learning, and AI
  • 4:05 pm Janet Casagrand, Teaching Professor, Integrative Physiology
    • Creating and Communicating AI Course Policies
  • 4:15-4:30 pm Facilitated discussion & closing remarks

Facilitated and organized by:

  • Jessica George, Academic Technology Professional, Office of Information Technology
  • Kelly Gildersleeve, Assistant Director, Center for Teaching & Learning
  • Rebecca Kallemeyn, Program Manager for Academic Technology Initiatives, Consulting & Training, Office of Information Technology

NOTICE: Following the Spring Conference, the CTL will be hosting our annual Best Should Teach Award Ceremony from 6:00-9:00 PM MT at the CASE Chancellor's Hall. Read more about this open-invite ceremony and celebration here.