CITL Newsletter - Issue 3 for 2025

Welcome to the CITL Newsletter, your go-to resource for professional learning, teaching strategies, and innovative practices in education. Stay informed, get inspired, and explore new ways to enhance student learning and engagement.

Professional Learning: Using Existing Content for a Target Audience

Adapting course content to fit a specific audience is key to effective teaching. Gary Hecht (Gies College of Business) faced this challenge when Caterpillar sought professional development training in business analytics for its accounting professionals. Instead of enrolling employees in existing programs, Hecht customized course content to match their pace, workload, and learning needs.

Like most employers, Caterpillar doesn’t want employees to be pulled away from their work or burdened with full-time coursework. By modifying existing materials, Hecht and Gies College of Business developed a flexible, work-friendly training program.

Learn more about Hecht’s approach by watching his Art of Teaching session.

The Five-Room Dungeon Approach to Lesson Planning

Are your lessons stuck in a rut? Do you feel like you are “rinsing and repeating” two to three times per week? Does your content change, but the structure of your lesson always remains the same?  If so, you or your students may be getting a bit bored in class. Perhaps you can take a page from the tabletop role playing game community to freshen up your approach.

The Five-Room Dungeon is a method Gamemasters can use to keep their adventures new and exciting without having to put in a lot of extra work for each session. You don’t need to know anything about these games to understand the approach: a good adventure has a limited number of core elements, and by identifying the core elements of each adventure, and maybe altering the order in which they appear, you’ll end up with a unique adventure every time without wasting much time and effort in the planning stage.

Read on for key strategies to refresh your lesson planning with the Five-Room Dungeon approach! 

Federal Policy Updates 

In support of the Office of the Chancellor, we want to inform you that the university has assembled a Federal Updates Steering Group that includes university leadership, federal relations staff, legal, civil rights, and compliance experts, faculty and other subject matter experts who will concentrate on understanding and addressing the impacts of these new federal updates on our university. This group has started focusing on four critical areas: immigration, expanding access, research funding and impact to our workforce. If you have any questions regarding Federal Policies, please consult the Federal Policy Update website.

Have You Integrated Generative AI into Your Teaching?

As AI tools continue to evolve, faculty are exploring different ways to incorporate them into coursework. Whether you’re fully embracing generative AI or experimenting with selective, guided uses, we’d love to hear about your experiences. How have you introduced AI in your courses? What challenges or successes have you encountered?

Please complete this short form to share your insights with us—we’re gathering examples to help faculty navigate this rapidly changing landscape.

Digital Accessibility Workshops for Faculty and Staff 

Make a big impact on digital accessibility in a short time withQuick Start Accessibility Workshops. Designed for faculty and staff, these sessions teach you how to create digital materials and course materials that are accessible to all. Workshops will be hosted throughout the spring semester. Topics include Microsoft Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, PopeTech, Multimedia, Canvas, Moodle, and more.  

Register Now for the Spring 2025 MCOT Cohort

CITL's Master Course in Online Teaching (MCOT) is a deep-dive into online teaching strategies that goes beyond earlier summer teaching institutes. Prior participation in an instructional development series is not required but professional experience with university-level instruction is strongly encouraged. MCOT provides an opportunity for social learning and networking with a supportive interdisciplinary learning community.

The MCOT Canvas Course opens on Wednesday March 12, 2025, and our synchronous meetings occur at 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. on the following four Wednesdays - March 26 , April 2, April 9, and April 16. Certificates will be presented to those who complete all course requirements. Register here to join the spring 2025 cohort.

Upcoming Workshops & Events

📢 Featured Workshop: Dealing with Challenging Situations in the Classroom
📅 Tuesday, February 18 | ⏰ 5 - 6:15 p.m. | 💻 Online

Disruptive student behaviors can impact the learning environment, whether in face-to-face or online classrooms. This workshop provides effective strategies to handle difficult situations while keeping the focus on productive learning.

🔹 Spring 2025 Faculty Workshop Series on Teaching & Learning
📅 Wednesdays | ⏰ 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. | 📍 Armory 182
February 19 (Creative Problem Solving), February 26 (Innovative Multimodal Assessments), March 5 (Observe Exemplary Teachers), March 12 (Teaching Philosophy Statement)

🔹 Introduction to AI in Visual Media for Teaching Materials (Adobe Firefly and Napkin)
📅 Friday, February 28 | ⏰ 2 - 3 p.m. | 📍 Armory 172 & Online

🔹 Innovation Studio Open Hours
📅 Mondays & Tuesdays | ⏰ noon - 4 p.m. | 📍 Innovation Studio, Armory 172

🔹 Canvas Open Office Hours
📅 Thursdays | ⏰ 11 a.m. - noon | 💻 Online

Stay tuned for this spring's events! Bookmark the CITL Event Calendar for all upcoming workshops and the Training Services (formerly FAST3) Calendar for additional training opportunities.