Empowered to Teach: Navigating the New Higher Ed
The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence is thrilled to announce this Spring semester’s theme for Faculty Development Day: Empowered to Teach: Navigating the New Higher Ed. This event is designed to celebrate the power of instructors in this dynamic time. The recent innovative initiatives at Saint Leo are designed to advance greater faculty autonomy and unleash creative potential. CTLE’s mission is to empower our Saint Leo faculty with tools and resources created in partnership with your peers, enabling you to inspire and elevate your student’s academic experience.
Empowerment goes beyond charge; it is about equipping educators with the resources, skills, and confidence to make a meaningful impact. When you are empowered, you become a catalyst for change and an inspirational figure to your students to reach success. A sense of empowerment fosters an environment where innovation can happen, collaboration thrives, and education moves to new horizons.
Let’s inspire and empower each other to shape teaching and learning and Saint Leo.
Event Date: Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM to 12:05 PM
Location: Online/Virtual
Access the Event Lobby and to preview the schedule, explore presenters, and set your itinerary. Use the same link to participate on the day of the event.
Faculty Development Day Schedule
Opening Remarks 9:00 AM - 9:10 PM
Session One 9:15 AM - 10:05 Am
| Event Track | Presentation Title | Presentation Description | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence in Education | AI in Higher Ed: FAQ's Answered From Basics to Classroom Integration | The presentation will be structured around AI in education FAQs, like 1. AI tools and prompt writing 2. Assessment and Class Strategies with AI 3. Citing AI 4. Basic Ethics/copyright 5. Evaluation of output | Candyce Nelson |
| Innovative Teaching Approaches | Simulations: AI-Proof Assignments and Assessments | As AI-driven cheating becomes a concern, traditional exams and essays are vulnerable. Simulations, by contrast, offer an unpredictable, real-time environment that requires adaptive thinking and minimal prep, making them resistant to AI manipulation. This approach more accurately assesses student skills and understanding, providing a reliable, AI-proof alternative. | Emily Kochanski |
| Assessment & Feedback | Genuine Student Writing with Draftback | Draftback is a Google Chrome extension that records the entire writing process of a Google Doc. It can be used by professors to check for plagiarism and to better understand their students’ writing processes. Draftback records every keystroke, deletion, edit, copy and paste action, and even talk-to-text. It can then play back the entire writing process as a video. Although there are drawbacks to using Draftback, its features make it a valuable tool for promoting academic integrity and providing feedback to students. | Amy Harris |
| Technology in Education | Housekeeping in the Asynchronous Classroom: Attendance, Assignments, and Automaticity | This presentation explores essential housekeeping tasks that foster an organized and engaging asynchronous classroom environment. Focusing on the pillars of attendance, assignment management, and automation, the session provides practical strategies for educators to enhance student engagement, maintain timely feedback, and streamline course operations. By establishing clear attendance protocols, setting consistent assignment expectations, and utilizing automation tools, educators can create a structured, supportive, and efficient learning space that encourages student autonomy and success. | Dr. Shawn A. Brown |
Session Two 10:15 AM - 11:05 AM
| Event Track | Presentation Title | Presentation Description | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence in Education | AI as a Teaching Partner: Insights from the CTLE Faculty Fellows Join Us for an Interactive Faculty Development Day Session! | Are you curious about enhancing your teaching with AI? This Faculty Development Day session, led by four CTLE Faculty Fellows, offers a dynamic opportunity to explore AI’s potential in higher education. Bring a class activity, syllabus, or assignment you’d like to infuse with AI! During our session, you’ll collaborate with faculty fellows and peers to brainstorm creative ways to integrate AI into your teaching. Whether you're an AI enthusiast or just starting out, this session is designed to spark ideas, foster collaboration, and help you discover practical applications of AI for your classroom. | Tonya Mazur and Co-Presenters:Keya Mukherjee, Paige Porter, Iona Sarieva |
| Student Support & Appreciative Education | Radical Hospitality for Our LGBTQ+ Students | How can we help our LGBTQ+ students feel comfortable in a current political climate that can feel threatening to them? Offering research on challenges facing these students nationwide and feedback from Leo’s own LGBTQ+ students, we will use a workshop format to share possible strategies and solicit your ideas. | Kathryn Duncan and Co-Presenters: Allyson Marino, Anne Barngrover |
| Teaching & Learning Strategies | From Passive to Passionate: Sparking Engagement with Active Learning in Nursing Education | This presentation explores the transformative role of active learning in nursing education and higher education, covering strategies like case-based learning, role-play and simulations, and interactive polling. Attendees will gain insights into practical tools, challenges, and assessment approaches to enhance student engagement, critical thinking, and clinical skills for real-world practice. | Angelique Tolentino-Martin, PhD, RN, C-EFM |
| Teaching & Learning Strategies | Empowered to Teach Shifting Our Practice: Supporting Trauma Informed Classroom Strategies | Students with trauma are increasing in numbers in our nation's school. These same students are entering colleges and universities with needs that require instructors to consider applying trauma informed instructional practices to support students suffering from the effects of exposure to trauma. This presentation will introduce easily replicable options and strategies for instructors to implement.. | Dr. Renee Sedlack and Co-Presenting Dr. Jodi Lamb | Course Development | Empowering Course Development with Microsoft Tools | Discover how to harness the power of Microsoft tools to streamline course development and foster collaboration. This session will explore practical strategies for using Microsoft Teams, OneNote, PowerPoint, Stream, and more to design engaging and efficient courses. Learn how to organize content, manage projects, and enhance your workflow with integrated tools that save time and improve productivity. Whether you’re a seasoned Microsoft user or just getting started, this presentation will provide actionable tips to take your course creation process to the next level. Join us to unlock the full potential of Microsoft for your academic success! | Rachelle Babcock, Ed.D. and Co-Presenter Arielle Harvey |
Session Three 11:15 AM - 12:05 PM
| Event Track | Presentation Title | Presentation Description | Presenters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence in Education | AI as a Teaching Partner: Insights from the CTLE Faculty Fellows | A panel of Saint Leo professors in the CTLE Faculty Fellows Program will discuss their insights partnering with AI in the classroom to create enriching student experiences. | Dr. Austin Trantham and Co-Presenters Dr. Valerie Kasper, Dr. Kenneth Embry, Dr. Lara Ault |
| Student Support & Appreciative Education | Mentoring in the University Context: A Discussion for and with Students and Faculty Engaged in the Process | A roundtable conversation about mentorship with a faculty mentor and two student mentees who are themselves mentors in various contexts. | Matthew Bolton and Co-Presneters Grace D. Cornell, Alexandria Burke |
| Teaching & Learning Strategies | Assignment Templates as a Guide to Effective Teaching and Learning | Rubrics are designed to guide students in writing their academic papers; however, often, students find them intimidating, hard to understand, and not useful to understand expectations. Consequently, the student struggles to write, the professor to grade, and the outcomes results in revisions or failure of assignments and ineffective progress. Fortunately, developing assignment templates has shown to mitigate these challenges. In this session, samples of assignment templates will be shared. | Dr. Georgina Rivera-Singletary |
| Teaching & Learning Strategies | Fostering Authentic Engagement: Strategies for Faculty to Connect with Students in a Digital World | This presentation explores strategies for faculty to build genuine connections and foster student engagement in a digital age. It highlights human-centered teaching, leveraging technology for personalized communication, encouraging active participation, and balancing structure with flexibility to create meaningful learning experiences that transcend the digital environment. | Jacqueline C Wisler EdD |
