CEL Programs & Events

The CEL offers events on teaching and learning-focused topics in a variety of formats, each session providing the opportunity to share experiences and knowledge with colleagues. 

If you are interested in facilitating a workshop or have suggestions for future topics, please contact us!

upcoming schedule of Programs & events

Fall 2026 

All events take place in Rohrbach Library 6, 11-11:50 a.m., unless otherwise noted

Tuesday, September 15: Spice Up Your Lecture! Interactive Lecture Techniques*
Come to this workshop and leave with quick, easy-to-use techniques you can adapt to almost any class. We’ll be joined by a faculty panel who will share some of their favorite strategies for making lectures more interactive and engaging.

*Please note this schedule change to accommodate the Return to Campus event

Thursday, October 1: Increasing the Quality of Peer Feedback
Presented by Dr. Leslie Gates, Director of the Center for Academic Excellence and Professor of Art Education at Millersville University.

Workshop: 11:00–11:50 a.m.
Discussion Group: 12:00–12:50 p.m.
Feedback is essential to student learning, but getting students to give and receive high-quality peer feedback can be challenging. How can we create classroom cultures that encourage honest, specific, and helpful feedback? This session will provide practical strategies for improving the quality of peer feedback in your courses and helping students develop skills they can use both in the classroom and beyond.

Tues, October 20: New Kids on the Block
Conversation time for new faculty! Faculty who have joined KU within the past three years are invited to gather, connect with colleagues, and share ideas, questions, and experiences.

Tues, November 17: Don’t Take It for Granted!
This faculty panel will share their experiences applying for grants to support research and creative work. Hear what they’ve learned, share your own ideas, and leave with new possibilities for funding your work.

Tuesday, December 8, 9–11: a.m., and Thursday, December 10, 1–3 p.m.
Grading Party!
Retreat to the CEL, enjoy some motivational snacks, and earn prizes while tackling your end-of-semester grading. Bring your work, settle in, and make some progress alongside colleagues.

Workshop: Motivating and Engaging Your Students
In this 50-minute interactive workshop, you won’t just hear about the pedagogical theory of play, you’ll experience it. Together we’ll try out a dozen playful, research-informed techniques designed to spark engagement and creativity in your classroom. Each activity is something you can immediately adapt for your own teaching, regardless of discipline. Along the way, we’ll reflect on why these approaches work, how they align with theories of active learning, and how they can transform everyday moments into opportunities for deeper student connection. You’ll leave with fresh strategies, ready-to-use tools, and a renewed sense of fun in your teaching.

Workshop: Assignment Reboot
In this workshop, we’ll explore how to redesign assignments in response to AI, using the "I Can. I Care. I Matter." mindset from Teaching with AI to help students demonstrate competence, build meaningful connections, and see the relevance of their learning. Along the way, we’ll draw on inclusive design strategies to support clarity, motivation, and authentic student work in an increasingly AI-influenced environment.

You’ll have dedicated time to revise your own assignments, with practical tools and examples you can apply immediately. Please bring a current class assignment. You’ll leave with updated versions that are better aligned with your goals and your students' goals.

Book Club!

'26-'27 Innovative Pedagogy Book Club

This year's reading: Joy-Centered Pedagogy in Higher Education (free eBook) explores joy as a catalyst for transformative teaching and learning, drawing on educational theory, practical strategies, and personal narratives. Through reflective essays and teaching stories, contributors consider how cultivating joy can foster mattering, resilience, and engagement while challenging traditional notions of rigor that equate learning with struggle. 

If you would like to join us, we will meet every other week starting on September 4, in the CEL, Rohrbach Library 6 at 11 am. We will be continuing with the Preface and Chapter 1.

The rest of the semester schedule will be announced at a later date. 

Basics of UDL Course

Purpose

This professional learning opportunity provides KU faculty with the skills and knowledge to facilitate the institutionalization of equity, inclusion, and diversity at KU by applying the Principles of Universal Design Learning (UDL). UDL aims to change the design of the environment and curriculum rather than change the learner. By anticipating learner variability and proactively reducing and eliminating barriers to learning, UDL empowers all learners to engage in rigorous, meaningful learning experiences.

Please see the Basics of UDL Course page for more information!

League of Learning!

The 2026-27 season is underway

Engage, connect, learn, and earn points with our League of Learning leaderboard!  Check the final Spring 2026 standings via our CEL online journal.

Comp Conversations!

Fall 2026 TBA

Select Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 am, CEL (Lower level, Rohrbach Library 6) and on Zoom!

A certificate of acknowledgement of your professional development is given after 5 or more hours of your attendance and participation in these sessions.

HOUr of power!

Spring 2026

Join us for the Hour of Power, a one-hour writing retreat in the CEL! We'll hold your phone, close the door, and track time so you can focus on your work in a distraction-free environment. Thursdays 10-11 am, CEL, Rohrbach Library 6.

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