Conference Sessions
Teaching Professor
Online Conference: Ready, Set, Teach
Live Online: July 22–24, 2025
On-Demand Access: July 25–October 27, 2025
Practical Strategies for Every Educator
Dive into a rich lineup of concurrent sessions designed to address the real challenges you face in the classroom. From student engagement and assessment strategies to leveraging technology and fostering inclusivity, our expert presenters will guide you through actionable takeaways you can use immediately. Check back soon for session titles and speakers—your next teaching breakthrough starts here!
⸻ Look for sessions in these tracks: ⸻
Ultimate UDL Project: Integrating Culturally Responsive Teaching with Universal Design for Learning
Ellen Swider, Goodwin University
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) offers a flexible framework to support learner variability—but what happens when you layer in the cultural relevance of Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT)? This session presents a compelling case study from a New England university where an African American history course was redesigned using both UDL and CRT principles. Learn how this intentional integration led to greater student engagement, accessibility, and authenticity. Attendees will explore practical strategies for embedding representation, student voice, and restorative practices into course design—especially in disciplines that center diverse histories and lived experiences. Attendees will walk away with tools and insights to create inclusive learning environments that honor both individual needs and cultural identities.
Quality Assurance Implementation through Course Alignment Verification Marks
Katie Benton and Bridget Brooks, University of North Dakota
How can institutions clearly demonstrate that their courses meet rigorous quality standards? At the University of North Dakota, the creation of a Course Alignment Verification Mark—first of its kind in the state—provides a solution. This session presents a replicable model of quality assurance that begins with a detailed course map illustrating the alignment of measurable course and module-level outcomes with instructional materials, tools, activities, and assessments. Instructional designers, certified in Applying the Quality Matters Rubric, lead a two-part review process: first evaluating the course map for alignment, then examining the course in the LMS to ensure actual implementation supports the intended outcomes. Participants will learn how the Verification Mark process promotes transparency, strengthens accreditation readiness, and supports a system-wide commitment to instructional quality.
Crafting Inclusive Courses in Canvas: Strategies to Strengthen Student and Faculty Connections
Tanya MacMartin, Alliant University
In fully online programs, feelings of isolation can significantly diminish student engagement and faculty cohesion. This session showcases how Alliant International University is addressing these challenges by embedding inclusive and collaborative practices directly into its Canvas LMS. This session will offer practical, research-informed strategies to help educators transform their Canvas courses into vibrant, connected learning communities. Attendees will explore tools like Canvas Groups, Canvas Studio, Padlet, Mentimeter, and Slido to promote meaningful interaction, inclusion, and academic rigor. Through hands-on engagement and idea sharing, participants will leave with actionable approaches to designing online courses that foster connection, support diverse learners, and elevate the overall online teaching and learning experience.
Innovating with Constructive Alignment: A Novel Approach for Course Design
Paul Moss and Sasikala Rathnappulige, University of Adelaide
This session introduces an innovative approach to course design through the implementation of a Course/Subject Level Rubric (CLR), which aligns Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs), learning sequences, and assessments in a clear, structured framework. By breaking CLOs into measurable subset skills, educators can more precisely design instructional activities and determine the timing and format of assessments. The CLR not only clarifies expectations for student achievement at various grade levels, but also completes the cycle of constructive alignment by directly linking these subset skills to teaching practices and marking criteria. Participants will explore how this method enhances course coherence, supports transparent assessment, and empowers students to engage in self-regulated learning through clearer connections between learning outcomes, instruction, and feedback.
OER + Chat GPT= Smarter, Faster, and Freer: A Practical Guide for Educators
Dana Tribble and Krystal Shipp, Arkansas Tech University
As faculty navigate growing demands with limited time and resources, leveraging the power of AI and Open Educational Resources (OER) can offer a transformative solution. This session explores how combining ChatGPT with OER can streamline course design, enhance clarity, and support the creation of inclusive, student-centered learning environments. Participants will discover practical strategies for using ChatGPT to draft rubrics, generate consistent feedback, clarify assignment instructions, and build dynamic course content. The session also highlights how educators can model ethical AI use while improving transparency and alignment across syllabi and assessments.
AI as a Teaching and Learning Partner: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility
Dennis Lowe and Stephanie Woo, Pepperdine University
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming higher education, offering both opportunities and challenges. This session, grounded in a review of current research and literature on AI in teaching and learning, offers practical strategies for integrating AI responsibly. Educators will discover how AI can streamline course design, create active learning experiences, improve assessments, and engage students. Students can use AI for brainstorming, study aids, skill development, and personalized tutoring. Participants will see examples of selected AI tools and leave with concrete strategies for using AI as a teaching and learning resource. The session also addresses ethical concerns, offering strategies for clear policies and open classroom discussions.
DIY Course Chatbots for Teaching—It’s Easier Than You Think!
Art Brownlow, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Imagine a teaching assistant available 24/7 to answer questions and support learning. Now, with custom AI chatbots, that vision is a reality. With recent advances in GenAI, educators can create their own chatbots to enhance engagement, deepen learning, and streamline course management. This session features two examples: an informational chatbot that answers questions about course policies, deadlines, and procedures, and a chatbot tutor that explains content, provides practice, and guides learners through complex topics. Attendees will see live demos, experiment with AI chatbots across disciplines, and leave with practical strategies to build their own.
Reimagining Student Engagement: Building and Using a Custom Study Buddy with ChatGPT
JJ Wallace, Transylvania University
Discover how AI can transform student learning in this session highlighting a spring 2025 pilot of a ChatGPT-powered “Biomechanics Study Buddy.” This custom-built AI tutor provided students with personalized, course-specific support through interactive dialogue, helping them unpack complex concepts and stay engaged with the material. Attendees will explore both the pedagogical benefits and ethical considerations of using AI in the classroom, supported by qualitative and quantitative data on student impact. This session offers a step-by-step guide for creating your own course-specific AI assistant, including best practices for prompt design and implementation.
Using AI to Help Create Interactive Learning Experiences
Kristin Corkins, Texas Woman’s University
This session reveals how a virtual escape room can transform clinical education by enhancing student engagement and skill development. Focused on improving Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan (SOAP) note-writing for advanced practice nursing students, this session showcases the design, implementation, and outcomes of a gamified learning experience that boosted critical thinking and documentation proficiency. Attendees will walk away with practical steps for designing their own discipline-specific digital escape rooms, evidence of increased student performance, and strategies for integrating game-based learning into a variety of online courses. This innovative, scalable approach offers a fresh way to foster deeper learning and active participation in virtual classrooms.
Engaging Online Learners with Interactive Tech Tools
Sandra Guzman Foster and Evelyn Villarreal, University of the Incarnate Word
Want to make your online courses more engaging and interactive? This session demonstrates how three powerful tools—Hypothes.is, Padlet, and Poll Everywhere—can transform passive learning into active, collaborative experiences. Attendees will explore how to use Hypothes.is for collaborative annotation that promotes critical reading and discussion, Padlet for real-time multimedia idea sharing, and Poll Everywhere for instant feedback and engagement. With a focus on practical application, this session provides ready-to-use strategies that foster meaningful student interaction, support inclusive participation, and enhance overall learning outcomes.
Enhancing Literacy Instruction Through Narrative-Based Learning: A Learner-Centered Approach
Kaysie Burton, Mississippi Valley State University
This session explores innovative strategies for enhancing literacy and social-emotional learning (SEL) through the integration of Narrative 4 (N4NSN). Participants will explore how structured storytelling can build empathy, strengthen student engagement, and create inclusive, emotionally responsive classrooms. Through best practices and real-world examples, the session offers techniques for implementing Narrative 4 in diverse learning environments, fostering safe spaces for student expression, and empowering faculty with professional development resources for effective SEL integration.
Tired of Icebreakers? Try IGNITES!
Jessica Manzone, Northern Arizona University
This session explores how IGNITE experiences—brief, intentionally designed cognitive hooks—can foster inclusive, engaging, and collaborative learning environments from the very start of class. Rooted in brain-based research and grounded in community-building practices, these strategies go beyond typical icebreakers to spark curiosity, deepen connections, and promote a shared sense of purpose among students. By leveraging storytelling, real-world relevance, and student interests, faculty can create dynamic openings that prime the brain for learning, boost motivation, and enhance memory formation.
Promoting a Growth Mindset in the Classroom
Afaf Mishriki and Amani Demian, The American University in Cairo
This session examines the impact of growth versus fixed mindsets on student achievement, motivation, and self-worth, drawing on the foundational work of Carol Dweck. Presenting findings from an ongoing study with first-year university students and their English language instructors, this session explores how mindset beliefs influence learning behaviors and academic resilience. Attendees will learn how targeted interventions can shift mindset orientations, fostering greater student engagement, persistence, and emotional well-being. The session also highlights strategies educators can use to promote a growth mindset in the classroom—creating a supportive, student-centered environment where learners are empowered to take risks, embrace challenges, and develop lifelong learning habits.
Improving Student Engagement Through a Culture of Psychological Safety
Alicia Burns, Wilkes University
Establishing psychological safety at the start of a course lays the foundation for deeper student motivation, engagement, and academic success. This session introduces the Four Stages of Psychological Safety Framework and offers practical, discipline-agnostic strategies for fostering trust, promoting student agency, and reducing fear of judgment in the classroom. Grounded in the work of Maslow, Knowles, and Edmondson, this session explores how to create learning environments where students feel safe to take intellectual risks, participate actively, and connect meaningfully with their peers and instructors.
No Death by Discussion: Defining Types of Actionable Student Discourse
Mascha Gemein and Spencer Willis, University of Arizona
This session will address student disengagement and confusion in “discussions” by offering a practical road map for defining and designing specific types of student discourse. Participants will reflect on their current discussion practices, explore six clearly defined types of student discourse with sample techniques for each, and consider implementation across modalities, class sizes, and with attention to intercultural and equity issues. Participants will then revise one of their own student discourse activities and learn how to coach students for more conscious, productive engagement.
Mastering Facilitation: Unlocking Engagement for Transformative Learning
Nichole Moore, Grand Valley State University
Facilitation is more than a teaching technique—it’s a catalyst for transformative learning. This session equips educators with advanced facilitation strategies designed to foster inquiry, deepen cognitive engagement, and support student autonomy. Grounded in the Seven Norms of Collaboration, participants will explore how intentional facilitation can shift classroom dynamics from passive reception to active, reflective participation. Through practical examples and interactive exploration, attendees will learn to design content that cultivates critical thinking, encourages meaningful dialogue, and promotes lasting learning.
Beyond the Script: Developing Active Listening and Real-Time Conversation Skills
Carolyn Fitzpatrick, Nova Southeastern University
This session examines strategies for cultivating and assessing active listening skills and unscripted student dialogue, emphasizing their importance in fostering effective communication and deeper understanding. Attendees will explore how constructivist learning theory supports the development of oral communication skills, and how oral communication skills can then be utilized to construct knowledge across various subjects. Participants will gain insights into practical approaches for evaluating engagement, clarity, and adaptability during live conversations, while learning techniques to help students thrive in dynamic, real-time interactions.
Assessing Learning: Diverse Approaches to Ungrading Across Disciplines
Allana Zuckerman, Chrissina Burke, Monica Beals, and Taylor Thompson, Northern Arizona University
This multidisciplinary session explores ungrading as a student-centered and inclusive approach to assessment, drawing on experiences from psychology, English composition, health sciences, and anthropology. Presenters will share strategies for implementing ungrading, from modifying a single assignment to redesigning an entire course. Attendees will engage in reflecting on current grading practices, adapting shared examples such as assignments or rubrics, and discussing potential challenges in adopting ungrading approaches. Whether exploring ungrading for the first time or seeking to deepen an existing practice, this session provides practical strategies and fosters community dialogue around equitable assessment.
I Want to be Heard: Authentic Assessment and Grading
Mandy Geddes, Community College of Aurora
Many traditional assessment practices may serve as barriers to student success. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Alim & Paris, 2017) requires educators to create authentic assessment aligned with student success and with the Community Cultural Wealths (Yosso, 2005) students bring into the classroom. In the Community College of Aurora English Department, we have worked to create assessment practices that center student experience, identity, and perceptions in the classroom. This norm-breaking requires risk-taking and vulnerability from both students and educators. Traditional grading practices are inequitable (Inoue, 2015) and encourage safe performance over bravery and voice, centering the product, rank, and grade rather than growth, reflection, and learning (Clark & Talbert, 2023; Danielewicz & Elbow, 2008; Wilson, 2018 ). In this session, faculty and instructors will deconstruct their assessment and grading practices to support student agency and fearlessness in pursuing growth, intrinsic motivation, and deep learning.
Peer Collaboration, AI Innovation, and the Future of Learning in Higher Education
Stacey MacKinnon and Noah Striker, University of Prince Edward Island
As higher education faces growing class sizes and new technologies, scalable, effective feedback is increasingly vital. This qualitative study explores undergraduate perceptions of generative AI (GenAI) versus peer feedback in a first-year psychology course. Students experienced peer feedback (fall 2023) and GenAI feedback via Stemble (winter 2024). Using constructivist grounded theory, findings revealed: (1) peer feedback fosters social connection but lacks consistency; (2) GenAI offers immediacy and structure but feels impersonal and limited; (3) students prefer a hybrid model combining AI precision and human connection. Results highlight the need for thoughtful AI integration to sustain trust, community, and learner agency.
Emotional Intelligence: Your Bridge to Building Connections with Online Learners
Barbara Lesniak, Southern New Hampshire University
Building connections with students is a major challenge in the online environment. How do you build bridges and connect with students when your communication is often limited to the written word, and when an asynchronous environment builds in a time delay? Emotional intelligence (EI) skills give you the building blocks for those bridges and allow you to customize for individual learner needs. In this session, you’ll review emotional intelligence concepts and learn practical ways to apply them in your online classroom.
The Crucial Role of Early Engagement in the Online Course
Lori Spanbauer, Nebraska Methodist College
Strong early engagement and instructor presence are key to student success in online courses. This session presents research-based strategies such as student questionnaires, personalized emails, and transparent teaching videos to build trust, empathy, and motivation from day one. Participants will experience three interactive activities they can immediately implement in their own courses. These low-tech, high-impact practices are adaptable across disciplines and course formats, helping instructors foster deeper student connection and sustained engagement from the start.
Developing Empathy: The Power of Synchronous Virtual Role-Play Simulation
Jayne Josephsen, Boise State University
Empathy is an essential skill across all disciplines, and integrating experiential learning strategies—such as synchronous virtual role-play simulations—can significantly enhance students’ ability to understand and relate to others. This session highlights the use of virtual role-play in online classrooms as a means to support the human and emotional dimensions of learning. Through the Comprehensive State Empathy Scale, post-simulation results revealed that students demonstrated both affective and cognitive empathy, showing high levels of compassion, a desire to help, reflective thinking, and the ability to imagine themselves in another’s situation. These findings underscore the transformative potential of virtual simulations in fostering empathy and supporting deeper, more human-centered learning experiences in diverse educational contexts.
Fostering Belonging and Community in the Asynchronous Online Classroom
Desiree’ Caldwell, Gwynedd Mercy University
When teaching online, many instructors are provided with a master course that contains the learning materials, discussion forums, assignments, and assessments making it difficult for instructors to know how to incorporate their personality, experiences, and insights into a pre-designed course. Faculty who teach online may be searching for ideas on how to personalize their master course and increase student engagement as many faculty express concerns about students who are disconnected in the online classroom. Personalization of master courses increases student engagement while allowing students and instructors to feel more connected during the course.
The Power of Brevity: Engaging Online Students with Short Messages
David Browne, Colorado Technical University
In the realm of online education, fostering student engagement is paramount. While educators often invest significant time crafting detailed messages and announcements, students frequently overlook these lengthy communications. This session explores the counterintuitive yet effective strategy of utilizing short, concise messages to enhance student connection and engagement. We will examine how a simple “Hey, how’s it going?” or a brief, personalized prompt can be more inviting and impactful than extended, formal communications. This session will delve into the psychology of online interaction, practical applications of brevity, and how to leverage short messages to build a stronger sense of community and connection in virtual learning environments.
Beyond the Screen: Empowering Students in the Digital Classroom
Candace Florence, Christina Opoien, and Rhonda Johnson, Colorado Technical University
As online learning continues to grow, students are often required to navigate a self-paced environment that lacks the traditional structure of in-person classes. This can lead to difficulties in time management, procrastination, and burnout. By providing strategies such as creating structured schedules, using task management tools, and setting goals, this session equips educators with the resources necessary to encourage students to stay organized and focused. These methods not only promote academic success but also help prevent the mental and emotional exhaustion that often comes with online learning. The methods discussed in this presentation have a broader impact on the teaching and learning experience in higher education. The methods focus on encouraging students to take ownership of their learning, empowering them to be more engaged and proactive in their coursework. These practices foster a more interactive and supportive learning environment, ultimately enhancing both student performance and retention in online courses.
Discussions that Matter, Videos that Teach: Tools Elevating Asynchronous Courses
Jill Halverson and John Bellotti, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
How do you know if your students in an online asynchronous course are engaging with the learning materials or just going straight to the assessments and floundering around? This session will introduce you to tools that help to increase meaningful online discussion opportunities as well as student interaction with instructional videos. Facilitated by an instructional design manager and accounting professor, two tools—Yellowdig (discussion) and Feedback Fruits (suite of tools but focus will be on interactive video)—will be highlighted to show how they were piloted at a midwestern comprehensive institution, including both student and instructor feedback. In addition, the instructional design manager will add commentary regarding his work with learner engagement tools related to neurodiverse students.
Learning Autobiographies: Fostering Self-Reflection and Goal Setting Online
Stacy Evans, San Antonio College
This session explores the development and implementation of a Learning Autobiography assignment that was entirely designed using AI tools, with a focus on Gemini to enhance self-reflection, goal setting, and course concept application. Rather than requiring students to use AI, the assignment’s design, structure, and feedback mechanisms were developed through AI, ensuring personalized, adaptive learning experiences. This session will share insights on how AI-generated text can be used to build assignments that support student growth while also offering concrete strategies for implementing AI in course design to foster deeper engagement and reflection.
From Consumers to Creators: Using Case Studies to Build Self-Directed Learners in Community College Classrooms
Krista Hanna, Coffeyville Community College
In community college classrooms, students often arrive as passive consumers of information, waiting for instructors to deliver content. But what if we could empower them to take ownership of their learning? Traditional lecture-based instruction can create dependency, whereas experiential learning and case studies foster critical thinking, engagement, and self-direction. By incorporating AI-driven instructional design, faculty can anticipate student responses, guide discussions toward deeper learning, and create more dynamic, real-world learning experiences. This session explores how case-based learning, supported by AI, transforms students into self-directed problem solvers. Participants will engage in a Live Case Study Challenge, where they will experience firsthand how AI-generated discussion prompts and pre-case study preparation can deepen student engagement.
Implementation Strategies for E-Portfolios: A Three-Phase Approach
Kimberly Theodos and Jodi Bower, Louisiana Tech University
This session explores a successful three-phase implementation of electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) across an undergraduate curriculum, offering practical methods and assessment tools to support faculty adoption. E-portfolios serve as dynamic platforms for students to showcase academic achievements, reflect on learning experiences, and connect coursework to career development. Presenters will share strategies for integrating e-portfolios throughout a program of study, emphasizing their role in enhancing workforce readiness, fostering reflective practice, and promoting personal and professional growth. Attendees will leave with actionable ideas for using e-portfolios to support student learning, engagement, and long-term success in both academic and professional contexts.
Career Readiness: LinkedIn, Experiential Learning, and More
Meredith Magee and Christiann Bayne, Louisiana Tech University
Providing students with real-world experiential learning while pursuing higher education is essential for equipping them with career-readiness skills. This presentation will cover strategies to equip students with career-readiness skills, including LinkedIn enhancement techniques, networking with professionals, and experiential learning in their field of interest. This project involves collaboration between an undergraduate program and a university’s career services department, making it something attainable for any subject of online learning in a higher education setting.
Bridging Academia and Industry: Engaging Students Through Local Business Partnerships
Erika Dawkins, Midlands Technical College
This session examines how integrating local business partnerships into course design can significantly enhance student engagement and workforce readiness through real-world, project-based learning. Applicable across disciplines such as business, communications, public relations, nonprofit management, and beyond, this approach empowers students to apply theoretical knowledge to authentic challenges while developing critical thinking, research, and project management skills. Presenters will share practical strategies for identifying and cultivating partnerships, designing impactful projects, and facilitating ongoing collaboration between students and community clients.
How Can Educators Use Community-Engaged Education to Support Learning?
Ayesha Khan, McMaster University
Post-secondary institutions are being called to update pedagogical approaches to align with a rapidly evolving workforce. The private sector highlights the need for learning experiences that enhance “human skills” like active listening, critical thinking, and social perceptiveness. This requires educators to move beyond content-focused teaching and expand experiential opportunities that support intellectual growth and social responsibility. Community-engaged education (CEE), a form of experiential pedagogy, enables students to apply classroom concepts in real-world settings. CEE has shown benefits, including a deeper understanding of course content, better application of concepts, and stronger problem-solving skills.
Humanizing Learning Experiences for Marginalized Student
Jill Harold, University of North Texas
This session aims to provide a framework for humanizing educational experiences for marginalized students. Marginalized students enter the American university with past experiences of dehumanization. Based on qualitative findings from interviews with refugee college students, dehumanizing experiences continue in higher educational settings. Faculty members are the primary university representatives who interact with students, and findings indicate that interactions with faculty can also be dehumanizing, compounding the trauma of marginalized students. Attendees will learn how to better humanize educational experiences through providing positive identity development experiences, customizing instruction and anticipating student needs in the course design phase, recognizing the diversity of lived experiences as an asset in a learning environment, and practicing critical reflexivity of positionality as a faculty member.
Socialized Silence for Students of Color
Mandy Geddes, Community College of Aurora
Students of Color are impacted by race-evasive and White centering practices and behaviors that impose silence and create harmful classroom environments where Students of Color must self-silence for protection. This session will discuss findings from a phenomenological study of first-year college students and their experiences with socialized silence. From these findings, recommendations are made for institutions, curricula, and instructors. Notable in the recommendations are ways to decenter Whiteness and to center Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy. Culturally sustaining curriculum and pedagogy have the potential to disrupt these silencing structures and empower voice, creating spaces where Students of Color can become transformative agents of change.
Practice What You Preach: Instruction That Meets Everyone’s Needs
Michelle Sands, Northern Illinois University
In teacher preparation, we emphasize the importance of meeting the needs of diverse learners—our own teaching should reflect that same commitment. This session explores inclusive, equity-centered strategies for online college instruction that support all students, including those with disabilities. Participants will learn how to create flexible, high-expectation learning environments that feel safe, supportive, and accessible.
The Application Gap: Understanding Resilience, Resilience Resources, and the Gap of Action
Mandy Smith, South University
Attendees will explore a comprehensive study conducted across 11 campuses involving over 10,000 undergraduate students, 7,000 online, and 3,000 on-ground. The study aimed to support accreditation efforts by assessing students’ understanding of academic resilience concepts, including self-care, purpose, mindfulness, relationships, and self-awareness, as well as their awareness of available resilience resources. Despite students demonstrating high awareness of resilience principles and support services, the study identified a significant “application gap,” where students struggled to apply this knowledge effectively to support their academic persistence. The findings underscore the urgent need for targeted interventions, such as resilience workshops, personalized coaching, peer support programs, and targeted communications to bridge this gap.
Teaching with Care: Applying Trauma-Informed Principles in the College Classroom
Tami Micsky and Meghan Odon, Slippery Rock University
In today’s ever-changing and challenging society, college students are frequently navigating the effects of trauma, stress, and loss, which can influence student engagement, learning, and overall well-being. Higher education faculty can use Trauma Informed Care (TIC) principles to build a supportive environment that responds to these challenges. Participants will gain an understanding of the impact of trauma on the lives of students and explore the transformative power of Trauma Informed Care (TIC) within the college classroom, highlighting its critical role in fostering academic success and student well-being.
Becoming a Resilient Professor
Michael Alleruzzo, Carnegie Mellon University
College professors face increasing workplace challenges that can undermine their well-being, sense of purpose, and professional success—challenges that have only intensified since 2020. This session introduces a practical framework for building faculty resilience, offering strategies to navigate academic and institutional obstacles in healthy, constructive ways. Through guided reflection and participant discussion, attendees will explore how to regain a sense of agency, foster inclusion and belonging, and refocus on professional goals amidst systemic pressures. Designed to support faculty across ranks and disciplines, this session provides a space for candid dialogue and personal growth—essential for cultivating thriving educators, classrooms, and campus communities.
Imposters & Over-correctors: Helping New Faculty Become Confident & Develop Self-Care
Lena Lambert and Debra Young, Marshall University
New faculty often face the pressures of teaching, grading, and advising while navigating feelings of imposter syndrome that can lead to burnout, self-doubt, and ineffective teaching practices. This session addresses the challenges junior faculty encounter and offers actionable strategies for fostering confidence, preventing conflict, streamlining grading, and creating transparent assignment expectations. With a focus on supportive mentorship, this session will also explore how senior faculty and administrators can play a critical role in promoting professional growth and well-being. Attendees will leave with tools to help early-career educators become confident, compassionate instructors who are equipped to thrive in their academic roles.
Build Resilience Through Self-Understanding and Relationship Development
Sherry Lin and Scott Skrla, Texas A&M University
Transitioning from secondary to post-secondary education can be a challenging experience for many students. The new environment, relationships, and cultures can add to this burden, impacting students’ mental health and overall well-being. This session aims to enhance students’ resilience by fostering self-understanding and relationship development through a creative and engaging assignment. By using AI tools and introduction videos, students will reflect on their personal characteristics and interests, build connections with peers, and develop critical AI literacy. At the end of this session, participants will be able to apply relationship-building frameworks within AI-facilitated assignments that promote meaningful peer connections and social support networks among diverse student populations, and demonstrate how to use AI tool functions and craft effective prompts to achieve desired outcomes.
From Impostor Phenomenon to Confidence: Thriving in Academic Roles
Terri Easter, Rockford University
Impostor phenomenon impacts many faculty, fueling self-doubt and the fear of being “found out.” This session delves into the academic structures and personal triggers that contribute to impostor thoughts and offers practical strategies to reframe them into confidence. Participants will explore ways to combat negative self-talk, leverage mentorship and feedback, and align their professional goals with personal values. Attendees will leave with actionable tools to build self-confidence, foster resilience, and thrive in their academic careers.