Welcome!

Welcome to the Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning (CTEL) at Washburn University.  Our goal is to promote excellence and innovation in teaching and enhance student learning.

Event Proposal

CTEL is always accepting event proposals. If you have an idea for an event (even if you don't want to facilitate), please fill out the event proposal form.


Coming Up...

Coffee Talk - Student Accountability

Date: Tue 03/19/24 11:00AM - 12:00PM
Location: Memorial Union, Cottonwood room
Facilitator: Kirsten Cigler Nelson, Lecturer of Education
Pillar: Pedagogy
Event Type: Discussion

As mid-semester is upon us, let's meet to learn from each other about how we can work with students to hold them accountable for class work.  How do we handle students not doing work?  What ideas do we have for ensuring attendance? At this CTEL event, we will share our ideas and learn from others about handling this common challenge.

diversity and inclusion event badge

Teaching Circle: Picture a Professor

Date: Tue 03/19/24 3:00PM - 4:00PM
Location: Memorial Union, Mosiman room
Facilitator: Adebanke Adebayo, Inclusive Teaching & Learning Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Communication Studies
Pillar: Diversity and Inclusion
Event Type: Teaching Circle

Picture a Professor: Interrupting Biases about Faculty and Increasing Student Learning is a brand new multidisciplinary collection of evidence-based insights and intersectional teaching strategies crafted by and for college instructors who inspire transformative student learning while challenging stereotypes about what a professor “looks like.”

A Teaching Circle is a small book club that meets 3-4 times. When you sign up for this event, you are signing up for all THREE meetings listed below. CTEL will lend you the book and send it to your office about a week before the circle starts.

Register before Tuesday, March 12

Circle Dates:
Tuesday, March 19, 3:00-4:00
Tuesday, March 26, 3:00-4:00
Tuesday, April 2, 3:00-4:00

AI Amplified Learning: Discipline-Specific Strategies Workshop

Date: Thu 03/21/24 12:00PM - 1:00PM
Location: Online
Facilitator: Jennifer Duncan, Associate Professor of English - Georgia State University Perimeter College, Matthew Bruce Ingram, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies - Dakota State University, Vaughn Scribner, Associate Professor of History - University of Central Arkansas, and Matt Evans, Professor of Physics and Astronomy - University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Pillar: Pedagogy
Event Type: Webinar

If you’re ready to move beyond general principles of AI-related educational changes to understand, plan, and activate new AI-enhanced teaching strategies in your discipline, this is the webinar for you.  This AI Workshop, tailored for college instructors seeking to elevate their teaching practices begins with a brief  overview of discipline-agnostic AI-related principles, then explores concrete tactics for using generative AI to enhance student engagement, streamline learning experiences, and foster innovative teaching methodologies. Attendees are then invited to smaller discipline-specific groups, with educator-coaches from those disciplines, to practice incorporating domain-specific  tips and strategies to integrate AI into class assignments and assessments.  Register today to be a part of these vibrant, practical working sessions, and harness the power of collective expertise to optimize AI integration within your discipline.

**If you would like a badge and certificate credit for attending this event, please forward your event information after you have attended to CTEL. We do not get attendance information from this presenter.

Social Annotation for STEM Subjects

Date: Thu 03/21/24 3:00PM - 3:30PM
Location: Online
Facilitator: Hypothes.is
Pillar: Technology
Event Type: Webinar

The Hypothesis team will discuss how collaborative annotation with Hypothesis can be used to make student reading visible, active, and social in STEM courses. Social annotation’s collaborative and metacognitive nature can encourage students to tackle difficult concepts in a new way. For example, social annotation can assist students in identifying patterns and relationships, in analyzing the validity of arguments and/or solutions, and in locating and contextualizing important information in problems. Additionally, it can give instructors an opportunity to guide students through texts or course materials asynchronously.

In addition to sharing pedagogical best practices for collaborative annotation, the Hypothesis team will demonstrate how Hypothesis can be used with course readings in your LMS. Participants can expect to come away from this session with a clear idea about how they can start incorporating collaborative annotation into their courses to improve student success.

**If you would like a badge and certificate credit for attending this event, please forward your event information after you have attended to CTEL. We do not get attendance information from this presenter.

Leveraging Social Annotation in the Age of AI

Date: Tue 03/26/24 1:00PM - 1:30PM
Location: Online
Facilitator: Hypothes.is
Pillar: Technology
Event Type: Webinar

The emergence of cutting-edge technologies, like ChatGPT, has sparked a critical conversation throughout the education industry. In this workshop, the Hypothesis team will show you how to leverage social annotation to encourage authentic, process-oriented engagement with your course materials. They’ll also share best practices for using social annotation with AI writing tools and demonstrate how to set up Hypothesis-enabled readings in your LMS. Participants can expect to leave the webinar armed with concrete assignments to implement in your courses right away.

**If you would like a badge and certificate credit for attending this event, please forward your event information after you have attended to CTEL. We do not get attendance information from this presenter.

CTEL Staff

Kara Kendall-Morwick

Kara Kendall-Morwick

Kara Kendall-Morwick is Director of CTEL and Professor of English. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in English at Indiana University. She has been at Washburn since 2013.

Sue Taylor-Owens

Sue Taylor-Owens

Sue Taylor-Owens is the Senior Instructional Designer. She earned her Master of Science in Education, Information Technology emphasis, from the University of Nebraska - Kearney. She has been at Washburn since 2008.

Destinee Warner

Destinee Warner

Destinee Warner is the Office Coordinator for CTEL and Assessment. Destinee previously attended Emporia State University and is currently working toward her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Washburn. Upon graduation, she hopes to begin working toward a master's degree in Clinical Psychology.

Adebanke Adebayo

Adebanke Adebayo

Adebanke Adebayo is the Inclusive Teaching & Learning Coordinator and an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies. She earned her M.A. degrees in English Literature and Applied Communication Studies from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and her Ph.D. in Communication from George Mason University. She has been at Washburn since 2022.

Michael Clouser

Michael Clouser

Michael Clouser is the CTEL Washburn Tech Coordinator. He is a technical instructor in the Transportation Division at Washburn Tech.

Tracy Routsong

Tracy Routsong

Tracy Routsong is the Teaching Consultation Program Coordinator. She is also an Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Communication Studies, and the Director of Integrated Studies. She earned her PhD in Interpersonal Communication from the University of Iowa and has been teaching at Washburn since 2007.

Teaching Fellows

Carson Kay

Carson Kay

Carson Kay is the Teaching Fellow for Engaged Learning and an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies. She has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Ohio University. She has been at Washburn since 2020.

Kim Gerhardt-Whiddon

Kim Gerhardt-Whiddon

Kim Gerhardt-Whiddon is the Teaching Fellow for Instructional Technology as well as the Program Coordinator and Lecturer for the Forensic Investigation Program. She received her MSFS from Marshall University. She has been at Washburn since 2020.

Hoang Nguyen

Hoang Nguyen

Hoang Nguyen is the Teaching Fellow for Faculty and Staff Outreach and an Assistant Professor in Chemistry. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. He has been at Washburn since 2020.

  • Kelly Erby
  • Beth O'Neill
  • Chris Jones
  • Vince Rossi
  • James Barraclough
  • Karen Barron
  • Valerie Mendoza
  • Carson Kay
  • Hoang Nguyen
  • Michael McGuire
  • Danny Wade
  • Lauren Edelman
  • Jason Miller
  • Sarah Holt
  • Danielle Dempsey-Swopes
  • Scott Sainato
  • Gail Hoover King
  • Manaf Sellak
  • Emily Grant
  • Michele Reisinger
  • Teresa Clounch
  • Alan Beam
  • Michael Clouser
  • Jennifer Ball
  • Quinn Leffingwell

CTEL's Mission & Goals

The mission of the Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning is to promote excellence and innovation in teaching and enhance student learning at Washburn University and Washburn Tech.

CTEL works collaboratively within the university community to develop and sustain a university culture that values and rewards teaching in all its forms and venues, respects and supports differences among learners, and creates enriched learning environments in which diverse students, faculty, and staff can excel.  We act as a resource for the university community by offering a wide array of research-based programs and services that support teaching.  We serve as a catalyst for university-wide dialogue that fosters a shared vision of teaching excellence and learning-centered education at Washburn and Washburn Tech.

 

The goals of the staff of CTEL are to:

-Create a community of faculty, staff and peer student educators focused on the craft of teaching.

-Promote continued awareness of best practices in teaching and learning as reflected in literature.

-Promote and support the effective use of new technologies in the learning process to enhance student learning.

-Facilitate the use of teaching strategies that engage students in active learning.

-Promote and support the diffusion of diversity into courses, curricula, and co-curricular learning.

-Support research related to teaching and learning through assessment of student learning.

-Promote the use of dynamic high impact practices to enhance student learning.

-Promote and support the scholarship of teaching and learning.

GET IN TOUCH WITH CTEL

Center for Teaching Excellence & Learning
Morgan Hall room 204
1700 SW College Ave.
Topeka, KS 66621

Phone & Email
785.670.2835
ctel@washburn.edu

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