14th Annual Teaching & Learning Conference
For this academic year, the Teaching & Creativity Center's programming theme is Designing with Intentionality, meant to highlight the many ways that teaching is a deliberative and creative endeavor. Through book discussions, workshops, and conversations, we've been focusing on the ways—both large and small—we can create the spaces and experiences necessary for the learning and flourishing of all students.
Join us on Friday, June 6, 2025, to see what our amazing colleagues have been doing!
All faculty and staff are welcome.
Location: Brighton Campus, Monroe A & B and various classrooms. Some sessions are hybrid for those who can only attend remotely.
Online registration is required by May 28, 2025.
Agenda
Morning Sessions
| Time | Activity/Description |
|---|---|
| 8:30am to 9:00am | Sign-in and breakfast |
| 9:00am to 9:15am | Welcomes and opening remarks |
| 9:30am to 10:30am | Session 1: Concurrent presentations
|
| 10:45am to 11:45am | Session 2: Concurrent presentations
|
| 12:00pm to 1:00pm | Session 3: Concurrent presentations
|
| 1:00pm to 1:45pm | Lunch |
Afternoon Sessions
View abstracts for Afternoon Sessions.
| Time | Activity/Description |
|---|---|
| 2:00pm to 5:00pm | Safe Zone Training (Michelle Carroll) |
| 2:00pm to 3:00pm | An Overview of Microsoft 365 (Michael Rehbaum) |
| 3:00pm to 4:00pm | Hybrid: Don’t Panic! Navigating Title II Accessibility Compliance (Virtual Campus) |
Abstracts
Pre-Recorded Sessions
Every Voice, Every Lesson: Storytelling as a Tool for Transformation (Tokeya Graham, Melany Silas-Chandler, Toya Mañón, and Angelique Stevens)
This pre-recorded panel brings together a dynamic group of faculty committed to equity-driven, forward-thinking pedagogy. Through a rich discussion, panelists will explore how inclusive storytelling can serve as a transformative teaching practice across a range of courses and classroom contexts. From personal narratives and cultural texts to case studies and community voices, we’ll share concrete strategies for embedding diverse perspectives into curriculum and classroom dialogue. Aligned with the TCC theme Designing with Intentionality, this session invites educators to reflect on whose stories are centered, how they are shared, and why storytelling remains essential to fostering critical thinking, connection, and belonging.
Refining Library Research through AI: An Introduction to Approaching AI Integration for Undergraduate Students (Kathleen D’Alfonso)
Providing personalized support for writing academic papers in large classroom settings can be challenging. This session will demonstrate how instructors can guide students in using AI tools to effectively search library databases, with prompts that can be adapted based on course content and instruction. Additionally, the session will introduce strategies for encouraging students to use AI to self-check their work. The goal is to equip instructors with practical methods for integrating AI into the research process, highlighting both its potential to enhance learning and the challenges it presents.
Play and Joy: The Critical Role of Play in Learning, Work, and Research (Jason Flack and Jim Downer)
Attention all serious academics, diligent professionals, and lifelong learners who haven’t built a pillow fort in far too long—this is your official invitation to play.
Professors Jim Downer (methodical, philosophical, likely to quote Piaget un-ironically) and Jason Flack (high-energy, theatrical, likely to throw things) will take the stage for an engaging and slightly chaotic conversation about why play isn’t just fun—it’s essential for creativity, problem-solving, and deep learning.
Morning Sessions
Session 1: 9:30am to 10:30am
Enhancing Faculty Growth: An Overview of TCC's Consultation Services (Melis Kural and Ben Schermerhorn) [Hybrid]
This session will provide information about The Teaching and Creativity Center's faculty consultation and small group instructional feedback services. The goals of the TCC's consultation service are to foster restorative growth and learning for faculty across disciplines and at all stages of their careers. The session will offer an overview of the TCC's consultation services from the perspectives of the TCC coordinator and trained faculty peer consultants. Additionally, this session will facilitate an open discussion aimed at further improving the consultation process to support our faculty's teaching journey.
Learning from Games (Bob Muhlnickel, Amy Burtner, Jeremy Case, and Demetrius Rhodes)
While reading C. Thi Nguyen’s Games: Agency as Art, the panelists found applications to many professional issues. Panelists will discuss their experiences reading and discussing the book and the benefits of playing games together. Topics include role-playing games in the classroom, games to build teamwork in athletics, games to foster camaraderie, and the value of cultivating a striving mindset in ourselves and our students. Panelists will also discuss the potential of games for social transformation and the worries about gamification that unduly narrows the values we consider in everyday decision-making.
Interactively Understanding Our Students (Carlo Atene)
A survey was conducted of 244 students in math classes in Spring 2025. A Likert survey was administered using 19 elements in-person. What does it tell us and how can it inform our teaching? Come be part of an interactive assessment of student feelings on learning.
Mappy Hour: Exploring the Living Atlas (Heather Pierce)
Have you ever wanted to make a digital map? Would you like to learn more about using online maps to enhance your course content? In this hands-on workshop, we will be using the Living Atlas to explore data from a variety of sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau, USDA, NOAA, and more. You will be guided through creating a web map in ArcGIS Online, and will learn how to add data layers to your map, work with different map scales, and customize the map to display relevant information.
Collaborative Learning in Preparatory Chemistry, CHE-100 (Ryan Clemens)
Session will provide an overview of how I use collaborative learning in Preparatory Chemistry. The session will give insight to participants in how to design and implement collaborative learning activities in the classroom.
Session 2: 10:45am to 11:45am
Open Educational Resources (OER), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and Accessibility (Casey L. Ryan) [Hybrid]
This session will focus on using UDL framework to design courses for students that promote accessibility. The use of OER directly connects to accessibility and the principles of UDL. The goal of the session is for faculty to learn and share different ways that UDL and OER can be incorporated into courses to promote engagement and accessibility for all students. Specific examples will be shared and student feedback on UDL, OER, and accessibility will be shared as well.
An Example Implementation of Equitable Grading Practices (Burton Betchart) [Hybrid]
In Grading for Equity, Joe Feldman presents options for more equitable grading that are supported by research. I will present how I have adapted teaching and grading in my Physics courses to implement several of these suggestions.
Teaching at Human Speed: Less Rush and More Reach (Benjamin Schermerhorn)
Do you feel rushed to get through all the content you need to cover in a day? Do you wonder if you are cramming too many essays into the semester? If it is a lot for you as the instructor – it is probably a lot for your students. In this presentation we will collectively discuss how delivering deeper, intentional experiences in the classroom can free up space in your topic schedule and how letting students have a hand on the wheel can lead to a more meaningful classroom experience by the end of the day. This presentation will tie together elements of backward design and restorative teaching practices, with tips and tricks for multiple disciplines (including any you bring to share!).
Honoring Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in Course Design (Jordan Forrest Miller)
In this session, we will workshop how educators at MCC can best meet the needs of English as a second language students in our course design. I will present the ways I have worked with students of diverse demographics in Introduction to Sociology to make our class more equitable and how these design adaptations have benefitted all students.
All the Data You Never Imagined (Catharine Ganze Smith, Rebecca Horwitz, and Andy Knapp)
Whatever buzzwords you're pursuing, whether you are in search of the representative student voice or determined to practice data informed decision making, interdepartmental outcomes-based general education assessments are an untapped font of data. Come learn how general education assessment can be a source of the information you need to make a persuasive case and effect positive change.
Session 3: 12:00pm to 1:00pm
HIPs Best Practices: Collaborative Learning, Global Learning, and Learning Communities (Ryan Clemens, Christina Lee, and Meghan Glaser) [Hybrid]
High Impact Practices (or HIPs) are intentionally-designed pedagogies that promote student learning by catalyzing student engagement. Join us to explore, share, and generate ideas for incorporating Collaborative Learning, Global Learning, and/or Learning Communities into your curriculum.
HIPs Best Practices: Capstone Experience, Undergraduate Research, and Writing Intensive (Maria Brandt and Amy Burtner) [Hybrid]
High Impact Practices (or HIPs) are intentionally-designed pedagogies that promote student learning by catalyzing student engagement. Join us to explore, share, and generate ideas for incorporating Capstone Experience, Undergraduate Research, and/or Writing Intensive into your curriculum.
HIPs Best Practices: e-Portfolios and Service Learning (Kathleen Borbee and Marj Crum) [Hybrid]
High Impact Practices (or HIPs) are intentionally-designed pedagogies that promote student learning by catalyzing student engagement. Join us to explore, share, and generate ideas for incorporating e-Portfolios and/or Service Learning into your curriculum.
Equity By Design: A Book Group Reflection on Intentional Teaching (Melis Kural, Alyce Lew, Kate Robinson)
Equity By Design: Delivering on the Power and Promise of UDL by Mirko Chartin and Katie Novak deeply analyzes the idea that teachers can change the trajectory of students' lives by designing their classes based on students' learning experiences and building intentional relationships. This session will include participants and the facilitator of the book group, who will reflect on the book and aim to have a deeper conversation about what we can all do differently as education practitioners to achieve collective changes in the context of social justice for all students' success.
Just Because They’re Having Fun, Doesn’t Mean They Aren’t Learning: Play in the College Classroom (Amanda Colosimo)
Play can be an invaluable form of learning, of sharing power, of revealing hidden skill sets, and encouraging trust building between students and between instructors and students, but is so rarely a part of our classrooms. Play requires vulnerability on the part of all participants and a release of control by the instructor, but encourages engagement, asset-based thinking, inclusion, teamwork, and refreshes the spirit.
For one hour, leave the ivory tower behind and come prepared to play for a bit.
Afternoon Sessions
2:00pm to 5:00pm: Safe Zone Training (Michelle Carroll)
Safe Zone is an opportunity for faculty and staff to familiarize themselves with key concepts related to serving LGBTQIA+ students. Attendees will be exposed to important definitions unique to the LGBTQ+ community. We will also have a robust discussion on gender identity versus gender expression versus sexual orientation. Attendees will also discuss the concept of cisgender privilege.
2:00pm to 3:00pm: An Overview of Microsoft 365 (Michael Rehbaum)
Explore the transformative power of Microsoft 365 with Michael Rehbaum, Coordinator of Title III and the School Technology Advancement Center (STAC) at MCC. In this one-hour session, discover how Microsoft 365 enhances collaboration, document management, and productivity within MCC's educational framework.
Participants will learn how Microsoft 365 can integrate into our workflows and how to select the right tools for their needs. Attendees will navigate its interface, explore key features, and understand how to use it for effective collaboration and robust document storage.
3:00pm to 4:00pm: Don’t Panic! Navigating Title II Accessibility Compliance (Andrea Gilbert, Abby Bechtel, Jamie Hoover, Jeremy Case, Kate Robinson, and Casey Ryan) [Hybrid]
A year ago, the Department of Justice published updated Title II regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. That means by April 24, 2026, all online content and mobile apps must be presented in accessible formats by default. Institutions like MCC that accept federal funds must no longer rely on providing accommodations after they find out about students’ needs. In this presentation, you’ll find out about MCC’s preparations to make sure your courses meet the requirements in time for the deadline and learn about your role in this process. We will explore some specific remediation approaches to enhance accessibility, including alternative text for images, keyboard navigability for content, and captions for multimedia. And deleting unused and out-of-date content will go a long way! By implementing these strategies, we will create an inclusive learning environment that supports all students and their abilities to foster a more equitable educational experience for everyone.