Panels and Workshops
CCTL Workshops and Panels provide faculty members and instructors from across disciplines the opportunity to gather to learn about and discuss pedagogy and teaching at UChicago with those who have similar pedagogical interests. Topics change every quarter and cover a range of foundational and innovative pedagogical approaches and techniques.
Explore this year's offerings below.
September Symposium Autumn 2026 Workshop Series
This series of workshops is designed to build upon the resources and workshops available at the CCTL’s September Symposium on Teaching. Topics in this series include object-based learning, interactive lecturing, teaching by discussion, going low- and no-tech in the classroom, using in-class writing to promote and assess learning, and supporting free inquiry and expression in the classroom. For full descriptions of the workshops in this series, please see the CCTL’s website. You may use this form to register for any or all of the sessions in the series, and registration at the September Symposium is not required. To register for the September Symposium (September 16, 2026), please use this link.
- Cooper Long, Museum Educator, Academic Initiatives, The Smart Museum of Art
- Leila Brammer, Director of Curriculum, the University of Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression
Wednesday, September 23 | 10:30AM – 11:20PM | The Smart Museum of Art, Education Study Room
Join the CCTL and the Smart Museum of Art for an interactive exploration of object-based teaching and learning. Gathering in the Smart’s Education Study Room, participants will hear from a cross-campus panel about how object-based pedagogy can awaken students’ curiosity and channel their excitement toward curricular goals. Participants will also engage in a model “slow looking” exercise that can be adapted to a wide variety of learning objectives. Designed for instructors across disciplines, including STEM fields, this workshop provides specific, actionable ideas for teaching with—as well as thinking with—objects, which can be employed in the museum and the traditional classroom alike.
Co-facilitated by:
Wednesday, September 23 | 1:30PM – 2:50PM | Wieboldt 310 D/E
This workshop explores practical approaches for translating free expression and open inquiry into classroom practice. Participants will examine strategies that foster inquiry, encourage intellectual risk-taking, support productive disagreement, and help students engage evidence and differing perspectives with rigor and curiosity.
Co-facilitated by:
Monday, October 5 | 1:30PM - 2:50PM | Wieboldt 310 D/E
The proliferation of AI tools has inspired many discussions about how to best assess student learning. This workshop focuses on practices of assessing without AI, low- and no-tech forms of assessment, such as , oral exams and experiential learning , and how to construct low- and no-tech classroom spaces. An additional workshop will focus on how faculty and instructors can use in-class writing as a form of assessment.
Thursday, October 8 | **NEW TIME** 11:00AM – 12:20PM | Wieboldt 310 D/E and Zoom
How can we design and deliver lectures that both effectively convey content and actively engage students? Extensive research consistently shows that active learning improves student outcomes (e.g., Freeman et al, 2014) but can be challenging to incorporate in lecture-based classes. In this workshop, we will explore the elements and features of successful lectures, focusing on low prep, short activities that can enhance student engagement without sacrificing content. Faculty and instructors will leave with specific strategies and activities, such as retrieval practice, thinking routines, and reflective pausing, they can use in class tomorrow.
This workshop will be held hybrid with attendance options on Zoom and in person.
Wednesday, October 14 | 3:00PM – 4:20PM | Wieboldt 310 D/E
How can we establish a classroom environment in which discussion is active and inclusive? In this session, we will explore the aims of teaching by discussion, how to meet our learning goals through class discussion, and strategies for encouraging student participation.
Monday, October 19 | 1:30PM-2:50PM | Wieboldt 310 D/E
The proliferation of AI tools has drawn many faculty and instructors back to in-class writing to promote and assess student learning. This workshop will focus on how faculty and instructors can use in-class writing to accomplish their learning objectives as well as on design considerations for in-class writing activities, how to connect in-class work to out-of-class work, and how best to prepare students for in-class written assessments. A companion workshop focused on low- and no-tech classrooms will be offered by the CCTL on Monday, October 5.
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Additional Pedagogy Workshops in AY 2026-27
- Mina Lee, Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Data Science Institute
- Grace Li, PhD Student, Computer Science
Wednesday, October 23 | 10:30AM – 11:30AM | Zoom
AI has changed what instructors can infer from a finished piece of student writing. A polished submission may reflect a student’s effort and growth, but it may also raise questions about how the writing was produced and whether AI use aligned with course expectations. Mina Lee and Grace Li will present findings from their ongoing research project, which draws on instructor interviews to investigate how instructors evaluate writing in the AI landscape, including the use of Pangram and related tools.
Co-facilitated by:
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While many of our workshops and panels are delivered in-person, some select offerings have been recorded. Explore the recordings of selected past offerings below.
2025-2026
- Jean Clipperton, Computational Social Science, on AI as a replacement, supplement, or assistant
- Borja Sotomayor, Computer Science, on the use of AI in the classroom
- Benjamin Morgan, English, on an opt-in/opt-out approach to AI use
- Tomer Yehoshua-Sandak, Economics, on collaborative learning with customized AI tutors
- Damien Bright, Master of Arts Program in Social Sciences, on oral exams
- Zosia Krusberg, Physics, on developing students’ ethical AI use and low-stakes quizzing
- Melih Levi, Arts & Humanities Collegiate Division, on extended in-class writing
- Lisa Rosen, Committee on Education, on research translation as an alternative to the research paper
- Jason Bridges, Philosophy, on Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence: Mind and Model
- James Evans, Sociology, on AI Agents for Social Science and Society
- Russell Johnson, Divinity School, on Golems, Angels, and AI
- Mina Lee, Computer Science, on Writing with AI
In this session, Reflections on Teaching With AI, panelists will discuss approaches to allowing or leveraging student AI use in a range of courses, reflecting on considerations such as the learning goals at stake, guidance and constraints provided to students, and assessment.
Panelists:
Moderator: Joe Lampert, Executive Director, CCTL
In this session, Reflections on Teaching Without AI, panelists will discuss approaches to encouraging student learning without AI, reflecting on learning goals, and considerations such as student motivation and policy, and assessment design.
Panelists:
Moderator: Joe Lampert, Executive Director, CCTL
In this session, Reflections on Teaching About AI, panelists will discuss courses that approach AI as area of intellectual engagement for students, whether the aim is to investigate the cultural, social, or philosophical implications of the technology, or focus on AI as a subject or a tool for inquiry itself.
Panelists:
Moderator: Joe Lampert, Executive Director, CCTL