Panels and Workshops

Thursday, November 5 | 12:30–2:00PM | Harper Memorial Library, Room 284

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As the AI landscape changes how students approach writing, how can we make space for the intellectual work of writing without AI?

This event will feature a roundtable discussion with faculty and instructors about ways to structure student writing and design writing labs for programs of study across the curriculum, from the Core and undergraduate majors to graduate education.  Designed as spaces for experimentation and discovery, writing labs offer students the opportunity to use writing as a means of inquiry: to explore questions, test ideas, and develop their own thinking. 

Panelists will share pedagogical practices and perspectives on making space for student writing. A discussion with the audience will follow.  

This event will also introduce a call for proposals to develop experimental writing labs within undergraduate and graduate courses, with support from Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning (CCTL) and the Chicago Center for Writing (CCW). We invite faculty and instructors from across the university to join the conversation and help to shape new approaches to student writing at UChicago. 

Please join us!

Speakers:

• Megan Brankley Abbas, Associate Professor, Department of Religion, Colgate University (via Zoom)
• Lindsay Gifford, Associate Instructional Professor, Laws Letters and Society
• Michael Hernandez, Assistant Director of AI and Learning, Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning
• Bill Hutchinson, Assistant Instructional Professor, Chicago Center for Writing
• Topher Kindell, Assistant Instructional Professor, Committee on Environment, Geography, and Urbanization
• Gabriel Richardson Lear, Arthur and Joann Rasmussen Professor in Western Civilization in Philosophy and in the Committee on Social Thought

In conversation with: 

• Joe Lampert, Executive Director, Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning
• Emily Lynn Osborn, Master, New Collegiate Division, Chair, Writing Advisory Group of the AI and Education Committee, and Associate Professor of History and the College 
• Abigail Reardon, Executive Director, Chicago Center for Writing and Member, Writing Advisory Group of the AI and Education Committee

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:

• Mina Lee, Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Data Science Institute
• Grace Li, PhD Student, Computer Science

Monday, October 19 | 1:30PM-2:50PM | Classics 110 **NEW LOCATION**

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. 

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. 

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.  

Monday, October 5 | 1:30PM - 2:50PM | Classics 110  **NEW LOCATION**

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. A companion workshop focused on in-class writing will be offered by the CCTL on October 19.

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:

• 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:

• Cooper Long, Museum Educator, Academic Initiatives, The Smart Museum of Art

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:

• 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

Moderator: Joe Lampert, Executive Director, CCTL

View the recording here.

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:

• 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

Moderator: Joe Lampert, Executive Director, CCTL

View the recording here.

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:

• 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

Moderator: Joe Lampert, Executive Director, CCTL

View the recording here.