CETLI Teaching Seminars – Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Innovation
Univeristy of Pennsylvania
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CETLI Teaching Seminars

CETLI Seminars are faculty groups that meet monthly through the academic year to explore particular teaching approaches and questions. Seminar discussions offer faculty the chance to explore topics by learning from a combination of colleagues' experiences and research on evidence-based teaching practices. These seminars may include short readings or class observations. Participants join for the year-long program, and those who participate monthly receive an $800 research fund.

Programs start each fall and sign-ups take place in late spring and summer.

Applications for the 2024-2025 seminars are now closed. Visit CETLI's events page to find more faculty programming on these teaching topics. 

Seminars for Academic Year 2024-2025

Using AI Productively for Teaching

In the Using AI Productively for Teaching Seminar, a cohort of faculty who have started thinking about integrating AI into their classes will work together to consider how to use AI productively to teach and support student learning. Each month, participants will engage in conversation with peers and experts around campus to consider specific ways that AI can be a tool for educating students and supporting learning. Topics include:  

  • Determining how AI aligns with your course goals. 
  • Setting policies and expectations around student use of AI. 
  • Creating assignments that make use of AI. 
  • Preparing students to use AI ethically in the real world. 
  • Developing productive prompting strategies.  

Active Learning

In the Active Learning Seminar, faculty will discuss active learning and its relationship to student engagement, learning, and achievement. Through selected readings, faculty will explore the growing body of research on structured, active, in-class learning and consider the many forms it can take in the college classroom. They will also discover how Penn faculty are using active learning in their teaching and consider options for incorporating structured activities into their own courses while avoiding common pitfalls. Topics include:  

  • An introduction to active learning. 
  • How active learning is related to the science of learning and memory. 
  • Contexts where active learning improves student performance and learning. 
  • How active learning can lead to a classroom environment where students feel welcomed, challenged, and supported. 

Teaching to Enable Every Student to Thrive Seminar

In the Teaching to Enable Every Student to Thrive seminar, faculty will explore strategies to foster a more welcoming environment that encourages the full range of Penn students to thrive. Participants will explore concrete strategies for teaching students with varied experiences and backgrounds, as well as challenges they face, through open discussion of their own perspectives as well as brief readings. This group will also consider how to share ideas about teaching so every student can thrive more widely. Topics include how our teaching can:  

  • Help all students thrive to the best of their abilities. 
  • Welcome the different backgrounds of our students and send the message that all students belong in our fields.  
  • Communicate that the broad range of our students is a source of intellectual vitality for our community.  

Open Expression and Civil Discourse in the Classroom

In the Open Expression and Civil Discourse in the Classroom Seminar, faculty will discuss concrete methods for creating a classroom atmosphere that encourages students to talk about controversial topics in ways that allow for disagreement and allow students to express and hear a range of perspectives. Each month, participants will discuss readings and share concrete strategies. Topics include:  

  • Handling issues such as how to build trust among your students. 
  • Addressing difficult moments. 
  • Supporting students who hold uncommon viewpoints. 
  • Addressing emotions in the classroom.   

Senior Lecturers Group

The Senior Lecturers seminar brings together instructors in senior lecturer, or analogous, positions to work with peers on professional development as teachers, both improving their own practices and taking on greater leadership in their fields.  

Past Seminars

  • Teaching Humanities in the 21st Century
  • SAIL (Structured Active In-class Learning) Seminar
  • Teaching Large Classes
  • Teaching Science

Programs For Faculty

Resources