CETL Workshops

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) offers a range of workshops designed to support faculty in developing inclusive, engaging, and effective teaching practices. These sessions provide practical strategies grounded in research and tailored to the needs of Virginia Tech educators. Workshops are offered both in-person and virtually to provide flexibility.

Workshops

Strategies for Class Preparation, Organization, and Management

• Thursday, October 1
• 1:00-3:00 p.m.
• Virtual

Providing a meaningful learning experience for students involves an intentional process, including course design, facilitating class time, and assessing student learning. This workshop will focus on using class time to maximize student learning and will share a variety of strategies for preparation, organization, and management of class time. Ultimately, the purpose of this workshop is to provide participants with strategies for using and managing class time that will be immediately useful in their teaching. Note: This workshop will focus on foundational teaching knowledge and skills.

Making the Most of Groups and Teams for Learning

• Tuesday, October 6
• 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
• Virtual

As instructors, we often incorporate groups and teams into our courses to promote student learning and to foster transferrable skills with benefits beyond the classroom. In addition to these positive outcomes, however, group- and team-based learning experiences can also present challenges – for both instructors and students. This session will focus on strategies for engaging groups and teams to facilitate learning while maximizing the benefits and addressing the challenges of working with others. Topics addressed in this workshop will include 1) the learning benefits of working in groups and teams, 2) common ways in which groups and teams are incorporated into learning contexts, and 3) strategies for effectively developing and implementing group- and team-based learning experiences (e.g., activity/assignment design and assessment, group/team formation, supporting positive and productive groups/teams in learning). By the end of the session, participants will be introduced to a variety of strategies for effectively integrating groups and teams in the courses they are currently teaching and/or designing or redesigning for the future. Note: This workshop will focus on foundational teaching knowledge and skills.

This session is cross listed for CETL’s PBL Workshop entitled Collaborative Brilliance: Building and Managing High-Functioning Student Teams.

Effective teamwork doesn’t happen by accident—this session provides practical strategies for forming, developing, and sustaining high-functioning student groups. Faculty will learn approaches to establish expectations, assign roles, and support productive collaboration. We will also examine common teamwork challenges and explore tools for addressing conflict, accountability, and communication issues.

Claude Cowork for Academic and Intellectual Workflows

• Tuesday, October 13
• 2:30-4:00 p.m.
• 3310 Torgersen

In this practical session, we will look at what changes when we move from using AI as a chatbot to using a dedicated workflow system like Claude Cowork. We'll walk through how Cowork runs on standing projects and context documents that grow with your work, the guardrails you can build against cognitive offloading, drift, and overload, and real workflows built to augment faculty work: building slide decks, processing conference notes, and tracking literature and sources.  You'll leave with a working method you can start using tomorrow, a clearer sense of the line between what's safe to hand off and what should stay yours, and the foundation to move from cautious chatbot user to someone using AI as a genuine academic think partner.

Developing Grading and Feedback Strategies to Promote Learning

• Thursday, October 15
• 2:00-4:00 p.m.
• Virtual

Providing regular and meaningful feedback for and evaluations of work is essential to the teaching and learning process. Doing so, however, can be a challenge, particularly in relation to assignment type, class size, and grading resources (e.g., instructor's time). During this workshop, participants will learn about ways to provide feedback through both formative and summative assessments and explore best practices in grading strategies. Participants will also have time and support to design or redesign current or future assessments. Note: This workshop will focus on foundational teaching knowledge and skills.

Why Bother with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning?

• Thursday, October 22
•  2:30-4:00 p.m.
• 40 Graduate Life Center

This workshop explores why the scholarship of teaching and learning matters, the difference between the scholarship of teaching and learning and scholarly teaching, and how to generate ideas to research.

Teaching With, Against and Around AI: Pedagogical Strategies for Faculty

• Friday, November 6
• 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
• 3310 Torgersen

How do we teach well when AI is everywhere? Join us as we review current AI capabilities while focusing on what matters most: our pedagogical goals and student learning. We'll move beyond reactive fixes ("How do I prevent ChatGPT on this assignment?") to intentional pedagogical design. Together, we'll explore:

• When AI tools genuinely support our learning objectives—and when they undermine them
• How to make purposeful choices about integrating, limiting, or reimagining assignments
• Strategies that center human connection, critical thinking, and meaningful learning

This isn't about either policing AI or adopting every new tool. It's about reclaiming pedagogical agency in a rapidly shifting landscape and making choices aligned with our teaching values and our students' growth.