Institute for Teaching, Innovation, & Inclusive Pedagogy

Developing a Teaching Philosophy Statement for Academic Employment [Grad/Postdoc Workshop]
2026-01-30 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | Zoom
Facilitator: Jamie Kim
This interactive session will help you consider and design your teaching philosophy statement which is often an integral component of the job application for faculty positions. Please bring a copy of your own drafts (or a general idea of what you might write about) to share during small group discussions as well as a laptop or pen and paper. This session is part of the Improving Your Classroom Skills certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Accessibility: Using Kaltura in Canvas for Video Accessibility
2026-02-03 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
Facilitators:

Omar Samkough, Instructional Technologist
Behi Abdi, Instructional Designer
Linda Lopez, eLearning Support Specialist

Let us introduce you to Kaltura’s built-in accessibility features for videos shared in Canvas, helping you make your video content more accessible and inclusive. You will learn how to enable and edit captions, support diverse learners, and align your videos with accessibility best practices, including captioning, editing captions, transcripts, chapters, and more.
This session is open to the Rutgers community and counts toward the Teaching with Technology certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Administrative staff, lecturers, teaching faculty (NTT), tenure-line faculty, graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Lecturer Faculty Community – February Gathering
2026-02-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Are you looking to connect with fellow lecturers at Rutgers? Then join the Lecturer Faculty Community, a supportive, interdisciplinary space to exchange ideas and discuss effective teaching practices! Throughout the spring semester, there will be monthly gatherings for which you will be asked to submit topics of interest in advance:

Thursday, January 29, 12:30-1:30 pm
Thursday, February 5, 1:00-2:00 pm
Tuesday, March 3, 12:30-1:30 pm
Tuesday, April 14, 12:30-1:30 pm

You are welcome to join any or all of the gatherings, as your schedule allows. Whether seeking inspiration, new strategies, or a sense of community, you will find this space a valuable resource for professional growth.
Audience: Lecturers (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Building an Effective Partnership with TAs
2026-02-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Are you an instructor who works with a graduate teaching assistant (or a team of TAs)? Then join us! In this interactive session, you will learn about how to create a productive, collaborative relationship with your TAs by discussing practical strategies for clear communication, defined roles and expectations, and intentional mentorship and guidance.
Using a simple before-during-after framework, the session will highlight what you can do at each stage of a semester to maintain a strong working partnership with TAs. You will leave with concrete approaches you can implement in your own course context.
Audience: Administrative staff, lecturers, teaching faculty (NTT), tenure-line faculty, postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Generative AI Community of Practice (GenAI CoP)
2026-02-10 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
Interested in connecting with colleagues across Rutgers to think more deeply about generative AI in teaching and learning? Join our new Generative AI Community of Practice (GenAI CoP). We hope this to be a supportive, interdisciplinary space for shared learning, discussion, and collaboration.
This virtual community is designed for ongoing conversation rather than one-off workshops. Select sessions may be eligible for the Teaching and Generative AI Pathways Program, offering an opportunity to align your participation with broader professional learning goals.
Spring Virtual Meeting Dates (Tuesdays at 11:00 am):

February 10
March 3
March 31
April 28

Whether you are experimenting actively, feeling cautiously curious, or somewhere in between, you’re welcome here. Feel free to attend any or all sessions, depending on your schedule.
Audience: Open to all members of the Rutgers community, including instructors at all ranks, graduate TAs, postdocs, staff, and administrators.
REGISTER

Assessment: Ins and Outs of Canvas Gradebook
2026-02-10 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Facilitators:

Eric Leupold, Instructional Technologist
Hanna Kim, Senior Instructional Designer

Canvas Gradebook helps you set up, manage, and communicate grades and student feedback. In this workshop, we will review Gradebook’s features and settings, cover how Canvas Assignments interact with Gradebook, weighting grades, hiding and releasing grades, using SpeedGrader for feedback, and managing group submissions, so you can streamline your grading workflow.
This session is open to the Rutgers community and counts toward the Teaching with Technology certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Administrative staff, lecturers, teaching faculty (NTT), tenure-line faculty, graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Accessibility: Creating Accessible STEM Equations
2026-02-11 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
Facilitators:

Mary Labrada, Senior Instructional Designer
Karen Harris, Senior Instructional Designer
Jason Khurdan, Manager, Disability Services

In this workshop, we will go over promising practices and tools for creating accessible math equations, including how to format equations in Canvas and within documents, and how to write appropriate alt-text, including in assessment contexts.
This session is open to the Rutgers community and counts toward the Teaching with Technology certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Administrative staff, lecturers, teaching faculty (NTT), tenure-line faculty, graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Teaching Strategies that Support Introverted Learners
2026-02-12 10:30 - 11:30 | Zoom
Join us for a lively one-hour virtual session that flips the script on active learning by centering the needs and strengths of introverted students. We will explore simple strategies that create space for quieter thinkers, including low-pressure participation options, multiple modes of engagement, and reflective activities that still keep energy high. Participants will leave with practical ideas they can use right away to make active learning feel more inviting and inclusive for everyone, not just the loudest voices in the room. If you teach introductory or large courses, this session is especially helpful.
REGISTER NOW.

Engaging a Quiet Classroom [Grad/Postdoc Workshop]
2026-02-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Facilitator: Gill Woody
As instructors, a major motivator for us is getting to interact with students and see them grow as learners. But what happens when they don’t want to interact with us? How can we still be good instructors? In this workshop, we will dive into the world of the quiet classroom (both the physical AND the virtual) and how we can alter our teaching methods to engage effectively with these students. This session is part of the Improving Your Classroom Skills certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Teaching & Learning Community for Graduate Students and Postdocs – February Gathering
2026-02-13 13:00 - 14:15 | Zoom
The Teaching & Learning Community for Graduate Students and Postdocs is a monthly Zoom-based gathering space where graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff engage in conversations about teaching and learning in higher education. Each session is shaped by community members and offers opportunities to discuss pedagogy based on the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Audience: Administrative staff, graduate students and/or postdocs, lecturers, teaching faculty (NTT), tenure-line faculty (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Teaching with Group Work [Grad/Postdoc Workshop]
2026-02-17 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Facilitator: Sophia Fox-Dichter
Everyone loves a group project, right? Come discuss strategies for implementing effective group projects while avoiding common pitfalls. This session is part of the Improving Your Classroom Skills certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

SNAFU.edu: Book Group
2026-02-17 12:15 - 13:15, 2026-03-10 12:15 - 13:15, 2026-04-07 12:15 - 13:15 | Zoom
Start your semester with community and perspective by joining our five-part virtual book club on Snafu Edu by Jessamyn Neuhaus. This thoughtful and practical book helps educators, especially those newer to teaching, make sense of common classroom challenges related to inequity, disconnection, distrust, failure, and fear. Together, we will explore how these issues show up in real teaching contexts and how instructors can respond with clarity, compassion, and confidence. Each 1-hour session offers a welcoming space to share experiences, reflect on the book’s insights, and build a supportive network as you begin or continue your teaching journey.
REGISTER NOW.

Planning for an Engaging Lecture [Grad/Postdoc Workshop]
2026-02-19 12:00 - 13:15 | Zoom
Facilitator: Jamie Kim
If you currently teach large lecture-based courses, give guest lectures, or expect to teach large courses in the future, this session is for you! In this interactive session, you will examine the relationship between lecturing and learning through findings from the science of learning and evidence-based teaching. You will discuss how to incorporate active learning into lectures, explore practical strategies for planning effective class sessions, and apply these strategies by beginning to design or refine your own lecture plan. Please come with a general topic of a potential lecture that you will likely teach in the future. Part of the Biomedical Postdoc Professional Development (PD3) program, this session is open to all graduate students and postdocs and fulfills the requirement for the Improving Your Classroom Skills certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Teaching and GenAI Explorations: Images
2026-02-20 10:30 - 11:30 | Zoom
Curious about how generative AI can support creativity, critical thinking, and engagement in your courses? In this interactive, one-hour virtual session, you will explore a range of AI image generators, compare their strengths and limitations, and experiment with hands-on prompts to see how each tool responds. You will leave with practical strategies for incorporating AI-generated images into learning activities that enhance, not replace, student thinking.
This session fulfills Competency 1 of the Teaching and Generative AI Pathways Program.
REGISTER NOW.

Teaching That Clicks: Tools and Techniques for Real Engagement Online [Grad/Postdoc Workshop]
2026-02-24 12:00 - 13:00
Facilitator: Ramazan Güngör
This interactive workshop, offered in collaboration with the Institute for Teaching, Innovation & Inclusive Pedagogy, provides graduate instructors with evidence-based practices for fostering meaningful learner engagement across online and hybrid teaching environments. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience teaching fully online graduate courses and the latest educational research on the topic, Dr. Ramazan Güngör will guide participants through practical approaches that support student motivation, participation, and success, whether teaching asynchronous discussion-based courses, synchronous Zoom seminars, or hybrid classes that blend modalities.
Topics will include designing intentional learning interactions, building instructor presence, structuring activities that invite deeper thinking, facilitating inclusive discussions, providing effective feedback, and using simple technologies to enhance engagement without overwhelming students.
Examples and templates will be tailored to the realities of graduate students teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at Rutgers, though faculty are also welcome to attend. Participants will leave with adaptable strategies they can apply immediately, along with a clearer understanding of how to create learning environments, online or otherwise, that are active, engaging, and supportive of deep learning.
This session fulfills the requirement for the Teaching with Technology certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Teaching & Learning Community for Graduate Students and Postdocs – March Gathering
2026-03-03 10:00 - 11:15 | Zoom

Generative AI Community of Practice (GenAI CoP)
2026-03-03 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
Interested in connecting with colleagues across Rutgers to think more deeply about generative AI in teaching and learning? Join our new Generative AI Community of Practice (GenAI CoP). We hope this to be a supportive, interdisciplinary space for shared learning, discussion, and collaboration.
This virtual community is designed for ongoing conversation rather than one-off workshops. Select sessions may be eligible for the Teaching and Generative AI Pathways Program, offering an opportunity to align your participation with broader professional learning goals.
Spring Virtual Meeting Dates (Tuesdays at 11:00 am):

March 3
March 31
April 28

Whether you are experimenting actively, feeling cautiously curious, or somewhere in between, you’re welcome here. Feel free to attend any or all sessions, depending on your schedule.
Audience: Open to all members of the Rutgers community, including instructors at all ranks, graduate TAs, postdocs, staff, and administrators.
REGISTER

Lecturer Faculty Community – March Gathering
2026-03-03 12:30 - 13:30 | Zoom

Beyond ChatGPT - Navigating Alternative Models
2026-03-06 11:00 - 12:30 | Zoom
While ChatGPT has captured the headlines, the generative AI landscape is vast and rapidly evolving. This session moves past the familiar to navigate alternative AI models and specialized tools that can influence your teaching and research. We’ll demystify concepts like Large Language Models (LLMs) and emerging “OMNI” models, exploring how different platforms—like Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and even local AI models—can be leveraged for advanced research, video summarization, and handwriting recognition. Additionally, we’ll look at the next generation of AI assistants and agents. The session will also dive into the critical benefits and pitfalls of AI in accessibility, from text-to-speech that enables differentiated learning paths to the nuances of voice recognition. Discover how this new suite of technologies can foster integrative learning and help students make novel connections across the curriculum. Finally, we’ll address the challenge of how to adapt your course policies for a world with a diverse range of AI tools.
REGISTER HERE

Assessment: Why and How to Use Gradescope
2026-03-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Facilitators:

Karen Harris, Senior Instructional Designer
Hanna Kim, Senior Instructional Designer
Kevin Burkitt, Instructional Technologist

This workshop is an introduction to Gradescope, a grading tool that integrates in Canvas and can help you grade exams and assignments more efficiently and with more consistency across students and graders. It supports rubrics, facilitates feedback, and generates statistics, all within any course modality.
This session is open to the Rutgers community and counts toward the Teaching with Technology certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Administrative staff, lecturers, teaching faculty (NTT), tenure-line faculty, graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

How Learning Happens [Grad/Postdoc Workshop]
2026-03-10 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Facilitator: Jamie Kim
What motivates students to invest effort, stay engaged, and take ownership of their learning? Join us to discuss how learning happens for students and how we as instructors can help support that process! This session, grounded in the science of learning, explores how prior knowledge shapes new understanding, how learners organize and retain information, and how instructors can help their students stay motivated and engaged in learning. Participants will be invited to share their own classroom experiences and discuss practical strategies for helping students strengthen metacognitive skills and become more self-directed learners. This session is part of the Improving Your Classroom Skills certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
REGISTER

Teaching and GenAI Explorations: Research
2026-03-13 10:30 - 11:30 | Zoom
Generative AI tools are increasingly acting as “research assistants,” helping students brainstorm topics, locate sources, summarize complex texts, and plan projects. In this one-hour virtual session, we’ll explore several AI research assistants (e.g., Consensus) and examine what they do well (and where they fall short). You will test a few tools hands-on and discuss how to guide students in using them ethically and effectively. A Rutgers librarian will join us to offer insights on integrating AI tools alongside traditional research methods. You’ll leave with practical ideas for assignments and classroom strategies that build students’ research skills while making thoughtful use of AI.
This session fulfills Competency 1 of the Teaching and Generative AI Pathways Program.
REGISTER NOW.

Promoting AI Literacy for Academic Integrity [Grad/Postdoc Workshop]
2026-03-27 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Facilitators: Gill Woody, Clara Civiero
With advanced AI tools becoming more widely available, both educators and students are faced with new challenges about the ethical use of these tools. What is your role as a TA when faced with these challenges? This workshop will discuss promoting AI literacy as a strategy to support students’ appropriate use of AI tools and uphold academic integrity. This session is part of the Improving Your Classroom Skills certificate program for graduate students and postdocs.
Audience: Graduate students and/or postdocs (register through the link below or under “Website” at the bottom of this page)
REGISTER

Generative AI Community of Practice (GenAI CoP)
2026-03-31 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
Interested in connecting with colleagues across Rutgers to think more deeply about generative AI in teaching and learning? Join our new Generative AI Community of Practice (GenAI CoP). We hope this to be a supportive, interdisciplinary space for shared learning, discussion, and collaboration.
This virtual community is designed for ongoing conversation rather than one-off workshops. Select sessions may be eligible for the Teaching and Generative AI Pathways Program, offering an opportunity to align your participation with broader professional learning goals.
Spring Virtual Meeting Dates (Tuesdays at 11:00 am):

March 31
April 28

Whether you are experimenting actively, feeling cautiously curious, or somewhere in between, you’re welcome here. Feel free to attend any or all sessions, depending on your schedule.
Audience: Open to all members of the Rutgers community, including instructors at all ranks, graduate TAs, postdocs, staff, and administrators.
REGISTER

Supporting Neurodivergent Learners in the Classroom
2026-04-02 10:30 - 11:30 | Zoom
Join us for a 1-hour virtual workshop on supporting neurodivergent students in higher education. We’ll explore evidence-based strategies, grounded in Universal Design for Learning, for building more inclusive, flexible learning environments. Drawing on practical guides (including the work of Karen Costa and Jennifer Pusateri), you’ll reflect on how to leverage students’ assets rather than deficits and adjust course design, communication, and assessment practices. Whether you’re new to neurodiversity or want to deepen your practice, you’ll leave with concrete ideas to make your teaching more welcoming and effective for all learners.
REGISTER NOW.

Prompting Cookbook
2026-04-10 11:00 - 12:30 | Zoom
In this hands-on workshop you will explore prompt engineering as a key ingredient as you think about course design, while considering alignment between course objectives, module-level objectives to design of assignments and assessments. Work alongside us as we use prompting to assist in course design preparation (by creating course goals, defining module-level learning objectives, draft assessments and create rubrics). This is to be followed by the use of prompting to generate active learning activities, instructional aids for practices and assessments, lesson plans and more. We will be examining available resources to review existing worked-through exemplars for strengths and possibilities for improvement.
REGISTER HERE

Teaching & Learning Community for Graduate Students and Postdocs – April Gathering
2026-04-14 11:00 - 12:15 | Zoom

Lecturer Faculty Community – April Gathering
2026-04-14 12:30 - 13:30 | Zoom
