News

Tue, 04/14/2026

How KU's Linguistics Department is Leveraging Faculty Expertise, Student Insights, and Career Opportunities to Update its Curriculum

For many university students, the most pressing question in the classroom isn't about the complex material itself, but rather: "Why am I learning this, and what can I do with it?". ...

Thu, 03/12/2026

CTE Spring 2026 Lunch & Conversation Series

Over the last month, CTE hosted a series of in-person and virtual lunch & conversation sessions to help faculty share insights to help others fine tune their teaching. ...

Thu, 02/12/2026

CTE Ambassadors Explore Campuswide Initiatives for Student Wellbeing

The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) Ambassadors recently met with Jennifer Wamelink, associate vice provost of Student Affairs, to discuss the University of Kansas’ partnership with the JED Foundation and to hear about updates to student mental and physical health services.

Mon, 10/13/2025

Scaffolding Success: How Small Steps Transformed Student Learning in COMS 232

When Anne Kretsinger-Harries joined the KU Center for Teaching Excellence’s Course Design Institute in May 2024, she brought with her a clear goal: to help students in her COMS 232: Introduction to Rhetoric course not only understand rhetorical theory, but to apply it meaningfully in their own academic and campus lives.

Fri, 09/13/2024

CTE's Course Design Institute Empowers Instructors to Transform JMC 302

Redesigning a course can be daunting for any instructor. However, for Gerri Berendzen and Alyssa Appelman of KU's William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, the Course Design Institute provided crucial guidance and support.

Fri, 09/22/2023

From summit poll, a list of ways to create community in classes (Opens in new window)

Peter Felten’s keynote message about building relationships through teaching found a receptive audience at this year’s Teaching Summit. Felten, a professor of history and assistant provost for teaching and learning at Elon University, shared the stories of students who had made important connections with instructors and fellow students while at college. He used those stories to talk about the importance of humanity in teaching and about the vital role that community and connection make in

Tue, 08/22/2023

As the academic year begins, think community and connection (Opens in new window)

In a focus group before the pandemic, I heard some heart-wrenching stories from students. One was from a young, Black woman who felt isolated and lonely. She mostly blamed herself, but the problems went far beyond her. At one point, she said: “There’s some small classes that I’m in and like, some of my teachers don’t know my name. I mean, they don’t know my name. And I just, I kind of feel uncomfortable, because it’s like, if there’s some kids gone but I’m in there, I just want them to know I’m here. I don’t know. It’s just the principle that counts me.”

Mon, 08/21/2023

KU Teaching Summit Focuses on Building Classroom Relationships

Peter Felten issued a clear call to action at this year’s Teaching Summit: Connect with students and help them connect with one another. Felten, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning and assistant provost for Teaching and Learning at Elon University, delivered the keynote address at the Summit, which brought together over 300 University of Kansas faculty and instructional staff in Budig Hall on Aug. 17. The annual event was co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Provost’s Office, and the KU Medical Center. This year’s event aimed to underscore the significance of building strong relationships within the educational community, and Felten drew on his research on the impact of relationships on students' educational experiences in making a case for building community.

Mon, 08/14/2023

Research points to AI’s growing influence (Opens in new window)

If you are sitting on the fence, wondering whether to jump into the land of generative AI, take a look at some recent news – and then jump. ...

Fri, 07/21/2023

Why generative AI is now a must for graduate classes (Opens in new window)

Instructors have raised widespread concern about the impact of generative artificial intelligence on undergraduate education. As we focus on undergraduate classes, though, we must not lose sight of the profound effect that generative AI is likely to have on graduate education. ...

Wed, 06/28/2023

We can’t detect our way out of the AI challenge (Opens in new window)

Not surprisingly, tools for detecting material written by artificial intelligence have created as much confusion as clarity. Students at several universities say they have been falsely accused of cheating, with accusations delaying graduation for some. Faculty members, chairs, and administrators have said they aren’t sure how to interpret or use the results of AI detectors.

Tue, 04/25/2023

Resources for energy-challenged faculty (Opens in new window)

The pandemic has taken a heavy mental and emotional toll on faculty members and graduate teaching assistants. ...

Fri, 04/21/2023

How should we use AI detectors with student writing? (Opens in new window)

Turnitin walks a fine line between reliability and reality. On the one hand, it says its tool was “verified in a controlled lab environment” and renders scores with 98% confidence. On the other hand, it appears to have a margin of error of plus or minus 15 percentage points. ...

Thu, 03/09/2023

Shifting grading strategies to improve equity (Opens in new window)

Martha Oakley couldn’t ignore the data. The statistics about student success in her discipline were damning, and the success rates elsewhere were just as troubling. Oakley spoke to about 40 faculty and staff members last week at a CTE-sponsored session on using mastery-based grading to make STEM courses more equitable. The session was part of a CTE-led initiative financed by a $529,000 grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, with participants from KU working with faculty members from 13 other universities on reducing equity gaps in undergraduate science education.

Fri, 02/24/2023

Experiential learning helps Linguistics students preserve Native American language

In the world of linguistics, language is a treasure to be preserved and studied. And that's exactly what Phil Duncan and Allard Jongman set out to do with their independent studies class LING 496 in the Spring of 2022.

Thu, 02/16/2023

Michigan State shootings offer a grim reminder of the need to stay alert (Opens in new window)

We often idealize a college campus as a place of ideas and personal growth, but we have to remember that danger can erupt without notice. The shootings at Michigan State this week were, sickeningly, just the latest in string of killings over the past year that also involved students or faculty members from Virginia, Iowa State, and Arizona, according to Inside Higher Ed. At Idaho, a Ph.D. student has been charged with killing four undergraduates.

Mon, 02/06/2023

Exploring the reasoning and the potential of ChatGPT (Opens in new window)

Since its release late last year, ChatGPT has reverberated through the academic mind like an orchestral crescendo in a Strauss symphonic movement. It has amazing abilities, and even greater potential. Even so, it delivers many of its responses in a monotone reminiscent of HAL 9000, the rogue artificial intelligence system...

Tue, 01/24/2023

Using annual review to highlight the intellectual work of teaching (Opens in new window)

An annual evaluation is a great time for instructors to document the substantial intellectual work of teaching and for evaluators to put that work front and center of the review process. That approach takes a slightly different form than many instructors are used to, and at a CTE workshop last...

Fri, 01/20/2023

The bots are here to stay. Do we deny or do we adapt? (Opens in new window)

Nearly a decade ago, the Associated Press began distributing articles written by an artificial intelligence platform. ...

Thu, 01/19/2023

January E-News from CTE (Opens in new window)

January 2023 KU CTE monthly newsletter. We asked ChatGPT to write a short welcome back to our colleagues and friends. We asked it to mention the fall semester and the rise of AI as a concern. Overall, we are impressed with the potential of the newest AI tools and look...