Smart Teaching for Better Learning

KU faculty are invited to apply for CTE’s Spring 2026 Faculty Seminar on Smart Teaching for Better Learning. The goal of the seminar is to help faculty identify tools to improve student learning and energize and reimagine their curriculum. Participants will learn practical strategies to make learning work for them and their students.

What is Faculty Seminar?
CTE’s Faculty Seminar gives faculty members an opportunity to develop teaching innovations and new models of practice in a collegial setting that offers peer review and support. The spring 2026 seminar will be organized around the 2023 book How Learning Works: Eight Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. The book helps readers ground teaching innovations in evidence-based practice and understand which teaching approaches actually work.

Through readings, discussion, and workshopping of ideas, participants will develop plans to incorporate a new project or a series of approaches to a AY26-27 course, as well as plans to assess the impact on their students’ learning. To do this, they will attend five 60-minute meetings in Spring 2026 and one follow-up meeting in Fall 2026.

Participants may choose one of two options for sharing their project results:
1.    Option 1 (one-time $1500): Develop a planning poster to share at the CTE Celebration of Teaching in May 2026. After the course is complete, submit a final report (~2 pages) on their assessment of the course modifications. Reports are due May 15, 2027. 
2.    Option 2 ($1500 plus $500 for total of $2000): Develop a planning poster to share at the CTE Celebration of Teaching in May 2026. After the course is complete, develop a web-based teaching portfolio that illustrates their project and includes an assessment of the course modifications. Portfolios are due May 30, 2027, and they will be posted on CTE’s website.

Participants will be expected to:
•    Attend in person seminar meetings from 1 – 2 pm at CTE in 135 Budig Hall on these Tuesdays: January 27, February 17, March 10, March 31, and April 14. Attend the follow-up meeting (TBA) in Fall 2026. 
•    Teach the target course in AY26-27.
•    Share the results of their seminar work in a planning poster (with support from a CTE Graduate Student Fellow [GSF]) at the CTE Celebration of Teaching in May 2026. 
•    Implement their teaching project.
•    Submit a final report (~ 2 pages) on their assessment of the course modifications by May 15, 2027, or develop a teaching portfolio (with support from a CTE GSF), due May 30, 2027.

Who is eligible?
Faculty (including teaching specialists, teaching professors, and multi-term lecturers) from any department or academic program on the KU Lawrence or Edwards Campus can apply. The seminar is best suited for instructors who have some experience reflecting on their teaching and improving student learning.

How will you benefit from participating?
In addition to what you (and your students) will gain from the readings and discussions, you will also:
•    Become part of an intellectual community of colleagues from across campus who are interested in grounding teaching innovations in evidence-based practice. Past participants in Faculty Seminar have become campus leaders in teaching innovation.
•    Develop a strategic plan to improve a course and your students’ learning and engagement.
•    Receive up to a $2000 stipend or professional fund. All participants who are completing the program will receive a $1500 fund in late March 2026. Participants who choose to complete a teaching portfolio will receive an additional $500 fund in late March 2027.

How do you apply?
Submit an application by December 10 through this this link. The application should be 1-2 pages and should address the following: 
1.    What course(s) do you propose to focus on, and why?
2.    What are your goals for participating in this program? For your students and their learning?
3.    Describe an example of something you have done in your teaching to improve your students’ learning.
4.    Confirm that you are teaching your target course in AY26-27, and confirm your availability for Spring 2026 meetings. Meetings will be from 1 - 2 pm at CTE in 135 Budig Hall on January 27, February 17, March 10, March 31, and April 14.

Selection criteria
Selection will be based on applicants’ goals for program participation, previous experience with teaching innovation, and ability to commit to attending and participating in meetings. Seminar size will be limited to a maximum of 10 faculty members.

Participants accepted into the program will be notified by December 18, 2025. In the meantime, please hold the seminar times on your calendar.  

Questions?
Contact Judy Eddy

Apply by Dec. 10