Student Learning Symposium
Appreciating the work of Assessment
The Student Learning Symposium brings together faculty from across KU for a day of reflection, creativity, and community as we explore fresh perspectives on teaching and learning. The Assessment team at the Center for Teaching Excellence has for the past three years have created immersive experiences allowing KU instructors a space to engage in a playful way.
2026 Student Learning Symposium: Welcome to Curriculand
This year’s program, “Building the Future of Curriculand: A Parable of Living, Working, and Bonding in Higher Education,” immersed attendees in a fictional realm layered onto the familiar footprint of the Kansas Memorial Union.
In welcoming attendees to this year’s Student Learning Symposium, CTE Associate Director Josh Potter emphasized how the event was intentionally shaped around one of the Center for Teaching Excellence’s core values: the belief that students want to learn.
Potter reminded participants that this value is not just descriptive but an invitation for instructors to recognize student strengths and stay open to the ways learners are evolving.
“At the CTE, we assert that students want to learn and this year’s symposium was designed to center that belief. By stepping into Curriculand together, we asked participants to look past the noise, recognize students’ strengths, and reflect on our shared responsibility to meet them where they are,” Potter said.
Each Curriculand adventurer took on a role managing an apprentice, one with with unique strengths (endurance, invention, guidance and connection) to collective tasks that mirror the complexities and joys of academic life.
Through more than 100 interactive decision points spread across themed locations, participants navigated Curriculand confronting challenges, uncovering storylines, and unlocking metaphorical insights about teaching, assessment and student engagement.
“They did a beautiful job of setting up the structure, stepping back, and letting us physically move through it. If we can give students the kind of experience we had today over a semester, that would be pretty great.” -Laura Kirk, professor of Theatre & Film & Media Studies
The 2026 SLS concluded with participants leaving Curriculand with new professional connections and a deeper appreciation for student centered teaching. The adventure into Curriculand helped players understand how curiosity, collaboration and a shared commitment to student learning, can guide KU’s instructional community in creating student leaders at the university.
2025 SLS
The event recognized their dedication and care for students and allowed groups to navigate department-level challenges, problem-solve through role playing different types of faculty personas and acknowledge the hard work that they do.