Celebrate the return of Teaching Day! This beloved GW event dedicates a full day to celebrating teaching and will take place in the University Student Center. The day includes dynamic sessions from GW faculty, a lunch and keynote, plus a teaching resource fair.
This year’s theme, “Supporting Faculty, Supporting Students,” recognizes that centering learners is only sustainable when we support educators’ needs as well. Join us in deepening our relationships with each other and our teaching and celebrate the exciting work colleagues across GW are doing in their classrooms!
If you have questions about Teaching Day, please reach out to us. We understand that many people have other responsibilities, and we welcome partial attendance.
Event Information
Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Location: University Student Center, 800 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20052
Program
9:00–9:45 a.m.: Concurrent sessions
The Big Picture: Why Program-Level Assessment Matters, and How Your Course Fits into It
Room 307
- Karen Froslid-Jones, Academic Planning and Assessment, Associate Provost
When students cross the stage at graduation, what knowledge, skills and appreciations do we want to ensure that they’ve acquired? Learn about GW’s work to set program learning outcomes and how the courses you teach can play a critical role in advancing these goals. Let’s share insights into how faculty collaborate to have courses that build on one another, and the ways we can better integrate program goals into our curriculum.
Lessons on Promoting Civil Dialogue in the Classroom from the Citizens & Scholars Institute
Room 311
- David Rain, Associate Professor of Geography, CCAS
- Alex Dent, Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs, CCAS
In an era of increasing polarization, fostering civil discourse in the college classroom is more important than ever. Faculty across disciplines face the challenge of facilitating conversations on complex and sometimes contentious topics while ensuring students engage in respectful, thoughtful dialogue. Yet, many instructors receive little formal training in creating classroom environments that encourage open inquiry, active listening, and constructive dialogue. This session will present some strategies gleaned from a recent workshop on civic preparedness, including slowing things down, acknowledging discomfort, and prepping your class to get ready to disagree.
10:00–10:45 a.m.: Concurrent sessions
Revising a Curriculum for 21st-Century Students and 21st-Century Careers
Room 310
- Alexander van der Horst, Associate Professor of Physics, CCAS
Recent revisions to the Physics major have helped faculty manage gaps in the preparation of incoming students; prepare students to succeed in a variety of majors and post-graduation careers; and connect their learning to societal and community justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion issues. This session will share the process the Physics department used to make and assess these changes and help participants think about curricular reform, large and/or small, in their own contexts.
Bridging History and Innovation: AI-Powered Interviews with Nursing History Figures
Room 307
- Ashley Darcy-Mahoney, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing
- Adriana Glenn, Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, School of Nursing
- Sofia Andreoli, Instructional Designer, School of Nursing
The "Advancing Health Equity through Nursing History and Theory" course is designed for first-semester pre-licensure nursing students, delivered online through synchronous classes, asynchronous video discussion boards, AI-driven historical interviews, and podcast-style lectures. This presentation introduces a novel assignment that integrates artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, allowing students to simulate interviews with historical nursing figures and critically evaluate AI-generated responses in comparison to course readings. Through a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework, this assignment encourages students to examine AI’s biases, assess its ethical implications in scholarly work, and reflect on its potential role in nursing practice and healthcare innovation.
Object-Based Learning: Teaching with Primary Resources at The GW Museum & The Textile Museum
Room 311
- Karthika Audinet, Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center, Academic Coordinator
- Katrina Orsini, Museum Collections, Program Associate
- Kasey Sease, A. H. Small Washingtoniana Collection, Curator
The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum offers students and faculty opportunities to build object-based research skills at its onsite academic centers. Join this concurrent session previewing cross-disciplinary workshops from two centers with different, accessible collections. The first, led by Academic Coordinator Karthika Audinet of the Cotsen Textile Traces Study Center, is a hands-on workshop exploring global trade through textiles. The second, led by Curator Kasey Sease of the Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies, excavates layers of meaning in D.C. maps from the museum’s Washingtoniana collection.
Looking In, Looking Out: Engagement through Self-Reflection and Community Connection
Room 308
- Hanan Daqqa, University Writing Program, Lecturer
- Sarah-Kay Hurst, Teaching Associate Professor of French, CCAS
This interactive session explores two different projects to engage students. The first part explores how focused free writing journals help students connect with their research question and start a deeper conversation with themselves and the sources they picked for their research paper, which leads to better final projects and films. In this session, you will see it all, from beginning to end, and do some of your own free-writing. The second part explores ways to integrate community-engaged scholarship projects into your courses, based on a model from a French course and a semester-long collaboration with the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Consider strategies to scaffold assignments, provide iterative feedback, and foster community engagement, enhancing the pedagogical objectives of your course and deepening student engagement. Discover how to integrate community-based experiential learning and use Washington, DC as your classroom!
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon: Faculty Panel
Make Your Class an Experience: Engaging Students in Every Modality
Continental Ballroom
Engaging our students and encouraging them to participate in our classrooms can be challenging but immensely rewarding when things go well. Join us for this panel to learn from faculty who teach both online and in person about how they have taken lessons from their online courses about working in Blackboard or other asynchronous, digital spaces into their in-person classrooms. Whether helping students prepare to participate or giving them a chance to begin working on assignments, this panel will share transferable ideas for engaging students in all modalities.
Moderated by: Karen Singer-Freeman, Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning Excellence, LAI Center for Teaching Excellence
Faculty panelists:
- Denver Brunsman, Associate Professor of History, CCAS
- Sarah Calabrese, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, CCAS
- Alexa Alice Joubin, Professor of English, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Theatre, International Affairs, and East Asian Languages & Cultures, CCAS
- Maddy Kadish, Director of Instructional Design, LAI Center for Teaching Excellence
12:00 noon – 1:45 p.m.: Lunch and Keynote
Scarlet Letters: Using New(ish) Approaches to Solve the Problem of Grades
Grand Ballroom
Joshua Eyler, University of Mississippi
Theoretically, we count on grades to measure learning, signal excellence, and promote students’ intellectual growth. In practice, grades often cause anxiety, diminish intrinsic motivation, and distract students from engaging with feedback. Grades increase academic stress for students, contribute to faculty stress and burnout, and mirror and magnify many systemic inequalities in higher education. In this interactive session, Joshua Eyler will help us move from recognizing the problems with grades to mitigating the damage they cause, all while centering our values and recognizing our context.
2:00–2:45 p.m.: Concurrent sessions
How Is Alternative Grading Working at GW Already? Examples from Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM
Room 311
- Jay Daigle, Teaching Assistant Professor of Mathematics, CCAS
- Wade Fletcher, Teaching Assistant Professor & Director of First-Year Writing, University Writing Program
- Elizabeth Rigby, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration
What does it look like to take the leap into alternative grading practices? In this panel discussion, GW faculty will discuss how they implemented alternative grading, how they communicate about it with students, what lessons they learned, and what advice they have for colleagues considering modifying their grading practices.
The Best Undergraduate Class I Took at GW, and Why I Liked It So Much
Room 308
- Moderated by Tiffany-Rose Sikorski, Curriculum and Pedagogy, GSEHD
- Featuring GW undergraduate panelists: Anndarling Ebba, Samuel Li, Kuren Vandyoussefi
Join us for an engaging panel where students share firsthand insights into the courses that had the greatest impact on their undergraduate experience. Hear what made these classes memorable—from innovative teaching strategies to meaningful connections—directly from the students who experienced them. Gain valuable perspectives on what resonates most with learners and take away ideas to enhance your own teaching.
Rethinking Course Design and Accessibility Using Blackboard Ally
Room 307
- Caitlin Savoldelli, Accessibility Instructional Designer, LAI Center for Teaching Excellence
Blackboard Ally provides comprehensive insights into the accessibility of documents and images within your course. So, where should you start? In this session, we will focus on enhancing accessibility by discussing intentional course design and the role documents and other course materials play in supporting your learning objectives. You will leave equipped with frameworks and tools to improve access and usability for every student.
3:00–4:00 p.m.: Lightning talks
Continental Ballroom
- Wrap up Teaching Day with a series of short, energetic lightning talks featuring faculty from a wide variety of disciplines highlighting one aspect of their teaching. Talks include:
- 3:00 PM–3:15 PM: “Incorporating AI and AI-Driven Case Studies to Engage Students” (Joyce Knestrick, Professor of Nursing, SON)
- 3:15 PM–3:30 PM: “Designing Your Course with Equity in Mind” (Maranda Ward, Assistant Professor of Clinical Research, SMHS)
- 3:30 PM–3:45 PM: “OER is Limitless” (Misty Trunnell, Librarian, Libraries and Academic Innovation)
- 3:45 PM–4:00 PM: "The Importance of Inclusive Classrooms in Higher Education" (Amaya Bullock, Graduate Assistant for Student Belonging & Community Engagement, Graduate School of Education and Human Development)
Keynote Speaker: Joshua Eyler
Joshua Eyler, Ph.D., is Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Director of the Think Forward Quality Enhancement Plan at the University of Mississippi, where he is also Clinical Assistant Professor of Teacher Education. He previously worked on teaching and learning initiatives at Rice University, George Mason University, and Columbus State University. Eyler is the author of Failing Our Future: How Grades Harm Students, and What We Can Do About It, an indictment of the grading system in American schools and colleges―and a blueprint for how we can change it— and the acclaimed book How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching, which in 2019 Book Authority named “100 Best Education Books of All Time.” Called a “splendid repository of ways to rethink how we teach college” by the Los Angeles Review of Books, it was named a “Book of the Year” in the Chicago Tribune.
Teaching Support Fair
Continental Ballroom
Hear from GW units serving faculty, staff, and students about how they support your teaching and/or help you support your students. The resource fair will run from 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m., with a break during the keynote speech.
Participants include:
- Academic Commons, Libraries and Academic Innovation
- Center for Undergraduate Fellowships and Research, Libraries and Academic Innovation
- Conflict Education & Student Accountability (CESA)
- CREATE Digital Studio, Libraries and Academic Innovation
- Digital Learning Studio, Libraries and Academic Innovation
- Disability Support Services
- Focused Student Communities
- First Generation Student Programming
- Military and Veteran Services
- GW Innovation Center
- GW Student Outreach and Support, Student Affairs
- The Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service
- Instructional Technology Lab, Libraries and Academic Innovation, Center for Teaching Excellence
- The Language Center, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
- Research & User Services, Libraries and Academic Innovation
- Special Collections Research Center, Libraries and Academic Innovation
Venue Map
Welcome Message: Karen Singer-Freeman, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning Excellence
Welcome to Teaching Day 2025 at the George Washington University! This gathering celebrates our commitment to educational excellence, which is essential to our success as an institution and to the success of our students. This year’s Teaching Day theme, “Supporting Faculty, Supporting Students,“ recognizes that enhancing faculty effectiveness directly strengthens student success and wellbeing. Today’s program features 24 faculty and staff from across disciplines sharing their experiences, strategies, and insights, as well as a keynote address that will challenge our thinking about grades. From implementing new technologies to fostering authentic engagement, our speakers will explore approaches that enhance student learning. These sessions reflect GW’s dedication to preparing students for an evolving global landscape. Teaching Day celebrates our commitment to continuous improvement as educators. Whether you’re a veteran professor or new to GW, I thank you for taking the time to join us today and encourage you to engage actively with colleagues, share your perspectives, and take away practical strategies to enrich your teaching practice. I look forward to the meaningful discussions that will emerge as we work together to advance educational excellence at GW.
