The Center for Teaching Excellence can work with specific units, departments, programs, and schools to develop Custom Workshops for groups of educators, catered to unique teaching experiences. Custom workshops offer the ability to:
- Choose topic(s) and content for the group’s specific needs and interests
- Schedule at the time, date, modality, and venue that work best for the group
- Design engagement opportunities that align with participants’ goals
Customized Topic(s) & Content
The CTE’s workshop schedule aims to address current teaching topics relevant to GW educators and share evidence-based best practices. However, we recognize that teaching concerns and challenges may vary across subjects and disciplines. We are available to design something for a unit’s specific experiences, questions, and challenges.
Example Topics
Below are topics we are prepared to discuss, but we are open to developing a session on any teaching-related topic of interest.
Course Design, Curriculum, and Assessment
- Apply learning-centered course design principles (e.g., backward design)
- Implement alternative grading strategies (e.g., collaborative grading, standards-based grading)
- Write a welcoming syllabus and course policies
- Design transparent and effective course assignments
- Monitor student learning through formative assessment
Inclusive & Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies
- Increase active learning and student engagement
- Facilitate class discussions
- Balance flexibility and structure
- Motivate students to do the reading
- Integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to support accessibility
- Apply principles of inclusive and equity-focused teaching
- Teach sensitive or controversial topics and respond to “hot moments”
Technology in Teaching
- Address the impact of AI on teaching and learning
- Make Blackboard course spaces more effective and efficient
- Create accessible documents
Educator Growth and Reflection
- Make course and curricular changes in response to student feedback
- Develop an effective peer observation and feedback process
- Write a teaching statement
- Develop a teaching portfolio
Customized Schedule
Making extra time to discuss teaching can be challenging. We can build something as short as 5 minutes! Below are some examples of custom workshop formats we can offer.
- Meeting Drop-In (5–15 min): Invite us to an existing department meeting to share 1–2 teaching practices educators can implement as a “small teaching” improvement
- BYO-Lunch and Learn (30–45 min): As participants eat lunch, we can foster a short conversation or facilitate a more in-depth session.
- Context-Specific Workshop (1 hour): After meeting to assess the current state of the program/department/school, we can deliver a session featuring customized scenarios and examples tailored to specific needs.
- Hands-On Working Session (90 min): We can provide a brief presentation followed by time for participants to work on an artifact of their own, with the option for peer review if desired.
Customized Format
Everyone is welcome to attend any of our offerings, regardless of their teaching experience or prior knowledge of the topic. That said, sometimes participants simply want to listen, and at other times, they are ready to engage in a deeper conversation, a work session, or even a debate.
We will work with each request to determine the mode that works best for the group. We are happy to conduct an in-person or virtual session. We can deliver a quick lecture or design a more interactive workshop with activities. Regardless of the format, we aim to encourage a culture of dialogue around teaching within departments and among disciplinary colleagues.
Process: Request a Custom Workshop
Send us a message with a brief description of what you are interested in. Include “Custom Workshop” in the subject line. In your message, let us know who you are, what unit/program/department you represent, and any ideas you have for the proposed topic, schedule, and format.
A CTE staff member will contact you to schedule a brief conversation about your interests and how we can develop a workshop customized for your group.
We will create workshop slides and documents as needed to support the learning goals of your session. If you would like, we can send a pre-session survey to the group so we can even further customize the session. We’re happy to incorporate scenarios and examples from your classes and discipline as you feel comfortable. We will share all materials after the session so that you can circulate them as you’d like.
We will deliver the workshop and, if desired, administer a follow-up survey so we can learn how to better serve GW educators.
