Philosophies, strategies, and technologies involved in teaching & learning can all evolve over time. We love to share well-established findings through workshops, but sometimes a space to discuss and interrogate ideas without the pressure of needing to already have the answers can provide a fresh perspective on the challenges of teaching. Instructor learning communities provide an avenue to explore and discuss these timely topics.
The Center for Transformative Teaching's learning communities can take a variety of forms. Some may be spaced throughout a semester while others meet consistently for a short duration. The scheduling and structure of the learning community is largely dependent on the topic or material covered. Check the learning communities listed below for more information.
2025 Spring Learning Communities
Learning communities offer participants a chance to take a deep dive into a topic by offering a collaborative space to explore and discuss ideas, share experiences, and develop practical strategies for implementation.
Teaching with AI Skillshare
In this learning community, each session will be led by a UNL instructor that has incorporated AI into their courses.
- Feb. 14, Justin Olmanson and his colleagues, Azadeh Hassani, and Minji Jeon, will tell us about a recent study they did here at UNL investigating how students use AI. They created a useful taxonomy from their research that helps inform how we are using AI in teaching and learning. [Recorded session on Yuja]
- Feb. 28, Adrian Wisnicki, will give a short presentation on "How to think like a generative AI." He invites you to bring your toughest AI challenge and he'll show you how to get started with AI to solve it. Among the many other AI-related things he does, Wisnicki teaches a class called "Being Human in a Digital Age." [Not Recorded. Contact Wisnicki with questions.]
- Mar. 14, Kristy Weissling, SLP.D., CCC-SLP, Interim Department Chair of Special Education and Communication Disorders, will share her vision for how to use AI for individuals who experience the world in different ways than neurotypical individuals do. She will also discuss how she and her students ideate about innovative ways to use AI as well as outline current challenges to implementation. Michael Burton, Assistant Professor in Textiles, Merchandising, & Fashion Design, will share how he teaches his students to use generative AI tools and manipulate prompts to create and edit visual art, design, and film. Ph.D. student, Tina Shetabi, will talk about the foundations of her research on teaching AI in fashion design. [Recording of March 14 Session]
- Apr. 11, Louise Lynch-O'Brien will show how she has used AI to supercharge her teaching workflow, from streamlining project-based courses and personalized feedback to fostering student self-efficacy and generating engaging discussion prompts—freeing herself to focus on what matters most: mentoring her students. David Newton teaches his students how to use generative AI tools for design creation and optimization. He also leads the Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Design Lab (AI+EDL) in the College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The AI+EDL aims to contribute knowledge and develop technologies that will make for a more environmentally and socially sustainable built environment, while enabling and extending human imagination and agency in the design process.
- Apr. 25, Adam Wagler, Associate Professor of Advertising teaches his students how to use generative AI for images, design, audio and video production. He focuses on tools that are part of the Adobe Creative Cloud apps, to which UNL students have institutional access. Samantha Fairclough, Associate Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Associate Professor of Practice in Management, teaches her students how to use AI for ideation, to interrogate business ideas, to learn more about customers using AI personas, and to improve their own knowledge and preparation by using AI as in interviewer. Matt Waite, professor of practice in the college of journalism, teaches courses in data journalism, sports data analysis and visualization, reporting, and a variety of technology related courses. Lately, he's been doing some fun stuff with local llms helping fix terrible things humans do with typing, and in his AI and Journalism class, disabusing students of notions that having an LLM makes them experts in anything. [Recording of April 25th Session]
To be added to this series and receive emails and the meeting zoom link, please contact Sydney Brown at sbrown3@unl.edu.
Inclusive Teaching
In this learning community, participants will read and discuss Hogan & Sathy’s book “Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom”. The emphasis will be on practical ways that instructors can adjust their courses to promote the success of all students. The book covers aspects of course design such as syllabus language & course policies, classroom activities & interactions, assessment design, and group work.
The Inclusive Teaching learning community will start on February 6th and will then meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays from 2-3 pm.
Past learning communities:
Fall 2024
Teaching with AI
In this learning community, participants will read and discuss Bowen and Watson's book, "Teaching with AI." The text is structured in three parts: "Thinking with AI," "Teaching with AI," and "Learning with AI." The emphasis will be on the practical implications for instructors and students with the aim of developing instructional strategies that work in participants' courses - online and face-to-face. Dates and times will be determined based on the availability of registrants. Sign up now to indicate your interest in participation. Typically, learning communities meet in person or online once or twice each month.
Lecturer LC
This learning community is designed to give lecturers at UNL the opportunity to build community with one another while improving their teaching. There will be 6 sessions throughout the semester. Each will begin with a short presentation on best practices regarding a specific teaching topic followed by ample time for discussion, questions, and sharing of strategies that have been successful in the past. All lecturers are welcome to join us whether you’re just teaching a single course for one semester, have been teaching full time for years, or are anywhere in between! Anyone interested should sign up by Friday, August 30th. We will then send a poll to all registrants to find a time to meet that works with everyone’s schedule. We’ll also decide whether the group would prefer to meet in person or via Zoom.
#NCLUDE
The CTT will be co-sponsoring three #NCLUDE learning communities this fall: "Birding While Indian: A Mixed-Blood Memoir," “Exploring Dignity” and “Inclusive Learning for All: Embracing Universal Design and Disability in Higher Education.” For more information about these and other #NCLUDE learning groups, as well as to register, please go to: https://diversity.unl.edu/join-nclude-learning-group
Note: Registration ends August 30, 2024.
Summer 2024
TOLC
Teaching Online Learning Community (TOLC)
The four-week Teaching Online Learning Community (TOLC) is designed to guide new and novice online instructors to explore the unique opportunities and challenges of the online learning environment. Even instructors with some online teaching experience will find it valuable. Summer-TOLC will begin July 8, 2024, and will be conducted online.
Registration is closed.
For more information about this program, visit the TOLC page.