Spring Teaching and Learning Conference 2026

Teaching Forward: Student-Centered Practices in a Changing Educational Landscape

The Center for Teaching & Learning hosted the Spring Teaching and Learning Conference on March 5, 2026. The conference brought together CU Boulder faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars to explore student-centered approaches to teaching and learning within a changing educational landscape.

Through presentations, panels, and conversations with members of the CU Boulder teaching community, participants explored student well-being, compassionate teaching practices, technology, course design, artificial intelligence, and the future of teaching and learning.

The conference was offered in a hybrid format.

📅 When: 

Thursday, March 5, 2026, from 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM MT.

📍Where: 

• InPerson: Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) E390

• Online: via Zoom

2026 Conference Program

Promoting Student Learning Through Balanced Well-Being

9:20 to 9:50 a.m.

Presenter: June Gruber, Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience

Global events of the past few years have profoundly impacted the mental health and emotional wellness of young adults. June Gruber has been studying this impact on college students and other young adults, considering ways instructors, students, and others can address this mental health challenge. Gruber’s work on the science of wellbeing and emotional diversity offers an evidence-based path toward more balanced emotional health to support student learning.

Compassionate Collaboration in the Classroom

10:00 to 10:50 a.m.

Presenters: Ashley Potvin, PhD, Research Associate, Renée Crown Wellness Institute, and Alison Boardman, Associate Professor, School of Education

Cultivating compassion within the context of teaching and learning can be a powerful resource for sustaining care for ourselves and our students, especially in times of challenge and change. In this interactive session, participants paused to reflect, engaged in compassion practices, and learned practical strategies for fostering student collaboration. The session considered how compassionate collaboration can nurture belonging, curiosity, and joy in K–20 classrooms.

CTL Excellence in Teaching with Technology Recipient Panel: Our Past and Current Innovations in Teaching

11:00 to 11:50 a.m.

Presenters: Dr. Nicole Jobin, Teaching Professor, History; Dr. David Paradis, Teaching Professor, History and College of Arts & Sciences Teaching Professor of Distinction; and Dr. Bethany Wilcox, Associate Professor, Physics

Each year, the Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award recognizes a faculty member nominated by peers and students for their commitment to teaching with technology. This panel brought together past award recipients to discuss their experiences using technology to support meaningful student learning and their perspectives on the future of technology in the classroom.

CTL Lead Graduate Teaching Fellow Panel: From Where Have We Seen Teaching Come, and Where Are We Going?

12:00 to 12:50 p.m.

Presenters: Kate Arnold Murray, Doctoral Student and CTL Lead, Linguistics; Emily Swertfeger, Doctoral Student and CTL Lead, History; Stevi Ibonie, Doctoral Student and former CTL Lead, Psychology and Neuroscience; and Sean Ang, Master’s Student and CTL Lead, Asian Languages and Civilizations

CTL Lead Graduate Teaching Fellows discussed the current and future states of graduate teaching across campus. Through their work providing peer support for teaching, the Fellows shared perspectives and experiences from across the CU Boulder teaching community.

Faculty Panel on Implementing the Canvas Template

1:15 to 2:15 p.m.

Presenters: Erin Furtak, Professor of STEM Education; William Kuskin, Professor and Chair, Department of English; Catalina Holly, CU Boulder student studying Math and Secondary Education; and Emelia Mantz, CU Boulder student studying Information Science

Developed by the Center for Teaching & Learning, Office of Information Technology, Digital Accessibility Office and Continuing Education with a group of faculty partners, the CU Canvas Template for Student Success was designed to help educators create more consistent and effective student learning experiences.

This session featured perspectives from faculty and teaching assistants using the template and provided participants with information about getting started in their own courses.

Teaching, Learning and AI: CU Community Perspectives

2:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Presenters: Eric Klinger, Jeremiah Contreras, Rick Stevens, Casey Fiesler and Rebecca Machen

This participatory session explored diverse faculty and student perspectives on artificial intelligence, teaching and learning. Faculty shared a range of approaches to supporting student learning in the context of AI, from redesigning courses to limit AI use to incorporating AI tools to enhance learning.

The session also included student perspectives and facilitated discussion designed to foster dialogue across campus about the rapidly changing role of AI in higher education.