Academic Learning Communities

The Center for Faculty Development and Excellence (CFDE) is calling for participants for two Fall 2025 Academic Learning Communities.

Academic Learning Communities are informal seminars that are intended to

  • engage faculty, graduate students, post docs, and staff in collaborative explorations of innovative research and teaching topics;
  • bring guest speakers to campus to enhance the curriculum and learning; and/or
  • help disseminate important research discoveries and innovative learning strategies to the broader community.

Call for Participants: "Students as Co-Creators in the Classroom: An Open Pedagogy Conversation"

Title: Students as Co-Creators in the Classroom: An Open Pedagogy Conversation
Semester: Spring 2026
 
Conveners:

Jennifer Townes, Open Access Librarian
Alexandrea Kord, Teaching and Learning Librarian
 
Description:

This is a hands-on, discussion-based learning community designed for faculty and academic partners interested in exploring and applying the principles of open pedagogy.
 
Together we will build a foundational understanding of open pedagogy: what it is, what it can do, and how it can make teaching and learning more meaningful and sustainable. We will showcase what open pedagogy does as well as how it can be incorporated in the classroom. Through collaborative activities, you’ll help shape a working definition of open pedagogy and examine ways it can be used to transform disposable assignments into renewable learning experiences.
 
This community is ideal for faculty (including adjuncts and instructors) who want help transforming a disposable assignment into a renewable one. We also welcome faculty partners (librarians, instructional designers, etc.) interested in creating a digital learning object to illustrate open pedagogy to their faculty.
By the end of our time together you'll not only understand the what and why of open pedagogy—you'll also walk away with tangible ideas, tools, and examples to implement open practices in your own classroom or support role.
Topics to be addressed include:
  • Open Pedagogy: a foundational understanding of open pedagogy and to showcase what open pedagogy does as well as how it can be incorporated in the classroom through exposure to a variety of open pedagogy assignments. 
  • Disposable vs. Renewable Assignments: an overview of what disposable assignments are and to orient participants to develop a renewable assignment or learning object that they can use in the future.
  • Accessibility, Scaffolding, and Universal Design for Learning: an understanding of how important it is to start building open pedagogy experiences that are accessible, scaffolded, and that use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to ensure student success and engagement in the classroom
 Particulars
  • The Seminar will meet online from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the following Wednesdays: January 21, February 18, March 18, and April 15.
  • Possible outcomes of the Academic Learning Community include: Build a foundational understanding of open pedagogy to be expanded upon through activities that allow for a collaborative definition of open pedagogy, discover what open pedagogy does as well as and how it can be incorporated in the classroom through exposure to a variety of engaging open pedagogy assignments, and gain hands-on experience with open pedagogy through creation of a renewable assignment or digital learning object.
  • Each meeting will balance presentations by the facilitator or invited speakers with group discussions of relevant readings and presentations by seminar participants.
    Up to 20 participants will be accommodated and will include faculty, graduate students, post docs, and staff from across the university.
 
To apply, please fill out this form https://forms.gle/QXG1fZPmxCiuuR3w5

The deadline for application is Friday, November 28. Selections will be announced in mid- December.
 


Call for Participants: "Teaching Science in the Age of AI"

Title: “Teaching Science in the Age of AI”
Semester: Spring 2026
 
Conveners:

Douglas Mulford, Chemistry
 
Description:

LLM's and other generative models are fundamentally changing what it means to be a practicing science in the modern age. Whether it is report and paper writing, question generation, data analysis, research synthesis, and even proposed chemical synthesis, AI will be fundamentally integrated into the lives of our students as practicing scientists what once they leave Emory. What does this mean for us as educators? What do we need to teach our students? What skills do they need to have? Also, how can AI help us to be more effective instructors?
 
Topics to be addressed include:
  • What does it mean to be a practicing scientist using AI tools?
  • Lab and activity development using AI tools.
  • What does it mean to teach writing assignments and continuing communication courses in the age of AI?
  • How are our students using AI/LLMs now?
  • Honor code issues with AI
  • Open discussion based on previous sessions
 
 Particulars:

  • The Seminar will meet in person from 1-2:30pm on the following Fridays: January 23, February 13 and 27, March 6 , April 3 and 17
  • Possible outcomes of the Academic Learning Community include: a white paper on teaching AI in science.  What tools do our student need?  What is the role of AI in our teaching?

  • Each meeting will balance presentations by the facilitator or invited speakers with group discussions of relevant readings and presentations by seminar participants.

  • Up to 20 participants will be accommodated and will include faculty, graduate students, post docs, and staff from across the university.
 
To apply, please fill out this form https://forms.gle/wviXYu2BdrH5q8rt6

The deadline for application is Friday, November 28. Selections will be announced in mid-December. 
 

Previous Academic Learning Communities

Archived descriptions of Previous Academic Learning Communities between 2012 and 2025 are available for review.