The annual Great Ideas for Teaching and Learning Summit offered a lot of great ideas for “Reflective Teaching, Responsive Learning”. The keynote speaker, Liz Norell, author of the book The Present Professor, delivered an engaging and thought provoking talk on being present, reflective and responsive instructors. First and foremost, Noell reminds us to show up for ourselves and our students authentically by exploring safe and appropriate ways to let our genuine personality shine.
According to Norell, reflective teaching matters because it helps align our work with our values, creates more grounded and regulated learning environments (for us and for students), deepens relationships and a sense of belonging, and encourages the development of psychological safety. When we take time to reflect, we move beyond routine and into intentional practice. Becoming a critically reflective instructor requires looking at our work from multiple perspectives, including:
- Ask your students for feedback. Simple tools like exit tickets (What is the most important or interesting thing you learned today?) can provide meaningful insight.
- Engage with peers about department or discipline norms. Talk through teaching situations and explore how others think about teaching situations and subject matters.
- Reflect on your own journey, including your graduate school experience, and consider how it shapes your teaching.
- Engage with teaching scholarship and broader theoretical frameworks to deepen your understanding.
In true Great Ideas Summit fashion, the afternoon sessions invited faculty and staff to share strategies that promote reflective Teaching and responsive learning. Megan Frary and Sarah Dalrymple guided participants through the role of data in reflective teaching practice. They emphasized that reflection is not a one-time activity but part of an ongoing cycle of continuous improvement and gathering evidence from multiple sources such as student feedback and course outcomes. A key focus of the session was disaggregated course outcomes data, which allows instructors to uncover patterns that might otherwise remain hidden.
Jenn Mallette and Shawn Simonson spoke on policy 4750 which covers assessment of faculty teaching. The session asked participants to reflect on current approaches to formative and summative assessment of teaching within their respective departments and programs, covered what an effective departmental policy on effective teaching should include, and emphasized that the policy offers an opportunity to encourage the development of effective teaching practices over time.
In a collaborative session led by Beret Norman, Stewart Gardner, Rafael Ribas, and Jen Black, participants explored how reflection can be intentionally embedded across the curriculums specifically in University Foundations courses. The presenters highlighted how well-designed and integrated reflection assignments help students connect their academic experiences to their evolving identities.
The lightning talks brought energy and variety, offering insights across three interconnected themes:
- Reflective Teaching through Modern Systems: Exploring how structured feedback, real-time data, and even AI can serve as cognitive partners in the reflective process.
- Reflection as an Embodied Practice: How an instructor’s physical and interpersonal presence helps create student-centered environments where metacognition is supported.
- Responsive Learning in Action: How instructors can adjust in real time based on student needs and bridge the gap between course design and the lived classroom experience.
The day concluded with poster presentations from CTL Student Partners on supportive teaching practices to enhance student learning and faculty members who engage in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Our presenters shared far more wisdom than we can capture in a single blog post, so make sure to be on the lookout for information on next year’s Great Ideas for Teaching and Learning Summit. As always, check out the CTL Events page for upcoming Workshops and other opportunities to engage around pedagogy.
Sarah Lausch