Events
Schreyer Institute programs are for anyone at Penn State who has an instructional role or is preparing for a future one. Our participants are typically faculty, graduate students, and postdocs. Academic administrators, instructional designers, staff members, and undergraduates in instructional roles are also welcome.
Instructional Foundations Series
Facilitated by Chas Brua, Associate Research Professor and Jose Sandoval-Llanos, Graduate Instructional Consultant and Elanur Sönmez, Graduate Instructional Consultant and Linh Le, Graduate Instructional Consultant
Wednesday, 8/26/2026 to Wednesday, 9/16/2026
Via Zoom
The Instructional Foundations Series is for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and instructors from all disciplines who have never taught at the university level (other than grading experience) prior to participation. The series is designed to provide people new to college teaching with some basic ideas they can use in their first teaching experience. The series includes 3 workshops focusing on best practices from the literature on teaching and learning, plus an assignment in which participants discuss teaching techniques with an experienced instructor in their discipline. For additional details, see https://www.schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/instructionalfoundations.
Registration closes on September 16, 2026.
Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at SITE@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.
TA 101: Survive and Thrive
Facilitated by Chas Brua, Associate Research Professor and Linh Le, Graduate Instructional Consultant
Wednesday, 8/26/2026, 10:10 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.
Via Zoom
Teaching assistants have a crucial role—and one that can be challenging. In this interactive workshop, we’ll share advice to help TAs navigate their role to meet the needs of undergraduate learners, faculty, and TAs’ own professional development.
Registration will close and applicants will receive a Zoom link approximately 1 hour before the event.
Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at SITE@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.
Provost Endorsement: Inclusive and Equitable Teaching
Facilitated by Beate Brunow, Associate Director and Associate Research Professor
Monday, 8/31/2026 to Tuesday, 10/27/2026, Asynchronous
Canvas
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This endorsement engages experienced instructors in implementing inclusive and equitable teaching in their current or upcoming course(s). This program assumes participants already understand the need for inclusive and equitable practices. Eligible participants must have teaching responsibilities in the current or upcoming academic year so that they can most immediately benefit from the content of the program by applying program concepts to their teaching. Participants will revise a syllabus or assignments for future use, reflect on their teaching based on student feedback and peer interactions, and consider how they might cultivate belonging in their courses. Once participants have registered, they will be added to a Canvas course and connected with a SITE faculty consultant. Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at SITE@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs. |
Provost Endorsement: Universal Design for Learning
Facilitated by Mary Ann Tobin, Associate Research Professor
Monday, 8/31/2026 to Friday, 4/30/2027
Canvas - OL 3600 and Teach to Reach with Universal Design for Learning
This Provost Endorsement is a partnership between The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence (SITE) and World Campus Online Faculty Development (WCOFD).
It begins with an asynchronous self-guided course, OL 3600: Universal Design for Learning (UDL), in which participants explore the rationale and research that supports designing learning experiences with UDL, read scenarios about UDL applications, and reflect on ways to apply UDL to their own instructional practices. OL 3600 is available throughout the calendar year.
Those who complete OL 3600 will be invited to enroll in Teach to Reach with UDL, a four-week, asynchronous, instructor-led online course offered by SITE, where participants draw upon their own teaching or learning design experience and their existing understanding of UDL to generate and respond to discussions, create a UDL-inspired instructional activity, and provide feedback on their peers’ activities. Teach to Reach is offered in spring and fall semesters.
Current Penn State faculty and postdocs can earn Provost Endorsements. Provost Endorsements are not available to Penn State graduate students.
Completion of both OL 3600 and Teach to Reach within one year are required to earn this endorsement.
Email Mary Ann Tobin at matobin@psu.edu with questions about this endorsement or our UDL courses.
Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at SITE@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Course
Facilitated by Mary Ann Tobin, Associate Research Professor
Monday, 8/31/2026 to Thursday, 12/31/2026, Asychronous
Canvas -- World Campus Faculty Development Canvas Course
In this free, non-credit, self-directed, and entirely asynchronous course, participants explore the rationale and research that supports designing learning experiences with UDL, read scenarios about UDL applications, and reflect on ways to apply UDL to their own instructional practices. This course is open to faculty of any rank or status, teaching assistants, and post-doctoral instructors and members of the learning design community.
Register anytime at the following link: https://psu.catalog.instructure.com/browse/wcfd/courses/ol-360001-universal-design-for-learning-2026 . You will have 90 days to complete the course.
This course is a collaboration between the Schreyer Institute and World Campus Online Faculty Development.
Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at SITE@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.
Building Your Classroom Discussion Repertoire: Structured Discussion Activities (In-Person)
Facilitated by Beate Brunow, Associate Director and Associate Research Professor
Monday, 8/31/2026, 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Rider Building Room 315 (In-Person)
Structured discussion activities can create more equitable participation, surface richer ideas, and help students develop discussion as a transferable skill. In this session of our workshop series on “Building your Classroom Discussion Repertoire”, participants will experience and examine several structured formats, including activities that use sequential turn-taking, perspective taking, and collaborative questioning to move conversations beyond surface-level exchange. We will also explore how to help students reflect on their own participation and become more intentional contributors to classroom dialogue. Participants will experience several techniques, examine the pedagogical intentions behind each, and leave with strategies ready to adapt for their own courses and disciplines.
Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at SITE@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.
