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.
AI and the Discipline: Responding to Change in Teaching and Practice
Facilitated by Logan Harvey, Research Faculty
Tuesday, 10/20/2026, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
Generative AI is not affecting all fields in the same way. In some disciplines, AI is changing how professionals write, code, analyze data, create media, conduct research, make decisions, or communicate expertise. In others, it is raising new questions about authorship, evidence, labor, ethics, equity, and professional judgment. In this workshop, participants will explore how AI is reshaping disciplinary practice and consider what those changes mean for courses, programs, departments, and other disciplinary communities. Participants will identify emerging AI-related competencies in their fields and discuss practical ways to adapt curricula, assignments, learning outcomes, and conversations with students.
Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 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.
Multiple-choice Testing Course for the College of Nursing
Facilitated by Mary Ann Tobin, Associate Research Professor and Jonathan Aragon, Research Faculty
Thursday, 10/22/2026 to Thursday, 12/31/2026
This entirely asynchronous, online course focuses on the design of effective multiple-choice tests that assess recall, comprehension, and critical thinking. Topics include best practices for item writing, item analysis, and test blueprinting. Participants will be able to evaluate the quality of existing multiple-choice items and generate new, effective items; analyze test items for reliability, difficulty, and discrimination; and use test blueprints to ensure test items address course learning objectives.
Nursing faculty, please email NurseCE@psu.edu regarding registration and details.
This is a closed event. If you are interested in a custom activity for your area, please contact us at site@psu.edu.
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.
Preparing a Teaching Demo for a Job Interview
Facilitated by Chas Brua, Associate Research Professor and Beate Brunow, Associate Director and Associate Research Professor
Thursday, 10/22/2026, 10:35 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
Via Zoom
As part of the interview process for a faculty position, you may be asked to lead a teaching demonstration. In this interactive workshop, we’ll discuss ways to go into your teaching demo with preparedness, confidence, and adaptability. Participants will explore considerations related to their audience, factors affecting content, logistics (including technology), and teaching/learning interactions. Participants will also strategize ways to cope with unexpected challenges that could emerge during a teaching demo.
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.
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.
Integrating Classrooms and Communities: Science and Art in Environmental Education
Facilitated by Laura Cruz, Research Professor and Bryan Wang, Teaching Professor, Biology Coordinator, Honors Program
Friday, 10/23/2026, 12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Via Zoom
Bryan Wang (Penn State Berks) will present several community programs to promote environmental sustainability. These programs originated in co-teaching experiences in interdisciplinary general education courses (From Beast Books to Resurrecting Dinosaurs, Creativity) and the observation that combining scientific practices and creative expression in those courses stimulated learning and wonder.
Funded by internal grants and the support of Penn State Sustainability colleagues and students across disciplines (natural and social sciences, humanities and art) have partnered with local conservation organizations to develop and deliver the programs—which guide the public to employ scientific tools and methods and artistic production to engage in new ways with their natural environment and with one another.
This session is hosted by the Engaged Teaching and Learning Teaching Community.
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.
Talking about AI Ethics: AI and Mental Health
Facilitated Logan Harvey, Research Faculty; Henry Xiao, Assistant Director of Operations at CAPS
Tuesday, 10/27/2026, 12:00p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
How is artificial intelligence impacting student mental health? What should educators understand about its potential benefits, risks, and emerging challenges? In this Talking about Teaching session, Dr. Henry Xiao of Counseling and Psychological Services will share perspectives and local data on the intersection of AI with mental and socioemotional health and invite participants to consider implications for teaching, learning, and student support.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.
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.
Slow Down and Look: Visual Engagement Strategies to Enhance Student Learning
Facilitated by Deena Levy, Associate Research Professor and Keri Mongelluzzo, Educator for Academic Engagement and Access, Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State
Tuesday, 10/27/2026, 2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Palmer Museum of Art
Discover how slow looking and object-based learning can enhance student learning across disciplines! Join the Palmer Museum of Art and the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence for a workshop Tuesday, October 27, to explore object-based learning strategies in support of your curricular goals. The workshop will provide experience in slow looking exercises, shared-inquiry models, visual thinking strategies, and activity-based learning modalities to promote curiosity, observation, descriptive language, and visual literacy.
Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts.
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
Thursday, 10/29/2026 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
Thursday, 10/29/2026 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.
