Events

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 February 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 physical access provided, please contact SITE 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.

This short course is an introductory overview of ethical pedagogical practices that support student learning for all students. The course includes research-based lessons, workshops, interactive coffee hours, reflective journal activities, and opportunities for developing materials like lesson plans and teaching philosophy statements. The course is intended to support advanced graduate students and post-docs who seek to diversify and deepen their pedagogy and teaching materials. Upon successful completion of the course, participants earn a certificate of completion.

The course will take place over a 5-week period and is expected to entail about 25 hours of work (total). It involves:

a) Zoom workshops on Thursdays: March 26, April 2, 9, and 16 from 11:00–12:30pm EST
b) Coffee hour chats: Hybrid format; time/day are based on your availability. Location and Zoom link will be announced the first week of class.

Detailed information about the course can be found at: http://schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/cep
Space is limited. The application deadline is March 4, 2026.
To apply: https://tinyurl.com/site-cep

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) is a framework of brain-based, research-backed teaching and learning strategies that proactively address learner variability to reduce learning barriers and create inclusive learning experiences. In this interactive, UDL-inspired workshop, participants will be introduced to the UDL framework and explore ways to apply it.

This is a closed event customized for the requesting department. If you are interested in a Custom Workshop for your area, 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.

Disruptive situations can occur in any course. In this interactive workshop, we’ll discuss ways to create a climate where disruptive behavior is less likely to occur--and to get the learning back on track when it does.

Registration will close one hour before the workshop begins. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 45 minutes before the event begins.

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.

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.

This interactive workshop offers participants a first look at active learning and how active learning can be used in the classroom. Participants will build their understanding of what active learning is, how to effectively use active learning, and methods and techniques to leverage active learning in their own teaching/TAing.

Registration will close one hour before the workshop begins. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 45 minutes before the event begins.

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 is part of the international CIRTL Network, which focuses on preparing the next generation of faculty to teach effectively. Join us for this brief overview of how CIRTL programming—both at Penn State and through the 43-university network—can help grad students and postdocs to 1) strengthen their teaching skills and 2) document their professional development through CIRTL certification.

Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 45 minutes 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.

This interactive workshop will provide participants with an overview of how assessments can be used as part of the learning process. Participants will walk away with strategies for crafting effective and constructive feedback that helps turn assessments from just a tool for evaluating performance into one that promotes student learning and supports students' development in areas of need.