Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning - CETAL

01/30/2026

Join us at NMU as the host this year for UPTLC - Upper Peninsula Teaching & Learning Conference of MI.

Call for proposals is still open https://cfp.sched.com/speaker/vHg1plCkYF

We are excited to announce that C. Edward (Eddie) Watson, VP for Digital Innovation for AAC&U, will be joining us at UPTLC 2026 to lead two exciting and important sessions!

Eddie's participation in the conference is possible thanks to support from NMU Academic Affairs and an anonymous donor to the NMU CTL.

10/30/2023

Interesting article in The Chronicle - "Redefining success: Embracing alternative assessments in higher education"

Exams create enormous amounts of anxieties that overburden the extraneous and germane aspects of cognitive load.

04/10/2023

Interesting article in the Chronicle today about ChatGPT and teaching. You can access it full text if you are on campus:

It won’t be easy without their colleges’ support.

12/16/2022

This will be a great local conference to attend. Call for Proposals due 12.31.22

LSSU will host the 2023 Upper Peninsula Teaching and Learning Conference for faculty, staff, & administrators at regional K-12 schools & higher education institutions on May 15-16—and seeks proposals for presentations, workshops, & panels. Theme = Building Bridges: Creating Pathways for Superior Success. Sample tracks: building access to success; building engaging classrooms; teaching & learning innovations. Proposal deadline: 12/31 @ http://uptlc.org.
Details: lssu.edu/news/presentation-proposals-sought-for-the-2023-upper-peninsula-teaching-and-learning-conference-to-be-held-at-lake-superior-state-university-on-may-15-16-2023/

09/26/2022

Last Week's Lunch & Learn "Navigating Students' Anxiety" is now available for streaming on campus!

Search streaming video, audio, and text content for academic, public, and K-12 institutions. Alexander Street is an imprint of ProQuest that promotes teaching, research, and learning across music, counseling, history, anthropology, drama, film, and more.

09/22/2022

The Upper Peninsula Teaching and Learning Conference is now accepting proposals for the UPTLC conference which will be held May 15-16, 2023 on the LSSU Campus.

We encourage faculty and staff from all universities and colleges in and around Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to consider not only attending but also presenting as we look to field a broad range of perspectives and topics.

09/15/2022

Today's Lunch & Learn presentation regarding he Cannabis Programs is now available for viewing on campus: https://video.alexanderstreet.com/p/EqZZLXWPm

09/12/2022

Jen Gorman's Lunch & Learn on teaching in technology enhanced classrooms is now available to stream: https://video.alexanderstreet.com/p/83oEmVwA3 (On Campus Only)

05/03/2022

"Finding a Vantage Point: Using Student Reflection to Enhance Learning and Engagement" will be held at 10:00 a.m. in Peninsula II of the Northern Center.

Maria Bergstrom will be discussing how instructors are often frustrated by student approaches to learning that seem shallow and even transactional (learn the content, pass the test, get the grade). Students also experience frustration when they don’t see or understand how material in one course connects to other courses, or to the students’ future goals or career aspirations. Reflective activities can be used in any course in any discipline to guide students into deeper engagement with course material and also to broaden students' understanding of how that material connects to their larger academic context and future goals. Reflection is also an important means by which we can bring student voices into the classroom, encouraging students to become active meaning-makers rather than passive receivers of knowledge.

Maria will share her own experiences with a variety of reflective assignments and give an example of a basic template for developing reflective activities in a wide range of disciplines. Participants will have the opportunity during the session to brainstorm/draft a reflection exercise for a course they teach and workshop it with a small group of peers. The approach to reflection described in this session could be used in a variety of teaching modalities, including in-person, hybrid, or online courses.

05/02/2022

Just one more great reason to attend this year's UPTLC!

"Five Graphs in a Row? That’s Way Too Many ! : Peer Educators as Formative Course Evaluators" will be held at 11:00 a.m. in Peninsula II of the Northern Center.

Tommissa Archambeau and H. Russell Searight will be discussing the current emphasis on assessment in universities tends to be focused on evaluating the extent to which students meet specific pre-ordained course objectives. End-of semester assessment, alone, does not lend itself to making changes while a course is in progress. By obtaining ongoing feedback throughout the semester, formative assessment can provide detailed information about discrete "micro-level" issues such as student engagement and the professor's choice of pedagogical techniques. This presentation describes an approach to formative course assessment with undergraduate student peer educators as evaluators. The peer educators are advanced undergraduate students who provide review sessions and tutoring for a specific course. the instructor requests that they regularly attend the class and complete weekly written assessments focusing on the instructor’s teaching style, course content, and student responsiveness. A current student instructor who is providing formative feedback will describe her experience in the role. She will also discuss how she has benefited from serving in this capacity. From the instructor’s perspective, the opportunity to receive highly specific feedback about the content covered in a particular class period, and the pedagogical techniques employed (e.g., case studies, video clips, quality of PowerPoint slides) contributes to an ongoing process of course revision.

04/15/2022

Registration for the UPTLC Conference at NMU this May is now open! You can register at this link:

Upper Peninsula Teaching & Learning Conference. Online registration by Cvent

12/22/2021

Northern Michigan University will be hosting the Upper Peninsula Teaching Learning Conference (UPTLC) again in 2022, May 24-25th. The conference theme is Navigating Change: New Directions for Superior Teaching. Please consider submitting a proposal for a presentation or poster for one or more of the tracks listed below:
1. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
2. Teaching Technology
3. Online Teaching and Learning
4. Instructional Vitality: Innovative and Engaging Ideas
5. Student Support, Retention, and Advising
The deadline to submit is February 7th; please use this form to submit a proposal. Conference information and examples of accepted previous proposals may be found on our website: www.uptlc.org