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Center for Teaching Excellence & Learning

The Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning (CTEL) encourages and supports excellence in teaching, learning, scholarship, professional activities and service at Bradley University. Our goals are:

  • To support and encourage instructional innovations and faculty scholarship focused on enhancing teaching effectiveness and promoting faculty and student engagement in research, creative production, professional activities and service
  • To enhance research, creativity, teaching effectiveness and student engagement in projects as professionals
  • To coordinate the university review and approval of proposals for funding of internal grants with budgets in this office
  • To advance appropriate instructional technology and its use in all phases of the educational process
  • To undertake other programs to enhance the opportunity for faculty to attain their goals in teaching, scholarship and professional activities
  • To support and encourage faculty efforts to involve students in the learning process and in scholarship, professional activities and service

Programs

2024

A Pedagogy of Kindness

by Catherine J. Denial

Part manifesto, part teaching memoir, part how-to guide, this book articulates a fresh vision for teaching, one that focuses on ensuring justice, believing people, and believing in people. Offering evidence-based insights and drawing from her own rich experiences as a professor, the author offers practical tips for reshaping syllabi, assessing student performance, and creating trust and belonging in the classroom.

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It’s Making the World a Weirder Place

by Janelle Shane

We rely on AI every day, trusting it for matters both big and small, from unlocking our phones to hospital care. But how smart is AI really? Scientist and author Janelle Shane. In this book she shows how these machines learn, fail, and adapt—and how they reflect both the best and worst of humanity.

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

by Johnathan Haidt

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“[an] important new book… The shift in kids’ energy and attention from the physical world to the virtual one, Haidt shows, has been catastrophic, especially for girls.” —Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times.

A Palestinian Theology of Liberation: The Bible, Justice, and the Palestine-Israel Conflict

by Naim Stifan Ateek

Addressing what many consider the world’s most controversial conflict, Naim Ateek offers a succinct primer on liberation theology in the context of the Palestinian struggle for freedom and self-determination. Beginning with the historical roots of this struggle, he shows how the memory of the Holocaust served to trump the claims and aspirations of the native inhabitants of Palestine, and how later Israeli occupation and settlements in the West Bank have contributed to their suffering and oppression. Supported by many Western Christians, Israeli claims to the land rely on a particular exclusivist reading of the Bible. In contrast, a Palestinian theology of liberation responds with a counter-strategy for biblical interpretation, emphasizing the prophetic themes of inclusivity and justice. Ateek concludes by providing principles for achieving security, peace, and justice for all peoples in Israel/Palestine.

Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto

by Tricia Hersey

***INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER***

Disrupt and push back against capitalism and white supremacy. In this book, Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, encourages us to connect to the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and naps as a foundation for healing and justice.

What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine level pace –– feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit.

The Spring and Fall Forums bring faculty and staff together at the start of each semester to discuss topics related to teaching strategies, university initiatives and campus services. Events include a keynote address, multiple breakout sessions and a concluding plenary address.

The Fall and Spring Forums are designed to address the following purposes:

  • To promote campus wide excellence in teaching, learning, and research
  • To promote university initiatives
  • To provide professional development opportunities for Bradley faculty and staff
  • To provide university-level service opportunities for Bradley faculty and staff
  • To build a culture of campus wide collaboration.

The 2025 Spring Forum was held on Wednesday, January 15th, one week before classes begin.

2025 Spring Forum Videos

2024 Fall Forum Videos

New Faculty Mentorship Committee supports newer faculty who are passionate educators and outstanding scholars, and to foster interdisciplinary appreciation and colleagueship. The NFMC sponsors social activities, workshops and formalized mentor programs to foster professional development and community.

New Faculty Mentorship Committee 2021-2022

NameTitleDepartment
Cory BoultonAssistant ProfessorMusic
Meghan BurroughsAssistant ProfessorFamily and Consumer Sciences
Adam ByerlyLecturerComputer Science and Information Systems
Candace EskenAssistant ProfessorManagement and Leadership
Jaime GrandstaffAssistant ProfessorAccounting
Joseph HarrisAssistant ProfessorPsychology
Timothy HutchingsAssistant ProfessorGame Design
Maureen HermannAssistant ProfessorNursing
Claire McQuerryAssistant ProfessorEnglish
Rachelle PavelkoAssistant ProfessorAdvertising/Public Relations
Tyler SmithAssistant ProfessorEntrepreneurship, Technology and Law
Libby TronnesAssistant ProfessorSpecial Collections/Cullom-Davis Library
Quentin WherfelAssistant ProfessorTeacher Education

Open Educational Resources (OER) as defined by the OER Commons are “teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse at no cost, and without needing to ask permission. Unlike copyrighted resources, OER have been authorized or created by an individual or organization that chooses to retain few, if any, ownership rights.” When implemented, they can reduce barriers to success for all students by lowering cost, and allow for innovative pedagogical practice by involving students in the creation of information. The Cullom-Davis Library has a guide to OER for faculty to learn more.

The OER Community of Practice is an informal space for discussion and collaboration around Open Educational Resources. Anyone is welcome to attend, regardless of your existing level of knowledge. Join the group on a monthly basis to learn more about OER, find partners or mentors for OER projects, and increase awareness of OER across Bradley’s campus.

Two opportunities to meet are scheduled each month, and every meeting is hybrid to facilitate remote participation. Contact Christina Norton ([email protected] or 309-677-3465) with questions or to get a calendar invite for the next meeting.

During this 23-24 school year, CTEL is partnering with the NSF ADVANCE project to explore considerations of the evaluation of teaching, faculty performance evaluations, and the tenure and promotion process. For more information about Bradley’s NSF ADVANCE, please go to: https://bradley.edu/ADVANCEBU/.

Internal Grants

The Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning, in Partnership with the Division of Strategy and Innovation, and in support of the Bradley University Strategic Plan, invites applications in support of 3 Interdisciplinary Initiatives.

Building Interdisciplinary Connections: Paired Courses

Paired courses provide an opportunity for faculty to build interdisciplinary connections and network with colleagues while also advancing students’ integrative learning. The development of paired courses will enhance curricular connections within interdisciplinary majors and minors and create opportunities for exploring new interdisciplinary programs and activities.

In collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning (CTEL), the Division of Strategy and Innovation is supporting this strategic initiative by funding the development of new paired courses for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Funds (up to $1,000 for each award) are available from the Division of Strategy and Innovation to support the development of new paired courses. The brief proposal process and the evaluative criteria for making award decisions are described below.

Deadline: April 1, 2022.

Strategic Plan Seed Grant Challenge to Advance Interdisciplinary Studies

Purpose

Support the enhancement or the development of interdisciplinary programs and initiatives at Bradley University. The awards will provide time and resources necessary for bringing to fruition ideas that will advance interdisciplinary studies at Bradley University.

Awards

Award amounts from the Division of Strategy and Innovation up to $7,500. As many as three awards will be made.

Scope

Proposed initiatives may include, but are not limited to, opportunities in the following five categories. A proposed initiative may fall into more than one category.

  • High Impact Practices with an interdisciplinary focus. Refer to this link for a list of high impact practices: High Impact Practices AACU.
  • Curriculum. Revamp existing interdisciplinary degree-granting programs. Examples include developing an integrated and sequenced core or incorporating high impact practices into the curriculum.
  • Scholarship. Develop or enhance interdisciplinary research and artistry connections to catalyze programmatic initiatives and partnerships.
  • New Program. Develop a competitive proposal for the New Opportunities Process.
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Advance programs and initiatives that foster attributes associated with a welcoming campus community (e.g., civic, global, and cultural competency, inclusivity, equity, and diversity).

Deadline: April 8, 2022.

Making Connections: Bradley University Interdisciplinary Living Learning Community Program

Introduction. A Living Learning Community (LLC) – is a cohort of students who share a residential area based on their common interest in a distinctive theme. Participation in Living Learning Communities facilitates students’ academic and social transition to college. LLCs are aligned with best practices when

  • Students in the community enroll in one or more academic courses together.
  • Co-curricular activities are coordinated with coursework and the residential experience.

Bradley University Interdisciplinary LLCs are designed for first-year students. Each LLC features an academic theme of sufficient breadth and depth to (a) warrant an interdisciplinary approach for studying it and (b) stimulate interest among students from any major. The theme will often relate to an interdisciplinary major and/or minor at Bradley.

Funds are available from the Division of Strategy and Innovation for: Course Addition/Modification; Faculty Coordinator; Programming; and Resident Advisors.

Deadline: April 20, 2022

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) occurs when faculty engage in systematic inquiry (potentially in collaboration with other faculty or with students), that is informed by prior published scholarship, advances an understanding of pedagogy, and is shared with a broader audience.

Bradley will host a series of events to help faculty plan, conduct and evaluate their own SoTL projects. The Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning will award $3,500 per project for participants that complete the SotL Workshop, monthly meetings with their SoTL mentor/accountability team during Summer 2024, and presentations of their SoTL research during the 2024 Fall and 2025 Spring Forums.

CTEL is proud to be a regular sponsor of SoTL at Bradley:

  • Courtad, J.C. & Courtad, C.A. (2019). The use of English grammar and the confidence interval of the student when writing in Spanish. Journal for Research and Practice in College Teaching, 4(1), 170-188.
  • Newell, A.M.B., Antola Crowe, H., Erickson, D., Pratt, B. & Davison Aviles, R. (2020). Cross-cultural competencies in a scholarship of teaching and learning process. Journal of Transformative Learning. 7(1), 71-80.
  • Vollmer, R. L. & Drake, T. (2020). Exploration of Dietetic Graduate Students’ Experience in a Flipped Course Using Learning Reflections. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 52, 407-414

The Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning is pleased to support OER initiatives that can decrease the cost of instructional materials for students and advance best practices in instructional design and teaching.

Deadline: Feb. 28, 2025

Innovative Teaching

The Center for Teaching Excellence and Learning is pleased to sponsor Teaching Excellence: Teaching Innovation Grants. Eligible faculty and staff are invited to apply for awards of up to $3,500 for preparing a new course or substantially revising an existing course. Awards of up to $5,000 can be requested in support of courses that become approved for Multidisciplinary Integration (MI) in the Bradley Core Curriculum. The deadline for Spring Semester is March 24, 2023.

Links

Resources

The resources provided on this page archive CTEL presentation materials from workshops and seminars, teaching excellence series, forums, and other CTEL efforts from spring 2015 to present.

CTEL teaching tips are weekly e-mail messages that offer information and practical ideas about effective college teaching practices. Each tip focuses on a specific topic or strategy related to core teaching practices such as inquiry-based learning, instructional design, online and hybrid courses, writing in the college classroom, course-embedded assessment, and multidisciplinary integration. The tips are written by college faculty from across the United States, including some Bradley faculty and professional staff.

If you wish to join CTEL’s Teaching Tip listserv, please contact Dr. Heljä Antola Crowe at [email protected].

Contact

Information coming soon!