The Center for Learning and Teaching offers seminars, workshops and expert speakers throughout the year. These events and programs are intended to help anyone who teaches at Ƶ be as effective as possible so that students achieve learning that lasts. Seminars may feature a presentation with discussion, a panel of BU faculty sharing teaching insights, or other discussion-oriented formats. Workshops include hands-on learning opportunities, such as technical training. Expert speakers help bring the latest pedagogical developments to Binghamton from the larger community of higher education.
2:00pm - 3:30pm
The Learning Studio (LN13424C)
Many instructors share the same experience: the reading was assigned, but discussion falls flat because students didn’t read—or only skimmed. This interactive workshop explores why sustained, deep reading has become harder in the age of screens, social media, and constant distraction—and what instructors can realistically do about it.
Join the CLT 2 - 3:30 p.m. Tues., Sept. 15 at the Learning Studio LN1324C as we draw on research about digital reading habits and deep reading, participants will first examine how online environments shape attention, skimming, and cognitive endurance. Faculty will then experience a guided reading activity using a short excerpt from Maryanne Wolf’s Reader, Come Home to feel the difference between surface reading and purposeful, deep engagement. From there, we’ll explore practical, research-informed strategies that increase the likelihood students begin reading, sustain attention, retain ideas, and come prepared for discussion—without adding more grading or policing.
Participants will leave with clear, low-lift design strategies they can implement immediately, including purpose-setting prompts, slow reading routines, annotation modeling, retrieval activities, and social reading structures that strengthen both comprehension and discussion.
Who Should Attend? This workshop is especially valuable for:
Faculty who teach reading-intensive courses (humanities, social sciences, law, health sciences, education, business, STEM theory courses, etc.)
Instructors frustrated by flat discussions or incomplete reading
Faculty assigning research articles, case studies, primary sources, or theoretical texts
Those teaching first-year or general education courses
Anyone interested in strengthening students’ attention, comprehension, and analytical thinking
Faculty curious about how digital habits are reshaping reading—and how to respond constructively
Refreshments will be provided.
Register Here:
2:00pm - 3:30pm
The Learning Studio (LN1324C)
Join us as we host Tamara Regulski from Information Technology Services (ITS), who will showcase the latest features added to Brightspace. She’ll also highlight integrated tech tools and share practical tips to help you make the most of the platform.
Refreshments will be provided.
Register Here:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
LN1324C (The Learning Studio)
In an age when students have ready access to generative AI, debate and other forms of active, in-class learning can create opportunities for students to apply course knowledge, respond to different perspectives, and develop and communicate their own reasoning. Regardless of the discipline, debate can serve as an innovative way to facilitate class discussion, review course material, teach students how to work in groups, and help students become better at articulating their thoughts. This workshop will review ways to integrate several different styles of debate activities, both for courses geared toward the “O” Gen Ed requirement and for instructors across the curriculum who are looking for new ways to get students involved. Instructors will learn how to efficiently manage course time so that, whether planning a whole unit or incorporating an activity for a single class, they can maximize the benefits of debate without detracting from existing lesson plans. Ultimately, this workshop will provide practical tools for integrating debate into classroom teaching as a supplemental strategy to engage students and support learning through a hands-on process.
Ƶ the Instructor: Joe Leeson-Schatz has been running the Ƶ debate program since 2001. It has consistently been ranked within the top ten best overall debate programs in the nation for over a decade, and was ranked 1st in 2008. He was given the Brownlee Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cross-Examination Debate Association in 2016 for his service to the debate community and his academic achievements in publication. He has run workshops for other debate coaches as well as at elementary and high schools to help get students of all ages active in learning to express themselves.
Register here:
Refreshments will be provided.
Ƶ the Instructor: Joe Leeson-Schatz has been running the Ƶ debate program since 2001. It has consistently been ranked within the top ten best overall debate programs in the nation for over a decade, and was ranked 1st in 2008. He was given the Brownlee Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cross-Examination Debate Association in 2016 for his service to the debate community and his academic achievements in publication. He has run workshops for other debate coaches as well as at elementary and high schools to help get students of all ages active in learning to express themselves.
Register here:
Refreshments will be provided.
2:00pm - 3:00pm
The Learning Studio (LN1324C)
Multiple-choice exams and traditional papers can tell us what students remember, but they may fall short of telling us what students can do with what they learned. Moreover, in the era of generative AI, designing assessments that provide meaningful evidence of learning is more important than ever. Authentic assessment offers one approach by engaging students in meaningful, realistic tasks that require them to apply their knowledge and develop skills that transcend the classroom.
Join the CLT 2 - 3 p.m. Tues., Nov. 3 at the Learning Studio LN1324C for this interactive workshop will engage faculty in designing authentic assessments including simulations (e.g., mock trials and pitches), process- and product-focused assignments (e.g., presenting a problem with multiple possible solutions), and performance-based activities (e.g., facilitated debate, role-plays). Faculty will have the opportunity to develop assessment ideas that challenge students to think critically, solve problems, make decisions, communicate effectively, and apply course concepts without creating an enormous grading burden.
Participants will gain practical strategies for integrating authentic assessment into their courses to enhance student performance and competence. Bring one existing course assignment and leave with ideas for redesigning it.
Presenter: Christina Balderrama-Durbin
CLT Fellow: Christina Balderrama-Durbin, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Ƶ, where she teaches courses in psychological assessment, clinical intervention, psychological impacts of trauma, and intimate relationships and directs the Couple Adjustment to Stress and Trauma (CAST) Laboratory. Her work as a researcher and educator focuses on translating psychological science into meaningful, applied learning experiences. She has extensive experience designing and teaching courses that emphasize critical thinking, applied problem-solving, and the integration of theory and evidence. Through her teaching and faculty-development work, Dr. Balderrama-Durbin is particularly interested in innovative approaches to assessment that help students demonstrate what they can do with what they know.
Refreshments will be provided.
Register Here: