Facilitator: Shannon Orr, Professor, Political Science Department & CFE Faculty Associate

Group projects are a powerful way to foster collaboration, problem-solving, and real-world skills in students, but they often come with frustration for both you and your students. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore practical strategies to design group projects that encourage accountability, reduce conflict, and help students build real-world collaboration skills. You’ll learn how to manage group dynamics and address common challenges like “free riders” and dominant personalities and how to assess group work fairly and effectively.

You’ll leave with a clear plan for implementing or improving group projects in your courses. Whether you’re new to assigning group work or looking to fine-tune your approach, this session help you turn a notorious pain point into a rewarding learning experience for everyone.

By participating in this session, you will be able to:

• Design group projects with clearly defined roles that promote meaningful collaboration and active participation from every student.
• Teach students how to engage in teamwork, manage conflicts, and foster a productive group environment. 
• Implement fair and effective methods for assessing group work, balancing individual accountability with team performance.

 Spring 2026 Faculty Associate CFE Session Registration Form

Consultant(s): Emily Anzicek, PhD., BGP Director, Academic Affairs; Anna Rood, Instructional Designer, Center for Faculty Excellence; Miles Wronkovich, Instructional Designer, Center for Faculty Excellence

Have questions about building your syllabus in Concourse? Drop in to get personalized support as you navigate this new syllabus tool in Canvas. Whether you're just getting started or working through a specific challenge—like formatting your course schedule, entering assessments, or meeting university syllabus requirements—a CFE consultant will work through it with you one-on-one. These sessions are open to instructors currently or preparing to teach in Summer or Fall 2026. Registration is required and is first-come, first-served. Space is limited, so reserve your consultation in advance.

By the end of your consultation, you’ll be able to: 

• Navigate the Concourse Syllabus tool in Canvas to build and customize your course syllabus.
• Enter required course information in Concourse that meets university syllabus policy requirements.
• Troubleshoot specific questions or challenges related to your individual course setup in Concourse.

Concourse Syllabus Drop-in Consultation Registration

Facilitator: Subha Nagarajan Teaching Professor, Department of Natural and Social Sciences, BGSU Firelands.

This initiative is tailored for educators looking to design, (re)design, or refine their courses to enable students to achieve mastery of course learning outcomes. During the day-long workshop you will have the opportunity to transform your curriculum from a list of topics into a transparent pathway that guides students toward academic success. You will join a community of peers dedicated to science of course (re)design. This program offers the time, space, and support you need to move beyond covering content toward creating impactful, student-centered experiences.

By participating in this session, you will be able to:

• Identify strategies for assessing student learning
• Apply the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework to redesign two course assessments that clearly communicate purpose, task, and criteria to students, thereby enhancing student engagement, motivation and confidence. 
• Construct a three-column alignment map that demonstrates a direct logical connection between a specific course learning outcome, a summative assessment, and a preparatory learning activity.

2026 Designing A Course for Student Success Application Form

Facilitator: Facilitators: Emily Anzicek, PhD., BGP Director, Academic Affairs; Anna Rood, Instructional Designer, Center for Faculty Excellence; Miles Wronkovich, Instructional Designer, Center for Faculty Excellence

Concourse Syllabus is a new tool in Canvas where instructors input relevant information to form a PDF accessible syllabus that can be publicly accessed online. In this session, familiarize yourself with the interface of Concourse and learn how to customize the tool for your course, from entering assessment types to the schedule of your course. What information is required to be included in syllabi by university policy will also be reviewed.

In this session, you will:

• Review the BGSU Syllabus Template within Concourse Syllabus.
• Identify functionality and features of Concourse Syllabus.
• Identify required and publicly available syllabus elements.
• Customize the BGSU Syllabus Template for your course.

Spring 2026 CFE-Facilitated Session Registration Form

Facilitator: Brad Kimbrough, Life Design Coach, Radbill Center for College and Life Design & CFE Faculty Associate

Grades shape how students approach their work, but do they foster deeper learning? In this session, we will explore the purpose of grading and examine alternative practices such as standards-based and specifications grading. Participants will reflect on why and how we grade, consider the impact on student motivation, and discuss practical strategies for aligning grading with authentic learning goals.

By participating in this session, you will be able to:

• Analyze the impact of traditional grading practices on student motivation and learning behaviors.
• Compare and contrast the structures and pedagogical implications of standards-based and specifications grading models.
• Evaluate strategies for aligning grading practices with stated learning outcomes.

 Spring 2026 Faculty Associate CFE Session Registration Form

Facilitator: Holly Barber, Anna Rood, & Miles Wronkovich, Instructional Designers, Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE)

Join our hands-on working session to use YuJa Panorama to scan your course for accessibility issues and quickly implement fixes directly in Canvas to support all learners. We’ll walk through interpreting the accessibility report and practice remediation techniques for heading structure, alternative text, contrast, descriptive link text, table headers, STEM content, and more. Plan on using a course you’re actively teaching (or preparing) so you leave with real progress and plan to keep your content accessible going forward. 
 

By participating in this session, you will be able to:

• Review the accessibility report to find potential accessibility issues and prioritize items that most impact learner access. 
• Apply accessibility remediations to course content. 
• Discuss strategies for implementing a check‑and‑fix process to increase course accessibility.  

Spring 2026 CFE-Facilitated Session Registration Form