2026 CETL January Teaching Symposium

Choose Your Own AI-Venture: Engage, Explore, Experiment

Join us on January 21st for a dynamic one-day teaching and learning symposium designed for faculty ready to explore the power and possibilities of AI in teaching, learning, and productivity. Get ready to Choose Your Own AI Adventure and explore a rich mix of interactive tracks, hands-on labs, scenario-based challenges, and thought-provoking discussions. Whether you’re curious, cautious, or already experimenting with AI, this event will equip you with practical strategies, ethical insights, and creative inspiration to lead the way forward.

Call for Proposals

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning welcomes session proposals for this year’s Teaching Symposium that align with the focus of this event and the tracks below.

Special Note

We understand that AI is an ever evolving and emerging reality. We thus also understand that knowledge and experience may be imperfect. We welcome faculty to share what they have learned and engaged in around these topics, even if that knowledge is still developing. No one is an absolute expert, but the more we can engage in sharing about our experiences, the more apt we are to innovate and accelerate our pedagogy in the age of AI.

Symposium Tracks

The symposium will feature experiences centered around the following three tracks:

Track 1: AI as a Course Design Tool

Sessions in this track will explore how faculty can use AI to support course design, content creation, and instructional innovation to motivate students and boost student interaction.

Track 2: AI for Assessment and Feedback

Sessions in this track will focus on rethinking assessments to integrate or minimize AI use; presenting strategies and ideas for (re)designing learning activities and assessments that support ethical and constructive AI use or help avoid its use. Sessions may also explore how AI can help formulate (or evaluate) instructive feedback to students.

Track 3: Preparing Students for AI in the Workplace

Sessions in this track will focus on how faculty can boost students’ general and industry-specific AI proficiency by incorporating AI in meaningful and authentic ways that prepare them for its use in the workplace.

Session Formats

Three session formats will be offered at this year’s symposium:

Interactive Workshops (45 minutes)
Highly interactive workshops that engage participants in meaningful discussions and/or hands-on activities. The 45 minutes allotted should include time (approximately 15 minutes) for participants to engage in discussion and/or activities. Presenters should prepare some questions or prompts for guided discussion. Workshop proposals must align with one of the three tracks described above.

Example session themes for each track:

Track 1: AI as a Course Design Tool

  • Creating Engaging Learning Activities with AI
  • Ensuring Content Accessibility with AI
  • Creating Professional Scenarios or Case Studies with AI
  • Gamify your Course with AI

Track 2: AI for Assessment and Feedback

  • Designing AI-Enhanced Assessments
  • Designing AI-Resistant Assessments
  • AI-Enhanced Formative Feedback

Track 3: Preparing Students for AI in the Workplace

  • Teaching Students the Ethical Uses of AI (Academic and Personal Integrity)
  • Teaching Students to Critique AI Outputs
  • AI Uses in Disciplinary Contexts (or the real world)

Learning Labs (30 minutes)
Hands-on demonstration and instruction of a specific AI tool or strategic use of a tool, with a focus on allowing participants to practice using/testing the tool or strategy. At least half of the time allotted should be dedicated to guided participant practice. We would like to offer labs designed for AI users at both the beginner- and more intermediate- or advanced level. Learning Lab topics must align with the overarching focus of the symposium, but do not necessarily need to fit into a specific track.

Example topics: Prompt engineering for educators, Conversing with AI, Grading with AI tools, Automating instructional tasks.

Lightning Talks (5 minutes)
Fast-paced, five-minute discussions of a specific strategy or tool related to AI use for teaching practices, support of student learning, or to increase productivity. Sessions leave the audience with a specific takeaway. An additional 3-5 minutes for audience questions and discussion will be allotted for each presenter. Lightning talk topics must align with the overarching focus of the symposium, but do not necessarily need to fit into a specific track.

Example topics: Using Claude to draft research proposals, Using NotebookLM to create study guides, Creating a graphic syllabus with AI.

Submitting a Proposal

The CETL invites Chapman faculty to submit a proposal for the 2026 Teaching Symposium. We welcome any proposal that addresses one of the symposium themes and supports faculty development in relation to that theme and AI use in the classroom.

Proposals are due by Monday, October 27. As you prepare your proposal, please consult the themes and session formats above to ensure your proposal aligns with the symposium theme and that your activities are appropriate for the format you have selected.

Before submitting your proposal via Qualtrics, prepare the following information, required for submission:

  1. Name, academic unit affiliation, rank, and Chapman email for all presenters (note, all communication will go to the primary contact if more than one faculty member is involved in the proposal).
  2. Proposed session title (max. 15 words).
  3. Which track the session aligns with (required for workshop proposals).
  4. Session format (workshop, lab, or lightning talk).
  5. Session objective(s) (max. 50 words): What is/are the proposed learning outcome(s) for your session participants? Please address what you want to “make possible” related to teaching and learning with AI and/or what participants will gain from the session.
  6. Session description (max. 100 words): How will your session address the selected theme/topic and achieve the objective above? Please describe what you will do as well as what participants will do. What will the takeaways be? How will you engage/involve the audience (for workshops and labs)?
  7. Special technology needs/tools for session (if applicable).
  8. Accommodation needed for presenters (if applicable).

If you have any questions, please contact CETL@chapman.edu in advance of the submission deadline. We look forward to receiving your session proposals and appreciate your willingness to share your experience and expertise with your colleagues.