Join a Current Teaching Circle

Garret Arcoraci, School of Information, GCCIS; and Andrew Wheeland, School of Interactive Media and Games, GCCIS

How do we design assignments that both discourage shortcut-seeking with tools like ChatGPT and make thoughtful, transparent use of AI as a learning tool? This teaching circle will explore concrete ways to make our courses more “AI-aware,” balancing academic integrity with innovation in teaching and assessment. Our goals are to (1) redesign assignments to be more AI-resilient and authentic, and (2) experiment with assignments that intentionally and ethically incorporate AI.

Participants will bring one or two existing assignments and iteratively revise them. Sessions will include brief framing by facilitators, small-group discussion, hands-on assignment redesign, and peer feedback. We will also examine AI detection tools—their promises, limitations, and risks—and consider alternative, process-based approaches to addressing suspected misuse.

Participants can expect to:

• Redesign at least one assignment to reduce unhelpful AI use.
• Create or adapt one assignment where AI use is intentionally allowed or required.
• Develop clear, student-facing AI guidelines and sample syllabus language.
• Explore rubric tweaks and short reflection prompts that surface student thinking and AI reliance.

By the end of the circle, participants will leave with AI-aware assignments, rubric “add-ons,” and a clearer plan for when to prohibit, allow, or require AI in their courses.

Participants will be polled to establish a meeting time and to determine if in-person, Zoom, and/or hybrid discussion format is preferred for the six, 50-minute meetings. If you are interested in joining this circle, email Garett Arcoraci.

Ashish Agrawal, Dean’s Office, CET; and Lucio Salles De Salles, Department of CET/EMS, CET

This teaching circle invites RIT faculty to explore the critical role of sustainability in developing the identity of modern engineers. As the demands of society shift, equipping our students with a sustainable mindset is more crucial than ever.

Our goal: To collaboratively identify, adapt, and assess high-impact teaching practices that effectively expose engineering students—from freshmen to seniors—to sustainability concepts. This circle aims to disseminate the work completed through the NSF-funded grant "Influence of Sustainability-Focused Course Interventions on Students' Engineering Identity Development".

What to expect: This is an action-oriented group where participants serve as co-explorers. Each meeting will center on the practical exchange of curriculum materials, with facilitators and interested participants sharing real-world, sustainability-related class activities and exercises currently used in their courses. As researchers involved in the NSF project, we will share our findings—which are based on analyses of student interviews and written reflections—to highlight how students respond to sustainability concepts and how the interventions specifically affect their professional development and engineering mindset

Participants will gain access to a collection of sustainability activities and a direct understanding of the psychological and professional impact of these topics on student learning. A set of refined, evidence-based teaching strategies is the circle’s intended deliverable

We will meet on campus (location TBA) approximately every other Tuesday, 12:00-1:00 p.m. (lunch will be provided), on the following five dates: Jan. 27, Feb. 10, Feb. 24, March 24, and April 14. If you are interested in joining this circle, email Lucio Salles De Salles.

Diane Eagles, Year One Programs, Student Affairs

Teaching today often feels like walking a tightrope, balancing student engagement, academic rigor, and personal well‑being. This circle invites faculty into a collaborative community where we explore how moderation, movement, and connection can transform both teaching practice and classroom culture.

Research shows that outdoor and experiential learning can boost student motivation, yet many educators hesitate due to concerns about classroom management, risk, or lack of confidence in nontraditional spaces. This circle will provide a supportive environment to examine those barriers and reframe them as opportunities. Together, we will discuss evidence-based strategies, share lived experiences, and experiment with practices that activate learning through play, rhythm, and resilience.

Participants can expect:

• Guided discussions on current research in engagement and resilience
• Peer-to-peer sharing of classroom challenges and successes
• Practical activities that model balance, such as movement breaks, reflective breathing, and connection rituals
• Collaborative creation of a resource list highlighting effective practices for fostering balance in diverse teaching contexts

Our circle will meet on campus, 2:00-3:00 p.m. (location TBA) on the following Wednesdays: Jan. 28, Feb. 11, Feb. 25, March 18, and April 1. If you are interested in joining this circle, email Diane Eagles.

Erin Finton, Department of Liberal Studies, NTID

This teaching circle, a continuation of our Fall 2025 circle, invites new participants to join our conversation and co-creation of teaching materials. Because there are no standardized curricula for teaching grammar structures to D/HH students nationwide, our project is critical not only to ensure that NTID instructional materials are streamlined, but to gather and create teaching materials for a larger trial AI project going on at NTID.

Participants can expect to learn about teaching approaches already developed on multiple grammar subjects and to work together to create relevant lesson plans on these subjects for multiple levels of study with appropriate teaching materials. I (Erin Finton) will be facilitating, leading some instructional lessons, while participants provide feedback and discuss how these materials may relate to the various classes and sessions we teach/run with students.

We will likely meet in person on Tuesdays, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Participants will be polled on the date for the first meeting and how often to meet over the Spring semester. If you are interested in joining this circle, email Erin Finton.

Shaun Foster, CTL Strategic Priority Fellow for Generative AI, Academic Affairs; School of Design, CAD

This teaching circle explores how AI can help faculty streamline their workload while improving instructional quality and student learning outcomes. The goal is to give instructors practical, repeatable methods for integrating AI into their teaching, research, and course design in ways that save time, deepen engagement, and support critical thinking.

The circle uses a collaborative structure. The facilitator introduces weekly prompts, demonstrations, or short case studies. Participants share examples from their own courses, workshop solutions together, and test small, low-risk AI interventions between sessions. Activities include guided experiments with AI tools, peer critique, workflow redesign, and building short teaching artifacts that can be reused or adapted. Deliverables are optional but encouraged, such as redesigned assignments, AI-supported rubrics, automation scripts, or revised lesson plans.

Participants can expect to learn how to:

• Reduce repetitive work through AI-assisted drafting, feedback, and planning
• Integrate AI into assignments in ways that strengthen rather than replace learning
• Clarify academic integrity expectations and design for authentic student work
• Use AI for formative assessment, accessibility, and student support
• Build sustainable teaching workflows tailored to their discipline

Meetings will be held in Zoom and participants will be polled for availability before setting up our schedule. If you are interested in joining this circle, please fill out this form. If you have questions, email Shaun Foster.

Christine Ross, University Writing Program, SOIS

This teaching circle continues earlier conversations about motivation and Generative AI, with a renewed focus on how students understand their own thinking, learning, and developing expertise in the AI world. Drawing on student work and classroom discussion, the circle centers on what happens when learners become more aware of how their brains work, particularly what they are noticing about AI-generated writing and “AI voice.”

There is a growing body of research showing that technology, misused, can short circuit the brain's efforts to develop human expertise. Importantly, Terence Sejnowski and colleagues, MIT Labs, and other researchers are arguing for the efficacy of Generative AI when human experts use it. They are now questioning whether use of generative AI will necessarily help learners achieve that expertise. How might students' familiarity with some of this research empower them to make their own decisions and use technology in a productive manner? My experience, so far, indicates that students value developing insight and confident knowledge about how their brain and their thinking process works, in the manner that Sejnowski and others are documenting.

So far, as well, I am trying to develop an understanding of what written AI output really constitutes. I have been exploring the concept of "AI-voice" with students and exploring both the possibilities and the limits of AI and am now honing in on helping students think about the illusion of more cognitive power than generative AI can currently output. While it may excel at pattern recognition, it does not yet generate the kind of continuity across paragraphs that are the mark of thoughtful analysis and argument. I plan to investigate this issue with students during the Spring 2026 semester, as we continue to study the markers of what I have called "AI voice."

This teaching circle will explore, share, and discuss the insights our students are coming to as they 1) learn about how their brains work in connection with Daniel Kahneman, Sejnowski and colleagues and MIT labs; and 2) examine their use of AI and think critically about it. The first meeting will summarize some of the ground covered in our Fall 2025 teaching circle. I will poll participant to establish a consistent meeting time and to determine if in-person and/or Zoom meeting mode is preferred. If you interested in joining this circle, email Christine Ross.

Marcello Maniglia, Department of Psychology, CLA

In a time of rapid changes in the field, both in how we teach and in our understanding of how the brain works, this teaching circle will bring together faculty broadly involved in “brain science” (neuroscience MS, experimental psychology MS, cognitive science PhD program, computer science) to discuss new frontiers in teaching methods and emerging concepts about the brain.

Our goal is to build a cross-disciplinary community that shares effective practices and develops new strategies for helping students navigate a field defined by continuous discovery.

The circle will be organized as a collaborative, discussion-driven group, aimed at exploring both emerging theoretical models of the brain and practical techniques that can be implemented in the classroom. The goal is to foster active learner engagement and to support students in meaningfully interacting with course materials, including readings and assignments. Participants will be encouraged to share their experiences, challenges, and teaching materials for collective reflection.

The meeting mode will be hybrid (in-person and Zoom), and the specific dates/modes will be established via email at the beginning of the semester. The first meeting will be in person. If you are interested in joining this circle, email Marcello Maniglia. 

Mark Ornelas, Department of Philosophy, CLA

In an era marked by political polarization, public distrust, and growing pressures from industry and ideology, how can educators remain steadfast in their commitment to truth? In Teaching Honesty in a Populist Era: Emphasizing Truth in the Education of Citizens (2024), Sarah Stitzlein argues that today’s attacks on educational institutions undermine the pursuit of truth at the very heart of education.

As RIT faculty, our teaching shapes students who will navigate some of the most complex and ethically challenging roles in life and industry. This teaching circle offers a space to think together about what it means to teach honestly and orient our students toward truth in a time when these values are most at risk.

By sharing our experiences at RIT and a discussion of Stitzlein’s work framed by contemporary events and issues, we aim to:

• Reexamine how truth and honesty function in our classrooms and varied disciplines
• Identify the challenges posed by political, cultural, and industrial pressures
• Develop a collective set of practices for fostering truth-oriented teaching across the university

Join colleagues from across campus for an open, cross-disciplinary dialogue about integrity in teaching and the role of higher education in sustaining a well-informed, critically engaged society. Participants will be polled to establish a meeting time and to determine if in-person, Zoom, and/or hybrid discussion format is preferred for 4-5, 50-minute meetings spread across the semester. If you are interested in joining this circle, email Mark Ornelas.

Sandi Connelly, Center for Teaching and Learning, Academic Affairs; School of Life Sciences, COS

Join a small, very supportive cohort from the Fall semester and walk away with tools you can use immediately! 

This teaching circle will create a supportive and reflective space for new and early-career faculty from across disciplines to explore effective, manageable teaching practices while building sustainable faculty lives. Topics will combine evidence-based pedagogy with realistic strategies for balance, resilience, and building confidence in the classroom. Participants will be encouraged to share teaching wins and challenges, try out low-stakes practices, and connect with others navigating the early faculty experience. This circle will support new faculty in teaching well and living well—without burning out in the process. 

Goals for participants:

• Join a small cohort of peer colleagues for idea-sharing and encouragement
• Explore active learning and inclusive teaching techniques in a low-pressure setting
• Share tools and strategies for time management and boundary setting
• Engage in meaningful reflection about teaching identity and development
• Leave with a toolkit of resources, ideas, and friendships to carry forward

Meeting schedule, formats, and topics: 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. at RIT - location will rotate; hybrid Zoom only for approved exceptions; 

• Jan 21 – Spring Reset & Welcome to New Faculty
• Feb 4 – Owning Your Teaching Identity
• Feb 18 – Work-Life Integration & Wellness as a Faculty Practice
• Mar 4 – Peer Feedback & Teaching Observations Without Fear
• Mar 18 – Reclaiming Time: Planning for Breaks, Boundaries & Prep
• Apr 1 – Looking Back, Looking Forward
• Apr 15 – Teaching Circle Finale

If you are interested in joining this circle, email Sandi Connelly.