The posts below are from the CfLT newsletter which includes curated, research-based digital resources to support ongoing faculty development and pedagogical engagement. As of August 2025, CfLT Director Karen Spierling oversees the content. Posts from July 2020-May 2025 were compiled by previous Director Lew Ludwig.
One of the more memorable, if improbable, scenes from Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” is when Legolas is battling his archenemy Bolg on a fallen tower that begins to crumble underneath him. In his own physics-defying, elfish way, he starts running up the blocks as they fall to the chasm below.
iPhone and Android devices can compress images and videos taken with HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container), HEIF (High Efficiency Image File), and HEVC (High Efficiency Video Encoding). These formats offer better compression and take up less space than many other formats. But you may run into situations where you need to use the images or videos in a software suite that does not support those file types. |
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| I cannot give a professional talk or webinar without PowerPoint, but I never use it in my classroom. Nevertheless, the recent piece Effective Strategies for Sustaining Student Attention During PowerPoint Lectures offered some really helpful tips, regardless of whether you use this technology in your classroom or not. The article recommends three tried-and-true practices that I would classify as CATs—Classroom Assessment Techniques—small yet effective ways to check whether your students are actually picking up what you’re putting down. |
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| Lew Ludwig caught Susan Villarreal in the act of good teaching, he writes: Last Monday, as I scrambled to finish my notes for the first week of class, I was kicking myself. I’ve taught this course many times before, but it had been three semesters since the last round. I can barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday, much less the details of what worked- or didn’t- three semesters ago. |
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| Google Sheets has a new feature that automatically creates a timeline from a spreadsheet that lists tasks. The timeline looks much like a Gantt chart you might find in project management software like Monday.com, Asana, or Microsoft Planner.
Have a look at this sample timeline for a student group research project proposal. To use the feature, at minimum your google sheet needs a task column and a dates column. |
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| Group work is a vital component of college education. It is often challenging to execute effectively, and many students are predisposed to dislike it. Fortunately, our friend Tracie Addy, along with Wendy Hill, have developed valuable resources for both students and instructors to better navigate this essential pedagogical tool.
The student guide is crafted for groups to utilize collaboratively at the beginning of a long-term class project. |
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| Both of my parents were teachers. My father, who passed away when I was five, taught high school math, while my mother taught for 12 years in the Cincinnati school system before stepping away to raise me. Although I never saw either of them in the classroom, my mother often shared insights and lessons from her teaching experiences, shaping my perspective on education. |
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| During a recent AI presentation, someone asked me, “How do you use AI the most?” Without hesitation, I answered, “For writing.” Even though this was a math-focused audience, the response felt natural. My role as director of the CfLT and my growing work in AI education have shifted my focus- I’m no longer crafting mathematical arguments but writing for a broader, more general audience. |
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| As you finalize your syllabi, you might take a look (or another look, for those of you who have already seen this) at the resources provided by Tricia Bertram Gallant (Director of Academic Integrity at UC San Diego) during her webinar on gen-AI and academic integrity. There are resources for designing an AI-policy statement, securing assessments, rethinking learning goals, and redesigning assignments. |
