Spotlight on Learning Conference

��’s Spotlight on Learning (SoL) Conference is a project of the Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Committee and supported by the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA); the Office of Instructional Design (OID); OHIO Libraries; the Office of Information Technology (OIT); and other collaborators.

The SoL Conference brings together OHIO faculty, staff and the larger teaching and learning community to highlight models of teaching excellence by sharing examples of highly effective instructional practice, outlining strong approaches to assessing student learning and evaluating instruction, and providing methods for implementing, investigating, assessing and researching teaching innovation.

2025 Spotlight on Learning Conference

The conference theme, “Teaching to Empower This (and the Next) Generation of Thinkers,” responds to the Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Committee's commitment to elevating the experiences of OHIO students and the constantly evolving landscape of higher education related to generative artificial intelligence, scholarship on student learning and shifting instructional contexts.

Thursday, March 20, Baker Student Center

8:45 to 9 a.m.: Coffee and Registration, Baker Center 2nd Floor Hallway
9 to 9:10 a.m.: Welcome and Introductions, Baker 240/242
9:10 to 10 a.m.: Plenary Session: Strategies for Supporting Student Learning, in Their Own Words, , Baker 40/242
10 to 10:15 a.m.: Break
10:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Concurrent Sessions
12:30 to 1:45 p.m.: Lunch, Keynote Panel Presentation, Baker 240/242
1:45 to 2 p.m.: Break and Festival Set Up
2 to 3 p.m.: Festival of Learning, Baker Hallway
3 to 3:30 p.m.: Concluding Remarks and Festival of Learning Awards, Baker 240/242

Spotlight on Learning Concurrent Sessions and Festival

Fourteen sessions offered along four tracks comprise this year's concurrent session offerings. Each session will be 20-minutes long with 10-minutes for Q&A. The structure ensures participants will have many new model strategies and approaches for possible implementation in their own courses.

In addition, for this first time this year, the Spotlight on Learning Conference will feature a Festival of Learning during which time presenters will actively share their teaching strategies with participants on self-paced and led festival tour. Faculty participants "compete" for first, second and third place based as judged by a panel of their peers. Awards of $1,000, $750 and $500 respectively may be used to support student activities in an upcoming course.

Timestamped Tech

Genuine Thinking and Artificial Stupidity in Algorithmic Culture: Suleyman Gurbanov, Communication Studies
How to Use AI in Your Classroom for Critical Thinking Assignments: Victoria LaPoe, Journalism
Gen Z and GenAI: How Students Perceive, Use and Navigate AI in Higher Education and Beyond: Sarah Rist and Jacob Hiler, Marketing, with students Ali Addington, Matthew Sheehan, Lexie Sherman, Julia Welton
Beyond Policing, Towards Empowerment: Designing Writing Assignments in the Age of GenAI: Paul Shovlin, English

Teaching to Learn: Engaging Students

"I Was The One Who Wrote That": Using TopHat in the Humanities Classroom to Foster Community and Engagement: Spencer Smith, English
Coaching Your Students To Success Through Engagement: Ian Klein, Biological Sciences
Using Team-Based Learning: Ann Frymier, Communication Studies
Collaborative Case Studies: Fostering Student Engagement Through Industry Partnerships: Shawnee Chapman, Management

Teaching to Learn: Supporting Students

Teaching Concepts: Five Fixes to Ensure Your Students Build Conceptualizations for the Long-term: David Moore, Education Studies
Empowering Students by Creating a Predictable and Supportive Online Learning Environment: Joy Cobb and Mike Dombroski, Office of Information Technology
Supporting College Algebra Students' Transition to OHIO: Corey Boby, Monica Hilverding and Tracy Watson, Mathematics

Teaching Regionally

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Test-optional Policy? Improving Math Placement for Regional Campus Students: Zijian Diao and John Prather, Mathematics
Teaching Physical Science Classes Across Campuses: Gabriela Popa and Michael Koop, Physics and Astronomy
Innovative Learning in Action: Engaging Nursing and Social Work Students in the Management of Child Abuse and Neglect: Christy Watson and Susan Dowell, Nursing, and Leah Vensil, Social Work

Festival of Learning

Existential Questions in the First-Year Classroom: Chris Lewis, HTC, and Mary Kate Hurley, English
Game Design-Based Learning -- A third approach to teaching and learning: Michael Greene, University HR
Learn to Fly in Marketing /Business: Nicole Byrd, Marketing
Mindfulness in the Wild: A Student-Driven Immersive Learning Experience: Lisa Martin, HTC
More Than Speaking Up: Voice Empowerment and Leadership in the Classroom and the Community: Robin Muhammad, African-American Studies
Phishing for Awareness: A Collaborative Approach to Cybersecurity Education: Reagan Klinger-Neviska, John Roberts, OIT
Redefining Space for Learning--Using Story and Drama as Designing Spaces for Learning: Kevin Cordi, Teacher Education
Second City Success: What Improv Taught Me About Learning: Dan Farkas
The Accessibility Habit – Stacking Simple Habits for a More Accessible World: Haley Riwniak, Alicia Porter and Jill Bateman, Accessibility
Empowering the Next Generation: Strategies for Cultivating Critical Thinking in Hybrid Learning Environments: Fatiha Bazouche, Teaching Assistant
These tubes can talk? The source-filter theory of speech production: Chao-Yang Lee, Caitlyn Neill, Hearing, Speech and Language Sciences
�� Libraries, the Office of Instructional Design, TopHat, the CTLA and the Office of Instructional Technology will also have staff present to share resources and consult with SoL participants.