Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

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Welcome week preview

As we gear up for the start of the fall 2025 semester, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning team will offer a variety of programs to help instructors start strong in the weeks ahead.

A student with a red UM Biology hoodie, standing in the middle of a nature area with a plastic bag of organic material

CETL Honors Graduate Student Teachers

Meet the winners of the 2024-2025 Graduate Excellence in Teaching Awards

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Recap: Understanding and Supporting Executive Function

Executive functioning skills are critical to memory, attention, organizing, and planning—among many other tasks important to learning and teaching. In a recent workshop, CETL explored how instructors

Recap: Infusing Purpose in the Classroom with Transparent Assignment Design

Last month, CETL facilitated a workshop on transparent assignment design, a framework built on research from the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) project. I (Emily) personally believe that one of the lowest-effort, highest-reward changes instructors can make to their pedagogy is to make their teaching choices and course assignments

A word cloud with a variety of words related to how students thank their instructors. Some of the bigger words are always, students, understanding, best, appreciate, feel, enjoy, professor...

Thank an Instructor

We love reading the notes of gratitude students send to their instructors through our Thank an Instructor program. Here are our spring highlights!

Summer Hill-Vinson is seen standing near a brick wall in a darkly colored button-down short-sleeved shirt, in front of a green outdoor space.

Guest post: Journalism professor reflects on watching former student in the Super Bowl

Summer Hill-Vinson, instructional assistant professor of journalism instruction, shares a reflection on her teaching over the last 17 years--including one notable UM alum.

Dr. Elizabeth Barre visited with the UM community on February 12 to discuss how we can motivate students to embrace the desirable difficulties of reading.

Recap: Page by Page

Motivating students to embrace the desirable difficulties of reading, with Dr. Elizabeth Barre

Recap: Reforming Grading at the University of Mississippi

Last week, we kicked off our spring semester workshops with a presentation from CETL director Josh Eyler on the topic of “Reforming Grading at the University of Mississippi.” Josh began by recounting some problems with traditional grading, drawn from research for his book Failing Our Future: How Grades Harm Students,

Roundup: CETL in the News

Members of the CETL team have been very active in the last six months. Below, we share links to the podcasts, news stories, and other resources you can explore.

Recap: January Course Design Workshops

Plus upcoming events for spring 2025

Recap: Developing a Trauma-Aware Pedagogy

The week before the break, CETL hosted our final workshop of the semester, “Developing a Trauma-Aware Pedagogy.” Unfortunately, the topic is more relevant than ever: according to recent reports, nearly half of students who attend college counseling sessions say they have experienced trauma, and rates of post-traumatic stress disorder more

Emily gesturing to the out-of-frame panelists; to the left is a spinning prize wheel and a screen that reads "YES, AND... Igniting Your Pedagogical Imagination."

CETL goes to POD 2024

Reports from the 49th annual POD Network conference in Chicago

CETL's mission is to promote exemplary teaching and effective learning at the University of Mississippi.

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