Best Practices Archives - NIU Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning News

Four people—a young man, a female professor holding an open folder, a woman wearing headphones and glasses, and a young woman with a backpack—stand together indoors and talk.

The case for a pedagogy of compassion

September 30, 2026 Lindsay Vreeland Best Practices, Resources, Teaching

A conversation we keep returning to in higher education is whether rigor is sacrificed when we are flexible with students. We often hear that immovable

A woman wearing a salmon-pink jacket, light blue jeans, and a black backpack looks up at a modern building with large glass windows. A paved walkway leads toward the building, with a red-and-white barrier across the entrance.

Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset: Nemeses in academic success and belonging

September 30, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, Resources, Teaching

By now, you’ve probably given your first exam of the semester, and a few students have likely talked to you after a disappointing score. Some

Featured faculty: Kevin Palencia Infante

September 29, 2026 CITL Best Practices, Featured Faculty, Newsletter

This month’s Featured Faculty spotlight highlights Kevin Palencia Infante, Ph.D. Kevin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and an ACUE Distinguished

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The habits your students can’t prompt, but must learn: Revisiting the habits of mind

August 31, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, Resources, Teaching

If you’re like me, always looking for good reads on classroom practice and pedagogy, you probably share my fatigue with headlines that include “AI” in

A professor stands at the front of a tiered lecture hall, holding a tablet while speaking to a diverse group of students. Several students take notes and look toward the professor during the class.

A better first day of class: Connect, teach, syllabus

August 28, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, Teaching, Tips

I was guilty of paraphrasing the syllabus to my students on the first day of class. It’s what was done to me during my years

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From accommodation to access: Why accessibility begins in course design

August 3, 2026 Amanda Hirsch Best Practices, Resources, Teaching

How is accessibility typically approached in higher education? Increasingly, faculty are recognizing that course design is the best place to build it in from the

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Supporting the Huskie return: Designing a guided path for returning students

July 13, 2026 Tedra Mewhirter Best Practices, News, Resources

Returning to college is more than an academic transition. It is a life transition. Our returning students bring motivation, resilience, and lived experience, but they

A person in a wheelchair works on a laptop at a desk in a bright office.

Before you ban, require, or ignore AI: A reflection framework for faculty

May 28, 2026 Amanda Hirsch Best Practices, Teaching, Technology Trends, Tips

Many faculty are rethinking their learning activities, course policies, and assessments in light of generative AI. But the most useful starting point isn’t “How do

Designing an accessible syllabus for inclusive teaching

May 26, 2026 Lindsay Vreeland Best Practices, Resources, Teaching, Tips

As we work toward full ADA Title II compliance by April 2027, creating accessible digital materials is an opportunity to make our courses more inclusive

African American female professor using laptop while doing a research at university library.

Your Blackboard course has a Federal accessibility deadline: UDL 3.0 can help you meet it

May 11, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, News, Teaching, Tips

You didn’t become a university instructor to think about compliance deadlines. But on April 26, 2027 (extended from April 24, 2026), every PDF you post,

Three hikers climb a rocky outcrop at sunrise, with one person at the top pulling another up while a third steadies them from below; all wear backpacks, and a wide mountain landscape with layered hills and clouds stretches into the distance under a colorful sky.

The system, not the students: Insights from the 2025 NASEM Report

May 4, 2026 Linh Nguyen Best Practices, News, Resources, Teaching, Tips, Workshops

I’ve spent years on various sides of the undergraduate STEM classroom—first as an underrepresented minority student navigating the hidden curricula of STEM language and culture,

The image shows a college seminar setting. A professor with a beard sits in the foreground with a laptop, gesturing as he explains something to the group. Around him, college students sit on tiered seating, listening attentively, taking notes in notebooks, or holding tablets and coffee cups. The atmosphere is informal and collaborative, suggesting a discussion-based class rather than a lecture.

Contract grading and student agency: Letting students define the path to their grade

April 28, 2026 Lindsay Vreeland Best Practices, Resources, Teaching, Tips

Traditional grading systems can miss the mark and lead to grade disputes, unclear expectations, and even unintended inequities. Contract grading offers a different approach: students