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

International Affairs Recognition table decoration and program including a scarf printed with world flags and a miniature globe

Global learning travels. It also stays home: Universal Design for Learning – An idea worth exploring for International Education Week

October 29, 2026 Linh Nguyen Resources, Teaching, Tips

Each November, International Education Week brings together people from across NIU’s campus to celebrate international education and the programs that prepare American students for global

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

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

“Featured Graduate Teaching Assistant” in large navy text. The text is surrounded by a stack of books and plants, a chalkboard with “SUPPORT GUIDE INSPIRE MENTOR,” a desk lamp, coffee mug, laptop, notebooks, sticky notes, pen, and three colored figures representing people. A gold star and decorative lines appear beneath the headline.

Featured Graduate Teaching Assistant: Nicole Scheuermann

September 1, 2026 CITL Featured Teaching Assistant, News, Newsletter

Nicole Scheuermann (Biological Sciences) has thoroughly developed their teaching skills and repertoire. Specifically, Scheuermann was a teaching assistant (TA) twice in a genetics lab in

Four colleagues collaborate around a glass board covered with colorful sticky notes, with one person placing a note while the others observe and discuss.

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

A group of adults participates in an interactive classroom discussion around tables, with a presenter speaking at the front and a slide projected on a screen. Several participants have laptops open and are engaged in the presentation.

Fall 2026 Teaching Effectiveness Institute focuses on student access and Universal Design for Learning

August 28, 2026 Lindsay Vreeland News, Resources

The Fall 2026 Teaching Effectiveness Institute, Designing for Access: UDL, Accessibility, and Inclusive Course Design, provided faculty and staff with practical, evidence-based strategies for creating

A smiling woman in a power wheelchair works on a laptop at a desk near a window.

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

Two students dressed professionally for career fair make Huskie hand gesture

Using the Career Readiness Toolkit to connect coursework to careers

July 7, 2026 Lindsay Vreeland News, Resources, Teaching

The Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning’s Career Readiness Toolkit gives us a practical way to connect what students learn in our courses to the

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