Teaching Commons @ CSAM for Faculty and Staff
Teaching Commons @ CSAM - Hosted by PRISM supports CSAM faculty and instructional staff through practical, collegial workshops on evidence-based STEM teaching. Sessions focus on topics such as assignment design, inclusive teaching, assessment, AI, productive struggle, formative feedback, and student belonging, with an emphasis on manageable strategies faculty can adapt directly to their own courses.
The program creates a regular space for CSAM instructors to think together about the everyday work of teaching: designing meaningful assignments, supporting student belonging, improving assessment and feedback, using instructional technology and AI responsibly, creating more inclusive learning environments, and helping students engage deeply with science and mathematics. Sessions are designed to be practical, collegial, and immediately useful. Rather than asking faculty to redesign entire courses at once, Teaching Commons workshops focus on manageable, high-impact changes that instructors can adapt to their own courses, students, and teaching contexts.
Teaching Commons is grounded in ‘what-works’ approaches to undergraduate STEM education, including Universal Design for Learning, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine principles for effective and equitable teaching, and emerging campus conversations about teaching within Faculty Roles and Expectations. Workshops typically blend short introductions to useful frameworks with time for discussion, reflection, peer exchange, and hands-on revision of course materials.
Teaching Commons is intended for full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, instructional staff, and others with teaching responsibilities in CSAM. Doctoral assistants or graduate assistants who are teaching or preparing to teach science or mathematics courses may also find selected sessions useful. Participants are welcome whether they are new to teaching, revising a familiar course, preparing materials for reappointment or promotion, experimenting with new approaches, or simply looking for a supportive community of colleagues who care about student learning.