Embedded Files
CCCAT Conference
CCCAT Conference
Schedule
Schedule
April 24, 2026
April 24, 2026
Download the program as a PDF.
Note: Sessions in bold will be livestreamed for online attendees
9:00 - 9:30 Welcome and Breakfast, Storer Auditorium Lobby
9:00 - 9:30 Welcome and Breakfast, Storer Auditorium Lobby
9:30 - 10:30 Keynote Address: Curiosity as Pedagogy: Cultivating Engagement and Purpose, John Kane & Rebecca Mushtare, Storer Auditorium
9:30 - 10:30 Keynote Address: Curiosity as Pedagogy: Cultivating Engagement and Purpose, John Kane & Rebecca Mushtare, Storer Auditorium
Keynote materials shared during presentation
10:45 - 11:30 Breakout Session #1
10:45 - 11:30 Breakout Session #1
Using Storytelling to Build Connection and Engagement in Higher Education, Lorin Williams, Sam McManus, & Veronica Barrios
Article shared by presenters
This facilitated co-discussion explores how storytelling can help build connection in an increasingly technologically-based higher education landscape. Using storytelling as a human-centered pedagogical strategy, the session draws on neuroscience and the cultural significance of storytelling to examine why, and how, stories support learning and engagement. Presenters offer practical, transferable strategies for integrating structured storytelling into diverse course offerings.
Online Assessments in the Age of AI, Amit Sharma
In the scientific disciplines, we define understanding through the ability to support ideas with experimental evidence. But in an era where AI can synthesize these arguments effortlessly, I often find myself assessing an algorithm rather than a student. As AI continues to outperform traditional testing methods, the burden falls on academic institutions to move beyond legacy formats and develop new, credible frameworks for verifying human intelligence in a digital environment. Need PC, PowerPoint, and Projector.
Multi-Generations in the Classroom, Casey Jakubowski
Session is designed to align the needs of the students who are traditionally aged, and the new initiatives by SUNY to welcome back 22 to 55 year old students. How can faculty work simultaneously with 18 year old and 55 year old in the same class. How do instructors schedule course work and events based on multiple needs.
Prompting Curiosity: Using GenAI to Spark Complex Questions, Michelle Malinovsky
This interactive session will detail a cross-disciplinary assignment strategy that transforms GenAI into a collaborative Socratic tutor to help students move past the anxiety of “Where do I start” with a research project. Participants will be asked to get curious about how to responsibly leverage emerging technology to spark student critical inquiry beyond “AI as an Answer Vending Machine.” Together, we will explore how to establish context with GenAI prompts in a Q & A format that requires user agency to harness student creative capacity to develop clear, complex research questions. This hands-on workshop builds essential AI literacy skills while ensuring students retain human agency and engagement, reinforcing critical thinking and essential information literacy skills. Open to all experience levels; please bring a device and your preferred GenAI tool.
A Strong Start: Building Community on Day 1, Mary Crawford-Mohat
Incorporate productive struggle with a sense of community on Day 1. This session will replicate Day 1 in a classroom that promotes conversation in small groups and whole class sharing. This experience can be used in any discipline and takes about 30 minutes of class time.
Keynote Workshop: Crafting Curiosity: a Hands-On Course Redesign Experience, John Kane and Rebecca Mushtare
In this workshop, participants will move beyond theory into practical course redesign. Participants will revise an existing activity, assignment or assessment to leverage curiosity. We’ll focus on strategies related to increasing agency, establishing relevance, strengthening relationships, and optimizing for just the right challenge.
11:45 - 12:30 Breakout Session #2
11:45 - 12:30 Breakout Session #2
Leveraging Technology to Build Inclusion, Virginia Shank
From live captions to tools that capture your spirit as a teacher and student experiences in real time, we’ll discuss how creative use of classroom technologies can help build community within in-person (and online synchronous) classrooms. Come with a laptop to follow along in building some tools to increase your classroom connections, but devices aren’t required.
What I Learn From my Students When I Take Time for Connection, Mike Bishop
Teaching is indeed human work -- even when we never interact in person. In this highly interactive session I will try to model inclusive community building. Attend this session to reflect on the importance of seeing the humanity in our students and teaching, share and learn about building community in online/asynchronous (O/A) courses, and consider how to transfer in-person community building activities to an O/A setting. I will draw from my recent courses, Introduction to Sociology and the Sociology of Race, Power, and Privilege, but the community building activities are applicable across academic disciplines.
Having Fun in the Classroom, Tim Saka
Traditional lectures can be passive. Games require active participation, decision-making, and problem-solving. This keeps students mentally involved, which improves memory and understanding. Throughout my academic career, I benefited from many professional development sessions to develop my own teaching style. I incorporate fun games in my class time while teaching the course content. I will be sharing some examples of those games while asking the participants of the session to join these interactive games.
Evaluating AI: A Classroom Activity for Writing, Research, and Ethics, Corrine T. Spencer
In this interactive workshop, participants will explore a classroom-tested framework designed to move students from viewing AI as a "shortcut" to engaging with it as a tool for critical analysis. We begin by examining the dynamic between student voice and algorithmic output, identifying exactly what is gained (and what is lost) when we integrate Large Language Models into the writing process. By comparing original student freewriting with AI-modified versions, we can help students recognize the nuance of their own linguistic choices.
The session moves into "Human-in-the-Loop" workflows that go beyond simple text generation. We will demonstrate how to use metacognitive prompting to force a deeper reflection on language and logic, followed by a practical verification exercise to identify "hallucinations" and evaluate the credibility of AI-provided research data. Throughout the workshop, we will navigate the complex landscape of intellectual property and data privacy, ensuring students maintain agency over their work. Participants will walk through these activities in real-time and leave with a modular lesson plan adaptable for various levels, from developmental writing to advanced research.
One Good Question Sparks Learning, Jessica Harnly & Patty Owens
Do you ever stop to think why you teach “that” lesson a certain way? Is it because you’ve always done it that way? The way we’ve always done it won’t work for the upcoming college students. They are the first who had their entire education impacted by Common Core. How students learn and consume new information has changed. We need to incorporate innovative activities that will hook and engage our students. One rich, well-crafted question or task can foster critical thinking and provide a deep learning opportunity. It can also build a sense of community and thus a sense of belonging. Join us as we share ways that we spruced up “that” old lesson and how these can extend to your discipline. Start thinking about small changes that can give your lessons new flare!
12:30 - 2:00 Lunch, Academic II #112
12:30 - 2:00 Lunch, Academic II #112
2:00- 2:45 Breakout Session #3
2:00- 2:45 Breakout Session #3
The Blueprint: Designing for Academic Integrity, Jocelyn Ireland, Sam McManus, & Claire Ehrlich
Concerns about academic integrity have intensified as generative AI tools become commonplace. While it is impossible to create a completely cheating-free classroom, course design choices play an important role in shaping ethical learning environments. This session will explore practical strategies for designing courses and assignments that encourage transparency, trust, and meaningful engagement with learning.
Reigniting the Spark: Supporting Adult Learners to Restore Purpose and Joy in Teaching, Amy Archey
Adult learners bring resilience, purpose, and lived experience into post-secondary classrooms, yet their unique motivations and challenges are often overlooked in institutional design. This session explores how understanding and supporting adult learners can help educators reconnect with the joy and meaning of teaching.
Drawing on a qualitative study guided by self-determination theory and hermeneutic phenomenology, this presentation examines adult learners’ motivations for returning to education, the barriers they encounter, and the supports they perceive as most impactful. Semi-structured interviews with adult program graduates revealed deeply personal educational journeys shaped by career transitions, family responsibilities, and a strong desire for growth and contribution.
Findings highlight the transformative nature of adult learning for both students and educators. A three-phase framework—before, during, and after program completion—emerged, identifying key moments where intentional, empathetic instructional practices and institutional support can foster engagement, persistence, and success.
By centering adult learners’ voices, this session invites educators to reflect on their own teaching purpose, rekindle connection with students, and reclaim the spark that comes from teaching with empathy, relevance, and impact. Supporting adult learners not only enhances student success—it renews the joy of teaching itself.
How Teaching in Prison Brought Joy Back to My Classroom, Jennifer O’Hara
Every professor should teach in a prison program at least once. It's a bold statement but one that I believe to my core. Incarcerated individuals present to the classroom without distraction and with an eagerness to learn that reminds me why I started teaching in the first place. In this session I will share my experiences adapting to the prison classroom and techniques I use in a technology free environment. I will also share the challenges of this meaningful work. While the session will be interactive, participants do not need a laptop or phone. Come see how being the best part of a group of students' week brought the joy of teaching back to my life in all of my classrooms.
Applied Neurology in the Classroom, Bobbie Weaver
Educators have previously learned that certain activities such as calling on students by name, encouraging group work, and using lesson plans promote student engagement, successful learning outcomes, and student retention; however, many educators may not be aware, at least not on a neurological level, why these activities are so effective in these efforts. Many of the examples given throughout this presentation are activities which instructors are already currently using according to best practices—which means educators are already utilizing neurotransmitters in the classroom; unfortunately, we are often ignorant of the positive, and sometimes negative, impact on our students and the effectiveness of our teaching.
This lecture educates instructors on how to intentionally use neurotransmitters such as oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, cortisol, and adrenalin within their classrooms to facilitate student learning, engagement, and retention. Being able to recognize which neurotransmitters are being elicited, how they are initiated, and why we would even want to purposefully induce cortisol and adrenalin in our students, we can be more deliberate in our lesson planning. Comprehension of the effects of the neurotransmitters can help us analyze and assess our lectures, classroom activities, and assignments to determine if they are helping or hindering our students’ learning abilities. By becoming more mindful of the neurotransmitters influenced by our teaching methods, we can enhance the effectiveness of our current lesson plans, be more cognizant of the effects on our students, and increase our instructional astuteness on a neurological level.
"Play a song for me": The Power of Music in a Literature Classroom, John Starkweather
One way I try to make literature more immediate and powerful for students is by connecting literary works to other forms of artistic expression, especially music. In this session, I will share a few examples from my own courses and then invite participants to join the conversation, discussing how they use (or can imagine using) music to stimulate understanding and excitement in a literature classroom. (Laptop optional)
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