The Canvas Course Spotlight Program: How Canvas Helps Students Learn, According to Students

Canvas Course Spotlight tabling event

In Spring 2025, the Center for Teaching Innovation launched the Canvas Course Spotlight — a program inviting students to spotlight specific aspects of their Canvas courses that positively impacted their learning. A Brief History of the Canvas Course Spotlight In Fall 2024, CTI surveyed Cornell faculty to learn about their experiences in Canvas, the university’s…Continue…Continue Reading The Canvas Course Spotlight Program: How Canvas Helps Students Learn, According to Students

Can “The Dreaded PDF” Ever Truly Be Accessible?

A laptop with PDF icon.

You may have heard that, when it comes to accessibility, PDFs are trouble. But what does that actually mean?  Until recently, I had no idea. When I taught, I’d upload scanned articles, short stories, or chapters of books to Canvas with abandon. It was so easy! So convenient! I didn’t even need to use the…Continue…Continue Reading Can “The Dreaded PDF” Ever Truly Be Accessible?

A Visit with Robert Talbert: Implementing Humane, Authentic, and Trustworthy Assessments

According to Robert Talbert, co-author of Grading for Growth: A Guide to Alternative Grading Practices that Promote Authentic Learning and Student Engagement in Higher Education, many college classes don’t effectively assess learning. Meaningful assessments clearly define standards, allow students to reattempt without penalty, and give helpful feedback and marks indicating progress. …Continue Reading A Visit with Robert Talbert: Implementing Humane, Authentic, and Trustworthy Assessments

The Art of Discussion

Word cloud overlay on a Cornell faculty discussion session.

As we kick off our series on the Art of Teaching, I have been reflecting on what makes discussion unique. Seminar discussions were what made me want to be an academic. As an undergraduate, I was wowed and inspired by brilliant professors who could offer scintillating lectures. They seemed too distant and impressive, however, for…Continue…Continue Reading The Art of Discussion

Getting Started with Accessibility: 3 Steps to Providing More Accessible Content

Top view of students studying

Accessibility is important. You know this. I know this. But you, like me, may still have questions: What does it mean to make course content accessible? If I want to make my course more accessible, but don’t have students with specific accommodation needs – or don’t know what those needs are yet – how do I…Continue…Continue Reading Getting Started with Accessibility: 3 Steps to Providing More Accessible Content

The Spectrum of Teaching Across Our Ithaca Campus: Observing Big Red Teaching Days

One of the things I love most about Cornell is our diversity of study. In my role as an instructional designer, I may work with a neuroscientist, then a writer; a historian, then an artist; an Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert, then someone highly opposed to AI–and each person adds to the richness of our campus….Continue…Continue Reading The Spectrum of Teaching Across Our Ithaca Campus: Observing Big Red Teaching Days

Bringing the Graduate Community Together: The 2024 University-Wide Teaching Conference

Each year, CTI graduate teaching fellows connect and build community with fellow teaching graduate students and postdocs.

Recognizing graduate students’ concerns about preparing for the academic job market, the Center for Teaching Innovation tailored their annual University-Wide Teaching Conference, also known as “U-Wide,”  to help graduate students prepare for academic job applications – and build a sense of  community in the process….Continue Reading Bringing the Graduate Community Together: The 2024 University-Wide Teaching Conference

Can extensions work for everyone? Study offers a possible solution

extended deadline graphic

When was the last time you gave an extension? When was the last time you were asked for one? Extension requests have always been common inbox arrivals – life happens, and it sometimes happens a little harder or more unexpectedly to students learning how to navigate their lives. During the pandemic, faculty and students were…Continue…Continue Reading Can extensions work for everyone? Study offers a possible solution

Stepping into the River: A meditation on Anzaldúa and flashpoints in the classroom

“But it is not enough to stand on the opposite river bank, shouting questions, challenging patriarchal, white conventions. A counterstance locks one into a duel of oppressor and oppressed; locked in mortal combat, like the cop and the criminal, both are reduced to a common denominator of violence. The counterstance refutes the dominant culture’s views…Continue…Continue Reading Stepping into the River: A meditation on Anzaldúa and flashpoints in the classroom

Love, Hate & Active Learning at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

CTI staff visited the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

Getting out of the classroom can help to create especially strong memories of learning, partly because people tend to remember novelty. If you think back on your own education, learning experiences outside of the classroom may stand out in your memory as well. Museum visits can also nurture a sense of community among the students especially if activities are structured to provide opportunities for them to share ideas about the artwork they are seeing….Continue Reading Love, Hate & Active Learning at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art