TEACHx 2026

Can a mandatory, reading-heavy course actually be the highlight of a student’s week? In many required courses, students often feel like passive containers for information—what Paulo Freire calls the “banking concept” of education. This session explores how the Ways of Knowing course at Northwestern University in Qatar flipped this script. 
By integrating Freire’s problem-posing method, faculty and students transformed a daunting syllabus on colonial knowledge into an interactive laboratory for student agency. Presenters (faculty and students who have taken the course) will share how they utilized student-led facilitation (using Kahoot and role-play), sensory-based learning (field trips to the Bin Jelmood House), and creative expression (collaborative drawing) to build a community of inquiry. Attendees will benefit from the lessons learned of teaching a course in a postcolonial framework and how activities such as reading outside the classroom or visiting museums can balance the growing use of AI in education by prioritizing deep learning shared spaces experiences.  

We've all experienced it: despite a well-crafted lesson, clear guidelines, and engaging delivery, our students struggle to bridge the gap between understanding course content and applying it independently. This disconnect often shows up as surface-level engagement, overreliance on AI tools, or outcomes that fall short of what we know our students can achieve. The root cause is rarely student ability or motivation; more often, it's insufficient scaffolding paired with one-size-fits-all instruction.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) reframes scaffolding as proactive, flexible, and inclusive by design. UDL-informed scaffolding replaces rigid support with multiple pathways that meet learners where they are, not where we assume them to be. Research consistently shows this approach produces significant gains for underrepresented and lower-performing students, positioning it as both good pedagogy and a powerful equity-promoting practice.
In this interactive workshop, we'll share key findings from the research and then get to work. You'll analyze task complexity through a UDL lens, design three-phase scaffolding sequences (pre-task, during-task, and post-task) with built-in flexibility, and receive peer feedback on a scaffold you can implement immediately. Whether you're a seasoned instructor or just getting started, you'll leave with a practical UDL-informed scaffolding plan ready for your next class.

Changing a culture doesn’t happen overnight, nor is it a solo venture. Historically, in academia, ensuring that educational materials are accessible has been an afterthought or seen as an add-on that leads to extra work. Knowing that accessible materials are necessary for many, beneficial for all, and legally required, Northwestern and the University of Chicago set out to change the culture around digital accessibility at their respective institutions to a more proactive approach that’s integrated into workflows…and it’s working!
This session will explore both universities’ journey toward creating a more accessible digital environment. Discussion will focus on each university’s unique, flexible, agile, data-driven approach that not only created initial success, but quickly adapted to amplify the success and build a movement that’s put the Chicago area at the forefront of accessible digital learning environment design. The presentation will also discuss the importance of partnerships both within and across institutions, and how to cultivate and sustain them. The lessons learned in creating this culture shift can be applied beyond accessibility and across course development.   

A growing movement has challenged the accuracy and equity of commonly-used grading systems, leading to  practices like standards-based grading, specifications grading, and ungrading as possible alternatives. While promising pedagogically, these practices are often difficult to sustain in reality.  This talk will focus on the role of gradebooks and the way they may nudge us either to continue old practices and discourage adoption of new practices or to lean into more promising practices. The talk will follow the author’s personal experience with alternative grading systems and with a beta-version of a gradebook designed to support alternative grading rather than traditional grading. 

This interactive 45-minute session invites educators to actively build accessible learning materials using AI. Participants will follow along as we use tools like Claude and other AI platforms to create accessible PDFs, documents, and simple accessibility-focused apps that can be freely shared. Drawing from ongoing research and real-world consulting, the session emphasizes practical workflows grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and core accessibility principles. Attendees will leave with concrete examples, reusable prompts, and a clearer understanding of how AI can support while not replacing ethical, inclusive teaching practices focused on human-centered critical thinking.

Encouraging a group of students who are strangers to support each other and work through the anxieties and insecurities of learning together can be a considerable challenge for educators. While there is a significant body of research that supports the effectiveness of collaborative learning, Kaendler, Wiedmann, Rummel and Spada have demonstrated that an instructor’s ability to facilitate “quality” interactions between students in collaborative work is crucial for the success of this method (Kaendler et al. 2015). When done well, collaborative learning teaches students’ emotional resilience as they face their own social insecurities and supports inclusive classrooms by centering the identities and experiences of individual students within collaborative relationships. In this workshop, we will work on our ability to foster collaborative classrooms by first experiencing and creating collaborative learning for ourselves. We will introduce and experience 15 different techniques, ranging from quick collaborative brainstorming to in-depth, long-term collaborative learning reflections. We will then work together to document and review our learning. Participants will leave the session having identified cooperative learning strategies to apply to their own teaching and with a plan to address any challenges they foresee in using these strategies in their classrooms.

This poster session introduces audience members to the principles of Writing Across the Curriculum / Writing in the Disciplines (WAC/WID) and the ways it takes shape across programs at U.S. universities. It also highlights work from the International WAC/WID Mapping Project, United States Branch, Phase Three, which investigates how WAC/WID is being implemented at institutions throughout the country.

WAC/WID centers on both “writing to learn” and “learning to write” in ways that support diverse student experiences. Rooted in principles similar to Universal Design for Learning, WAC/WID employs flexible, scaffolded approaches that enable students to develop and demonstrate knowledge through varied modalities. Participation in WAC/WID coursework fosters learning across the curriculum.

Through open discussion with presenters, audience members wi

This poster presents the updated "Northwestern Principles of Inclusive Teaching” resource and its implementation. Participants will learn how to collaboratively execute our multi-year “4R” (recruit—review—revise—reach) cycle for updating and promoting a scholarly resource for educators. We will educators. We will review the resource, highlight key revisions, as well as present the development and stewardship process led by educational developers at Northwestern University. Quotes from contributors and reviewers will provide insights into the scholarly, collaborative creation and revision process. We will share the multitude of ways in which these inclusive teaching principles were disseminated to educators for practice and application, including as course material for the Reflective and Effective Teaching Certificate Program. The session aims to inspire other educational developers and communities of practice to write, re-write, and promote their own evidence-based guides to advance learning and teaching by leveraging insights and adapting strategies presented.

Previous registration required, sponsored by Perusall

Loyal. Thoughtful. Compassionate. These are just some of the many characteristics of Generation Z, those born from 1995 to 2010. Despite some similarities with the Millennial Generation, Generation Z has a unique set of attributes, experiences, preferences, and expectations about how they communicate, learn, and engage with others. But, many of our structures, curriculum, environments, and pedagogies were developed with previous generations in mind, challenging us to re-conceptualize the way we design and deliver higher education for this generation.  
This session showcases the context within which members of Generation Z have come of age and what we need to know about Generation Z to best mentor, support, teach, and supervise them to leverage their potential for success. 
Major Themes: 

• Understanding Generations and Generational Research 

• Societal Influences Shaping Generation Z 

• Characteristics 

• Diversity 

• Motivations 

• Mental Wellbeing 

• Social Media Use 

• Communication Preferences 

• Learning Preferences 

• Aspirations 

• Social Issues and Concerns 

• Engagement and Creating Change 

 
Learning Outcomes: 

• Participants will be able to describe the context within which members of Generation Z have come of age. 

• Participants will be able to describe the characteristics, motivations, values, and preferences of the Generation Z cohort. 

• Participants will be able to differentiate between defining characteristics of Generation Z and those from older generations. 

Forget the “buzz” words—let’s be real! In this interactive space, we’ll draw on the arts, lived experiences, and research discussing the necessity of honoring mental health through creativity, community, and cultural literacy. The workshop is centered on engaging lessons that allow for creative expression and an interactive approach to teaching. We'll immerse ourselves in poetry and theatre as a way to develop our understanding of mental health and wellness in an arts-driven classroom. 


The session will have us up on our feet with theatre games, along with writing opportunities, to dig into self, community, and language with an emphasis on culturally responsive creative literacy and action. We’ll also share our creative work and connections to local organizations, engaging with colleagues to offer concrete ideas for integrating wellness and the arts in authentic and intentional ways.

The Writing Place (WP) is Northwestern’s peer-to-peer writing center. This workshop, facilitated by WP leadership and Senior writing consultants, will share current research on equitable and accessible teaching practices and the changes that we have implemented over the past year to make the WP more inclusive of the needs of neurodivergent students. We will explore the challenges neurodivergent students face in classrooms, pitfalls educators face when designing their courses and assignments, and accessible approaches that WP consultants use in our sessions with student writers.


The workshop will be divided into three, 30-minute modules: 1) Thinking about Neurodivergence in Syllabus and Canvas Design; 2) Best Practices for Composing Accessible Assignment Prompts; and 3) Considering Classroom Space and Neurodivergent Needs. Each module will begin with a short presentation showcasing the research of our Senior writing consultants before transitioning to an activity that invites participants to explore our methodologies in their own courses and contexts. 

Celebrate the instructors who went above and beyond to create engaging experiences for their students using Canvas!

As digital accessibility requirements under WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA Title II become increasingly stringent, higher education institutions face significant challenges in providing compliant audio descriptions (AD) for visual-heavy instructional videos. This session presents the results of a pilot project that established a cost-effective, scalable workflow for creating ADs in educational videos in collaboration with human describers/reviewers and Artificial Intelligence (AI).   
Focused on an online Bachelor’s program, the project implemented an iterative process to develop a hybrid workflow: 1) auditing video content by human reviewers based on instructional reliance on graphics, 2) generating baseline descriptions using AI and by human describers, 3) conducting human reviews to ensure pedagogical alignment, and 4) providing feedback on description for AI training and usability experience. We will discuss the challenges and successes of this hybrid workflow. The collaboration highlights refinement areas: humans corrected AI misalignments of on-screen events, adjusted overly detailed descriptions of temporary visual elements, and ensured context was introduced effectively.  
The AI tool will be introduced with AI-created descriptions for sample videos. The presenters will share visual description guidelines for structuring descriptions of technical visuals, such as diagrams, tables, and software for UI interactions. This presentation offers an actionable roadmap for leveraging AI for sustainable and compliant video accessibility. 

Motion capture technology, long established in industries such as sports, animation, and medical research, is a powerful tool for mapping and analyzing human movement. Its precision and ability to visualize biomechanical detail offer unique benefits when applied to music education—particularly in piano pedagogy, where mastery of physical nuance supports and enhances expressive performance.


Our project at Northwestern University, conducted in partnership with the Northwestern IT Emerging Technologies Lab, investigates motion capture as a platform to modernize piano instruction. By combining wearable sensor data from instructors with synchronized MIDI and multi-angle video, we facilitate dynamic visualization of expert technique—granting students access to practical demonstrations that surpass the limits of conventional teaching. The system’s interactive features, including targeted practice modes and accessible tools, encourage self-directed learning and promote a more informed development and understanding of playing habits.


Through iterative design and continued collaboration with faculty and students, we are refining this approach to prioritize accessibility and expand functionality. Beyond technical advancement, our work highlights how motion capture can foster creativity, exploration, and personalized learning—helping learners bridge the gap between understanding of physicality and technical execution in a technology-driven landscape.

Many institutions articulate strong commitments to equity, inclusion, and belonging. Yet disparities in outcomes often persist, even within organizations explicitly oriented toward social justice. Why?


Drawing from mixed-methods research on the influence of culturally responsive praxis on academic engagement in higher education, this lightning talk explores the critical distinction between equity intentions and equity infrastructure. This tension suggests that goodwill and inclusive values alone are insufficient without structural alignment. Using a systems lens, this session introduces the concept of equity infrastructure: the policies, design choices, assessment practices, and accountability mechanisms that translate values into measurable outcomes.

Participants will be invited to reconsider how equity shows up, not just in mission statements or interpersonal practice, but in the architecture of learning environments.

Two-stage assessments (2SAs) are a form of cooperative learning activities (CL) applied to evaluative contexts. In stage 1, students take an exam individually and discussion is prohibited–mirroring standard practices. However, in stage 2, students form small groups and complete the same exam collaboratively. Students are given time to discuss, to try to reach consensus. Typically, no between-stages feedback is provided. To incentivize discussion, stage 1 and 2 scores are weighted and combined (typically, 85%/15%), unless stage 1 is better (100%). Decades of research have evidenced the efficacy of 2SAs for motivation, engagement, emotions, and achievement. On average, students–even high baseline scorers–consistently show large performance and learning gains after stage 2 discussion, with most exceeding the top stage 1 score in their group. However, though 2SAs have been theoretically linked to CL, the literature would benefit from more explicit empirical connections to the CL evidence base, which has shown additional socio-emotional changes (self-concept and belongingness) as a result of high-quality group interactions in 2SAs. 


In this Lightening Talk, I will provide data from two large-enrollment classes that implemented 2SAs as the main form of assessment of student learning. One class is a Biology class (400+ enrollment), the other a Psychology class (100+). Both classes used 2SAs for multiple terms. Analyses of student belonging, performance changes, quality of cooperative discussions, and open-ended satisfaction data will be provided. In sum, data suggest students generated knowledge during their discussions (gains were more than just transmitting answers), enjoyed the activities,  and spontaneously remarked on many aspects of CL and 2SAs shown to promote deep learning.  

We all think differently. As a neurodivergent educator in a diverse classroom, I know how difficult communication can be. Sometimes understanding each other practically or empathically can be challenging. What seems obvious to one person can be confusing to another. In this event, we will learn games that creatively demonstrate the different ways we communicate and more importantly, the MANY ways we can be misunderstood. I’ll teach you games that build skills in clearer and more inclusive communication with interpersonal dynamics. Content includes a focus on how language and images can be interpreted differently. You’ll learn each game just like my students but with insider tips. Then, you’ll rotate through up to seven playing stations for hands-on experiences. A packet will be included with game directions, variations, reflection questions, etc. Apply these innovative games to the arc of a course, a specific unit, a class period, or a 15-minute exercise.  All of these have been successfully integrated into my university courses, but can be applied at any level. Pedagogically, these activities promote UDL in conjunction with gamification. 

For all the established benefits of implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL), faculty face significant challenges putting it into practice, to the point development is done partially or abandoned entirely. In this interactive presentation, we guide instructors through the use of AI tools to reduce barriers to UDL implementation and reap the framework’s rewards. After comparing the pros and cons of various free AI models, participants will use a chosen tool and sample prompts to apply UDL principles to their own courses. Finally, we will leave everyone with baseline prompt frameworks that can be used for future UDL development. 

As higher education institutions increasingly prioritize accessibility and inclusive teaching, many institutions struggle to move beyond one-time compliance initiatives toward sustained instructional change. At the same time, many Centers for Teaching and Learning face a challenge of how to support hundreds of instructors in making meaningful accessibility improvements without overwhelming faculty or staff capacity. At a medium-sized private university, the Center for Learning Innovation has initiated a faculty development approach focused on improving accessibility within Canvas course sites. This lightning talk shares a scalable faculty-development initiative designed to help approximately course instructors to improve course accessibility within Canvas using its built-in Accessibility Checker aligned with WCAG 2.1AA standards.
This lightning talk shares how our team analyzed more than 70 Canvas courses to identify recurring accessibility issues aligned with WCAG 2.1AA standards and translated those findings into a practical instructor guide supported by the Canvas Accessibility Checker. Rather than framing accessibility as compliance requirement, we reframed accessibility work as a teaching-and-learning enhancement grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Participants will leave with a replicable model demonstrating how they can use LMS analytics, targeted guidance, for launching or scaling similar initiatives at their own institutions to build institutional momentum toward accessible course design.

Human anatomy is taught largely via organ-based modular system at Feinberg School of Medicine and virtual reality (VR) has been a supplemental part of the anatomy thread for years.  Changes with hardware (HoloLens discontinued and now using Meta Quest headsets) and software as well as school resources have informed the pedagogical evolution of the educational tool.  Students enjoy the VR sessions and the design of sessions have changed significantly along with school resources, hardware, software and student feedback. We will explore the evolution of resources (ie, staffing, technical expertise, headset battery limitations, software needs, accessibility, and general logistics) and its impact on authentic and fulfilling VR experiences.