Center for Teaching and Learning
Some of our CTL workshops are organized around a single theme, such as the topics shown on this page.

Series listed on this page:

UDL Sparkshops and Campfires

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About UDL sparkshops 💡 and campfires🔥

What is UDL? Rooted in research from neuroscience and education, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that focuses on reducing barriers by offering multiple ways for students to access information, participate, and demonstrate their learning. Read more about UDL.

A Sparkshop is a 30-minute burst of inspiration - quick, focused, and designed to spark new ideas. These sessions introduce key UDL concepts and practical strategies you can immediately start thinking about and trying out in your teaching.

Keeping the fire going, Campfires are meant to serve as a one-hour follow-up to our 30-minute Sparkshops. These workshops are designed to support you in turning Sparkshop ideas into manageable, meaningful, and practical elements of your teaching practice. Reflect on insights from your Sparkshop experience, explore discipline‑specific or cross-disciplinary applications of UDL strategies, and workshop a course activity, assignment, or lesson plan with peers.

These events are held remotely on Teams.

UDL Engagement

Sparkshop - Friday, September 4, 2026 10am to 10:30am
Campfire - Thursday, September 17, 2026 1pm to 2pm
The Sparkshop introduces the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principle of Engagement. Early in the semester is an ideal time to think about how to invite curiosity and support participation from the start. Together, we will look at small, practical strategies that can help students feel connected and motivated.

The campfire is ideal for any faculty member looking to build on their Sparkshop learning and bring more inclusive, motivating, and flexible learning pathways into their courses. We welcome any instructors to join us for the Campfire workshops if you have learned about these elements of UDL principles and want to talk with other instructors and CTL staff about implementation.

UDL Representation

Sparkshop - Thursday, October 15, 2026 10am to 10:30am
Campfire - Tuesday, October 27, 2026 1pm to 2pm 
In this Sparkshop, we will focus on the UDL principle of Representation. Mid-semester is a good moment to reflect on how information is framed and communicated to students. We will explore approaches such as clarifying vocabulary, emphasizing key ideas, and using varied examples of visuals to offer learners multiple ways to understand new information.

The campfire is ideal for any faculty member looking to build on their Sparkshop learning and bring more inclusive, motivating, and flexible learning pathways into their courses. We welcome any instructors to join us for the Campfire workshops if you have learned about these elements of UDL principles and want to talk with other instructors and CTL staff about implementation.

UDL Action & Expression

Sparkshop - Friday, November 6, 2026 10am to 10:30am
Campfire - Tuesday, December 1, 2026 1pm to 2pm
The 30-minute Sparkshop centers on the UDL principle of Action & Expression. As students prepare to demonstrate their learning toward the end of the semester, it's helpful to consider options for how they can share what they know. We will discuss strategies that open different ways students can communicate understanding while keeping your expectations clear.

The campfire is ideal for any faculty member looking to build on their Sparkshop learning and bring more inclusive, motivating, and flexible learning pathways into their courses. We welcome any instructors to join us for the Campfire workshops if you have learned about these elements of UDL principles and want to talk with other instructors and CTL staff about implementation.

Play as Pedagogy Series

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Play as Pedagogy

When was the last time you felt a spark of joy or playfulness in your teaching – and saw that spark show up for students as well? What conditions made that possible?

This three-part workshop series explores play as pedagogy and why it matters for both teaching and learning in higher education. Drawing on research from active learning, adult education, and UDL’s Engagement principle (Checkpoint 7.3: Nurture Joy and Play), the series focuses on practical, adaptable strategies that invite curiosity and intellectual risk-taking for students.

Each session highlights a different way instructors can intentionally spark joy and play in learning through gamification, visual representation, and storytelling and they're offered in two formats:

  • Sparkshop: 30-minute remote session provides an overview with examples and brief discussion of how to use these strategies in different classroom contexts
  • Campfire: 60-minute in-person session provides an overview AND gives participants hands-on practice with activities and examples, with time to think about applying them in their own courses.

The Power of Play: Gamification in the Higher Ed Classroom

Sparkshop: Friday, September 11, 2026 10am to 10:30am
Campfire: Tuesday, September 22, 2026 1pm to 2pm
Gamification applies the same principles that make games engaging - clear goals, feedback, meaningful tasks, and social interaction – into your teaching. In higher education, these strategies help students participate, stay motivated, and connect with one another. As Ziting Wang from the University of Chicago Academic Technology team notes, “a gamified learning process can immerse students in the curricular content and cultivate a positive attitude toward study.” Because learning is social, gamification can be especially effective in supporting collaboration and engagement in both in-person and remote classrooms.

This workshop will introduce a range of gamification approaches, from low-tech activities to more structured digital and AI-supported strategies, and explore how instructors can adjust scale, duration, and complexity to fit their courses.

Think, Draw, Discover: Visual Mapping in Higher Ed

Sparkshop - Friday, September 25, 2026 10am to 10:30am
Campfire - Tuesday, October 6, 2026 1pm to 2pm
In higher education, students are often asked to synthesize large amounts of information under tight deadlines. Traditional text-based approaches tend to focus on memorization and linear note-taking, but research shows that students learn more when they engage in active, creative, and reflective practices. Visual mapping, such as concept maps, mind maps, and other diagrammatic techniques, offers a playful, curiosity-driven way for students to organize ideas, see connections, and interact with course material.

This workshop presents strategies for using visual mapping in a range of classroom settings. Participants will examine examples of how these techniques can support lectures, group work, discussions, and assessments. By representing information visually, students can reduce cognitive overload, spot patterns, and reflect on their understanding in a low-stakes, high-impact way.

Stories that Teach: Using Emotion to Deepen Student Learning

Sparkshop - Friday, October 16, 2026 10am to 10:30am
Campfire - Tuesday, November 3, 2026 1pm to 2pm
As the semester moves towards its end, students and instructors alike may be feeling a mix of fatigue and anticipation. This period, between mid-semester routines and end-of-term closure, offers an opportunity to pause and reflect. Grounded in Sarah Rose Cavanagh’s work on emotion in learning, this workshop explores how engaging students’ emotions – through storytelling, mindfulness, Joy Cards, and other reflective activities – can strengthen presence in the classroom. Emotions stick with students, helping them make connections, step out of their comfort zones, and engage in meaningful ways. Storytelling can reach all kinds of learners and make revision and performance central to learning.

This workshop will introduce a range of strategies and tools from brief in-class activities to longer assignments and explore how instructors can adapt them for the end of the semester and carry these approaches forward into future courses.

Intro to Neurodivergent Experiences

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Neurodivergent Experiences

Students arrive in our courses with a wide range of ways of processing information, managing time, navigating transitions, and making sense of expectations - especially as they move into college and across new learning contexts.  

This series looks closely at individual neurodivergent experiences. Each session centers on building shared understanding, unpacking assumptions, and reflecting on how course design and teaching practices can support motivation, engagement, and success for all students. 

Participants are encouraged to register for the full series but are welcome to attend individual sessions as their schedules allow. 

Register for Online Sessions | 30 Minutes Each: