CTE Bytes

CTE Bytes: Mini Workshops for Maximum Teaching Impact

CTE Bytes are short, interactive workshops the Center for Teaching Excellence can bring directly to your already-scheduled department meetings. They are:

  • Concise: Short, practical sessions (10-20 minutes).
  • Customizable: Ready-made topics, but adaptable to departmental needs (e.g.,practical strategies on timely teaching topics, AI in the classroom, active learning, gamifying instruction, assignment design)
  • Designed to spark conversation, share research-based practices, and give faculty tools they can use immediately.
  • Portable: Delivered in any department meeting, in person or on Zoom.
  • Relevant: Focused on pressing teaching challenges (AI, conflict, engagement, assessment, etc.).

Please select one CTE Bytes Workshop from the menu below:

  • AI in the Classroom: Strategies to maximize/minimize AI use in SMU classrooms, plus discussion of the latest AI news and teaching applications.
  • Teaching in Times of Conflict: Practical approaches to address difficult student questions with confidence and care.
  • Gamifying your Teaching: Techniques to make classes more engaging and dynamic through game-based learning.
  • Designing Engaging Presentations: Using technology and AI to create presentations that capture student attention.
  • Active Learning: Evidence-based methods to increase student engagement and participation.
  • Backward Design: A planning framework where instructors start with learning outcomes and work backward to design aligned lessons.
  • Assignment Design and Grading: Principles for equitable, transparent, and fair grading practices that support student success.
  • Beyond the Door: Transforming Office Hours into a Student  Success Zone: This mini-workshop helps instructors transform office hours into an intentional, welcoming space that increases student engagement, supports learning, and fosters student success. This session is adapted from a talk originally presented by Dr. Gabriela Vokic in her role as a CTE Faculty Affiliate.
  • Pluralism in the Classroom: The practice of fostering respect, relationships, and cooperation across differences, helping students and educators engage meaningfully with diverse perspectives without requiring agreement.

If you wish the CTE to address another pedagogical topic, we are more than willing to prepare a custom CTE Bytes workshop for you.

Bring CTE Bytes to Your Department