Next-Level Pedagogy Overview
The Next-Level Pedagogy (NLP) series is designed to go beyond foundational teaching skills and explore innovative, evidence-based practices that directly enhance student learning and engagement.
Each workshop introduces practical, research-informed strategies that faculty can immediately apply in their courses. Sessions focus on small but powerful teaching techniques that make a meaningful difference in areas such as:
- Student motivation and engagement
- Collaborative learning and creativity
- Inclusive and equitable teaching practices
- Designing around threshold concepts and transformative learning
- High-impact practices, such as undergraduate research
The series is intentionally hands-on and interactive, giving faculty opportunities to experiment with new tools, share ideas with colleagues, and reflect on how to bring innovative approaches into their own classrooms.
Whether you attend one workshop or follow the entire series, Next-Level Pedagogy helps faculty move from effective teaching to transformative teaching, creating classrooms where students feel motivated, included, and challenged to grow.
Workshop Series
🔹 1. Current & Upcoming Workshops
📅 November 10, 2025
👤 Facilitator: Fadi Muheidat, TRC Director
📄 Slides | 🎥 Recording | 📘 Resources
As classrooms continue to evolve under the influence of digital, information, and AI technologies, our understanding of literacy must expand. This session invites participants to explore what it means to be literate in the 21st century, across multiple domains including digital, information, media, data, critical, and AI literacies. Together, we will examine key frameworks that inform these literacies and discuss how to make them visible in teaching and learning. Through examples, reflection, and practical strategies, participants will consider ways to integrate literacies into course design and assessment, advancing CSUSB’s mission of preparing students for an equitable, informed, and innovative future.
📅 November 17, 2025
👤 Facilitator: Mandy Taylor, FCE/IDAT Instructional Designer
📄 Slides | 🎥 Recording | 📘 Resources
Threshold concepts are ideas that shift how students understand and make meaning within a discipline. In this workshop, we will explore their defining features, examine examples across disciplines, and discuss course design strategies to help students engage with these concepts.
🔹 2. Past Workshops
📅 Sept 8, 2025
👤 Facilitator: Fadi Muheidat, TRC Director
📄 Slides | 🎥 Recording | 📘 Resources
Why do students disengage? This session examines the root causes of demotivation—relevance, self-efficacy, and more—and provides evidence-based strategies to re-engage students. Learn quick wins like connection activities, structured choice, and low-stakes practice to build persistence and belonging.
📅 Sept 15, 2025
👤 Facilitator: Fadi Muheidat, TRC Director
📄 Slides | 🎥 Recording | 📘 Resources
With Google Jamboard retired, FigJam offers a dynamic, user-friendly replacement for collaborative whiteboarding (free for educators and students). Learn to use FigJam for brainstorming, group problem-solving, and interactive activities—both in-person and online. Walk away with tools and strategies for bringing collaboration alive in your classes.
📅 Sept 22, 2025
👤 Facilitator: Fadi Muheidat, TRC Director
📄 Slides | 🎥 Recording | 📘 Resources (links will be added after session)
When students say, “I did feel seen,” it reflects the powerful impact of connection on learning. Small gestures can signal care, build trust, and foster student buy-in. In this workshop, faculty will explore strategies to humanize their courses — from personalized communication to intentional classroom presence — so that students feel supported and ready to rise to the challenge of learning, even in large classes
📅 Sept 29, 2025
👤 Facilitator: Sarah L. Dunn, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology
📄 Slides | 🎥 Recording | 📘 Resources (links will be added after session)
Explore CUREs, Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences, as a powerful high-impact practice. Learn how embedding authentic, inquiry-based research projects (with unknown outcomes) into your courses can enhance student agency, deepen engagement, and connect teaching with scholarship.
📅 October 27, 2025
👤 Facilitator: Samantha Juan, EdD, RN, CHSE, CNE, CCRN-A, Department of Nursing
📄 Slides | 🎥 Recording | 📘 Resources
This interactive faculty development workshop will introduce NotebookLLM, Google’s large language model designed to enhance research innovation and productivity. Participants will explore NotebookLLM’s capabilities through guided hands-on activities that demonstrate how it can streamline literature synthesis and generate meaningful research insights. The session will also address strategies for incorporating NotebookLLM thoughtfully into research workflows while maintaining transparency, integrity, and ethical practices. By the end of the workshop, faculty members will have a clear understanding of how to integrate NotebookLLM effectively to advance their scholarship with greater efficiency and creativity.
📅 November 3, 2025
👤 Facilitator: Andrea Giuffre, Ph.D., Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice
📄 Slides | 🎥 Recording | 📘 Resources
Join us for an engaging workshop where faculty members share their real-world experiences using VoiceThread in the classroom and on Canvas. VoiceThread is an online tool, incorporable in Canvas, that allows professors and students to create and share collaborative, interactive presentations using videos, images, and documents. Discover practical applications (e.g., creating VoiceThread content and assignments), learn from challenges faced, and explores successful strategies for enhancing student engagement and collaboration.
Get Involved / Contact
💡 We’d love to feature your ideas!
The Next-Level Pedagogy series thrives on the creativity and expertise of our faculty community. If you’ve tried an innovative teaching practice, explored a new classroom technology, or developed strategies that enhance student learning, we invite you to share your work.
Ways to Get Involved:
- Propose a Workshop: Lead a session and share your expertise with colleagues.
- Suggest a Topic: Have an idea for a workshop you’d like to attend? Let us know!
- Collaborate with TRC: Partner with us to co-design and deliver faculty development experiences.
📧 Contact: trc@csusb.edu or fadi.muheidat@csusb.edu
⏰ Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 8am–5pm