Cafe Conversations logo with coffee mug and notebooks.

About the Series

As part of our commitment to fostering innovative teaching and learning practices, the Center for Teaching Excellence is launching a new series called Café Conversations. The 2024-2025 Café Conversations will focus on AI in Small Bytes and/or Tips for High Enrollment Classes. These 45-minute lunchtime sessions will feature guest speakers who are actively engaged in AI research or teaching related to AI. Café Conversations is part of Passport to Great Teaching, a professional development program that lets you choose which path to travel as you earn teaching certificates.

Please Note: you must have a Passport Portal account to register for these workshops. Create an account or learn more about the Passport program

Session Details

  • Format: Informal “show and tell” followed by discussions
  • Duration: 10-15 minutes presentation + discussion
  • Audience: Limited to 15 participants to keep the sessions truly conversational
  • Time: Wednesdays or Fridays from 12:00 PM to 12:45 PM

Café Conversations Spring 2025

February

Café Conversations: AI in Small Bytes 

2/12/2025 | 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM
Instructors: Kaitlin Alexander, Chris Egan, Carinda Feild, and Jennifer Parker
Online 

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools become increasingly prevalent, a pharmacy school drug information assignment was restructured to include the critical evaluation of AI-generated outputs. The revised assignment aimed to educate students about AI and equip them with the skills to critically assess and validate AI-generated information in response to a drug information question. In this assignment, students used the “Format, Language, Usability, and Fanfare (FLUF) Test” to critically evaluate AI-generated outputs. The FLUF Test proved valuable in guiding students’ critique of AI outputs, educating them about AI’s limitations, and emphasizing the importance of AI prompting. Register Here.  

Passport categories:  Artificial Intelligence Workshops, Creative Assessment, Digital Literacy, Student Focused Teaching 

Café Conversations: High Enrollment Classes 

2/21/2025 | 12:00 – 12:45 PM
Instructor: Joslyn Ahlgren
Online 

Discover a versatile assignment strategy that has enabled me to expand my online course enrollment from 25 to over 70 students without compromising quality. In this session, I’ll share how a combination of application-style assignments followed by reflective comparison to a key can be adapted to any subject, ensuring both effective learning and manageable grading. Register here.  

Passport categories:  Active Learning, Student Focused Teaching