Center for Education, Innovation, and Learning in the Sciences

2025 CEILS Teaching Table for STEM Classrooms
2025-12-11 12:30 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | CEILS Office Hershey Hall 230
Reflecting Together on the Fall Quarter
Come celebrate the end of the quarter with us and share your wins as well as the challenges you experienced in the Fall quarter.
About Teaching Tables
Teaching Tables is a space for all UCLA instructors to come together each month and share their joys and frustrations of teaching. We will also guide conversation around a selected resource (e.g., article, podcast, short video) on topics related to teaching STEM courses at UCLA, such as getting to know your students in this day and age, making space for everyone in your class, and more. We will explore each session’s resources and topics by tapping into your experiences and those of the community. Whether you’re a seasoned professor or you’ve just started your teaching journey, you’ll find strategies to try in your own classroom and a community to explore them with!
Join us in creating a communal space for faculty, teaching staff, postdocs, and graduate students to discuss, learn, and consider teaching strategies that support themselves and their students in the classroom.
Drop in for one or come for them all, we hope to see you there!
RSVP for Teaching Tables Fall 2025

2025 CEILS Journal Club
2025-12-03 14:00 - 15:00 | Terasaki Rm 1100 | Zoom option available
Paper we will discuss on Dec 3:
Yuriev, Elizabeth, et al. “Integrating Generative AI in Chemistry Education: Enhancing Career-Ready Writing Skills in Pharmaceutical Science.” Journal of Chemical Education 102.5 (2025): 1991-2001.
CEILS Journal Club for STEM Education
About Journal Club: Are you interested in learning about the latest STEM education research but not sure where to start? Or feeling overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of literature out there and what it means for your teaching? Come to the CEILS journal club!
We will pick key recent papers from the STEM education research literature and provide a one-page summary to facilitate discussion. Our goal is to make it easier for instructors to explore relevant STEM education research literature and reflect on its implications for their courses in community with other instructors.
All UCLA instructors including faculty, graduate students and postdocs are welcome to participate!
RSVP for Journal Club Fall 2025

2025 CEILS Teaching Table for STEM Classrooms
2025-11-13 12:30 - 13:30 | CEILS Office Hershey Hall 230
Cultivating attention amidst distraction
Laptops and cell phone use is extremely common in college classrooms now and there are growing concerns about students’ attention spans. What are some ways we might be able to help our students pay attention in the classroom? We invite you to share strategies that you have used to cultivate attention and learn from each other.
Resource: Resilient Pedagogy podcast. Episode: Distracted with James Lang
About Teaching Tables
Teaching Tables is a space for all UCLA instructors to come together each month and share their joys and frustrations of teaching. We will also guide conversation around a selected resource (e.g., article, podcast, short video) on topics related to teaching STEM courses at UCLA, such as getting to know your students in this day and age, making space for everyone in your class, and more. We will explore each session’s resources and topics by tapping into your experiences and those of the community. Whether you’re a seasoned professor or you’ve just started your teaching journey, you’ll find strategies to try in your own classroom and a community to explore them with!
Join us in creating a communal space for faculty, teaching staff, postdocs, and graduate students to discuss, learn, and consider teaching strategies that support themselves and their students in the classroom.
Drop in for one or come for them all, we hope to see you there!
RSVP for Teaching Tables Fall 2025

CEILS Journal Club for STEM Education
2025-11-05 14:00 - 15:00 | 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Paper we will discuss on Nov 5:
Costello, Robin A., et al. “Highlighting Counterstereotypical Scientists in Undergraduate Life Science Courses.” CBE—Life Sciences Education 24.2 (2025): es1.
About Journal Club:
Are you interested in learning about the latest STEM education research but not sure where to start? Or feeling overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of literature out there and what it means for your teaching? Come to the CEILS journal club!
We will pick key recent papers from the STEM education research literature and provide a one-page summary to facilitate discussion. Our goal is to make it easier for instructors to explore relevant STEM education research literature and reflect on its implications for their courses in community with other instructors.
All UCLA instructors including faculty, graduate students and postdocs are welcome to participate!
RSVP for Journal Club Fall 2025

UCLA Physics & Astronomy Colloquium - "AI & Mathematical Skills (AIMS) to support student success: from research to implementation in STEM courses at UCLA", by Yifan Lu, Shanna Shaked, K. Supriya
2025-10-30 16:00 - 17:00 | 430 Portola Plz, Physics and Astronomy Building & Knudsen Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095, 430 Portola Plz, Physics and Astronomy Building & Knudsen Hall, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
How can we support students in reviewing or learning the necessary math to succeed in college STEM courses, such as introductory physics? We will review some relatively simple promising interventions and our education research study supporting their effectiveness. Inequities in student access to trigonometry and calculus are often associated with racial and socioeconomic privilege, and often influence introductory physics course performance. To mitigate these disparities in student preparedness, we developed a two-pronged intervention consisting of (1) incentivized supplemental math assignments and (2) AI-generated learning support tools in the form of optional hints embedded in the physics homework assignments. For the supplemental math assignments, the extra credit was scaled to make it worth more points for students with lower exam scores, thereby creating even greater value for students who might benefit most from the assignments. AI-generated hints were integrated into the homework assignments, thereby reducing or eliminating the cost to the student, in terms of time, energy, and social barriers or fear of judgment. Our findings indicate that both these interventions are associated with increased exam scores; in particular, the scaled extra credit reduced disparities in completion of supplemental math assignments. These interventions are therefore very promising for creating more equitable undergraduate quantitative courses.Thanks to funding from UCLA’s Teaching and Learning Center, we will then discuss our vision for implementing these interventions in STEM undergraduate courses at UCLA more broadly.
Shaked + Supriya (UCLA Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences) and Lu (UCLA Physics & Astronomy Dept.)
Refreshments at 3:30 p.m. on the PAB Patio. Undergraduates Welcome!

Supporting Neurodivergent Students: Evidence and Strategies for STEM Faculty - Special Event: UCLA Disability Pride Week
2025-10-16 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom link emailed to RSVPers
Anywhere between 10-30% of college students identify as neurodivergent. Come join us at this Interactive Lecture to learn from Dr. Yasamin Bolourian, Director of Outreach and Dissemination at UCLA Tarjan Center and co-developer of NeuroPREP, a faculty training program on neurodiversity. Dr. Bolourian will share some strategies on how to better support neurodivergent students in our STEM courses.
More about the speaker:
Dr. Yasamin Bolourian is the Director of Outreach and Dissemination at the UCLA Tarjan Center and a research supervisor at the UCLA PEERS® Clinic. Her work focuses on supporting neurodivergent students and adults through inclusive practices, training, and evidence-based strategies that promote access, equity, and success across educational and workplace settings.
RSVP for Supporting Neurodivergent Students In STEM

2025 CEILS Teaching Table for STEM Classrooms
2025-10-09 15:00 - 16:00 | CEILS Office Hershey Hall 230
Creating a more inclusive classroom for neurodivergent students
About 20-30% of college students are neurodivergent. In this Teaching Tables gathering, we invite you to share your experiences with neurodiversity in and outside the classroom and discuss how we can all better support our neurodivergent students.
Resource: Autism Goes to College Podcast. Episode 42: What professors need to know?
About Teaching Tables:
Teaching Tables is a space for all UCLA instructors to come together each month and share their joys and frustrations of teaching. We will also guide conversation around a selected resource (e.g., article, podcast, short video) on topics related to teaching STEM courses at UCLA, such as getting to know your students in this day and age, making space for everyone in your class, and more. We will explore each session’s resources and topics by tapping into your experiences and those of the community. Whether you’re a seasoned professor or you’ve just started your teaching journey, you’ll find strategies to try in your own classroom and a community to explore them with!
Join us in creating a communal space for faculty, teaching staff, postdocs, and graduate students to discuss, learn, and consider teaching strategies that support themselves and their students in the classroom.
Drop in for one or come for them all, we hope to see you there!
RSVP: RSVP for Teaching Tables Fall 2025

2025 CEILS Pop-in Party
2025-10-09 12:00 - 15:00 | CEILS Office Hershey Hall 230
Come celebrate our new office space and connect with the team! The Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences (CEILS) invites you to pop-in and check out our new workspace located in Hershey Hall 230. We are excited to welcome you into our space, share what we have been working on, and offer ways to strengthen and support you and your department.
Enjoy some light refreshments and fun activities including a Goal-Setting Station for the new academic year and an Instructor Collaboration Wall where you can share your thoughts, questions and project ideas related to teaching and learning, and gather insights from your colleagues, sparking new collaborations.
We’d be glad to have you visit and connect with us in person!
RSVP: RSVP for CEILS Pop In Party

CEILS Journal Club for STEM Education
2025-10-01 14:00 - 15:00 | 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Paper we will discuss on Oct 1:
Griston, Molly, and Bethany R. Wilcox. “Motivating reflection in problem solving: Homework corrections in upper-division physics courses.” Physical Review Physics Education Research 21.2 (2025): 020113.
About Journal Club:
Are you interested in learning about the latest STEM education research but not sure where to start? Or feeling overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of literature out there and what it means for your teaching? Come to the CEILS journal club!
We will pick key recent papers from the STEM education research literature and provide a one-page summary to facilitate discussion. Our goal is to make it easier for instructors to explore relevant STEM education research literature and reflect on its implications for their courses in community with other instructors.
All UCLA instructors including faculty, graduate students and postdocs are welcome to participate!
RSVP for Journal Club Fall 2025

Learning Assistant (LA) Program Faculty Learning Community - pre-quarter meet-up
2025-09-24 12:00 - 13:30
The Undergraduate Learning Assistants (LA) Program in the Sciences at UCLA is an evidence-based, multidisciplinary instructional strategy, in which undergraduate students who have succeeded in a course receive credit to learn how to help the next group of students succeed in that course. It is specifically geared toward large introductory science, engineering and math courses. LAs thus help facilitate active learning and collaborative instruction in discussion, lab, and/or lecture.
If you have LAs in Fall 2025, this meet-up is designed to support you in discussing and finalizing any plans for LA implementation. In this shifting landscape, this feels like a time when it’s particularly important to check in with and support one another.
If you don’t yet have LAs and you’re interested in meeting instructors who work with them, you’re welcome to join and hear how folks are integrating LAs to create more effective courses.
Email LA Program Director Shanna Shaked at shaked@ucla.edu if interested in joining.

2025 CEILS Annual Faculty Workshop - Day 2 of 2
2025-09-19 09:00 - 15:00 | Hershey Hall 158
Join any of all of the sessions Sep. 18 and 19, 9am to 3pm, in Hershey Hall 158.
RSVP here
This year, our annual workshop will focus on supporting you in creatively responding to the changing institutional environment while maintaining your well-being. Our goal is to provide you with resources, concrete strategies, and practices to maximize or maintain student learning.
We invite you to join us and engage in any or all of the experiences described below:

Hear from experts on AI about maintaining academic integrity in assessment
Learn about strategies for designing an inclusive syllabus and creating community on the first day of class, helping your students learn how-to learn, and reimagining your course with reduced TA support.
Get to know folks from the UCLA Disabilities and Computing Program and learn about making your course materials more accessible.
Engage with invited faculty, who will present lightning talks followed by roundtable discussions, each led by one of the invited faculty.

All are welcome to join this community of caring instructors who are excited to talk about teaching! We especially encourage instructors who either are relatively new to college teaching or who have instructional responsibilities in large enrollment gateway courses for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors.
Record your participation in your dossier as evidence of your efforts to improve teaching and as an activity that helps promote equal opportunity and diversity in education. Such efforts in both categories, on behalf of all faculty, are now a recognized component of the promotion and tenure process at UCLA (see APM 210-1, and Appendix 41).
Click to view Faculty Teaching Workshop 2025 Agenda

2025 CEILS Annual Faculty Workshop - Day 1 of 2
2025-09-18 09:00 - 15:00 | Hershey Hall 158

CEILS Faculty Orientation - Fall 2025
2025-09-11 14:00 - 17:00 | Zoom link emailed to RSVPers
Are you new to UCLA? Are you teaching at UCLA for the first time? Are you teaching a new course or a large-enrollment course for the first time? Do you have questions about effective ways to welcome students into your class on the first day? Are you concerned about your exams being both fair and rigorous? Are you wondering how to effectively work with your TAs?
This orientation is specifically designed for folks teaching their first course in Fall 2025, and anyone teaching their first large-enrollment course. In the last hour, we will be discussing tips for how to work effectively with your TAs and to adapt assignments or assessments if you have less TA support than expected. In addition to having resources around logistics and BruinLearn (Canvas) setup, we’ll also discuss course and grading structure, syllabus design, how to manage student questions and engagement in large classes, and getting ready for the first day of class.
Join us on Thursday, September 11, 2-5 pm on Zoom. RSVP Here by September 10. Once you RSVP, we will send a Zoom link and additional resources.

More info here
RSVP here

CEILS Wellness Walks
2025-06-11 11:40 - 12:00, 2025-06-04 11:40 - 12:00, 2025-05-28 11:40 - 12:00, 2025-05-21 11:40 - 12:00, 2025-05-14 11:40 - 12:00, 2025-05-07 11:40 - 12:00, 2025-04-30 11:40 - 12:00, 2025-04-23 11:40 - 12:00 and 1 more date | Hershey Hall Front Courtyard, 612 Charles E Young Dr E, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Join us for energizing 20-minute walks every Wednesday from 11:40 – 12:00 pm. Whether you stroll the full time, a bit less, or more, this time is for you. You can use this time to connect with CEILS folks about teaching, hold walking meetings with colleagues, or put on your headphones and drift away. We’ll send a calendar invite to the emails we already have in our listserv, but please forward to friends who would love to join! Bring a buddy and come walk with us!
Meet in the Hershey Hall Front Courtyard at 11:35 AM

CEILS Teaching Celebration
2025-05-29 15:00 - 17:00 | Hershey Hall Inner Courtyard, 801 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
We’re excited to invite all educators to a fun-filled celebration to honor your dedication and passion for teaching and engagement with CEILS! We are honored that you would share your time with us so please come indulge in an icecream sundae bar with toppings, connect with colleagues, and celebrate the wonderful impact you make every day. Your commitment to teaching inspires us all—let’s make this a memorable event! *vegan options available upon request. Please RSVP to secure your spot today!

RSVP Here!

Teaching Tables: How to Create Space for Everyone in Your Class
2025-05-16 12:00 - 13:30 | 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Did you know? By April 2026, UCLA will need to be in compliance with the new accessibility (WCAG 2.1) standards which includes making text readable and understandable, providing alternatives for non-text content, and ensuring all functionalities are accessible via keyboard. In this session, we will discuss discipline-specific strategies to prioritize accessibility and also incorporate anti-ableism in your teaching. We want to hear what you do and your thoughts on how to make educational spaces open to everyone!

Come join us on May 16th at 12pm in TSLB 1100 for the Teaching Tables session on how to create space for everyone in your class!

We look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Click here to RSVP!

Mentor & Mentee Conversations: Fostering Research Productivity
2025-05-08 12:00 - 13:15 | Hershey Hall 158
Dive into essential topics that empower mentors and mentees to enhance communication and support in time management, prioritization, organization, and work-life integration. Equip your laboratory team with skills that support research productivity in manageable ways.

RSVP Here!

Teaching Tables: How to Let Go of the Frustrating Parts of Teaching
2025-05-02 12:00 - 13:30 | 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
It can be disheartening when your lesson plan does not go the way you expected. Students may have a different understanding of what is expected of them, leaving you feeling at a loss. This session will help you gain confidence in identifying where any misunderstandings are and how to address them while bringing joy to your work. Tell us your stories of motivating student behavior, tell us your strategies for staying motivated throughout the term, and get a keepsake to remind you of them!

Come join us on May 2nd at 12pm in TSLB 1100 for the Teaching Tables session on how to let go of the frustrating parts of teaching!

We look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Click here to RSVP!

Mentor & Mentee Conversations: Fostering Research Independence
2025-04-29 12:00 - 13:15 | Hershey Hall 158
Join the conversation on research independence! Discover its core elements, benefits, and challenges, and see how these evolve throughout the mentoring relationship. Explore strategies for mentors and mentee pairs to share and plan their path to research independence!

RSVP Here!

Teaching Tables: How to Meet the Challenge of Teaching Today's Students
2025-04-18 12:00 - 13:30 | 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, 1100 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Teaching is different in this day and age, isn’t it? Social media has changed the landscape of engagement and affected everyone’s attention spans. Assignments and material that were effective in the past are now falling short of their goals. This session will help you figure out who your students are and how to use the patterns you have observed in your teaching to improve student engagement in your course. We want to hear about how you create communication with students so we can collaboratively create a resource to share out with the larger instructional community!

Come join us on April 18th at 12pm in TSLB 1100 for the Teaching Tables session on getting to know your students in this day and age!

We look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Click here to RSVP!

CEILS Wellness Walks
2025-04-16 11:40 - 12:00

Mentor & Mentee Conversations: Fostering Academic Wellness
2025-03-24 12:00 - 13:15 | Hershey Hall 158
Dive into essential topics that empower mentors and mentees to enhance communication and support in time management, prioritization, organization, and work-life integration. Equip yourself with skills that reduce stress and promote wellness!
Join us in a collaborative space designed for faculty mentors and graduate students to strengthen their mentoring relationships and co-create actionable plans through engaging case studies and activities. Built on the nationally recognized CIMER curriculum and evidence-based practices, this is your chance to elevate your mentoring partnership! Light snacks will be provided—feel free to bring your own lunch!

RSVP Here
