CEILS Annual Faculty Workshop 2026

Full day of sessions on August 25th, 2026, followed by CEILS Coworking Cafe space on August 27th & September 1st

About CEILS Annual Faculty Workshop 2026 and CEILS Coworking Café:

This year, our annual workshop will take a playful approach to our core pedagogical principles for teaching in STEM, with new emphasis on topics such as supporting neurodivergent students and considering generative AI in assessment design and course policies. Our goal is to create a fun and engaging space where you will get the chance to learn about and play with concrete strategies and practices to maximize or maintain student learning.

Playfulness in the classroom in an up and coming, innovative approach that encourages student engagement and risk-taking that is a necessity for learning. We want to embody these ideas in this workshop as a community of caring instructors coming together to play with and explore new ideas for our classrooms. We encourage anyone who is interested in trying out something new and especially 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. 

Following the annual faculty workshop, we invite you to join us for the CEILS Coworking Café sessions. These two‑hour sessions provide a relaxed supportive space to work on your teaching materials. Bring whatever you’re working on for your course, be it a syllabus, an activity, or an assessment, and settle in with colleagues who are doing the same. You’ll set a goal, get to work, and wrap up with feedback and next steps. CEILS facilitators will be available throughout for quick consultations or deeper conversations. 

RSVP for the CEILS Annual Faculty Workshop and the CEILS Coworking Café

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.

Some benefits of participating in faculty workshop

1. 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).
2. Connect with a community of instructors who are invested in advancing STEM teaching at UCLA.
3. Learn new pedagogical skills or get a refresher on skills you already have

Annual Faculty Workshop 2026 Agenda

Tuesday, Aug 25th Schedule:

8:45 am Coffee, Pastries & Registration

9:00 am Opening Remarks

9:30 am Session 1: Transparency, Inclusion, and AI: Reimagining your Syllabus

10:45 am Break

11:00 am Session 2: Engaging students on the first day of class to increase equity, belonging, and learning in your course 

12:00 pm Lunch (Options CEILS Calming Room, Walk in Botanical Gardens, Game Space with Blankets)

1:00 pm Session 3: Playful approaches to active learning

2:00 pm Interstitial Session: How can you engage with CEILS throughout this year?

2:30 pm Break

2:45 pm Session 4: Adapting assessments in the age of generative AI 

3:45 pm Session 5: Faculty Lightning Talks 

4:15 pm Happy Hour

CEILS Coworking Café schedule

Thursday, Aug 27th: 10-noon, followed by lunch 12-1pm

Tuesday, Sept 1: 1-3pm, followed by Tea/cookies 3-4pm

Bring whatever teaching material you want to work on!