Faculty Cohorts On Teaching

The CTE鈥檚 Faculty Cohorts on Teaching program seeks to bring faculty together to explore innovative approaches to significant teaching and learning questions. Participating faculty spend a year investigating a new pedagogical or course design approach to be implemented in at least one of the courses they teach. A late spring kick-off meeting sets the stage for the conversation, and then monthly seminar meetings during the academic year are organized around relevant readings in the pedagogical literature and case studies developed by cohort participants.

All Boston College faculty are eligible to participate. To learn more about the benefits and expectations of the cohort program, please see the tab below.

2025-26 Cohort Applications

We are now accepting applications for the 2025-26 cohorts "Exploring Alternative Grading Approaches" and "Rethinking Student Learning in the Age of GenAI." Interested faculty should submit a brief online application that includes a project proposal explaining what they hope to gain from their cohort participation by March 15.

Participating faculty receive a $2,500 stipend and the opportunity to interact with an engaged group of colleagues. Please note that individuals who have administrative roles and teach are eligible to participate in a cohort but ineligible to receive the stipend, as per Boston College policy. Faculty who choose to participate can expect to:

  • attend a kick-off meeting the spring before the cohort launches;
  • participate in monthly cohort meetings during the academic year;
  • develop a short teaching case to be shared with other members of the cohort;
  • experiment with at least one significant revision to their teaching during the cohort year; and
  • submit a brief final report within one month of concluding the cohort, as well as participate in other assessments the CTE conducts of the cohort program.

Exploring Alternative Approaches to Grading

Grades loom large in student-faculty relationships, in some cases eclipsing the focus on course content and student learning and formation, and instead funneling faculty energy towards the work of justifying grades. Over the years, the CTE has heard from faculty who are frustrated with that dynamic and who also worry that the grades they assign reflect students鈥� prior knowledge or skills rather than their current learning in the course. In this context, faculty are looking for alternative approaches to grading that promote trust between students and instructors, de-emphasize competition between students, support student wellbeing, and cultivate curiosity and risk taking.

This cohort seeks to bring together faculty who are interested in better understanding how grading practices intersect with questions of justice in teaching and learning. Participants will have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the latest scholarly debates on these questions and explore a range of grading approaches within their specific teaching contexts. We welcome participants from varied disciplines and with varied questions: those who are new to the conversation and those who may have already experimented with alternative approaches to grading; those who are looking to revise how they grade a particular聽 assignment or redesign their grading scheme for an entire course.

Our first meetings will provide participants the opportunity to dig into their pedagogical values and teaching contexts, analyze the challenges of traditional grading practices, and consider a variety of alternative grading models. During those discussions, we鈥檒l keep an eye on the relationship between course-level pedagogical decisions and institutional expectations. If you are looking to buildmore just learning environments, and think grading is one piece of that puzzle, this cohort could be for you.

Rethinking Student Learning in the Age of GenAI

While many initiatives related to GenAI in higher education focus on experimenting with tools, developing practical teaching strategies, and designing assessments (e.g., creating 鈥淎I-proof鈥� assignments), essential questions remain: Does the advent of GenAI require us to change how we teach? If so, how? The development of a technology like GenAI is not unprecedented in education. Similar debates about the impact of technology on student learning arose with the ubiquity of the internet, the launch of Google, and the widespread use of Wikipedia, to name just a few recent examples. In this new age of GenAI, are these earlier questions still relevant, or do they need to evolve?

This cohort provides a space for faculty to examine how technological advancements since the internet's emergence have (re)shaped student learning, reconsider their current learning goals, and determine if revisions are needed in today's context. Faculty will collaborate to reflect on their teaching practices in light of new AI tools and opportunities. Regardless of whether you have made a deliberate choice not to teach with GenAI or have been exploring ways to integrate AI into your courses, we invite you to join us in examining our new technological context and its implications for teaching and learning.

Some of the questions this cohort will explore:

  • What learning goals are most relevant in a GenAI-enhanced educational environment?
  • How does GenAI challenge traditional learning objectives, such as mastering foundational knowledge?
  • How do we teach critical thinking and information literacy in the era of GenAI?
  • What is involved in using AI tools ethically and effectively and what kind of instruction might we give to students to that end?
  • Are "AI-proof" assignments viable, or should assessments embrace AI as a collaborative tool?
  • How does the role of the educator evolve when students have access to GenAI tools that can generate answers or solutions?

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