9th Annual Celebration of Teaching and Learning Symposium
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 (Rescheduled)
University of Southern Indiana | Virtual
Register Program Poster Gallery Presentation Abstracts Abstracts in SOAR
You are invited to the ninth annual Celebration of Teaching & Learning Symposium, hosted virtually by the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville. The Symposium includes works focusing on improving and transforming student learning, academic success, and curriculum in higher education as we celebrate the value of teaching and learning. It provides opportunities to share and discuss teaching and learning efforts framed as Teaching Practice or the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) with colleagues from across the region.
The program features lightning and standard presentation sessions, a keynote presentation, and poster discussions. The keynote session "Making Team Projects Work: Tips to Improve Your Student Team Projects" will be presented by Timothy M. Franz, Ph.D. (St. John Fisher University).
Word cloud created from the presentation abstracts
*Please provide any dietary requests by February 12 if you plan to attend the keynote luncheon.
Register by February 14 to enter the door prize drawing.
** Update (2.19.25): The Symposium is rescheduled to Wednesday, February 26 since USI campus is closed today due to weather. This is to accommodate participants who may rely on the university for internet and computing resources or have additional responsibilities during the snow day. We look forward to seeing you on February 26. Registration continues to be open.
**Update (2.17.25): With the forecasted snow, we have decided to move the event to a virtual format since many participants would be traveling to Evansville from across the region. We hope that this will provide everyone with the opportunity to participate.
Please note that should the university close due to inclement weather on February 19, the Virtual Symposium will be rescheduled to Wednesday, February 26.
Detailed program Abstract Booklet Abstracts in SOAR
Virtual Program Overview (in Central Time, CST)
You are welcomed to attend sessions and presentations as your schedule permits.
- 9:45 - 9:55 am | Welcome
- 10 - 11:10 am | Sessions 1A-Lightning and 1B
- 11:10 - 11:30 am | Networking break
- 11:30 am -12:30 pm | Keynote luncheon
- 12:30 - 1 pm | Posters and dessert
- 1:05 - 2:15 pm | Sessions 2A and 2B
All sessions will be held virtually via this Zoom link
SOAR is USI's Open Access Repository hosted by the David L. Rice Library.
Making Team Projects Work: Tips to Improve Your Student Team Projects
| Presented by Timothy M. Franz, Ph.D., with Lauren Vicker, Ph.D. |  |
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Presentation Slides | Recording Link
A key role of educators is preparing students for today’s world, where a top skill demanded by almost every employer is the ability to work in teams. This session will help instructors learn and develop some of the concepts and tools that can help students to work successfully on team projects. The interactive session will provide several foundational ideas about how to improve team projects in the classroom. In addition, the session will include tips for how to improve team projects when teaching remotely.
About the speakers
Dr. Tim Franz is an Industrial and Organizational Psychologist at St. John Fisher University. He is a Professor of Psychology and past chair of graduate Human Resource Development and the undergraduate Departments of Athletic Performance, Criminology/Criminal Justice, and Psychology. He works as an organizational consultant through his consulting organization, Franz Consulting, to develop organizations by improving teamwork and leadership. Prior to his work as a professor, Dr. Franz worked full time as a human resources consultant. He earned his Ph.D. in Social/Organizational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, his M.A. from the University of Buffalo, and his B.A. from SUNY Oneonta.
His areas of expertise include applied research in organizations, individual and team decision making, improving team performance, improving team leadership, and using teams to drive organizational change. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed papers in many top-tier journals, such as Journal of Applied Psychology and JAMA, as well as many practical papers. He has three books, including Making Team Projects Work: A College Instructor’s Guide to Successful Student Groupwork, (2025, coauthored with Lauren Vicker), Meaningful Partnership at Work: How The Workplace Covenant Ensures Mutual Accountability and Success between Leaders and Teams (August, 2021, coauthored with Seth R. Silver), and Group Dynamics and Team Interventions: Understanding and Improving Team Performance (2nd edition forthcoming) and is currently writing on his fourth, tentatively titled Best Boss: How to Make New Managers into Exceptional Leaders (coauthored with Seth R. Silver).
Dr. Lauren Vicker is a Communications Professor Emerita at St. John Fisher University. Her goal is to provide people with confidence in their interactions with others in a wide range of situations, including her experience with professionals in health care and business. She enjoys biking and is a volunteer with Sun Sounds of Arizona and the Tempe Needlewielders.
Drs. Franz and Vicker coauthored the book Making Team Projects Work: A College Instructor's Guide to Successful Student Groupwork (2024).
You are invited to the Poster Session at 12:30 - 1:00 pm CT to learn more and have conversations with the presenters.
- Adaptive Learning Assignments May Improve Learning in Anatomy and Physiology (Jessica Snow, University of Evansville)
- Building a Service-Learning Mindset: Creating Online Modules for Respiratory Therapy Students (Mary Phillips and Erin Parchman, University of Southern Indiana)
- Laying the Foundation for Social Responsibility Awareness in Novice Nursing Students (Teresa Krassa, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing)
- Interprofessional Education between Family Nurse Practitioners, Doctor of Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy Students (Amanda Orr, Hannah LaMar, and Kristi Hape, University of Evansville and University of Southern Indiana)
- Using Simulation to Teach Change Management Principles (Jenny Skelton and Jack Smothers, University of Southern Indiana)
The Symposium will provide you with opportunities to engage with other participants across disciplines and areas of work. Benefits include the opportunity to share and get feedback on your work, spark new ideas, make your teaching scholarship visible, and initiate or strengthen connections.
- Share your efforts in supporting student learning and success and advancing your teaching practice.
- Gain knowledge of evidence-based strategies and technologies that support student learning and success across settings and disciplines.
- Foster reflection on your teaching practice, including improving and measuring student learning.
- Interact with participants across disciplines and institutions
View the Key Dates and Call for Proposals (guidelines/instructions).
Early Submissions
- Wednesday, December 4: Early deadline for submitting proposals
- Wednesday, December 18: Notification for early proposals
Regular Submissions
- Monday, December 16: Regular deadline for submitting proposals
- Friday, January 10: Notification for regular proposals
Presenters will have the option to include their abstracts and presentation materials within USI’s Scholarly Open Access Repository (SOAR), which is indexed on Google Scholar and provides additional visibility of their works.
- The Symposium will be held in the second floor of University Center East, on the campus of the University of Southern Indiana. This building is connected to the Performance Center. When driving down University Boulevard, look for the Fuquay Welcome Center and the Liberty Arena, Home of the Screaming Eagles.
- Entrances to University Center East are through the Performance Center and the breezeway with "The Cone" structure.
- Parking Lot C is the closest to the event. Parking is free.
- Accessible parking spaces are available next to the Rice Library and in Parking Lots C and N.
Thank you to our 2025 Symposium Committee members, who serve on the organizing committee and as proposal reviewers and session facilitators, and staff providing support!
- Kristina Baker, College of Liberal Arts - Organizing Committee member
- Amy Chan Hilton, CETL - Organizing Committee member
- Mark Creager, Pott College - Organizing Committee member
- Jara Dillingham, College of Liberal Arts - Organizing Committee member
- Julie Eyink, College of Liberal Arts - Organizing Committee member
- Adrian Gentle, Pott College - Organizing Committee member
- Nicolas Jankuhn, Romain College of Business
- Timothy Mattison, Pott College
- Simone Nance, Pott College
- David O'Neil, College of Liberal Arts - Organizing Committee member
- Taylor Petty, College of Liberal Arts - Organizing Committee member
- Peter Whiting, David L. Rice Library
- Summer Wilderman, College of Liberal Arts
- Shari Baird, University Strategic Marketing
- Brenna Swaney, Office of Sponsored Projects and Research
- Rhonda Woolsey, Special Events and Scheduling
The Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) is proud to offer the annual Celebration of Teaching & Learning Symposium. We are grateful for the continued support provided by the Office of the Provost and David L. Rice Library.
About the Celebration of Teaching & Learning Symposium series