MSU Spring TALKS— Teaching and Learning Knowledge Sharing—is the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation's spring conference. Our 2026 conference will be on May 6 (in-person at the Business College Complex) and May 8 (virtually via Zoom).
From October 1 to December 12, we welcome your proposals on a variety of topics to share and discuss approaches, tools, and practices that support teaching and learning at Michigan State.
The list below is meant to support brainstorming by providing some areas you might consider related to teaching and learning in your proposal. Proposal topics may include, but are not limited to:
Focuses on designing meaningful, innovative, and transparent assessment and evaluation in teaching and learning. Topics may include rubric development, ungrading, gamification, peer review, accessibility in assessment, or grading practices in the artificial intelligence (AI) era.
Focuses on organizing, maintaining, and enhancing physical and digital learning environments. Topics may include Learning Management Systems (LMS) design or methods for building positive group culture and participation.
Focuses on intentional planning of courses and curriculum to support student learning and engagement. Topics may include syllabus design, learning objectives and competencies, course alignment, flipped classes, co-teaching, scaffolded learning, or project-based learning.
Focuses on pedagogy and practices to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging within educational contexts. Topics may include inclusive course design, culturally responsive pedagogy, creating classroom community, or Universal Design for Learning.
Focuses on approaches for effectively incorporating technology into teaching and learning. Topics may include selecting digital tools, evaluating new technologies, fostering digital literacy, or using technology for accessibility and student success.
Focuses on supporting educator growth through professional development and reflective teaching practices. Topics may include educator onboarding, mentorship, teaching consultations, learning communities, or strategies for adapting to new teaching modalities.
Focuses on adaptable teaching practices that support student needs and evolving learning environments. Topics may include providing students with course modality flexibility, flexible timelines, makeups, Open Education Resources (OERs), choice (in activities, materials, grading) as well as navigating technology and university changes and lean teaching (teaching on a tight budget or with limited resources).
Focuses on teaching practices that prioritize the holistic well-being of both students and educators. Topics might include trauma-informed pedagogy, care-based pedagogy, manageable workloads, and assessment design.
Focuses on feedback structures that support reflective teaching and professional growth. Topics may include mentoring, teaching evaluation in annual review, mid-semester student feedback, SPLS, or feedback survey design.
Focuses on research-informed approaches to improve teaching practice and student outcomes. Topics may include teaching and learning research, course iterations, securing grants, or dissemination of findings.
Focuses on strategies and activities that promote student attendance, participation, motivation, and active learning. Topics may include collaborative learning, active learning, and inclusive engagement techniques.
Focuses on programming that supports student learning and retention like tutoring services, writing centers, and access to student services. Topics may include increasing student engagement, and support services assessment.
MSU Spring TALKS is open to all educators across roles at MSU, including but not limited to faculty members, course instructors, graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, administrators, researchers, advisors, graduate students, and those working in curriculum, educator development, or student success.
Proposals must be submitted by an MSU educator. Note that to better distribute presenting opportunities, each proposal must have a different submitting presenter. Individuals may still participate as co-presenters for more than one proposal.
Proposals may list undergraduate students as co-presenters.
We welcome submissions where one or more co-presenters are non-MSU partners (including those from other academic institutions or community partnerships)
MSU Spring TALKS seeks proposals that touch on relevant aspects of teaching and learning in higher education. As in past years, we welcome session proposals in a variety of formats. All session format types will be available on both the virtual day and the in-person day of the conference. Please refer to the descriptions below for details regarding proposal formats:
A presentation related to teaching and learning; educator talks can include sharing practices, successes, and failures educators have tried at MSU.
A structured, moderator-led conversation centered on a specific topic or theme in teaching and learning among multiple invited speakers. The moderator facilitates the discussion by posing pre-circulated questions, prompting dialogue among panelists, and guiding a brief audience through Q&A at the end. This format prioritizes prepared insights and speaker perspectives, with limited audience engagement. Proposals should identify the moderator.
A collaborative, interactive discussion that prioritizes dialogue among all attendees, not just presenters. Led by the moderator—and optionally, one or more invited topic experts as co-presenters—this session is designed to foster peer-to-peer exchange, surface shared challenges, and generate new ideas related to teaching and learning. There are no formal presentations; all attendees are active participants in the conversation. Proposals should identify the moderator.
Designed with active learning and attendee participation and engagement in mind, these interactive sessions focus on sharing or demonstrating theories, tools, or practices that have practical teaching and learning applications. Workshops could also include elements to co-create tangible toolkits for participants, if desired.
A physical or virtual poster presenting a topic, research results, or experiences related to teaching and learning.
Submissions will be accepted from October 1 to December 12, 2025.
When you submit your proposal, you will be asked to provide:
TALKS Acknowledgements and Agreements:
Presenter Confirmation: All presenters and co-presenters must confirm their conference attendance by the deadline. If the conference does not receive a presentation or presenters' confirmation by the deadline, we cannot guarantee that your name and/or your presentation will be included in the conference program.
Session Format & Modality Changes: The adjudicators reserve the right to assign a proposal to a different type of presentation format, day, or modality.
Accessibility Commitment: By submitting and confirming your proposal, presenters will compose and deliver content to a basic accessibility minimum toward equitable design and accessibility.
Presenter(s) Information
Presentation Format
Conference Day, Modality, and Availability Preferences
Abstract (up to 250 words)
Learning Objectives (2-5)
Keywords/tags of topic area(s)
Forthcoming
Please email CTLI.TALKS@msu.edu with any questions about this Call for Proposals.