Engaging Pedagogy Conference
Date of Conference: May 14, 2025
Bridging the Gap between Faculty Expectations and Student Engagement
We read, plan, and talk with each other. Then, we read some more and go to a conference. As the semester draws nearer, we revise the syllabus to incorporate the latest research and order the new textbook. It's a lot of work, but we usually are okay with it. We've enjoyed learning all this great new stuff and are ready to share it with our students!
It's also true that, besides all this rich content, we hope to inspire our students. We want to teach them how their attitudes, behaviors, habits, and skills can affect their lives inside and outside the classroom. However, we need their buy-in before we can achieve any of these lofty goals. We need student engagement and a basic sense of motivation. And when they are missing, we struggle to connect. Have we got this right? Do you perceive a gap between your expectations and your students' engagement? If so, where are you trying to find a foothold?
· By addressing your assumptions about students, their engagement or lack of engagement?
· By igniting creativity in how students approach your discipline?
· By fostering psychological safety that encourages students to take risks?
· By nurturing critical thinking about current events related to your discipline?
· By going beyond lectures to activate student learning in a broader sense?
· By inspiring students to challenge the status quo within your discipline?
· By taking real-world cares into account – phones? AI? Health and wellness? Employment? Family life?
LET US INSPIRE YOU!
The Texas Lutheran University Engaging Pedagogy Conference is a fun and welcoming event that promotes and inspires regional educators—in high school and higher education—to share innovative and effective teaching methods, encourage teacher well-being, advocate for and commit to inclusive education, and foster a community of educators passionate about student success.
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Testimonies
"I have attended and presented at this wonderful and welcoming Engaging Pedagogy Conference. Having gained such connection to and communion with Texas Lutheran University faculty and staff—as well as other local, regional, and national colleagues and practitioners in higher education—makes this event an effortless endeavor for me to suggest to others. I always leave the campus afterward proud to have collaborated, networked, and developed positively in the name of postsecondary student success and faculty community."
- Michael C McConnell, EdD. Professor at Texas State University
"The TLU Engaging Pedagogy Conference, run by some of the kindest and most qualified colleagues in higher education today, has become a teaching and learning destination event in the region and state. It has brought together amazing keynotes, presentations, and practitioners, providing an enriching place to share in today’s teaching and learning landscape and discuss innovations shaping its future."
- Jeff Schomburg, St. Mary's University
"In 2014, a math and computer science professor, Dr. John Sieben, was asked to lead a small team of frontline faculty and administrators in designing and developing educational initiatives supporting teaching and learning. Professor Sieben and his colleagues conducted focus groups with a large swath of TLU educators and learned that faculty enthusiastically yearned for opportunities to discuss, develop, and share what they were learning. As colleagues talked with peers at other institutions, these interests became apparent beyond our walls. This gave birth to the first iteration of the Engaging Pedagogy Conference. We only had a few schools beyond TLU that year, which created a framework. In 2015, when the Center for Teaching and Learning formally launched, we were able to build on the originating work, and the conference quickly became an established regional conference serving well over 25 institutions. The Engaging Pedagogy Conference has been a shared endeavor where we work with our partnering institutions to enable the abundant growth of knowledge and skills."
- Chris Bollinger, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Communication, Cultures, English & World Languages
“The Engaging Pedagogy Conference is an excellent opportunity for faculty to come together to learn about and discuss new strategies for teaching and learning. Faculty are able to engage in rich conversations and create strong connections with colleagues from TLU and surrounding institutions.”
- Dr. Sarah Ferguson, VPAA, Texas Lutheran University