The John M. Burns Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning is co-sponsored each year by the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center and the Teaching Academy. Named in honor of Dr. John M. Burns, who helped found the Teaching Academy, this conference is held each fall and features two sessions from an invited teacher-scholar and a poster session from recipients of the Annual Lawrence Schovanec Teaching Development Scholarship Award. Past speakers include Noah Finkelstein, Bryan Dewsbury, Derek Bruff, Michelle Miller, Lauren Barbeau, Claudia Cornejo Happel, and Lindsay Masland.

The 24th annual John M. Burns Conference will be held on Friday, October 17, 2025, with Dr. Ann Austin from Michigan State University.

 

Morning Keynote

New Approaches to Teaching Evaluation: Evaluation Strategies that Enhance Teaching Quality

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | TLPDC 151

Teaching evaluation can be a pathway to more effective teaching and learning, better student learning outcomes, fairer recognition of faculty work, deeper conversations among colleagues about professional values and commitments, and stronger institutional cultures that foster teaching and learning excellence. However, typical approaches to teaching evaluation often fall far short of achieving these outcomes. Acknowledging critiques of usual strategies for teaching evaluation, this workshop will focus on important principles to guide more effective approaches to teaching evaluation. The workshop will also explain new and effective approaches based on these principles—and tested and implemented in more than 70 departments through a funded project called TEval. The workshop will provide opportunity for participants to discuss how to apply the ideas and strategies in their own departments to create more comprehensive, holistic, and valid teaching evaluation. 

Lunch and Poster Sessions

Food will be provided and recipients of the Lawrence Schovanec Teaching Development Scholarships will present posters sharing information from the conferences they attended. There will also be presentations from departments sharing examples of work they've done to improve teaching and teaching evaluation on the department level.

12:00 - 1:30 p.m. | TLPDC Lobby

Afternoon Workshop

Improving Teaching as a Systemic Change Process: Strategies for Institutional Leaders (designed for deans, chairs, directors, and area coordinators)

1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | TLPDC 151

Advancing transformative change toward an important institutional goal—such as improving teaching and learning through new approaches to teaching evaluation—requires a strategic and systemic approach. This workshop is designed especially to guide institutional leaders—including deans, department chairs, and leaders of units focused on teaching excellence and student success—to consider their roles in encouraging and supporting significant institutional change. We will discuss important levers and processes for fostering change in higher education, and why taking a systemic perspective is essential. The workshop will focus on changing teaching evaluation as an example of a major change goal; however, the change strategies discussed can be used to nurture many kinds of institutional change goals. This interactive workshop will include opportunities for small group discussion organized to enable leaders in similar leadership roles (e.g., senior-level leaders; department chairs; and other unit leaders) to discuss practical application of the ideas shared in their specific contexts.

 

 

Registration is now open!

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ann Austin

Recordings of Previous Sessions

*Please Note: While this conference is intended to be face-to-face, we may offer a virtual option for remote faculty. If you have a remote appointment, please email tlpdc@ttu.edu to request a Zoom link.