Register
You are welcome to attend the sessions that best align with your interests and needs.
Events
Teaching and Development Sessions
There will be regular development workshops, brainstorming sessions, and small group gatherings to discuss our community of teaching.
If you would like to suggest a topic or a specific speaker, email nyuad.hbctl@nyu.edu
Upcoming Events
Spring 2026
Week Zero Spring 2026: Teaching, Learning, and AI with Students in Mind
We invite you to join HBCTL’s Week Zero Workshops, an in person, pre semester series focused on shared teaching and learning challenges across disciplines. Each workshop offers practical, research informed strategies to support student engagement, inclusive teaching practices, and AI cognizant course design. These sessions also create space to connect with colleagues and learn from one another.
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Recommended for: new faculty and academic staff and anyone who wants to learn more about GenAI tools and how to integrate them into teaching & research
Description:
What Generative AI tools are available on campus? How do they differ, and how should you use them? Which tools do your students have access to?
Join us for a hands-on workshop learning about Generative AI tools and services at NYU Abu Dhabi. This session is designed to keep you informed about the available options and to better equip you to engage in conversations with students about AI, whether or not you choose to use these tools. We’ll talk about Generative AI platforms such as Gemini, NotebookLM, ChatGPT Edu, and others and explain what each tool is and how they differ in capabilities and features. We will also highlight practical teaching use cases and sample prompts, with time built in for hands-on exploration.
Facilitator:Chenyu Yi, Research Associate and Special Advisor on AI and Technology
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Learning happens when students feel safe, see relevance, and are appropriately challenged. This one hour workshop offers practical, easy to integrate strategies for learning about students early in the semester and using that insight to design engaging and effective learning experiences from day one. The session also creates space for faculty to share strategies they find effective and connect across disciplines.
Facilitators:
Jamie Whelan, Associate Director of HBCTL; Associate Lecturer in Chemistry
Evgeniya Efremova, Director, HBCTL
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Students want to use generative AI to support their learning and future readiness, yet often lack sufficient guidance to make informed decisions, especially when expectations differ across courses and disciplines. As a result, students may turn to AI not to avoid learning, but to cope with skills gaps, workload, or uncertainty in ways that can undermine learning and diverge from faculty intentions.
This workshop invites faculty to reflect on how and why students are using AI, what students need to know to become AI cognizant learners while maintaining foundational skills, and how to make course specific AI expectations clear and learnable. Through common classroom cases such as brainstorming, writing, and problem solving, participants will explore how faculty and students can work together to navigate the uncertainty AI introduces while preserving rigor and academic integrity.
Facilitator:
Evgeniya Efremova, Director, HBCLT
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Many of us across disciplines are noticing that students struggle to analyze ideas, sustain discussions, or work through the complexity of assigned readings. This workshop examines how students are actually using AI to support reading and why these emerging practices can unintentionally weaken critical thinking. We will also explore what motivates students to engage more deeply with texts. Grounded in the realities of student decision making and learning behavior, the session supports faculty in rethinking reading assignments in ways that foster authentic engagement and durable understanding.
Facilitators:
Neelam Hanif, Writing Instructor, NYUAD Writing Center
Evgeniya Efremova, Director, HBCTL -
This interactive session supports faculty in integrating AI literacy into their courses as an extension of information literacy and scholarly practice. Participants will explore key components of AI literacy, such as critical evaluation, authorship and attribution, bias, limitations, and ethical use, and reflect on how students can develop responsible, context-aware approaches to AI use. The session includes a brief AI literacy overview, guided assignment reflection, group discussion, and concrete examples of how the NYUAD Library can partner with faculty to support AI literacy.
Facilitators:
Amani Magid, Academic Librarian for Engineering; AI Initiatives and Reference Services Coordinator
Grace Adeneye, Assistant Academic Librarian for the Arts, Outreach and Community Engagement
Rebecca Hastie, Assistant Academic Librarian for Instruction, First-Year Experience and Student Success
Past Events
HBCTL Fall 2025
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Thursday, November 27, 2025 | 2:10-3:25 PM GST | Campus Center (C2), Floor 3, Faculty Hub, Library, Room 341
The Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with the Office of the Provost, invites faculty and academic staff to critically explore how ChatGPT Edu’s new features influence teaching and learning.
In this hands-on session, you’ll build your first custom GPT designed to help students’ understanding using the Socratic method and guided questioning. Working within your own disciplinary context, you’ll experiment with prompt design, personalization, and iteration to shape your GPT’s tone, depth, and responsiveness. Together, we’ll analyze how these design choices affect the quality of dialogue and the balance between productive engagement and over-reliance on AI-generated responses.
This workshop is for all faculty and academic staff who want to experiment with creating a simple custom GPT in ChatGPT Edu to better understand its capabilities and limits for teaching. Prior attendance at Session 1 or basic familiarity with ChatGPT Edu features is helpful but not required.
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Thursday, November 28, 2025 | 8:30-12:00 PM GST | Campus Center (C2), Floor 3, Faculty Hub, Library, Room 341
The Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with the Office of the Provost, invites faculty and academic staff to critically explore how ChatGPT Edu’s new features influence teaching and learning.
Step into a hands-on, low-pressure sandbox where you’ll identify a teaching or learning challenge and build your GPT to prototype solutions. Play, create, and iterate, tailoring prompts and features to your teaching needs. Share your prototypes, explore colleagues’ ideas, and spark fresh approaches for your courses.
The Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning team will be on hand to support you individually throughout the session.
This event is for all faculty and academic staff who want to tackle a teaching or classroom challenge and explore how ChatGPT Edu can help. Attending Session 1 is highly recommended.
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The Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of Undergraduate Education invite you to a conversation about in-person exams, proctoring, and academic integrity as we approach final exam week.
Details:
- Date: Thursday, December 4, 2025
- Time: 2:10 - 3:30pm
- Location: Faculty Hub, NYUAD Library
This session offers a space for faculty and academic staff to bring questions and case examples as they navigate exam-related decisions, consider exam proctoring guidelines, and address common academic integrity concerns. Our aim is to create a supportive environment where colleagues can reflect together on fair and consistent approaches to managing exams.
Session format:
Faculty panel discussion with an opportunity to share your questions or cases in advance when you register.
Case analysis and small-group discussion applying the guidelines, exchanging strategies, and identifying areas that may need further clarification.
Panelists:
Dania Zantout, Lecturer of Mathematics
Camilla Boisen, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Academic Planning; Senior Lecturer of Writing
Lolowa Al Marzooqi, Associate Vice Provost, Office of Undergraduate Education
HBCTL Week Zero Series - Fall 2025
The HBCTL WeekZero Series provides NYUAD faculty and instructors with a selection of teaching-related support sessions from colleagues across the institution and guest specialists. All these sessions are conducted in person. Kindly RSVP to the sessions to help us arrange for sustainable catering options.
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Thursday, August 21, 2025 | 10:30-11:30am GST | Campus Center (C2), Floor 3, Faculty Hub, Library, Room 340
Faculty play a critical role in shaping students’ research skills within their disciplines.
This workshop offers practical strategies for building on that foundation by intentionally scaffolding research skill development throughout a course. Participants will explore ways to sequence research tasks, design assignments that support inquiry at each stage, and guide students through common research challenges.
By weaving research instruction into coursework, faculty can help students become more confident, independent researchers while deepening engagement with course content.
Join us for a collaborative session focused on enhancing how students learn to ask questions, find information, and build knowledge in your field.
Facilitated by
Grace Adeneye, Assistant Academic Librarian for the Arts, Outreach and Community EngagementRebecca Hastie, Assistant Academic Librarian for Instruction, First-Year Experience and Student Success
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Thursday, August 21, 2025 | 1-2:30pm GST | Campus Center (C2), Floor 3, Faculty Hub, Library, Room 340
Even the most capable students can struggle with time management, effective note-taking, study strategies, and organizing their academic lives—skills that are often assumed to be in place, but frequently are not. This workshop focuses on practical, research-informed approaches to help faculty support students in building these foundational skills.
Rather than adding to your workload, we’ll look at ways these strategies can be embedded into existing teaching routines—reinforcing course content while supporting student learning and persistence. The session includes hands-on activities to help you adapt these techniques to your own courses, and you’ll leave with concrete tools and a personalized plan.
Facilitated by
Jamie Whelan, Associate Lecturer in Chemistry -
Thursday, August 21, 2025 | 2:45-4pm GST | Campus Center (C2), Floor 3, Faculty Hub, Library, Room 340
What do you value in “good” academic writing? What do you see your students struggling to do well when you ask them to write? (And what are they doing so swiftly they think they are doing it well, whether they are or not?)
Generative AI has disrupted the way we teach writing. But key practices from the field of composition can help teachers ground their practices in resilient pedagogical moves that will help student writers thrive.
This workshop is designed for teachers new to NYUAD– and all of us new to teaching writing in the age of generative AI. We will focus on questions of authority, authenticity, and acknowledgements as we shift our focus from teaching writing to teaching writers.
Facilitated by
Marion Wrenn, Executive Director of Writing; Senior Lecturer of Writing and Literature & Creative Writing -
Thursday, August 21, 2025 | 4:15-5:15pm GST | Campus Center (C2), Floor 3, Faculty Hub, Library, Room 340
Research in STEM education consistently shows that active student engagement produces better learning outcomes compared to more traditional passive lecture-based approaches.
This interactive session will present practical strategies to enhance student engagement, even in larger classes. Drawing on Professor Tillotson’s expertise with Learning Catalytics, participants will explore innovative methods for using in-class polling to promote peer instruction and even facilitate collaborative group exams.
The session will include a hands-on simulation of such an exam, allowing attendees to experience these techniques from the student’s perspective.Facilitated by
Andy Tillotson, Senior Lecturer of Physics
HBCTL TeachTalkAD Series — Spring 2025
The HBCTL TeachTalkAD Series provides NYUAD faculty and instructors with a selection of teaching-related innovation sessions. Contributors are experts from within our NYU global community, across Abu Dhabi, and around the world. RSVP to receive the respective link for Zoom sessions. RSVP to the in-person sessions so we can ensure sustainable catering options.
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February 12, 2025 | 5:15-6:30pm GST - Teaching to Support Fundamental Academic Skills
Campus Center (C2), Faculty Hub, Library, Room 341
In this workshop, faculty will explore practical strategies to help students strengthen their academic skills such as studying, organizing, time management, and taking effective notes. These skills, often assumed to be learned “somewhere else”, are crucial for students’ success but are sometimes underdeveloped. By embedding these practices in daily teaching routines, faculty can help students improve learning strategies, retain course material, and manage their workload more effectively. This workshop includes hands-on activities that allow faculty to develop tools they can easily integrate into their courses. Faculty will leave with a clear plan to support students’ foundational skills and long-term academic success. Colleagues from the Student Wellness and Persistence Office will be on hand to detail the ways in which they support NYUAD Students as well.
Speaker
Jamie Whalen, Lecturer Chemistry -
March 4, 2025 | 12:45-2pm GST - Activating Brightspace Tools for Blended Learning
Virtual: This event will take place online via Zoom. Please RSVP to receive the meeting link.
Unlock the full potential of Brightspace to enhance your blended learning courses! Join us for an interactive workshop where you'll brush up on familiar tools and discover new features to engage your students more effectively.
In this hands-on Zoom session, we'll cover:
- Key Brightspace tools to streamline your course design
- Strategies to integrate content, assignments, and discussions
- Best practices for fostering collaboration and communication in blended environments
- Tips for grading, feedback, and tracking student progress
Whether you're new to Brightspace or looking to refresh your skills, this session will empower you to create dynamic and efficient learning experiences. Don't miss out—register today and take your teaching to the next level!
Speaker
Nancy Gleason, Executive Director, Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning, Professor of Practice of Political Science, NYUAD -
March 20, 2025 | 11:30am-12:30pm GST - Giving Timely and Effective Feedback
Virtual: This event will take place online via Zoom. Please RSVP to receive the meeting link.
As faculty, we take pride in knowing our feedback on student work plays a role in developing their critical-thinking skills and continuous improvement. Effective feedback helps enrich students' experience and move their learning forward. It fosters student engagement, enhances learning outcomes, and supports reflective practices. Providing meaningful feedback is also a significant investment of time and effort, and there is occasionally a concern that students may focus primarily on the letter grade rather than fully engaging with the constructive comments designed to support their growth. Join this session to learn more about the differences between formative and summative feedback, the elements of effective feedback, and evidence-based best practices to deliver it. We will also discuss strategies to make writing feedback more time-efficient.
Open to NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai Faculty
Speaker
Evgeniya Efremova, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Clinical Assistant Professor of Teaching and Learning, NYU Shanghai
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April 8, 2025 | 5:30-6:45pm - Addressing Grade Appeals: Setting Expectations
Faculty Hub, C2 3rd Floor, Room 341
In this interactive, one-hour workshop, you’ll learn practical approaches to reduce grade grubbing and manage grade-related conversations effectively. NYUAD has released a new grade appeals policy and faculty will have an opportunity to discuss this together. We’ll focus on small, achievable changes like refining grading rubrics, setting clear expectations, and framing grade discussions to emphasize learning. Through interactive activities, you’ll explore transparent grading practices, effective feedback techniques, and ways to shift student focus from grades to growth. Dinner will be provided.
Speakers:
- Alya Al Zaabi, Student Assistant at the Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning
- Alberto Gandolfi, Associate Director of Faculty Teaching Development, NYUAD Center for Faculty Advancement; Professor of Practice in Mathematics
- Nancy Gleason, Executive Director, Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning, Professor of Practice of Political Science