Provost’s DELTA Teaching Forum

Arrival & Transportation
Check-in begins at 8:15 AM in the 2nd Floor Lobby of the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy. A light breakfast with coffee, tea, and gluten-free options will be available. Please arrive early to register before the 9:00 AM welcome remarks.

Getting Here:

• Parking: Complimentary parking is available at the San Martin and South Garages. Follow campus signage and allow time to walk to Bloomberg.
• Transit: The Homewood-Peabody-JHMI Shuttle stops near Bloomberg. For schedules, use the TransLoc app or visit JHU Transportation Services website. MTA bus routes also serve the area; see the MTA website for details.
• Accessibility: For accessible routes and entrances, refer to the accessible campus map or contact Haley Knapp, hknapp3@jhu.edu.

Opening Plenary: AI and the Future of the University

Bloomberg Room 272

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Artificial Intelligence is here, and if its evangelists are to believed, it will transform education unequivocally for the better. The AI revolution will be a mixed blessing, particularly for research universities, and it is important that we cut through the hype to think critically about these new technologies. A critical perspective on the affordances of Artificial Intelligence reveals that it poses particular threats to the traditional strengths of the university in academic integrity and teaching. With respect to academic integrity, AI poses clear and obvious threats to our ability to assess our students by making cheating as effortless as a Google search was for Gen X and Millennial students. With respect to teaching, by enabling “new ways to be lazy,” AI threatens the ability to construct thoughts and think critically. The good news, however, is that the traditional strengths of the research university offer a solution to the problems of AI hype and AI affordances that offer a pathway not just to a better university, but a better society as a whole. Join the plenary to engage in conversations about this future.

Neil Richards holds the Koch Distinguished Professorship at Washington University School of Law, where he co-directs the Cordell Institute for Policy in Medicine & Law. He is also an affiliate scholar with the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, the Harvard Berkman Klein Center and the Yale Information Society Project, and a consultant and expert in privacy cases. Professor Richards serves on the advisory board of the Future of Privacy Forum and is a member of the American Law Institute. He writes, teaches, and lectures about the regulation of the technologies powered by human information that are revolutionizing our society. He is the author of Why Privacy Matters (Oxford Press 2022) and Intellectual Privacy (Oxford Press 2015). His award-winning writings on privacy and civil liberties have appeared in wide a variety of media, from the Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal to The Guardian, WIRED, and Slate.

Communities of Practice Drive Teaching Innovation and Excellence

Presenters: Christina Collura, DO, MPH, Graduate Student, (SoEd); Rachel Levine, MD, MPH, Professor (SoM); Mariah Robertson, MD, Assistant Professor (SoM)

Bloomberg Room 278

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Communities of Practice (CoP) bring together individuals with common interests for knowledge sharing and skills development. CoP are grounded in practice and use relationship-building, collaborative learning, reflection, and feedback and coaching from trusted colleagues for problem solving. CoP are powerful tools to promote innovation, excellence and satisfaction among educators. Sustainability is a common challenge due to competing time demands and insufficient processes and planning. We provide insights and best practices from an international, interdisciplinary CoP which includes prior participants of a virtual Teaching Skills faculty development program who meet monthly to address challenges from daily teaching experiences using reflective practice.

Teaching with AI: Ethical and Responsible Integration in Higher Education

Presenters: Mohamed Hafez, MBA, Lecturer; Amardeep Dhanju, PhD, Lecturer (KSAS)

Bloomberg Room 274

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As AI reshapes education, how can we ensure its use is ethical, responsible, and beneficial for students and faculty alike? This session explores strategies for incorporating AI tools into pedagogy while upholding academic integrity, transparency, and student empowerment. We’ll discuss our AI-driven course on Artificial Intelligence, Renewable Energy, and Climate Change, highlighting best practices for fostering critical AI literacy. Attendees will gain actionable insights on ethical AI adoption, practical classroom applications, and ways to prepare students for an AI-augmented future. Join us for an engaging discussion on aligning AI with the core mission of higher education.

Preliminary Results on a Self-Tracking Time-on-Task to Encourage Self-Organization in a Course on Undergraduate Engineering Design

Presenters: Constanza Miranda, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor; Nusaybah Abu-Mulaweh, PhD, Senior Lecturer; Elena Porras, Undergraduate Student; Angela Sadlowski, Graduate Student (WSE)

Bloomberg Room 276 (10:30-11:00a)

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In response to the critical need for effective self-regulated learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, this presentation explores preliminary findings from an approach to enhancing time management skills among undergraduate engineering design students. Implemented as part of IRB-approved design-based research, a time-on-task dashboard was introduced to track and visualize students’ weekly study hours across a variety of assignments. Results highlight student perceptions of the dashboard and identify opportunities for optimizing course structure and assignment deadlines. This initiative not only addresses academic success factors but also fosters discussions on ethical data use and governance within educational settings.

HealthGuard: Revolutionizing Cybersecurity Training for Healthcare with AI and VR

Presenters: Javad Abed, PhD, CISSO, CCSP, Assistant Professor of Practice (CBS); Anton Dahbura, PhD, Associate Research Scientist (WSE); Shih-Chun (David) Lin, Associate Professor (SoM)

Bloomberg Room 276 (11:00-11:30a)

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A presentation of HealthGuard, a Provost’s DELTA grant-funded cybersecurity training platform tailored for healthcare professionals. By harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and gamification, HealthGuard delivers an immersive, adaptive learning experience. In this 30-minute session, we will showcase our work-in-progress through slides and a video demonstrating VR simulations of cyber threats, such as a ransomware attack in a virtual hospital, driven by AI-generated scenarios and enhanced with gamified elements like scoring and leaderboards. Attendees will learn how HealthGuard equips healthcare workers to combat cyberattacks, fostering a proactive cybersecurity culture. We will present development milestones, initial outcomes, and scalability plans, followed by an interactive Q&A to explore teaching applications.

Finding Your Voice: Improvisation in the Age of Brain Science

Bloomberg Room 272

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Participants will learn evidence-based improv exercises that promote neural integration, mindfulness practices targeting the default mode network, and voice work that engages the brain’s social engagement system. The session will feature performance and improvisation throughout, including excerpts from The Best Cuisine by Carlos Simon Jr. (music) and Carl DuPont (lyricist), solo piano improvisation, and collaborative piano/voice improvisation. Participants will also learn practical applications for daily teaching: 

• Quick improv exercises to reset the nervous system during class 

• Voice practices that regulate the vagus nerve for stress management 

• Collaborative exercises promoting social brain development 

This session integrates improvisation, self-care, and mindfulness to create lasting changes in how we teach, connect, and express ourselves while highlighting the neuroscience behind it. Participants will understand the “why” and “how” of using these techniques for sustainable teaching practice. Through experiential learning and concrete strategies, educators will learn to harness their brain’s natural capacity for adaptation, creativity, and resilience. Research shows that improvisation activates neural networks that enhance creativity, reduce anxiety, and strengthen social connections. This neural shift allows for spontaneous self-expression and reduces self-judgment; these pathways enable us to flourish instead of careening toward burnout.  

Carl DuPont is an artist, innovator, and educator dedicated to Transformational Inclusion in the arts and Care of the Professional Voice. His articles can be found in the Oxford University Press: American National Biography, The Laryngoscope and the Voice and Speech Review. His voice can be heard on the world premiere recordings of the Caldara Mass in A Major, The Death of Webern, and his solo album of art songs by Black composers entitled The Reaction. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (BM), Indiana University (MM), and the University of Miami (DMA). Carl is an associate professor of voice at the Peabody Institute and teaches Executive Education at the Carey Business School of the Johns Hopkins University. 

Professor DuPont will be accompanied by Richard Johnson, an Associate Professor of Jazz at Peabody. Richard Johnson has cultivated a rich and pedigreed musical background, being schooled by some of the most legendary jazz musicians and studying at the most esteemed institutions of music. After receiving a scholarship and graduating from the Berklee School of Music in just two years, Johnson earned a master’s degree in jazz pedagogy from the Boston Conservatory. He then went on to receive an Artist Performance Diploma at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at the New England Conservatory under the direction of the influential Ron Carter. Johnson currently serves as an associate professor at Peabody. 

Birds of a Feather Topics

• Open Discussion
• Accessibility and Accommodations
• Artificial Intelligence
• Assessment
• Teaching Strategies
• Perspectives: Dialogue in Classrooms
• REACTS: Classroom Analytics Tool

Inclusive Teaching: Let’s Learn through Jeopardy!

Presenters: Toni Picker, MS, Sr. Learning & Systems Integration Designer (WSE); Celine Greene, MEd, Sr. Digital Teaching & Learning Strategist (BSPH)

Bloomberg Room 274

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To promote inclusive teaching, we propose an engaging Jeopardy-style game focused on practices for creating classrooms where every learner feels valued. The question sets are focused on equitable, accessible, respectful, and welcoming instructional strategies. Participants will play as teams, competing to answer questions specific to assessments, communication, and group work. The session facilitators will lead the teams, fostering a fun, low stakes learning environment that deepens educators’ understanding of inclusivity in practice. This activity will empower educators to create and maintain academic experiences that nurture student engagement, persistence, satisfaction, and retention.

Reimagining the Curriculum—from Insight to Action: Prioritizing Student Well-Being for Effective Learning

Presenters: Leslie Bauman, PhD, Jr. Lecturer; Maria Bulzacchelli, PhD, Director (KSAS)

Bloomberg Room 276

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Last year, we began a conversation about the role of academia in supporting student mental health as a foundation for effective learning. This year, we shift our focus to action. Drawing from our Well-Being Lab pilot and undergraduate focus groups, we share candid insights from students navigating burnout, demanding schedules, and underutilized support systems. While academic rigor remains essential, students are also seeking structured opportunities for connection, collaboration, and interpersonal support within their educational experience. In this session, we’ll explore how structured, peer-supported learning spaces can enrich the curriculum—and invite discussion around practical strategies for bringing this model to life across disciplines and institutional contexts.

Fostering Critical Thinking in the STEM Classroom

Presenters: Sunita Thyagarajan, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor; Christov Roberson, PhD, Senior Lecturer; Reid Mumford, PhD, Instructor (KSAS); Eileen Haase, PhD, Teaching Professor; Jenna Frye, MA, MFA, Sr. Lecturer, MA, MFA; Steven Marra, PhD, Teaching Professor (WSE)

Bloomberg Room 475

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Students increasingly face challenges with critical thinking skills in the classroom; they struggle with the ability to conceptualize content, apply their knowledge to new problems and connect ideas between subjects or the broader picture. Our goal in this panel discussion is to address this concern and share our experiences in the classroom that demonstrate this lack of critical thinking skills and approaches we use to tackle this issue.

One University, One Online Teaching Resource: Canvas Teaching Training Modules, Customizable for Your Hopkins Division

Presenters: Caroline Egan, PhD, Program Manager; Kelly Clark, MS, Director; Amy Brusini, MS, Sr. Instructional Designer; Charlee Dulaney, MS, Sr. Instructional Technologist; Beth Hals, MEd, Sr. Instructional Technologist (KSAS); Donna Schnupp, MA, Assistant Director (CBS); Jennifer Stawasz, MS, Instructional Designer (SAIS)

Bloomberg Room 274

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Do you need pre-developed and easily accessible teaching development resources to orient new instructors and/or improve your current teaching practices? The Customizable Canvas Modules initiative is developing a series of teaching modules, existing in Canvas Commons, that all divisions can import and tailor to their specific training and professional development needs. The session will provide an introduction to the modules, explain how one division plans to incorporate the customized teaching modules into its existing faculty development offerings, and offer participants the opportunity to import completed modules and modify them as necessary.

Considering COI and UDL as Partners in Emotional Presence

Presenters: Celine Greene, MEd, Sr. Digital Teaching & Learning Strategist (BSPH); Mia Lamm, MEd, Sr. Instructional Designer; Keri McAvoy, Instructional Design Support Specialist (BSPH)

Bloomberg Room 475 (2:45-3:15p)

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We propose using the Community of Inquiry (COI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) frameworks to positively impact learning. Specifically, we will look to the frameworks in supporting inclusive emotional presence in an online classroom. Participants will reflect on their current practices and discover how using the frameworks as complementary tools can result in stronger and more impactful teaching strategies. We hope to inspire a thirst to learn more about these frameworks and expand our instructional toolboxes.

Designing Courses: Tips on Making Yours Accessible Using the Universal Design for Learning Approach

Presenters: Kamran Rasul, MS, Assistive Technology/Alternate Format Specialist; Amber Murphy, MA, Assistant Director for Communication Access (SHWB – Student Disability Services)

Bloomberg Room 475 (3:15-3:45p)

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Disability is the largest minority group; it intersects with other identities and can affect anyone at any time through illness or injury. Proactively considering disability in our course design and daily interactions is essential: inclusive innovation in the future begins with an inclusive education today. This presentation will focus on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and its support for students with disabilities. SDS experts will share information and resources to help faculty maximize accessibility practices upfront within their courses using the UDL framework as a model. Attendees will gain practical insights and resources for designing and delivering accessible course materials.

Development of Teaching & Training Modules for Translational Neurosurgery Research

Presenters: Emre Derin, Research Program Assistant (SoM); Sola Oladosu, Graduate Student (WSE); Hasan Slika, MD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (SoM); Joey Chan, BS, Graduate Student (WSE)

Bloomberg Room 276 (2:45-3:15p)

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Mentorship and nurturing scientific curiosity have been a staple of the Hunterian Neurosurgical Laboratory experience for decades. As technology transforms training practices across many paradigms, the laboratory created a series of online modules that serve as a teaching and reference guide for both new and experienced researchers. By leveraging an interdisciplinary approach, we were able to pursue the development of these modules and find that such a tool has potential to be expand teaching efficiency in a versatile manner. We seek to demonstrate the current functionality of the modules, discuss progress and offer insights regarding the planning and development workflow.

Practical Magnetic Resonance Imaging For All: Learning Through Building and Playing

Presenter: Sairam Geethanath, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor (SoM)

Bloomberg Room 276 (3:15-3:45p)

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a life-saving technology that has demonstrated benefits in clinical practice and basic sciences across different diseases and anatomies. However, two-thirds of the world does not have access to MRI. Practical MR education is critical for its appropriate use, sustenance, and advancement. Our overarching goal is to overcome the challenge of access to practical MRI for all through open-source educational tools using accessible digital platforms like the internet. This project aims at delivering cutting-edge curriculum using an online game-based digital platform that allows students to build and play with their own educational MR scanner.

Student Perspectives on High-Impact Assessments: A Panel Discussion

Bloomberg Room 272

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Join us for a candid discussion on what makes an assignment or class project “high-impact” from the student perspective—and how we can better support transformative learning across disciplines. Panelists will reflect on meaningful experiences and offer feedback to inform future program development.

Panelists include:

• David Manzanares-Salguero, Graduate Student in Performance and Pedagogy (Peabody)
• Nadine Shill, Graduate Student in Computational and Applied Mathematics (WSE)
• Madeleine Grabarczyk, Undergraduate Student in Classics and English (KSAS)
• Deanna Portero, Dual MPH/MBA Student (BSPH/CBS)