Sarah Purcell presents on Georgia Dentel

Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

The Mission of the CTLA

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment cultivates communities of inquiry and practice to promote excellent teaching, learning, and scholarship in the liberal arts. We nurture the learning environment of Grinnell College by fostering conversation and reflection at the intersection of pedagogy, the scholarship of teaching and learning, instructional design, and academic technologies. We advance practices of teaching and learning that are accessible, inclusive, and grounded in the best available evidence.

Community Friday, April 17: “The Grinnell College Brand: Research and Future Direction,” with Ellen de Graffenreid

HSSC A1231
noon—1 p.m.
Lunch buffet will open at 11:45 a.m.
Virtual: Watch livestream on Webex
Please RSVP by April 14 at this link: Community Friday RVSP for April 17

Ellen de Graffenreid

Faculty and staff are cordially invited to Community Friday on April 17 when we welcome Ellen de Graffenreid, vice president of communications and marketing. How can Grinnell College tell an authentic, consistent, and compelling story to our many audiences? Join this Community Friday to hear what we’ve learned from market research, focus groups, and audience feedback and how these insights will shape how we tell our story in the future. In this session, you’ll have the opportunity to preview the brand framework that has emerged and think about how your work can help tell the authentic story of Grinnell.

 The CTLA thanks the Office of Communications and Marketing for their generous support of this event.

The lunch buffet will open at 11:45 a.m. in HSSC A1231. Thank you for bringing your reusable flatware to cut down on plastic waste. The spring Community Friday schedule is available on the CLTA website at Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.

Recently at Community Friday

Joyce Stern facilitates a discussion of advising at Grinnell
Leslie Lemire presents at Community Friday

Leslie Lemire leads a conversation on liberal arts and the job market.

Jose Cerecedo Lopez presenting at Community Friday

Jose Cerecedo Lopez leads a workshop on building consensus ... sponsored by the Wilson Center.

Dan Kaiser presents at Community Friday

Professor Emeritus of History Dan Kaiser speaks on the life and legacy of Laetitia Moon Conard.

Iyelli Ichile

Guest presenter Iyelli Ichile leads a Black Sacred Arts Pedagogy workshop.

Megan Baldree and Beth Perlman presenting at Community Friday

Megan Baldree and Beth Perlman discuss the resources available to care for student health and well-being.

traditional vs. flipped models for learning

Jonathan Wells, Assistant Professor of Statistics, discusses principles of flipped learning.

David Harrison presenting at Community Friday

Professor of French David Harrison on "Languages and the Liberal Arts."

Joyce Stern presenting at Community Friday on October 10, 2025

Director of Student Success Joyce Stern speaks on Grinnell students and the current job market.

Panel at queer/trans pedagogy event for Community Friday

John Petrus, Jordan Reznick, stef torralba, and Micho Adler in a conversation about queer and trans pedagogy.

PM Osera presenting on generative AI

P.M. Osera reports on the work of the AI, Pedagogy, and Curriculum task force.

Sarah Purcell presents at Community Friday

Professor of History Sarah Purcell shares her work on Georgia Dentel and the power of collaboration.

Todd Armstrong presents at Community Friday, Sept. 12, 2025

Todd Armstrong speaks about the history of the Grinnell College Garden.

Events, Programs, and Resources

Community Friday with Joseph Tucker Edmonds

Spring 2026 Community Fridays

Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Humanities and Social Studies Center, Room A1231, from noon to 1 p.m. Lunch is served beginning at 11:45 a.m. 

  • Jan. 23: “The Shared Responsibility of Student Success,” with Jerry Seaman, Gemma Sala, Joyce Stern, Ben Newhouse, JC Lopez, and Mark Peltz.
     
  • Jan. 30: “The Liberal Arts: A Conversation,” a structured conversation led by Jerry Seaman, with faculty panelists Todd Armstrong, Paul Hutchinson, Carolyn Jacobson, and Elaine Marzluff [note: this event will be held in JRC101].
     
  • Feb. 6: ”Leave My Keys on the TV: Family Dynamics and the Sexual Selfhood Development of Black Gay Men,” with Marlon M. Bailey of Washington University, sponsored by Thabiti Willis.
     
  • Feb. 13: ”The Art of Building Consensus: A Workshop,” with Jose Cerecado Lopez, Elon University. Sponsored by the Wilson Center
     
  • Feb. 20: “The AAUP (American Association of University Professors) and Its Role Supporting Teaching and Research,” with Adey Almohsen, John Petrus, and Sharon Quinsaat.
     
  • Feb. 27: ”Sustainability at Grinnell College,” with Liz Queathem and Chris Bair [note: this event will be held in JRC 101].
     
  • March 6: ”Helping Students Sell the Liberal Arts on the Job Market,” with Leslie Lemire, Mark Peltz, and Dustin Dixon [note: this event will be held in JRC 101].
     
  • April 3: “The Best Thing I Do as an Adviser,” with Danielle Lussier, Kate Ferraro, Jonathan (Nate) Wells, and Stephanie Jones.
     
  • April 10: “Tutorial: Past, Present, Future,” with Wayne Moyer, Marion Tricoire, and Amanda Preperato.
     
  • April 17: "The Grinnell College Brand: Research and Future Direction," with Ellen de Graffenreid.
     
  • April 24: ”The Grinnell College Preschool Laboratory: Transformative Scientific Research and Early Childhood Education,” with Ann Ellis and Karen Veerhusen Langerud.
     
  • May 1: “Five Data Points on Student Success, Well-Being, and Belonging,” with Andi Tracy and Jen Jacobsen.
     
  • May 8: ”DLAC Teaching with Technology Fair,” sponsored by the Digital Liberal Arts Collaborative. [note: this event will be held in JRC 101].
Faculty discussion at Teaching with Technology Fair

Faculty Resources

Faculty workshop led by Kevin Gannon

Summer Workshops

Faculty/staff workshops for summer 2026 are currently being planned. The schedule will be released later in the spring semester, at which time faculty and staff will have the opportunity to enroll in workshops of interest. If you have any questions, please contact the CLTA (Karla Hall or Erik Simpson). For more details, see the Summer Workshop web page.

The schedule of summer 2025 workshops is shown below.

  • May 20, 21, 22: Psychology Department Curriculum Assessment Workshop (Psychology faculty only)
     
  • May 27, 28, 29, 30: Advising a Career-Anxious Student Body
     
  • June 2, 3, 4: Academic Freedom
     
  • June 2, 3, 4: What does AI Mean to Our Community at Grinnell College?
     
  • June 9, 10, 11, 12: Your Students' Writing Process and Generative AI: A Marriage Made in Heaven or Hell?
     
  • June 16, 17, 18: High Performance Computing: Resources and Strategies for Teaching and Research
     
  • June 17, 18, 20: Commenting on Student Writing: Strategies and Best Practices
     
  • June 23, 24, 25, 26: Climate Change and the Grinnell College Curriculum
     
  • June 30, July 1, 2: Flipping the Grinnell Classroom
     
  • June 5, 12, 26, July 10, 17: Grantwriting and Proposal Development: Seeking Funding for Research and Pedagogy
     
  • July 21, 22, 23, 24 25: Tutorial Summer Workshop
     
  • July 29, 30, 31: Teaching and Learning in Prison
     
  • August 4, 5, 6: Open Educational Practices and Your Curriculum
     
  • August 5, 6, 7: Restorative Practices: Peacemaking Circle Training
     
  • August 11, 12, 13: Languages and the Future of the Liberal Arts: Three Perspectives
     
  • August 11, 12, 14: Designing and Sequencing Writing and Research Assignments
     
  • August 18, 19, 20: Peace and Conflict Studies in a Time of Global Crises and Insecurity

Scenes of Teaching and Learning at Grinnell College

Professor Elias Saba leads a class activity in a religious studies course

Professor Elias Saba and students in a class activity in a religious studies course.

Kristen Burson and students in research lab

Professor Kristen Burson works with students in her physics research lab.

poster presentation
Physics Professor Charlotte Christiansen demonstrating a concept at the chalkboard.

Physics Professor Charlotte Christiansen explains concepts during class.

Phil Jones tutorial students
Grinnell College Mock Trial team

The Grinnell College Mock Trial team.

On a day to day basis the CTLA works to

  • Support the development of teachers and learners through consultations, tutorials, and workshops at the course and curricular levels
     
  • Build a culture of reflection, engagement, and celebration around liberal arts teaching and learning through programming such as Community Friday lunch and the annual Teaching with Technology Fair
     
  • Welcome new faculty members to the Grinnell College learning community through New Faculty Orientation and ongoing programs of faculty development
     
  • Promote assessment of course, department, and college-wide learning outcomes through consultations and reviews of department-level assessment practices
  • Integrate established and emerging digital technologies, methods, and practices into teaching, learning, and scholarship through the Digital Liberal Arts Collaborative
     
  • Administer major elements of the digital campus infrastructure for teaching and learning, such as the Sites@Grinnell platform for web hosting and digital publishing
     
  • Provide training and support for classroom technologies and hardware/software applications such as Story Maps, Hypothes.is, and WeVideo
     
  • Collaborate with campus partners such as the Libraries, ITS, and DASIL, and coordinate campus-wide initiatives such as the Vivero Digital Scholarship Fellows program

Contact Information

Phone
641-269-3020

Humanities and Social Studies Center, S1370
1226 Park Street
Grinnell, IA 50112
United States

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