聽support international, multi-institutional and multidisciplinary research on focused topics in engaged learning. Each seminar brings together 20 to 24 scholars from higher education institutions around the world who collaborate over two academic years, including three summer meetings at Elon. Led by a team of聽scholars聽with聽expertise聽in the seminar topic, participants work聽together聽in smaller research teams to develop collaborative studies designed to advance research on engaged learning that can be applied across institutional and disciplinary contexts.聽Elon students, serving as聽, also contribute to the leadership of the seminars and collaborate with participants throughout the research process.

The three summer meetings guide participants through the research process. During the first meeting, participants form smaller research teams, develop research questions and create plans for collecting data during the following academic year. At the second meeting, teams聽return聽to Elon聽with聽their data and focus on analysis and聽next聽steps. The third and final meeting centers on sharing findings at CEL鈥檚 annual聽聽and developing plans to聽circulate聽the research more broadly.聽This summer offered a snapshot of that full process, with one seminar at each stage.

First, in late June, participants in聽聽returned to Elon for their third and final summer meeting. Research teams shared findings from their multi-institutional studies and continued developing plans for publications and other forms of聽going聽public with their research.聽The seminar was led by Caroline Ketcham, associate dean for STEAM and operations for Elon College, the College of Arts & Sciences, and professor of exercise science; Kira Campagna 鈥�26; Ben Krasnow 鈥�27;聽Kaz Kelly 鈥�27; and Jessie L. Moore, Director of CEL and Professor of English: Professional Writing & Rhetoric.

The seminar鈥檚 focus also shaped the theme of this year鈥檚聽Conference on Engaged Learning, which welcomes members of the Elon community and聽educators聽from other institutions. Seminar participants presented their research throughout the conference, and the聽聽delivered the . On the final day,聽聽employee experience and culture expert, delivered聽a聽聽focused on cognitive equity and designing聽learning聽environments that recognize and support聽different ways聽of thinking, processing, and contributing.

Then, in early July, CEL welcomed participants in聽聽for their first summer meeting. Participants formed research teams, developed questions about generative AI and engaged learning, and designed plans for collecting data during the coming academic year.聽The 2026-2028 research seminar is led by Amanda Sturgill, associate professor of journalism; Aaron Trocki, associate professor of mathematics;聽Matthew Cornick 鈥�29, Mariama Kindie Jalloh 鈥�28; and Chiebuka Tor 鈥�28.

Finally, in mid-July, participants in聽returned to Elon for their second summer meeting. Having collected data during the聽previous聽academic year, teams spent their week together analyzing聽their findings and developing plans for the next stages of their research.聽The 2025-2027 research seminar is led by聽Ashley J. Holmes, associate vice provost for teaching and learning at Oregon State University, and author of聽“; Susan Hrach, a professional coach and author of聽Minding Bodies; Lauren Kearns, Maude Sharpe Powell Professor and professor of dance; Phillip Motley, professor of communication design and director, of graduate programs for the School of Communications;聽Sanai Crosby 鈥�28; and Amelia Weaver 鈥�28.

The work of the Research Seminars continues throughout the academic year as participants聽return to their home institutions,聽collect and analyze data, collaborate聽virtually, and work toward sharing their findings with the broader higher education community.

Interested in joining a future聽CEL Research Seminar? Applications for the next聽research聽seminar聽will open later this fall. Learn more about past, current and future seminars and conferences visit.

鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to launch Elon Collect because it gives us a shared digital home for the intellectual and cultural life of the university,鈥� states Dean & University Librarian of Carol Grotnes Belk Library Brian Mathews. 鈥淚t will preserve important pieces of Elon鈥檚 institutional history while also providing lasting access to faculty and student scholarship, creative work, research, reports, teaching materials and other significant contributions. In that sense, it is both an archive of where Elon has been and an infrastructure for where we are going.鈥�

What is Elon Collect?

Elon Collect is an institutional repository, which is a digital system that is used to disseminate scholarly works created at a single institution. However, Elon Collect鈥檚 scope expands more broadly, allowing data and archival materials to stand in conversation with scholarship.

Elon Collect is home to three distinct overarching collections: Elon Works, Elon Data, and University Archives & Special Collections.

• Elon Works is a centralized hub to showcase the research, scholarly, creative and teaching-focused work created across campus.
• Elon Data is home to data created and collected by students, faculty and staff.
• University Archives & Special Collections is the new location for curated images, documents, and ephemera from Elon, church, and local history from Belk Library’s .

Anyone currently associated with 福利亚洲国产精品 is eligible to deposit works into the Elon Works and Elon Data collections to enhance reach and visibility, both around campus and worldwide.

Elon Collect worked with three campus partners鈥搕he , the , and the Digital and Spatial Humanities Consortium鈥搕o showcase examples of faculty and staff work and ensure a smooth campus launch on Aug. 14. Additionally, posters from the have been included to provide examples of how student work can be shared.

What are the benefits & features of Elon Collect?

鈥淓lon Collect will empower faculty, staff, and students to better disseminate and promote their work, exercise their rights as authors, and contribute to conversations in research, creative practice, and teaching and learning,” said Coordinator of Research and Publishing and Associate Librarian Jesse Akman. “Moreover, Elon Collect will simplify grant compliance, improve discoverability for Elon journals and publications, and strengthen internal communications and institutional memory.鈥�

One of the core goals of Elon Collect is to provide wider access to works created on Elon鈥檚 campus. With Google Scholar indexing, any work deposited can be discovered by researchers worldwide. Through Creative Commons license options, Elon creators can more precisely describe how others may use their work. However, for those who may not want their work to be available worldwide, Elon Collect also provides other access options, including embargos to make public at a later date or internal access to only Elon users.

The system can also mint DOIs, or digital object identifiers, to provide a persistent identifier that acts as a stable, permanent link back to the work. DOIs help to standardize citations, especially for users outside of Elon.

Elon Collect also provides Author Profiles, a centralized portfolio for all works in the repository alongside research interests and external publications. The Author Profiles provide comparative statistics for every work connected to the profile owner, making it even easier to find and share the impact of your work.

鈥淎s we enter the final years of Boldly Elon and consider what it means to “Rise,” Elon Collect will help position the university for a future where our authors’ works are preserved and accessible, their rights are protected, and our campus is more enmeshed in scholarly communications than ever before,鈥� said Akman.

What can I submit to Elon Collect?

Elon Collect accepts a variety of deposits from current faculty, staff and students.

鈥淓lon Collect expands beyond the scope of a traditional institutional repository to capture the full breadth of work being created on campus today,鈥� said Emma Powell, archivist and assistant librarian and manager of Elon Collect. 鈥淗istorically, the 福利亚洲国产精品 Archives and Special Collections has only collected undergraduate honors theses. This is an exciting opportunity to diversify the works we share.鈥�

Works that can be deposited include, but are not limited to:

• Campus-based publications鈥攕erial outputs created and published by campus centers like journals or podcast series
• Conference-based works鈥攚orks like posters or presentations created for or presented at a disciplinary conference
• Creative works鈥攐utputs from those working/studying in creative fields like artwork, choreography, creative writing, filmmaking and original music compositions
• Data, software and code
• Grey literature鈥攄ocuments created to be shared but not be published through traditional means like reports and white papers
• Open publications鈥攚orks that have been formally published like book chapters and journal articles, and have Open Access (OA) or self-archiving (Green OA) options
• Student works鈥攚orks completed solely by students that have original writing or research and should be shared beyond the classroom like theses and capstones or SURF and SURE posters and presentations
• Teaching and learning materials鈥攚orks created for use in the classroom that may be reused and/or adapted by others, like assignments, lectures or other OERs

鈥淢any of our new areas of collecting reflect the university鈥檚 continued growth,鈥� Powell said. 鈥淲e collect teaching and learning materials to reflect the excellence in teaching from our faculty, and allow for a wide range of student work to showcase our expansive undergraduate research. Even our data and code collection connects to the continued work of Data Nexus.鈥�

Submitting your work to Elon Collect only takes three simple steps:

1. Find or create a work that you or the university hold copyrights to and wish to share further.
2. Go to and navigate to the 鈥淪ubmit鈥� header. Select a submission form and provide basic descriptions (also known as metadata) to make your work more discoverable.
3. Submit your form and wait for the repository team to review. Once the team has ensured the work fits into the system scope and has the necessary metadata, your work will be made available in the system.

Questions?

To learn more, join Belk Library on Monday, September 21 at 1 p.m.聽for the first workshop in our Scholars鈥� Toolkit series: Showcasing Your Scholarly and Professional Work in Elon Collect and ORCiD. .

For further information, visit or email elon-collect@elon.edu.

Peter Felten, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning,聽was featured in a recent Inside Higher Ed article about student belonging on campus.

The article, , examines new survey data showing that while many students feel known and valued, a significant minority report feeling invisible or disconnected.

Felten has聽written extensively about the importance of relationships and mattering to student success and emphasizes聽the importance of ensuring that every student feels seen and valued during their college experience.

鈥�Every student can and should feel like they matter in college,鈥� Felten told Inside Higher Ed, noting the difference between 鈥渂elonging鈥� and 鈥渕attering. Unlike belonging, which can depend on feeling that one fits into a particular environment, he said, mattering is rooted in feeling valued and known and having something to contribute within a given context鈥攕omething that鈥檚 theoretically attainable for all students, regardless of age or any other factor that could challenge one鈥檚 sense of fitting in.

He noted that meaningful relationships with faculty, staff and peers are central to helping students develop a sense of purpose, connection and belonging.

The article highlights survey findings indicating that while most students can identify someone on campus who knows them in a meaningful way, nearly one-quarter are unsure whether anyone truly knows them or say they feel invisible.

Of the 9% of students who reported feeling wholly unseen, Felten said that鈥檚 鈥渁 failure on our part鈥攖hose of us who teach and work in higher education need to create conditions where all students feel they matter. That鈥檚 crucial for student well-being, learning and persistence.鈥�

Peter Felten, assistant provost for teaching and learning, and executive director of Elon’s Center for Engaged Learning, was quoted in a recent Chronicle of Higher Education feature examining the enduring value of discussion-based, text-centered learning.

The article, explores how the college鈥檚 Great Books curriculum emphasizes conversation, critical thinking and intellectual community in an era increasingly shaped by technology and artificial intelligence.

Felten emphasized that the most transferable aspect of St. John鈥檚 model is not necessarily its curriculum, but its underlying philosophy of education, specifically that learning can be difficult and is a communal act.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we spend enough time talking with students about how what we鈥檙e doing is supposed to be challenging,鈥� says Felten. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e in a community where you see other people struggling with the same material, and you can talk with them and think with them and not feel like you鈥檙e weird because it鈥檚 hard, then I think it鈥檚 motivating, then it鈥檚 exciting.鈥�

Each spring, the聽(CEL), the聽Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning聽(CATL), the聽Center for Research on Global Engagement聽(CRGE) and the聽Center for Writing Excellence聽(CWE) co-sponsor this聽annual showcase of faculty, staff, and student research on teaching and learning.聽The presenters have all聽participated聽in or been supported by聽SoTL聽programming across these centers.聽The event features a poster session and catered reception, offering the campus community an opportunity to engage with聽studies of聽innovative pedagogical work and reflect on the impact of聽SoTL聽on聽scholarly聽teaching practices across disciplines.

This year鈥檚聽SoTL聽showcase brings together interdisciplinary projects exploring topics such聽as聽students-as-partners collaborations, equity and belonging in STEM,聽global approaches to intercultural learning and integrating GenAI into teaching and learning.

From CEL, the聽聽will present on their students’ experience co-leading CEL鈥檚.聽They鈥檒l聽highlight the multi-institutional inquiry at the heart of three multi-year research seminars, as well as the benefits of student-faculty/staff co-inquiry for both student and faculty/staff partners.

Representing聽CATL,聽Kelsey聽Bitting, assistant professor of environmental studies,聽and聽Jessica Merricks, associate professor of biology,聽will聽present聽their聽2025-2027聽CATL Scholar聽research聽on the impacts聽of community-engaged courses on first-generation students, students of color and women in STEM disciplines. Additionally, Amanda聽Chunco, associate professor of environmental students and 2024-2026 CATL Scholar, will present her work on grading practices and聽student聽belonging聽in聽STEM.

From the CRGE,聽Bill Burress, director of assessment and accreditation for the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education聽and CRGE pre-doctoral scholar, will present research on international mobility in teacher preparation across the United States and Italy. Emily Moser,聽program coordinator for CEL and CATL; Michael Carignan, professor of history; and Lynn Huber, professor of religious studies, recipients of a CRGE聽faculty-staff research grant,聽will present their聽collaborative project聽exploring visual inquiry methods as a tool to foster and assess intercultural competence in global聽contexts.

搁别辫谤别蝉别苍迟颈苍驳听迟丑别听Center for Writing Excellence,聽Shannon Duvall, professor of computer science and interim associate dean聽for College of Arts and Sciences聽will present聽her project 鈥淓xploring Large Language Models for Teaching and Accessibility.鈥�

All faculty, staff and students are invited to attend and engage with presenters during this celebration of聽the scholarship of聽teaching and learning at Elon.

Many high-profile discussions about GenAI in higher education focus on the extremes鈥攁voiding all AI or adopting AI for all activities. However, GenAI use falls along a more complex spectrum, and disciplinary standards should inform students鈥� development of critical GenAI literacy. Across disciplines, novice users initially might understand GenAI as a neutral tool. As engaged learners develop more expertise with GenAI, they might critically reflect on how GenAI could augment their work鈥攐r even view GenAI as a collaborator. Given this complex context, research on GenAI聽in聽higher education engaged learning must attend to GenAI use聽beyond聽higher education to prepare students to apply critical GenAI literacy in their professional, civic and personal lives. Together, we鈥檒l investigate:

• What higher education learning entails in the age of GenAI;
• GenAI鈥檚 (potential) role as a collaborator in teaching and learning;
• Decision processes for when and how to use GenAI as a collaboration partner;
• Assessing learning in an age of GenAI support; and
• Professional learning needs and strategies for students, faculty, and staff to support critical GenAI literacy.

Accepted CEL Student Scholars will collaborate with three 福利亚洲国产精品 faculty 鈥撀燗manda Sturgill, Aaron Trocki and聽Jessie L. Moore to聽lead聽international, multi-institutional research on this engaged learning topic.

Eligibility

The CEL Student Scholar program is open to current 福利亚洲国产精品 first-year students (during the 2025-26 academic year) from any major. Applicants should have an interest in engaged learning in higher education (broadly) and in the 2026-2029 research topic鈥擱ethinking Engaged Learning in the Age of GenAI.

First-year students apply in spring (Spring 2026) to begin the program in the summer between their first and second years (Summer 2026).

What Will CEL Student Scholars Do?

Accepted CEL Student Scholars will collaborate on a three-year research project with Elon faculty and staff and with聽CEL Research Seminar聽participants from colleges and universities around the world.

Read more about the CEL Student Scholar experiences from current and past scholars .

During three consecutive summers (e.g., 2026, 2027, 2028), CEL Student Scholars will:

• Co-lead the 2026-2029 research seminar on Rethinking Engaged Learning in the Age of GenAI, providing the student perspective in sessions with seminar participants;
• Receive a $3,000 summer stipend as compensation for the Student Scholar鈥檚 work during the summer;
• Have access to double or single-occupancy, on-campus, summer housing;
• Participate in a week-long research seminar meeting with faculty and staff from Elon and other colleges and universities around the globe, with all meals provided throughout the week;
• Attend (and during second and third summers, present at) the聽;
• Collaborate in weekly meetings with the seminar co-leaders and/or the CEL Director to advance the research project, collaborate on resources and learn about strategies for studying engaged learning;
• Join other CEL Student Scholars and the CEL Director for weekly meetings to discuss student-faculty partnership, engaged learning research and practices, strategies for studying engaged learning, and other cross-seminar topics; and
• Have opportunities to attend events with other undergraduate researchers and other CEL research seminar teams, often with meals provided.

During their second, third, and fourth academic years (e.g., 2026-2027, 2027-2028, 2028-2029), CEL Student Scholars will鈥�

• Receive a $1,000 stipend each semester as compensation for the Student Scholar鈥檚 work during the academic year;
• Participate in two meetings a week, scheduled to accommodate CEL Student Scholars鈥� availability during the day:
  • Collaborate in one-hour meetings every week with the seminar co-leaders;
  • Join other CEL Student Scholars and the CEL Director for a one-hour meeting every week to discuss engaged learning research and practices, strategies for studying engaged learning, and other cross-seminar topics;
• Check in with research seminar teams via Zoom a few times each year; and
• Spend an additional 1-2 hours a week completing research tasks.

Typically, two students will be accepted as CEL Student Scholars each year. Accepted scholars can discuss with the CEL Director and their advisor whether they wish to register for 4999 undergraduate research credit during one or more of their semesters as a CEL Student Scholar. Acceptance as a CEL Student Scholar also does not preclude participation in other Elon experiences like study away and internships.

Application Guidelines

To apply, submit the following materials by April 6, 2026:

• A letter of application, and
• A supporting letter of recommendation from an 福利亚洲国产精品 faculty or staff member.

Letter of Application

Your letter of application (approximately two pages) should:

• Describe your interest in the research topic鈥擱ethinking Engaged Learning in the Age of GenAI鈥攁nd in collaborating with faculty to lead international research about engaged learning;
• Briefly introduce your major (and any minors), as well as other campus, community, or workplace activities that shape who you are; and
• Reflect on what you would hope to gain from this three-year research collaboration.

Submit an electronic copy of your letter of application to CEL Director, Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu), by April 6, 2026.

Supporting Letter of Recommendation

Your supporting letter of recommendation should come from an 福利亚洲国产精品 faculty or staff member who can speak to:

• Your preparation for undertaking this mentored research opportunity; and
• Contributions you might make to the program, through both your collaboration with CEL鈥檚 research seminar participants and your interactions with other CEL Student Scholars.

The 福利亚洲国产精品 faculty or staff member writing your supporting letter of recommendation should submit an electronic copy of the letter to CEL Director, Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu), by April 6, 2026.

Learn More

Learn more about the CEL Student Scholars program . Please direct questions about the program to CEL Director, Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu).

The article, titled “,”聽highlights the importance of having a faculty or staff member who cares and is engaged with them. Felten, who authored聽鈥淐onnections are Everything: A College Student鈥檚 Guide to Relationship-Rich Education,鈥� told Forbes that to find this on campus, students need to be proactive researchers.

鈥淚鈥檓 a fan of open-ended questions and storytelling,鈥� Felten said.

Felten suggests asking students questions like 鈥淭ell me about a professor who inspires you鈥� or 鈥淭ell me about someone you鈥檝e met in class who you鈥檝e really connected with.鈥�

When talking with admission officers, he tells families to ask: 鈥淐an you tell me about a student you know who has meaningfully connected with a professor?鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e found those kinds of open questions/prompts are good conversation starters because it鈥檚 easy to ask follow-up questions,” Felten said. “And if you ask a few different people this kind of question at a college, you might start noticing patterns; for example, students here seem to make friends in their first-year courses. At the same time, you might notice things people do not鈥� talk about; for example, none of the students who described inspiring professors have actually had a conversation with that professor.鈥�

Katie Baker, associate professor of education and associate chair of the Department of Education and Wellness聽at聽福利亚洲国产精品鈥檚 Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education, has been selected as聽the聽2026鈥�28聽. Baker will focus her research on聽ePortfolios聽as a high-impact educational practice.

CEL Scholars are faculty members who engage in sustained, multi-year inquiry around engaged learning practices, contributing to the center鈥檚 research,聽publications聽and national outreach. Baker鈥檚 work will draw on her extensive experience supporting聽ePortfolios聽in teacher education, particularly through her role as聽edTPA聽coordinator for Elon鈥檚 teacher preparation programs.

Since joining Elon in 2017, Baker has played聽a central role聽in implementing and sustaining the聽edTPA, a required performance-based聽ePortfolio聽assessment for teacher licensure in North Carolina. The聽edTPA聽requires teacher candidates to聽demonstrate聽their planning,聽instruction,聽and assessment through a digital portfolio that includes lesson artifacts, reflective聽commentary,聽and video recordings of classroom instruction. In her coordinator role,聽Baker supports聽teacher candidates,聽faculty and community-based clinical teachers聽across multiple content areas and licensure programs.

Baker鈥檚 scholarly work includes national and state-level presentations and publications on teacher education, mathematics聽education and performance-based assessment. She has served in leadership roles within the mathematics education community and has contributed to externally funded research focused on聽equitable聽and high-quality instruction. Her聽selection聽as a CEL Scholar聽enables her to聽build聽on聽this record of engaged scholarship and institutional leadership聽while exploring聽ePortfolio聽research and practices聽across other disciplinary contexts.

The Center for Engaged Learning supports research and dialogue on evidence-based teaching practices that foster deep student learning. CEL Scholars play a key role in advancing that mission by connecting disciplinary聽expertise聽with broader conversations about engaged learning in higher education.
Baker will join an esteemed group of聽previous聽CEL Scholars, including David Buck, Caroline Ketcham,聽Amanda Kleintop,聽Ketevan Kupatadze, Buffie Longmire-Avital, Phillip Motley, Amanda Sturgill, Aaron Trocki and Cora Wigger. Applications for the 2027-29聽CEL Scholar will open in Fall 2026.

The presentation, entitled “Crafting a successful education abroad research experience: Professional development for mentoring undergraduate research in global contexts (MUR-GC),” features an on-going collaboration between Whitehead and Vandermaas-Peeler, a senior fellow at AAC&U, to study MUR-GC.

The DIS collaborators have written a chapter on their MUR-GC model for a forthcoming CEL open access book on MUR-GC edited by Vandermaas-Peeler and Whitehead.

The 3rd Latin SoTL conference brought together educators from across Latin America focused on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Kupatadze, who teaches in Elon’s Department of World Languages and Cultures, presented two sessions. Her keynote, “From Local Perspectives to Global Conversations: Strategies for Effective Dissemination and Publication of SoTL,” addressed how Latin American educators can share their innovative teaching practices with international audiences. Her workshop, “From Frustration to Opportunity: Exploring the International Publication Potential of Your Work,” helped participants reframe their classroom challenges as valuable research opportunities.

“What moved me most was witnessing the energy, enthusiasm, and dedication of colleagues who accomplish so much with limited resources,” Kupatadze reflected. “The Latin SoTL community is doing extraordinary work, often in challenging circumstances, and their voices are essential to understanding learning in diverse global contexts.”

A central theme of Kupatadze’s presentations was that the global conversation about teaching and learning is incomplete without robust participation from Latin American scholars. She emphasized that the pedagogical innovations emerging from Latin American classrooms, where educators regularly navigate large class sizes, diverse student populations, and resource constraints, offer valuable insights for the international academic community.

Following the conference, Kupatadze is exploring collaborative opportunities with Latin SoTL leaders, including a potential reflective article for the journal Teaching and Learning Inquiry that would examine how the international SoTL community can better support and amplify Latin American educational scholarship.

“These colleagues aren’t asking for help, they’re offering knowledge the world needs,” Kupatadze said. “My goal is to help build bridges so their essential contributions reach the global stage they deserve.”