The Faculty Initiative for Evolving Learning at Departmental Scale (FIELDS) project

A year-long, mentored, cohort-based initiative designed to support departments in co-designing pedagogies, practices, and/or curricula that respond to evolving teaching and learning needs in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

Higher education is at a pivotal inflection point, as AI and related technologies increasingly shape knowledge production and students’ experiences both inside and outside the classroom. This moment has generated excitement, uncertainty, and frustration among faculty, staff, and students alike. In response, initiatives, programs, and communities have emerged across campus to support faculty at different points along the continuum of AI engagement. Through CATL’s co-facilitated departmental listening sessions last spring and fall, as well as the AI Journal Club community of practice this spring, we have heard from faculty across this spectrum. Collectively, faculty are seeking opportunities to engage in evidence-based, thoughtful dialogue with departmental colleagues to respond intentionally to this moment.

This initiative supports departments in reimagining courses, policies, pedagogies, and practices to foster durable, meaningful, and relational learning in a changing environment. For some departments, this may involve exploring ways to minimize AI’s impact on the learning process and designing transparent assessments and activities that highlight learning that occurs without technological support. For others, it may involve scaffolding AI literacy across the curriculum and helping students develop critical thinking about the opportunities and limitations of AI-mediated knowledge production within the discipline.

With CATL support, FIELDS teams will clarify goals and questions in their shared work, develop ongoing plans for assessment, and reflect on how their projects are impacting student learning, pedagogy, and connections in the classroom.

Overall, the initiative seeks to empower all faculty to reflect, experiment, and adapt in ways that align Elon’s shared values of engaged and relational teaching with disciplinary ways of knowing and values in this moment. Through a cohort-based, cross-departmental model facilitated by CATL’s Pedagogy Fellow, the program will cultivate a sustained community of practice that strengthens both individual teaching and collective departmental approaches to student learning.

Logistics:

  • Each departmental team will consist of 3-5 faculty members, one of whom should be identified as the departmental FIELDS fellow (faculty lead) for the project.
  • FIELDS Departmental Fellows will participate in preparatory readings and reflections in Summer 2026 and serve as the departmental lead for the initiative over the coming academic year.
  • FIELDS Departmental Fellows will participate in monthly cohort meetings, facilitated by CATL.
  • All FIELDS team members will participate in a kick-off workshop in August 2026 (during Planning week) and a May 2027 Showcase
  • FIELDS Departmental Fellows will receive a $1,000 stipend; other departmental team members will receive $500 stipends as recognition for this intellectual labor and transformative leadership work.
  • Applications are due June 1, end-of-day. Notifications will be distributed by June 15th.

The application form for department teams is located here.

Please reach out to Brandon Sheridan, Associate Professor of Economics and CATL Pedagogy Fellow, with questions. We hope you will join us, and your colleagues, in this work over the year ahead!