Assessment, Teaching and Learning (ATL) Conference

Day 1: Wednesday, April 29

1:00-4:00 p.m. Preconference Deeper Dive Sessions

Day 2: Thursday, April 30 

9:30 – 9:40 a.m. Welcome & Opening Remarks

9:40 – 10:30 a.m. Keynote #1 - Dr. Sarah Rose Cavanagh

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. Break

10:45 – 11:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions

11:30 a.m.  - 12:30 p.m. Lunch Break

12:30 – 1:15 p.m. Student Panel on AI

1:15 - 1:30 p.m. Break

1:30 -  2:30 p.m. Ask, Learn, Connect session

Day 3: Friday, May 1 

10:00 –10:10 a.m. Welcome Back and Opening Remarks

10:10 – 11:00 a.m. Keynote #2 - Diana Ma

11:00 – 11:15 a.m. Break

11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Concurrent Session Block

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch Break

1:00  –  1:30 p.m. Lightning Talks 

1:30 – 2:20 p.m. Keynote #3 - Flower Darby

2:20 - 2:30 p.m. Closing Remarks

Sara Rose Cavanagh

Biography

Sarah Rose Cavanagh is the Senior Associate Director for Teaching and Learning in the Center for Faculty Excellence at Simmons University, where she also teaches in the Psychology Department as an Associate Professor of Practice. Before joining Simmons, she was a tenured Associate Professor of psychology and neuroscience at Assumption University, where she also served in the D'Amour Center for Teaching Excellence as Associate Director for Grants and Research. Sarah's research considers the interplay of emotions, motivation, learning, and quality of life. Her most recent research project, funded by the National Science Foundation, convenes a network of scholars to develop teaching practices aimed at greater effectiveness and equity in undergraduate biology education. She is author of four books, including The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion (2016) and Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge (2023). She gives keynote addresses and workshops at a variety of colleges and regional conferences, blogs for Psychology Today, and writes essays for venues like Literary Hub and The Chronicle of Higher Education. She’s also on BlueSky too much, at @SaRoseCav.

Session: Nurturing Academic Well-Being In a Liminal time

Higher education has entered a state of liminality — an uncertain and ambiguous transition time when it is clear more changes are afoot but the path before us has yet to become clear. In this state of ongoing uncertainty and constant change, how can we nourish ourselves and stay well? How can we lead? In this interactive session, psychologist and educational developer Sarah Rose Cavanagh will guide us through exercises designed to identify courses of action to support student, faculty, and staff well-being in an uncertain time. She will share data from psychology, neuroscience, and pedagogy to support her proposed actions, and highlight insights from a new book project on the science of well-being. Attendees will have the opportunity for both reflection and discussion and leave with an action plan for the summer and fall.

Diana Ma

Biography

Diana Ma is a Chinese American anti-oppressive educator and author. Her book Anti-Oppressive Universal Design for Teachers: Building Equitable Classrooms was published by Routledge’s Equity and Social Justice in Education series in July 2025. Diana is also a Young Adult and Middle Grade author. Diana teaches at North Seattle College and believes it’s important for all kids to recognize themselves as the heroes of the books they read. Her belief that diverse books help us create a better world is what drives her writing and teaching. More information can be found about Diana on her website: Dianamaauthor.com

Session: How Anti-Oppressive UD Creates Educational Equity and Sustainable Teaching

This presentation will provide an Anti-Oppressive Universal Design framework for building student-centered, socially just, intersectional, and sustainable classroom curriculum and practices. Diana Ma, author of Anti-Oppressive Universal Design for Teachers: Building Equitable Classrooms in Routledge’s Equity and Social Justice in Education series, will discuss using equitable and flexible design to counter deficit-models and forced conformity to oppressive systems—so students and teachers are free to be their authentic selves.

Flower Darby

Biography

Flower Darby celebrates and promotes effective teaching in all modalities to advance learning outcomes for all students. She’s an Associate Director of the Teaching for Learning Center at the University of Missouri. Prior to that, she held roles such as Assistant Dean of Online and Innovative Pedagogies and Director of Teaching for Student Success. These roles have allowed her to build on her experience teaching in person and online for 30 years in a range of subjects including Psychology, English, technology, education, leadership, dance, and Pilates. In her current work and publications, Darby empowers faculty to teach engaging classes in all modalities so that all students can learn. She is the lead author (with James M. Lang) of Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes. Her new book, The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Online Classes, comes out Spring 2026.

Session: Teaching for Authentic Student Learning in an AI Age

Like it or not, AI is here to stay, and students are using it. But they’re not all using it to outsource their learning. Students know when they need to gain specific knowledge to achieve their goals and they’re willing to resist the AI temptation in those moments. We’ll explore practical strategies to help students develop critical AI literacy and ethical approaches to working and learning with AI. Plus, you’ll leave this session with concrete tips to update your assignments, tests, and projects for an AI age. Come and learn how to help ourselves, and our students, work and learn with and without AI in productive, meaningful ways.

You’ll hear about topics such as:

• How today’s students are using AI and when they’re choosing not to use it.
• How we can help them choose not to use AI when we know that’s best for their learning.
• How to help students develop essential understanding about AI’s risks and benefits  for today’s society and workplace.
• How to update your assignments, tests, and projects to promote authentic learning in an AI age.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

1:00–2:30 p.m. Preconference Deep Dives

• ADA Title II Digital Accessibility: Requirements and Practical Application — Overview of ADA Title II digital accessibility requirements with practical strategies for accessible content.
• Making AI Work for Education — Practical discussion of how AI can support educators, institutions, and learners.
• Human‑Centered Learning in the Age of AI: Eight Essential Principles — Introduction to a  human‑centered framework for thoughtful, values‑driven AI adoption in education.

2:45–4:15 p.m. Preconference Deep Dives

• Supercharge Canvas with Microsoft 365 LTI — How Microsoft 365 LTI integrates with Canvas to streamline teaching and learning.
• Ethical Instructional Materials in a Time of Banned Books — Developing anti‑racist, humanizing instructional materials using OER and Canvas.
• Cultivating Community Care through Psychological Safety — Practical strategies for building psychological safety and community care.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

9:30–10:30 a.m. Keynote

• Nurturing Academic Well‑Being in a Liminal Time — Supporting student, faculty, and staff well‑being during ongoing uncertainty.

10:45–11:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions

• Heart Check‑Up: Building Community and Connections Using Student Feedback — Using feedback and check‑ins to foster belonging and connection.
• Unlock the Power of Multilingual Learning in Your Classroom — Translanguaging and culturally sustaining pedagogy for multilingual learners.
• Using AI to Prepare Students for the Jobs of Tomorrow — Rethinking assignments and learning in an AI‑shaped economy.
• Embedding EDI in Learning Outcomes: A Practical Model — A replicable approach to embedding equity into learning outcomes.
• The Classroom as a Place of Belonging — Mindful teaching practices that support connection and compassion.
• Addressing Burnout: Communities of Practice for Healing and Reflection — Using communities of practice to support healing and resilience.

12:30–1:15 p.m. Session

• Student Voices on AI in Education — Students share perspectives on how AI is shaping learning and their futures.

1:30–2:30 p.m. Session

• Ask, Learn, Connect — Open, unstructured breakout discussions for peer learning and networking.

Friday, May 1, 2026

10:00–11:00 a.m. Keynote

• How Anti‑Oppressive Universal Design Creates Educational Equity — An anti‑oppressive universal design framework for equitable teaching.

11:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions

• Wellness Tools for Demanding Times — Building a personalized wellness toolkit for stress and resilience.
• From Classroom to Community: Experiential Learning for Impact — Designing community‑based and experiential learning opportunities.
• Homegrown Resources: Creating Community, One How‑To at a Time — Building local, instructor‑centered instructional resources.
• Luddite Pedagogy Book Club: Reflections on a Rebel Reading Community — Faculty‑led learning that critically examines edtech and AI.
• Using Custom GPTs to Make Outcome Alignment Clear and Useful — Using AI tools to clarify and improve learning‑outcome alignment.

1:00–1:30 p.m. Session

• Accessibility in a Flash — A lightning‑round celebration of digital accessibility efforts.

1:30–2:30 p.m. Keynote

• Teaching for Authentic Student Learning in an AI Age — Practical strategies for supporting meaningful learning with and without AI.

We are excited to report that all 34 WA community and technical colleges have registered their campus for this conference!

The next steps to attend will be to individually RSVP for the conference.  To do that you will authenticate in zoom and then RSVP. Here is the authentication link and how to document.

• Authenticate and fill out the ATL + WACC 2026 Zoom Events form to RSVP.
• Review our How to RSVP for ATL + WACC 2026 guide for step-by-step directions.

Registration is still available for external colleges & universities: $299 for 20 participants with CSV roster.  To register, contact Alissa Sells for details.

All sessions include live captioning, and ASL interpretation is available.