Skip to main content

Level Up Learning: Engaging Students in Every Class

2025-2026 Faculty Development Challenge

Join CITL’s Level Up Learning, a year-long faculty development experience focused on student engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration. Open to all full-time faculty members, this gamified program combines in-person workshops, live webinars, and both team-based and individual challenges.

Faculty will be grouped into cross-departmental teams and will earn points, badges, and rewards by completing engagement challenges. Along the way, participants will take part in creative team-building opportunities that foster connection and collaboration across disciplines.

Track your progress on the leaderboard, connect with your team in Microsoft Teams, and collect artifacts for your Continuing Contract portfolio along the way. It’s professional development with a fun, collaborative twist.

Teams

  • Blue Wahoos
  • Free Radicals
  • Participation Posse
  • Pink Think Tank
  • Syntax and Stethoscopes

Meet the Teams

Blue Wahoos

Team Slogan: Level Up Exponentially

Team Roster:

  • Selin Apak
  • Anne Borella
  • Jonathan Guy
  • Amy Hunt
  • Dianne Lee-Fiedler
Free Radicals

Team Slogan: Limitless Energy √16 Success

Team Roster: 

  • Ramses Diaz
  • Chris Mizell 
  • Dr. Lisa Struck
  • Dr. Jessica Temple
Participation Posse

Team Slogan: Ride with the posse!

Team Roster: 

  • Ryan Adams
  • Daniel Fox
  • Dr. Dave Schjott
  • Dr. Michael Taylor
Pink Think Tank

Team Slogan: EMC² Empower Mentor Create

Team Roster:

  • Ron Brinkerhoff
  • Jennifer Brown
  • Kodi Richardson
  • Dr. Kane Tomlin
Syntax and Stethoscopes

Team Slogan: Make it Make Sense

Team Roster:

  • Kandise Finley
  • Allison Godwin
  • Chauntell Jannazo
  • Tammy Miller
  • Dr. Anne Southard

Challenges

Explore all Team and Individual challenges here, including a description and the points each challenge is worth.

Download the Challenge Sheet

Team Challenges

To receive credit, faculty must either post a reflection in the Level Up Learning general Teams chat or present during a faculty development session. To earn points for a team challenge, at least two team members must actively participate in the activity.

  • XP (Experience Points): Networking Edition

    8 pts.

    Strengthen connections and encourage collaboration with this interactive team-building activity focused on meaningful interaction and shared growth.

  • Academic Alliance

    15 pts.

    Team up with a faculty member from a different discipline in your team to design and implement a student activity.

  • Faculty Forum Showcase: Visualizing Success

    20 pts.

    Create a visual display or team board to showcase the strategies you’ve implemented in your courses, the outcomes observed, challenges faced, and solutions devised.

  • Faculty Forum Presentation: Level Up

    25 pts.

    Deliver a brief presentation to highlight the teaching strategies you’ve implemented, the impact on student learning, and the challenges and solutions you encountered along the way.

Individual Challenges

To receive credit, faculty must either post a reflection in the Level Up Learning general Teams chat or present during a faculty development session. Remember, more than one team member can complete the same challenge!

  • Unlocking Active Learning

    6 pts.

    This challenge invites faculty to explore and implement an active learning strategy in their classrooms. By engaging students through interactive techniques, you’ll enhance participation and deepen learning.

  • Community Engagement

    10 pts.

    Engage with the community by volunteering, presenting, hosting community partners on campus, supporting internships, or assisting with recruitment. These efforts strengthen community ties and serve as valuable artifacts for your continuing contract portfolio.

  • Power-Up: Revamping Your Module

    12 pts.

    Redesign a course module with the goal of enhancing student engagement. Share your “before and after” process.

  • Co-Op Mode: Building and Assessing Projects

    15 pts.

    Design a collaborative group project for your students and create clear assessment criteria.

  • Attending Faculty Development

    25 pts.

    Commit to your growth by attending five faculty development events in one semester. Choose the events that interest you most and make professional learning a consistent part of your semester.

  • Present Faculty Development Session

    25 pts.

    Lead a 30-minute faculty development session on a teaching topic of your choice. Share innovative strategies, classroom successes, or research-based practices to inspire and support your colleagues.

Badges

Level Up Learning Individual Badge

This individual badge is awarded to an individual who achieves a total of 68 points. This badge serves as recognition of faculty who demonstrate consistent commitment to professional growth by completing a variety of development challenges focused on student engagement, instructional innovation, and reflective teaching practices.

Level Up Learning Elite Achiever

This individual badge is awarded to an individual who achieves a total of 93 points. This badge serves as recognition of faculty who go above and beyond by completing a variety of development challenges, exemplifying leadership, innovation, and a deep commitment to transformative teaching and learning.

Level Up Learning Team Badge

This team badge is awarded to each member of the team who achieves a total of 68 points as a group. This badge serves as recognition of teams that collaborate effectively to meet shared development goals, fostering interdisciplinary engagement and peer learning that positively impacts student experiences and classroom practice.

Level Up Learning Mastery Badge

This team badge is awarded to each member of the team who achieves the most overall points at the end of the academic year. This badge serves as recognition of the team that demonstrates the highest level of engagement, collaboration, and excellence across all challenges, setting a benchmark for creativity, instructional impact, and collegial support.