CELT Annual Teaching
and Learning Symposium

Thursday, March 26, 2026

Pre-Conference Workshops 

Time	Session Title	Presenter	Location
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM	AI Tools and Techniques	José Antonio Bowen, Ph.D.	Union 103
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM	Creating Custom Bots for Teaching & Learning	José Antonio Bowen, Ph.D.	Faculty Commons
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM	Feedback Fruits Hands-On Workshop	Melinda Jakus, Feedback Fruits	Faculty Commons

Workshop: AI Tools and Techniques

• Open to all faculty & staff
• Location: Union 103
• Time: 10 AM - 12 PM
• Registration required

AI literacy isn’t just about choosing the right tool, it’s about asking better questions and evaluating the responses. In this hands-on session for educators, we’ll explore how effective prompting builds on the critical writing and thinking skills you already teach and value.

You’ll learn how to craft prompts that are more literal and human-centered than those typically used with a search engine. Because AI responds to natural language, it requires the same clarity and nuance you'd use when guiding smart but inexperienced interns. Prompting isn’t engineering, it’s communication.

Through interactive exercises and experimentation with a range of rapidly evolving AI tools, you’ll gain practical techniques and a realistic understanding of how AI is reshaping human work and thought. You’ll leave with ideas for integrating AI into your teaching and research in meaningful, responsible ways.

Workshop: Creating Custom Bots for Teaching & Learning

• Open to all faculty & staff
• Location: Faculty Commons, Melville Library
• Time: 2:30PM - 3:30 PM
• Registration required

In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn how to build their own custom bot in just minutes.Together we’ll walk through the full workflow of creating an instructional bot and why doing your first custom bot “the hard way” matters. 

By intentionally constructing prompts and understanding how the bot interprets them, educators gain insight into the pedagogical choices that lead to more authentic, effective student interactions.

Participants will leave with a ready-to-use custom bot, examples of simulation prompts, and a clear framework for integrating these tools into their teaching.

To fully engage in the hands-on components of this workshop, participants are encouraged to arrive with a fully charged personal device.

Workshop: Feedback Fruits Hands-On Workshop

Presented by: Melinda Jakus, Partner Manager, USA & Canada, FeedbackFruits

• Open to all faculty & staff
• Location: Faculty Commons, Melville Library
• Time: 4:00PM - 5:00PM
• Registration required

Discover how to turn your course into a more interactive, collaborative, and feedback-rich learning environment with FeedbackFruits! 

This workshop explores all the FeedbackFruits tools available at Stony Brook—from Interactive Video and Interactive Document to Peer Review, Group Formation, Team-Based Learning, Automated Feedback, and more.

If you're looking to strengthen student engagement, streamline assessment, or bring more active learning into your teaching, this session is for you.

To fully engage in the hands-on components of this workshop, participants are encouraged to arrive with a fully charged personal device.