Traditional pedagogy is built on the textbook chapter – read it, validate the reading with a quiz. It’s not working. Students aren’t reading, and they aren’t preparing for class.
It’s not the professor or the student’s fault. The problem is the format.
In this session, we take a closer look at what happens when faculty rethink the learning experience by designing their courses for how students actually learn: through discussion and critical thinking.
You’ll hear from Dr. Tawnya Means (Assistant Dean for Educational Innovation at Gies College of Business), Rebecca Sullivan (Marketing Faculty at MSU’s Broad College of Business), and the team at Breakout Learning, creators of the NextBook—a new courseware and pedagogical approach built to support peer learning and deeper insights into critical thinking.
This webinar airs at 12 PM CT and will be available on-demand for six months after airing.
Key Takeaways
- Understand how to design AI-resilient, collaborative activities that deepen student engagement and critical thinking
- See how marketing faculty are customizing NextBooks to align with their own course goals
- Gain exposure to real-world examples from classes using scenario-based learning and discussion-based assessment
- Explore the use of AI to reduce prep time, streamline grading, and surface data on student learning
Dr. Tawyna Means
Assistant Dean for Educational Innovation, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignDr. Means leads a unit focused on developing and implementing innovative ideas, technologies, and approaches across the College’s educational portfolio. Before this role, Tawnya served in leadership roles in teaching and learning support, providing faculty development programs and resources for instructional innovation and adopting pedagogical best practices. With 20+ years of experience in higher education, course design, and educational consulting, Tawnya has also taught courses in entrepreneurship, strategy, technology, and leadership in remote teams. Tawnya received her B.S. in Education, M.S. in Educational Technology, and Ph.D. in Information Science and Learning Technologies with an emphasis on learning systems design, all from the University of Missouri. She completed the AACSB Post-doctoral bridge program in Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Florida and a graduate certificate in Leadership and Strategy from the University of Illinois. Her research interests are in online and blended learning, active learning, learning space design, technology for teaching, access to digital learning resources, generative AI for education, and faculty preparation to teach. She has long been a leader in campus initiatives and committees and actively presents at conferences and other institutions and organizations on technology-enhanced learning.
Rebecca Sullivan
Instructor, Department of Marketing, Broad College of Business, Michigan State UniversityAfter fifteen years in the private sector, Rebecca found that her true passion is teaching and mentoring the next generation of marketing innovators.
Rebecca was an early employee at Right Media and led a team of analysts in Yahoo’s digital advertising division before working in marketing at University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business. She spent most of her career at VML, a multinational advertising agency with clients on six continents. She held several roles within the agency’s research department before creating and leading a consulting division that conducted, commissioned, and synthesized research to provide strategic guidance to internal and external audiences. During her time at VML, Rebecca provided marketing insights for clients as diverse as Microsoft, Ford, America’s NAVY, Colgate, Tennessee Tourism, the International Olympic Committee, Electrolux/Frigidaire, Sprint, Bayer Animal Health (now Elanco), and Wendy’s.
