UB’s Graduate School of Education has partnered with GiGi’s Playhouse Down Syndrome Achievement Center of Buffalo to provide UB students with in-classroom experience teaching students with disabilities. UB students were photographed at the center working with clients in July 2021. GSE professor Claire Cameron is working with the program.

CATT News & Updates

Featuring teaching tips and stories highlighting teaching and assessment innovations happening around UB.

Latest News & Updates

  • Instructional Support Community: Fall Meeting
    8/1/25
    The Instructional Support Community (ISC) brings together instructional support staff from across UB to stay connected on tools, services, and strategies that impact teaching and learning. It’s a space to ask questions, share insights, and hear what’s new, from system updates to instructional trends, so we can all better support instructors.
  • Top Hat is now available to all UB instructors
    8/1/25
    Top Hat is now available as an enterprise-supported tool within UB Learns. Top Hat is an active learning platform that helps faculty increase student engagement through interactive features like polls, quizzes, discussions, and real-time feedback. Seamlessly integrated into UB Learns, Top Hat offers a flexible way to create meaningful in-class and learning experiences. 
  • Introducing Developing AI Literacy: A Free Course Now Available to the UB Community
    5/20/25
    Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an everyday part of our lives—shaping how we work, learn, and connect with others. From autocorrecting our messages to recommending what to watch next, AI is already here. But what exactly is AI, and why should it matter to you?
  • Lumen Circles Fellowships on AI and Prompt Development are Returning for Fall 2025
    6/27/25
    Are you looking to learn more about AI and how to incorporate it into your teaching? SUNY is partnering with Lumen to provide free access to the Lumen Circle Fellowship Program.
  • Generative AI Survey for UB Instructors
    1/29/25
    As the integration of artificial intelligence in education continues to evolve, we are seeking the input of instructors at UB to better understand how these tools are being utilized.
  • Our Office Has Moved: What You Need to Know
    1/14/25
    We are excited to announce that CATT has relocated from Norton Hall on North Campus to the UB Gateway Building, located at 77 Goodell Street in downtown Buffalo. While our physical location has changed, our commitment to supporting instructors remains stronger than ever.
  • Introducing the Instructional Innovation and Transformation Team
    9/3/24
    The Office of Curriculum, Assessment, and Teaching Transformation (CATT) is excited to announce the launch of our Instructional Innovation and Transformation team. This new initiative, led by Dr. Mara Huber, represents a significant step forward in our ongoing commitment to advancing teaching and learning at UB.
  • Debunking Course Evaluation Myths for Instructors at UB
    5/8/24
    As the close of the academic year arrives and students complete their coursework, we turn our attention to the importance of end-of-semester evaluation. Course evaluations often carry misconceptions that can influence both teaching and administrative practices. In this blog post, we unravel several prevalent myths about course evaluations, providing insights that can help instructors better understand and utilize this feedback mechanism effectively.
  • Preparing Grades for HUB
    4/10/24
    If you have been entering your grades in HUB for a while, you are likely familiar with the classic options of either manually entering every grade for your students - a tedious process especially if you have a larger class, or uploading a spreadsheet with all the final grades for your students. HUB has recently been updated to allow for a new way to upload grades. This blog will guide you on how to export your final grades to import via the New Way in HUB.

Latest Podcast Episode

  • Overcoming Burnout and Reigniting Your Passion for Teaching | Ep. 9
    3/28/25
    Burnout is a challenge many educators face, but how do you recognize it and navigate through it? In our latest episode of The Teaching Table podcast, we talk with Dr. Aisha O'Mally, a professor at the School of Management, about her experience with burnout. She shares how the demands of teaching and workload took a toll on her well-being and how she found ways to regain balance and reconnect with her passion for education. Tune in to hear her insights and reflections on maintaining well-being in academia.

Past Updates

  • “I Am Completely Operational” – Pedagogical Practices to Leverage AI in the Classroom
    1/27/23
    The mention of Artificial Intelligence programs like ChatGPT – or Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer – will cause readers to recoil with emotions including but not limited to anxiety and anger. For faculty and support staff considering how best to move forward in a world where ChatGPT is a reality, I recommend familiarizing yourselves with the Academic Integrity policy here at the University at Buffalo.
  • Factors Contributing to Instructor Quality Evaluations
    12/7/22
    The purpose of this study is to explore variables contributing to differences in student assessments of overall instructor quality from 2017-2019. Using data from 362,238 course evaluations, across four semesters (Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019), this study asks, “What instructor, student, and course variables predict overall evaluation of instructors?”
  • How to Take Advantage of Your Fall Recess to Recharge and Reset
    11/22/22
    The end of the semester doesn’t have to be exhausting. Taking time for yourself during fall recess to recharge. Reflection is crucial step to this process. I encourage you to challenge your students to do the same.
  • Proctoring Privacy Pro-Tip: Utilizing Zoom Focus Mode
    11/17/22
    Effective exam proctoring is a critical component in the overall process of protecting exam integrity and accurate assessment of student learning in the classroom. Nevertheless, a recent court case involving Cleveland State University (CSU) has highlighted the fundamental contention between rigorous proctoring and student privacy.
  • A Look Back at our 2021-22 Impact
    10/28/22
    Now that we've begun a new academic year, we thought that it would be fitting to look back on CATT's impact throughout the previous academic year. As we gain stride with our work this fall, we are standing on the shoulders of the great work done by each of CATT's respective teams.
  • Instructional Design Strategies in Response to the 2021 UBIT Student Experience Survey
    6/2/22
    UBIT recently released the results of their 2021 Student Experience Survey. Unsurprisingly, students across the University at Buffalo rely upon technology in most facets of their lives, from using GroupMe and Discord to communicate with classmates, the new Level Up studio to play and develop games, and even using smart lightbulbs in their homes.