Relationship Rich Teaching
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Noon – 3 p.m.
Student Center Heritage Room
Peter Felten is a professor of history, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning and assistant provost for teaching and learning at Elon University. He has published nine books about higher education, including Connections are Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education (2023) and The SoTL Guide: (Re)Orienting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (2025). Both of those co-authored books have an open-access online version free to all readers. He is on the advisory board of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and is a fellow of the Gardner Institute.
Session 1 – 12:30-1:45 p.m.
Connections are everything: How trusting relationships drive student success
Research consistently shows that students’ relationships with faculty, staff and peers are crucial to academic success and personal well-being in higher education. With the rise of generative AI, human connections matter even more for learning, motivation, well-being and meaning-making. Drawing on nearly 750 interviews with students, faculty and staff at colleges and universities across the country, this interactive session examines how fostering relationships – especially educationally purposeful peer relationships – offers a practical, scalable and humane path to ensuring that all students experience welcome and care, become inspired to learn and explore the big questions that matter for their lives and our communities.
Session 2 – 2-3 p.m.
Relational feedback as a tool for learning, connection and well-being
In this workshop, we will look at how feedback on student work can support learning, connection and well-being – even in large classes, and even in a time of generative AI. We will consider both the feedback we give students and also opportunities for structured student peer feedback. You will leave the workshop with practical ideas for how you can use relational feedback to promote learning, connection and well-being without devoting all of your time to feedback or grading.
