‘Purdue Pursuits’: Teaching and learning reading groups

Crafting meaningful and engaging course experiences has been at the top of Dielson Vieira’s mind ever since he joined the College of Veterinary Medicine in 2024.

As a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Vieira is already adept at applying innovative teaching practices to classroom environments, but that doesn’t stop him from seeking out new ideas, approaches and perspectives — insights he gains through outlets like Purdue’s teaching and learning reading groups.

Offered by the Teaching Academy and Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE) since 2017, the reading groups bring together faculty members from West Lafayette and Indianapolis to engage in candid conversations about teaching and learning concepts, theories and methods that support academic success.

Each semester, a book is selected and divided into sections that are read and discussed by participants over the course of multiple one-hour meetings, with the choice to attend virtually or in person. The meetings provide a space for faculty members across academic disciplines to learn from both the reading material and each other, which was beneficial for Vieira, who joined the groups just one year into his Purdue career.

“You have different people from different departments coming in with different perspectives, and reading and discussing the book together can really help you better navigate your first or second year as a professor,” Vieira says. “Our moments together led to interesting conversations and subjects that I could really think and reflect on.”

While reading “The Present Professor: Authenticity and Transformational Teaching” last fall, Vieira and his colleagues routinely discussed how well-being influences student success and shared ways they’ve designed or altered their courses to foster learning environments that support student success. It resonated with Vieira, who’s mindful of the roles persistence and resilience play in the field of veterinary medicine.

“Seeing those different perspectives expanded my perspective on how students learn, and that has inspired me ever since,” Vieira says. “It made me start asking, ‘What else can I do to emphasize well-being in my courses? Do I even have space in my course?’”

That question eventually led Vieira to Steps to Leaps, a campuswide initiative that supports student growth and success through five learning pillars: well-being, leadership, impact, networks, and grit and persistence. Now, along with well-being, he’s incorporating the grit and persistence pillar into his course materials, empowering his students to build metacognitive skills and take ownership of their learning process. 

Vieira is also expanding learning resources available to students by developing opportunities for them to practice and review course material through low-stakes quizzes and activities that support preparation for graded assessments.

Similar strategies for fueling student success will be discussed this fall as the group reads “Designing Impactful College Courses: Applying Self-Determination Theory to Unleash the Potential of Autonomy-Supportive Learning.” Written by CIE’s Emily Bonem, Daniel Guberman and Chantal Levesque-Bristol, the book equips educators with the tools they need to create classroom environments that lead to more engaging and productive learning experiences.

From fostering connections with faculty peers to receiving feedback on teaching practices, there’s a lot to gain — and learn — from taking part in the groups. But above all, Vieira says, it’s an excellent opportunity to grow and develop as a member of Purdue’s teaching and learning community.

“Professional growth rarely happens in isolation,” he says. “Working alongside colleagues with different experiences and perspectives encourages you to continually refine your teaching and collaboration.”

How you can participate

Faculty members interested in participating in the fall 2026 teaching and learning reading groups should complete this online questionnaire to provide information about their availability. Those who respond by Friday (Aug. 28) will receive an initial email Monday (Aug. 31) with more information about this fall’s sessions.

Sessions will be held in West Lafayette and virtually through Microsoft Teams during the second week of each month. Participants can choose their date and location according to their schedules each week. A list of this semester’s meeting dates is available on the Innovative Learning website.

Questions about the reading groups or suggestions about future books and topics can be directed to Annika Kraft at arkraft@purdue.edu.