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Teaching Portfolio

Courses, workshops, and seminars built around real learning problems

I draw on a decade of work to improve teaching quality in Centres for Teaching and Learning at Hokkaido University and APU. Each session starts with a problem participants recognise and ends with a class plan, facilitation choice, or next step they can use.

One teaching practice, three settings

The format changes; the work stays connected.

Courses provide time for sustained practice. Workshops help a group solve a live problem. Seminars and presentations bring a wider question into view. Together, they show the same teaching practice at different scales.

01 · Courses

Learning over a semester

Credit-bearing classes in intercultural communication, games and media, and higher education give students time to try ideas, reflect, receive feedback, and revise.

See classroom case studies
02 · Workshops

Solving a live teaching problem

Focused sessions for faculty, graduate students, and teaching teams turn one recognisable challenge into a usable teaching decision, activity, or plan.

Explore workshop collaboration
03 · Seminars & presentations

Opening a wider conversation

Guest sessions connect evidence, examples, and a clear question around themes such as EMI, AI, intercultural learning, games, and public communication.

Compare engagement formats

Selected teaching record

Three teaching settings, three forms of evidence.

This is not a complete catalogue. It is a short record of how semester-long courses and teaching-development formats put the same principles into practice: clear structure, active participation, reflection, and revision.

Michal Mazur with students after a university class.
Course · multilingual higher education

Introduction to Intercultural Communication

Critical incidents, structured dialogue, and reflection help students move from lived experience to interpretation.

Evidence End-of-semester feedback pointed to useful slides, discussion, and reflection activities.

Read the course case study
Course planning materials for Video Games in Society.
Course · Hokkaido University

Video Games in Society

Students analyse games as cultural material, write real reviews, and develop original game concepts for a public audience.

Evidence The course received a 4.58/5 overall student-survey score; selected work was published by PSX Extreme.

See the course case study
Michal Mazur with participants holding completion certificates after the Spring 2026 APU Pre-FD workshop series.
Teaching-development series · APU

Foundations of Teaching & Learning / Pre-FD

Graduate students turn a teaching idea into a usable class outline, activity, peer rehearsal, and revision.

Evidence Spring 2026 participants completed the series and received certificates; the original materials make the learning sequence visible.

View the original series poster

Class sample

Understanding Video Games: game analysis in the room.

This recorded Week 6 session, Game Analysis 3, offers a direct sample of the course in practice. It shows how I frame an analytical question, keep a class moving, and turn games into shared material for observation, argument, and discussion.

Watch the full class sample on YouTube
Thumbnail from Understanding Video Games: Week 6, Game Analysis 3.

Course identity · Hokkaido University · 2024

Before the first class, the course already makes an argument.

These posters frame games as cultural systems worth reading closely—not simply entertainment to be consumed. Their visual language comes from games, but their promise is academic: analyse how games make meaning, connect them to society, and turn interpretation into reviews, original concepts, and work for a real audience.

The illustrated poster creates curiosity; the information poster makes the pathway, student voices, and examples of student work visible. Together they show how visual communication, curriculum design, and knowledge of the games industry belong to the same teaching practice.

Read games criticallyMake original workWrite for an audience
Open the illustrated poster

Start with the problem

You do not need a finished brief to begin a useful workshop.

Tell me who is in the room, what feels difficult now, and what you would like to be different afterwards. I will suggest a format, a realistic focus, and a concrete outcome for the session.

Teaching in English without losing quieter students Turning a lecture-heavy class into active learning Redesigning assessment after generative AI Preparing graduate students to teach with confidence

A simple way to begin

  1. Share the context.Audience, teaching setting, and the question you want to work on.
  2. Choose the right format.We agree on a workshop, seminar, presentation, or short series.
  3. Make the session useful.I adapt the examples, activities, and participant output to your setting.
Start a workshop conversation

A short email is enough. There is no formal request form.

Workshop feedback

What participants noticed in the room.

These are anonymised workshop responses, with translations where noted. In the October 2024 Presentation Skills for Higher Education workshop, 12 of 13 respondents reported positive overall satisfaction; 11 of 13 expected the session to inform a change in their future practice.

“The way it broke down complex presentation skills into actionable tips made it much easier to understand and apply.”

Anonymous participant · Presentation Skills for Higher Education · 2024

“The use of breakout rooms was a helpful way of keeping people engaged.”

Anonymous participant · Online Communication workshop · 2020 · translated from Japanese
Original APU Pre-FD Workshop Series poster.

A working trace

A workshop should leave a visible mark.

This original APU Pre-FD poster represents the kind of practical learning design behind the formats on this page: a real audience, a clear sequence, and a result participants can carry back into their teaching.

I design posters, slides, and teaching materials myself, using Adobe and other creative tools alongside the learning design. The visual work is not an afterthought: it helps participants see what a session is for, how it will unfold, and why it is worth entering. Keeping that creative craft inside my teaching practice is part of making learning feel clear, considered, and inviting.

Open the original poster

Teaching materials in practice

Three examples of how I turn ideas into usable learning.

These are selected pages from original decks I designed and delivered. They show how visual structure, guided reflection, and visible student work support the learning process.

Original Michal Mazur slide showing a presentation as a four-part story: setup, problem, solution, and conclusion.

Giving a presentation a clear story

A four-part structure turns presentation advice into a memorable planning tool that participants can use immediately.

Original Michal Mazur slide showing five elements of activity design: purpose, task, time, grouping, and product.

Designing activities people can actually do

Purpose, task, time, grouping, and product give participants a practical test for whether an activity will be clear and workable.

Original Michal Mazur slide about mindful listening in the classroom, with attentive listening and culturally sensitive paraphrasing.

Making listening visible

An intercultural principle becomes language people can practise: attend openly, then paraphrase with cultural sensitivity.

Original Michal Mazur slide with a Japanese decision flow for using generative AI safely.

Deciding when AI is safe to use

A decision flow replaces blanket rules with verification, responsibility, and attention to the stakes of the task.

Engagement Formats

Workshops solve a live teaching problem. Seminars and presentations open a wider conversation.

Format Works best when Participants leave with Typical setting
Course
One semester
A programme needs sustained learning: time to practise, reflect, receive feedback, and revise. Documented work, reflection, and a record of developing judgment. Credit-bearing undergraduate or graduate course.
Workshop
90 minutes - half day
A specific teaching problem needs to be worked on, not merely discussed. A tested activity, revised class component, or implementation plan. Faculty meeting, CTL programme, department workshop.
Seminar
45-90 minutes
A group needs shared language and structured discussion around a question or theme. A framework, prompted questions, and directions for further work. Graduate programme, reading group, professional-learning event.
Presentation
30-60 minutes
An institution needs a focused expert perspective, evidence, and a clear provocation. A concise argument, examples, and a moderated Q&A. Conference, public lecture, staff-development day.
Series / Pre-FD
Two or more sessions
People need to try an idea, return to it, and improve their practice over time. A draft, rehearsal, feedback, and a revised version. Pre-FD or staff-development cohort.

Areas of Expertise

  • Teaching in English and English-medium instruction (EMI)
  • Intercultural communication and inclusive participation
  • Learning outcomes, alignment, and active learning design
  • Assessment design and AI-enabled learning
  • Games, media culture, and public communication as learning spaces
  • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and teaching excellence

What Participants Produce

  • One-page class outline
  • Aligned activity plan
  • Facilitation script or instruction set
  • Reflection and feedback evidence
  • Next-step plan for implementation

Signature Topics

Six workshops solve concrete teaching problems; one specialist seminar or presentation opens a wider cultural question.

01

Teaching in English: EMI That Keeps Students Involved

For faculty who teach disciplinary content in English. We work on clear explanations, task instructions, participation, classroom communication, and small redesigns that help students engage with content — not just language accuracy.

02

Intercultural Communication in the Classroom

For instructors working with multilingual groups. Participants redesign one classroom moment to support clearer dialogue, participation, and reflection across cultural difference.

03

Designing Active Learning That Actually Works

Participants convert one lecture-heavy segment into an aligned activity with a clear purpose, realistic timing, instructions, and support for participation.

04

Redesigning Assessment for the Age of Generative AI

Participants bring one assessment or learning activity and redesign it for authentic learning, transparent AI use, and credible evidence of student judgment. We move beyond detection toward task design, process evidence, feedback, and clear expectations.

05

Pre-FD for Graduate Students

A foundation in university teaching for future educators. Participants develop a one-page class outline and an aligned activity they can facilitate.

06

Feedback, Reflection, and Learning Evidence

Practical methods for gathering usable evidence of learner experience, interpreting it carefully, and deciding what to retain, revise, or investigate.

07

Seminar / presentation: Games and Media as Cultural Systems

A guest lecture or workshop connecting game analysis, Japan, media culture, intercultural interpretation, and public-facing academic communication.

Complete workshop portfolio Delivered formats and additional sessions that can be tailored to an institution

The signature topics above are the clearest starting points. The formats below make the wider offer visible and distinguish established workshops from sessions adapted from my teaching, educational-development, and research practice.

Delivered workshops

Formats already designed and facilitated with university teachers or graduate students.

Delivered

Course and Syllabus Design

Clarify learning outcomes, alignment, course flow, assessment, and the information students need before a course begins.

Delivered

Presentation Skills for Higher Education

Turn a complex academic idea into a clear story, purposeful slides, a rehearsed delivery, and a revision informed by peer feedback.

Delivered

Advanced Teaching in English

Move beyond translation toward participation, clear feedback, culturally responsive communication, and confident facilitation in EMI classrooms.

Delivered

Generative AI in the Classroom

Develop workable guidance for permitted use, verification, academic judgment, fairness, and responsible experimentation with AI.

Available as tailored workshops

Focused sessions assembled around the audience, setting, and problem an institution brings.

Tailored

Facilitating Multilingual Group Work

Tailored

Intercultural Communication in Research Teams

Tailored

Designing Clear and Engaging Teaching Materials

Tailored

Team-Based Learning and Problem-Solving

Tailored

Turning Teaching Practice into Evidence

Seminars and invited talks

Interpretive formats for a broader academic or public conversation.

Talk

AI, Criticality, and Academic Judgment

Talk

Misinformation and Public Communication

Talk

Intercultural Learning in Japanese Higher Education

Facilitation Approach

People should leave with something they can use on Monday.

I learned this approach while working with real constraints: multilingual groups, nervous first-time teachers, faculty redesigning courses, and students planning international space projects. The subject changes; the need for clear structure and room to think does not.

I combine short input with templates, discussion, rehearsal, and feedback. In the Ritsumeikan Space Management Program, for example, students used communication styles, leadership observation, and presentation practice to work across institutional and cultural differences.

Evidence in Practice

The formats are grounded in teaching, not just theory.

Hokkaido University · 2023

Faculty development across four practical problems

Sessions addressed teaching in English, intercultural communication, syllabus design, and preparing for generative AI in the classroom.

Excellent Teacher selection · 2023

Video Games in Society

A university course connecting critical game analysis, social context, media literacy, and industry-like creative tasks received a 4.58/5 overall student-survey score.

Ritsumeikan Space Management Program · 2025–26

Two years of intercultural project facilitation

Mixed Ritsumeikan and APU cohorts worked on leadership, communication styles, presentations, feedback, and international collaboration around space-sector challenges.

Try the method

Turn a teaching problem into a small activity people can actually do.

This is a compact version of the framework I use in class-design and Pre-FD workshops. Choose a real classroom problem, then shape one workable response through purpose, task, time, grouping, and a visible product.

02

Make five deliberate choices

Each choice is small. Together, they make the activity legible to you and to the people taking part.

03

Working activity

Collaboration

Commission a workshop for your institution.

I can adapt the topic, examples, timing, and participant outputs to your programme, teaching context, and audience.

Download the one-page workshop brief