What’s New in Curie

Check out Curie’s new announcements

April 2025

Creating a Design Challenge for Creative Problem Solving and Innovation – This Optimizer helps instructors develop a Design Challenge assignment where students apply design thinking principles to creatively solve real-world problems. The tool guides instructors through the process of defining the challenge, setting parameters, and creating an iterative learning experience that encourages prototyping and user-centered design.

Planning an Engaging Guest Speaker Experience to Enrich Learning – This Optimizer helps instructors plan and implement a guest speaker experience that enhances student engagement and deepens learning. By integrating a professional or expert voice into the course, students gain valuable real-world insights and perspectives. This tool will guide instructors in selecting a speaker, structuring the session, maximizing student interaction, and designing meaningful pre- and post-event activities to reinforce key takeaways.

Assessment Idea Generator – This resource will help you quickly design effective assessments tailored to your course objectives and student needs. It simplifies generating assessment ideas that enhance learning engagement and academic integrity, ensuring they are easy to integrate into any curriculum.

Facilitate a Student-Created Study Guide – This Optimizer guides instructors in creating an effective plan for students to collaboratively develop a study guide. It enhances student engagement, reinforces key concepts, and improves comprehension through peer-to-peer learning. This approach benefits students by encouraging active participation and deeper understanding of course material.

Generating a Custom Case Study for Critical Thinking and Real-World Application – This Optimizer collects essential information from instructors to generate a custom case study tailored to their course. The case will present a real-world problem, detailed background, and decision points for student analysis, while incorporating course concepts and providing discussion prompts that drive critical thinking and problem-solving.

Designing an Infographics Assignment for Visualizing Data and Research Insights – This Optimizer guides instructors in designing an Infographics Assignment where students analyze or synthesize research data and visually present their findings. Infographics promote the integration of data analysis, creativity, and communication, allowing students to distill complex information into a clear, engaging visual format. This assignment enhances critical thinking, visual literacy, and research skills.

Creating a Real-World Problem-Solving Challenge– This Optimizer helps instructors create a Problem-Solving Challenge assignment that encourages students to apply their knowledge and critical thinking skills to a real-world issue. By guiding students through a multi-step process of analyzing, planning, solving, and reflecting, the challenge fosters collaborative learning and deeper understanding of key concepts.

Designing an Interactive WebQuest for Inquiry-Based Learning – This Optimizer helps instructors develop a WebQuest that guides students through a structured online inquiry process. The WebQuest will include key components such as an introduction, tasks, resources, and reflection, encouraging students to use information critically, collaborate with peers, and reflect on their learning experience.

Designing a Student Video Creation Assignment for Learning and Creativity – This Optimizer helps instructors create an assignment where students develop a video to demonstrate mastery of course content, reflect on learning, or creatively express ideas. Students can use various video production methods, including self-filming, screen recording, or multimedia assembly, to create engaging and educational videos.

March 2025

Smarter Search in Discover: We’ve fine-tuned our search algorithm! Now, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for, faster than ever. Collections are now at the bottom of the results, providing a more intuitive search experience!

Confetti Explosion! (Rebranded & Expanded): Completing an optimizer just got a whole lot more fun! We’ve revamped our confetti celebration with a fresh look and even more exciting animations. Get ready for a burst of joy with every successful completion!

Database Deep Dive: We successfully identified and resolved a tricky database connection issue that was causing frustrating slowdowns. You should be seeing a noticeable improvement in performance.

Maintaining Instructor Presence – Communicating key information to students during the term demonstrates instructor presence and can increase motivation and support greater student success, while reducing the number of emails students send asking for clarification. This resource walks you through the process of developing a plan to use announcements to reach your students.

Create an Instructor Introduction that Students Find Approachable – Crafting a welcoming introduction enables you to balance professionalism with personal touch, enhancing student engagement and comfort from the outset of a course.

Develop Communication Expectations for Your Students – This Optimizer will guide you in setting clear, effective communication expectations for your students, ensuring they understand how and when to contact you, and what response times to expect. By defining these parameters, you will enhance student engagement, reduce misunderstandings, and improve overall course management.

Discussion Board: Small Group Activity – This Optimizer helps instructors develop and implement a Small Group Discussion Board activity that fosters engaging discussions and promotes deeper learning.

Designing a One-Minute Paper Activity for Quick Reflection and Engagement – This Optimizer helps instructors create a One-Minute Paper activity that provides quick, formative feedback on student understanding. It encourages students to reflect on what they’ve learned, identify areas of confusion, and engage with the material.

Course Orientation Module Checklist – Building an effective course orientation module ensures that students are well-prepared for the course. It helps identify and implement key elements to enhance student engagement and success.

Optimize Your Online Course Information Layout – This Optimizer helps instructors streamline and enhance the layout of their online course information. By organizing key elements such as course tone, quick reference items, course structure, urgent communication plans, and essential policies, instructors can improve student engagement and understanding.

In conjunction with our Webinar, we have created the “Stop the Mid-Semester Slump Collection” including the brand new AI enabled “Plan an Engaging Guest Speaker Experience to Enrich Learning” optimizer designed to help instructors plan and implement a guest speaker experience that enhances student engagement and deepens learning.

Design an Action Research Assignment – This Optimizer helps instructors develop a structured Action Research assignment for their students. Action Research assignments enable students to identify real-world issues, develop research-based interventions, and assess the effectiveness of their solutions. This Optimizer provides guidance on essential elements such as topic selection, research design, collaboration, and assessment criteria to ensure students engage in meaningful inquiry.

Designing an Effective Field Report Assignment for Experiential Learning – This Optimizer helps instructors create a structured Field Report assignment, guiding students in documenting and analyzing their observations from fieldwork. By using this tool, instructors can ensure students apply theoretical knowledge to real-world experiences, enhancing their critical thinking and observational skills.

Creating a Reflective Journal Assignment for Deep Learning and Self-Assessment – A reflective journal assignment encourages students to think critically about their learning and write about how the course material relates to their personal experiences. Unlike typical assignments that focus on facts, reflective journals focus on personal connections, growth, and the development of ideas. Students reflect on how the content impacts them and track their progress or challenges.

Creative Portfolios to Showcase Student Talent and Development – This Optimizer guides instructors through the process of creating a Creative Portfolio assignment where students curate their best creative work. The portfolio will demonstrate their skills, artistic development, and unique creative vision, helping students present their work professionally to potential colleges, employers, or for academic purposes.

Designing a Comprehensive Capstone Project for Real-World Problem Solving – This Optimizer helps instructors design a culminating Capstone Project that allows students to apply their academic knowledge and skills to real-world problems. Instructors can tailor the project to include research, analysis, problem-solving, creative work, and independent or group collaboration. This tool ensures students demonstrate mastery of their academic program through thoughtful and well-structured projects.

Dynamic Simulations and Role-Playing Experiences for Real-World Learning – This Optimizer assists in the development of immersive simulations or role-playing experiences where students take on specific roles in complex, real-world scenarios. These experiences encourage students to apply theoretical knowledge, engage in decision-making, and collaborate with peers to solve problems in an interdisciplinary context.

ePortfolio Experience for Reflective Learning and Professional Growth – This Optimizer guides instructors through the process of creating a student ePortfolio assignment that captures both course-related work and reflections on learning experiences. The ePortfolio will serve as a digital showcase of student achievements, critical reflections, and professional development, helping students demonstrate their learning and growth over time.

Create a Late Work Policy – As an instructor, it can be frustrating when students don’t turn in assignments on time, particularly when they also fail to communicate about it beforehand. Use this resource to help you draft a late or make-up work policy to set clear expectations and resulting conditions for students in your course. As you draft your policy, be sure to follow any institution- or department-wide guidelines.

Case Study Analysis for Applied Critical Thinking – This Optimizer helps instructors design a Case Study Analysis assignment that challenges students to apply theoretical concepts to real-world scenarios. The tool guides instructors through structuring the case study, establishing evaluation criteria, and promoting critical thinking. This assignment enhances students’ ability to synthesize information, analyze complex issues, and provide evidence-based solutions.

Designing an Effective Oral Examination Assignment to Assess Knowledge and Skill Development – This Optimizer helps instructors create an Oral Examination assignment that allows students to present knowledge, defend decisions, demonstrate skill development, or verify authentic achievement of learning outcomes. Oral exams foster critical thinking, communication, and in-depth understanding, offering a unique way to engage with course content and assess individual mastery.

Creative Writing Assignments for Imaginative Expression and Literary Skill Development – This Optimizer guides instructors in developing creative writing assignments that inspire students to explore fictional and non-fictional writing, poetry, and other literary forms. The assignments encourage students to reflect on personal experiences, express emotions, and experiment with diverse writing techniques and genres.

Mock Interviews for Professional Development and Career Readiness– This Optimizer helps instructors develop a Mock Interview experience where students can practice responding to common interview questions, receive real-time feedback, and develop the confidence and skills needed for professional interviews. The process includes a simulated 20-30 minute interview, followed by 20-30 minutes of feedback and coaching.

February 2025

Curie’s Superpower Unleashed! At the end of February, we launched new vectorizing and chunking capabilities in Curie! This is a major leap forward, allowing us to process and utilize diverse content like never before. Imagine the possibilities! This update is like giving our platform a superpower, making course design faster and smarter.

Enhanced Syllabus Checklist –This AI enabled Optimizer assists in evaluating and enhancing course syllabi to ensure course clarity and completeness. By reviewing essential elements and best practices, you can ensure the syllabus is comprehensive and effectively structured to enable student success.

Create a Module Overview Page –This AI enabled resource will assist you to create a module overview page that not only shares essential course information but also motivates and excites students about their learning journey, outlining clear outcomes and supportive elements.

Create a Point Based Grading Rubric –Rubrics are instrumental in defining clear expectations, ensuring consistent grading, and providing targeted feedback to students. This AI enabled optimizer guides you through a streamlined process to create a rubric tailored to your specific course and assessment needs.

Create a Discussion Board Grading Rubric –This AI enabled optimizer provides a focus on clear criteria that promote quality participation and meaningful interactions among students in discussion boards. Effective rubrics can also streamline grading and increase student engagement in online discussions.

Supporting Academic Integrity –This AI enabled Optimizer ensures that instructors can systematically review and enhance their practices to support academic integrity. By providing specific, actionable feedback based on their responses, the Optimizer helps instructors implement best practices effectively and efficiently. The checklist format allows for a straightforward evaluation of current practices and offers clear guidance for any improvements.

Create a Module Outline –This AI enabled Optimizer assists instructors in designing a comprehensive LMS module outline for their courses. It helps create clear, organized, and detailed module information that enhances student engagement and understanding, improving their learning experience.

Draft a Weekly Announcement –Providing weekly announcements for online modules is a simple yet important method to motivate students, build continuity between modules, and connect course content with real-world relevance. This AI enabled resource will help you do just that.

Use Office Hours to Connect with Your Students –Office hours provide instructors and students the opportunity to connect 1:1 or in a group setting, building connections, facilitating learning, and promoting engagement with the course. Both faculty and students, however, struggle to maximize the benefits of this aspect of teaching. This AI enabled Optimizer helps instructors effectively utilize office hours to connect with students, fostering deeper engagement and academic success.

January 2025

In conjunction with our Webinar “Engage, Motivate, Inspire: Reimagining the First Day of Class” we shared a Collection of new and re-imagined resources: First Day of Class: Engage, Motivate, Inspire. This collection includes AI enabled Optimizers to create engaging and meaningful first day activities, as well as a “First Day of Class Checklist.”

Maintaining Instructor Presence – Communicating key information to students during the term demonstrates instructor presence and can increase motivation and support greater student success, while reducing the number of emails students send asking for clarification. This AI enabled resource walks you through the process of developing a plan to use announcements to reach your students.

Develop Communication Expectations for Your Students – This AI enabled Optimizer will guide you in setting clear, effective communication expectations for your students, ensuring they understand how and when to contact you, and what response times to expect. By defining these parameters, you will enhance student engagement, reduce misunderstandings, and improve overall course management.

Discussion Board: Small Group Activity – This AI enabled Optimizer helps instructors develop and implement a Small Group Discussion Board activity that fosters engaging discussions and promotes deeper learning.

Designing a One-Minute Paper Activity for Quick Reflection and Engagement – This AI enabled Optimizer helps instructors create a One-Minute Paper activity that provides quick, formative feedback on student understanding. It encourages students to reflect on what they’ve learned, identify areas of confusion, and engage with the material.

Course Orientation Module Checklist – Building an effective course orientation module ensures that students are well-prepared for the course. This AI enabled resource helps identify and implement key elements to enhance student engagement and success.

Optimize Your Online Course Information Layout – This AI enabled Optimizer helps instructors streamline and enhance the layout of their online course information. By organizing key elements such as course tone, quick reference items, course structure, urgent communication plans, and essential policies, instructors can improve student engagement and understanding.

December 2024

Promoting Student Motivation and Participation in Your Course (AI Enabled) – Students are more motivated to participate in class and engage with learning material when they see value in the course and feel connections to their own lives, when they feel supported, and the expectations are clear. The “Promoting Student Motivation and Participation in Your Course (AI Enabled)” Optimizer identifies ways to promote motivation and participation in your course.

Make Student Outreach Easy and Effective (AI Enabled) – Reaching out to students during the term can increase motivation and support greater student success. The “Make Student Outreach Easy and Effective (AI Enabled)” Optimizer walks you through the process of quickly developing effective outreach messages for your course according to respective student scenarios.

Make Grading More Efficient – Looking for ideas to streamline the grading process, improve efficiency and consistency in assessing student work, and enhancing feedback quality? The “Make Grading More Efficient” Optimizer will help you create a plan that works for you!

Create a Scenario Based Activity (AI Enabled) – Scenario-based learning (SBL) enables students to apply what they know to real-world situations. A form of active and authentic learning, SBL requires students to work through a case study or scenario, applying problem-solving and critical thinking skills as they do so. Use the “Create a Scenario Based Activity (AI Enabled)” Optimizer to create a scenario-based activity for your course.

Creating Effective Learning Outcomes Statements – Learning outcomes statements outline the specific knowledge, skills, and competencies that learners are expected to acquire through a given learning endeavor. Effective learning outcomes statements are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Result-oriented, and Time-bound (SMART). Use the “Creating Effective Learning Outcomes Statements” Optimizer to create outcomes for our course.

November 2024

Powering Creativity – We’ve added a “Regenerate” button to our AI-enabled optimizers, allowing users to generate multiple iterations and spark even more creative ideas.

Elevating AI Assistance – Our creative companion, AI, is getting smarter! We’ve refined prompting techniques to significantly reduce hallucinations, ensuring a more reliable and creative experience.

Commitment to Transparency – To better understand how Curie utilizes AI, we’ve added a statement to all AI-enabled optimizers. This statement outlines our approach to AI in education, including:

Combining learning science with Generative AI to enhance efficiency.
Utilizing industry-leading AI models alongside proprietary technology.
Ensuring data privacy and security within our platform.

Full Curie AI Statement:

“Curie combines learning science and Generative AI to help educators create effective resources efficiently. Our platform leverages industry-leading AI models, enhanced by our proprietary prompting technology and deep learning design expertise. We ensure all instructor data remains protected within our secure system while delivering innovative, education-specific solutions. Curie offers innovative, private, and secure resource creation for enhanced teaching and learning outcomes.”

October 2024

Enhancements to the Playlist Feature – We’ve made improvements to the Playlist feature to streamline the workflow and provide a more intuitive experience:

Both sections of the Playlist feature are now located below the title card in your Portfolio.
Optimizers you complete within a Playlist will automatically be added to your Portfolio.
The ability to create, edit, and reorder modules within a playlist! This added flexibility will allow users to precisely order their content and make their workflows more efficient!

Users can Upload Content to Curie – We have added the ability for Tier 2 and Tier 3 users (Institutional Administrators and Faculty Users, respectively) to upload content to Curie. This new feature will make it easier to share knowledge and collaborate with colleagues!

T2 Users (Institutional Administrators): Can add content to their institution and to Portfolios and Learn Instance associated with their institution.
T3 Users (Faculty Users): Can add content to their institution or their personal Portfolio.

September 2024

Introducing the AI Enabled Optimizers Collection – Access and explore our AI Enabled Optimizers, including nine new optimizers designed to spark student engagement and creativity, from one easy to find collection!

August 2024

Late Work Policy– Use the “Create a Late Work Policy” Optimizer to help you draft a late or make-up work policy to set clear expectations and resulting conditions for students in your course.

Maintaining Instructor Presence – Communicating key information to students during the term demonstrates instructor presence and can increase motivation and support greater student success, while reducing the number of emails students send asking for clarification. The “Maintaining Instructor Presence” Optimizer helps you develop announcements to reach your students.

Land Acknowledgement – A land acknowledgment is an opportunity to raise awareness about the history of the land, the Indigenous people who were displaced through colonization, and the politics associated with the spaces we freely use today. The “Write a Land Acknowledgment For Your Course” Optimizer walks you through writing a land acknowledgment for your course.

July 2024

Create a Course Orientation Module – A course orientation module sets students up for success by explaining, in clear, personable language, how the course is organized and what your expectations are. This is especially important in courses with a heavy online component, because the orientation replaces the usual “welcome to class” talk you’d give during your first class meeting. Use the “Course Orientation Module Checklist” Optimizer to develop an informative and engaging orientation module, adapting the content to your course and students.

Enhance Your Syllabus– The “Enhanced Syllabus Checklist” Optimizer assists in evaluating and enhancing course syllabi to ensure course clarity and completeness. By reviewing essential elements and best practices, you can ensure the syllabus is comprehensive and effectively structured to enable student success.

Create Weekly Announcements– Use the “Draft Your Weekly Announcement” Optimizer to help your students get off to a strong start each week by sharing an announcement that contains all of the key information they will need to succeed that week in the course.

June 2024

Map Your Learning Outcomes to Activities and Assessments – Designing curriculum is most effective when aligning learning outcomes with corresponding teaching activities and assessments. The “Map Learning Outcomes to Activities & Assessments” Optimizer helps simplify the process of integrating pedagogical strategies with assessment methods, ensuring that educational goals are effectively met and measured.

Create a Module Overview Page – Most courses are organized by weeks or modules. The “Create a Module Overview Page” Optimizer will walk you through how to develop an overview page to include in a module in your Learning Management System (LMS).

Approachable Instructor Introductions – The way you introduce yourself to your students allows you to demonstrate your humanity and sense of humor, while providing opportunities for students to connect with you. The “Create an Instructor Introduction That Students Find Approachable” Optimizer will help you draft an instructor introduction for your course.

Planning a Synchronous Class Session – Breaking up lectures with interactive learning is a powerful approach to providing effective and engaging instruction. Complete the “Synchronous Class Session Plan” Optimizer to help transform your synchronous class session.

May 2024

Highlighting our “Get to Know Curie” Resources – We have moved our “Get to Know Curie” Collection of resources, designed to give users a guided demonstration of a variety of Curie features and functions, to the top of the Discover Page for ALL users. We will keep this collection front and center for users as we continue to add valuable Curie resources to it! We have also set Curie to pre-populate new user portfolios with our video “I’m Registered. Now What?” to quickly help get users started exploring all that Curie has to offer them!

New “Crafting Your Teaching Philosophy” Optimizer – Thanks to the amazing work of Brett Christie and Christopher Kuo, we’re thrilled to introduce the “Crafting a Teaching Philosophy Statement” Optimizer! This AI-powered wonder tool helps you quickly craft YOUR teaching philosophy statement.

New “Managing Sensitive Topics” Optimizer – The “Managing Sensitive Topics” Optimizer equips faculty to effectively manage discussions on sensitive topics, enhancing student engagement and promoting a respectful learning environment. It guides through preparation, execution, and reflection, ensuring discussions are impactful and inclusive

New Curie 101 Video – Check out the newest addition to the Get to Know Curie Collection…“Curie 101: Course Action Plan with Playlist” for a 5 minute demonstration of the new Course Action Plan Teaching Optimizer and how it seamlessly populates a Playlist for the user!

April 2024

Write Stellar Recommendation Letters in a Flash – Thanks to the amazing work of Brett Christie and Christopher Kuo, we’re thrilled to introduce the “Drafting Letters of Recommendation” Optimizer! This AI-powered wonder tool helps you quickly craft impactful letters based on the information you provide. No more writer’s block, just clear, concise, and personalized recommendations!

The Course Action Plan Optimizer: Your Blueprint for Success – You can now streamline your course design process with the brand new “Course Action Plan” Optimizer! This powerful tool aligns seamlessly with Design Services workflows. Simply input your objectives, prioritize tasks, and allocate resources efficiently – the Optimizer will even generate a Playlist with other relevant Optimizers to guide you through the entire course creation journey!

Curie Gets Social – Clicking on profile images in the Activity Feed now takes you to the user’s portfolio. Ditto for clicking on Contributors within a collection!

Followed Collections Visible in Portfolio – We’ve added a new section to the Portfolio page so users can see all the Collections they have followed…and can scroll through them and navigate to them easily!