Closed for the Holidays! This will be the last NoTW of the year. We’ll return again on January 6, 2023, and wish you all a very restful, restorative holiday season and the best new year ever.
Conversation on Ungrading: Nearly 80 colleagues from around the GLCA and the GLAA joined us on Wednesday (Dec. 14) for our virtual conversation on “ungrading.” They heard short presentations from faculty at Denison (Jordan Fantini and Rebecca Futo Kennedy) and Oberlin (Jenny Fraser, Jan Miyake and Lynn Powell). You can find more about the conversation, see their handouts, and find resources on “ungrading” on the CTL website.
Teaching and Learning
Switching the Spotlight: An Approach to Teaching Critical Analysis in Conceptual and Applied Learning (Russ Woodward and Tim Veal, Faculty Focus, December 14, 2022): A method for scrutinizing practice in the light of theory and scrutinizing theory in the light of experience.
Is College Too Hard? (David Wippman and Glenn C. Altschuler, Inside Higher Ed, December 14, 2022): With students highly stressed even when they are studying less, educators need to understand how much homework is helpful.
8 Ways to Improve the Quality and Effectiveness of College Teaching (Steven Mintz, Inside Higher Ed, December 12, 2022): From better training at the doctoral program level, to institutional incentives, to better professional development.
Teaching Faculty to Support Student Mental Health (Susan H. Greenberg, Inside Higher Ed, December 13, 2022): New resources and guidance are available for faculty keen to help students with mental health issues. Some say it’s too much to ask, others that it’s not enough to help.
Students and Teachers Want Video. Where Will It Come From? (Vera Song, Inside Higher Ed, December 13, 2022): It’s time for providers and distributors to step up more and include video as an integral part of learning materials.
Inspiring Your Students to Write, Cite, and Avoid Plagiarism (Matthew J. Samel, Faculty Focus, December 12, 2022): Strategies to help students by having them (1) Define; (2) Discuss; (3) Apply; and (4) Conclude.
Why I Reject the Gospel of Objectivity (Imani Perry, “Unsettled Territory”/The Atlantic, December 9, 2022): Perry recounts her experiences teaching this semester, suggesting that “for today’s students, who are forced to confront a world in crisis on so many registers, we would do well to create space in the classroom for emotional engagement with intellectual matters.”
AI, ChatGPT, and the Future of Higher Ed
Has AI Reached the Point Where a Software Program Can Do Better Work Than You? (Rob Schmitz, NPR Morning Edition, December 16, 2022): NPR’s Rob Schmitz talks to Ethan Mollick of the University of Pennsylvania about an artificial intelligence program that uses AI to compose college essays, news stories, poems and even sitcoms.
If You Can’t Beat GPT3, Join It (Mike Groves, Times Higher Education, December 16, 2022): We need to prepare students to thrive in a world where they use AI but are not dependent on it.
What Would Plato Say About ChatGPT? (Zeynep Tufekci, New York Times, December 15, 2022): ChatGPT and other A.I. tools could improve education, but they risk increasing inequality.
AI Will Augment The Writing Process, Not Replace It (Marc Watkins, Inside Higher Ed, December 14, 2022): More thoughts on the challenges posed by ChatGPT. The author suggests that the rate these tools are being deployed and readily adopted means that we’re all likely to use some form of AI-assistance in our writing, if we aren’t already. This is why it is crucial for us to teach our students about these models, how to use them ethically, and what it will mean for their writing process.
AI and the Future of Undergraduate Writing (Beth McMurtrie, Chronicle of Higher Education, December 13, 2022): Teaching experts are concerned, but not for the reasons you think.
Higher Ed and Democracy
Reimagining Democracy Through Student Activism (Margaret T. Brower, Inside Higher Ed, December 13, 2022): Colleges would better serve students, themselves and the nation by building structures that promote student activism rather than those that repress it.
The Liberal Arts
Why Do We Need a Liberal Arts Capstone? (David Droppa, Inside Higher Ed, December 14, 2022): Beyond capstones for majors, special courses that encourage interaction across disciplines can be especially useful for students launching into careers or grad school.
Winter Break Reading
A Winter Break Reading List on Skills for Scholars (James M. Lang, Chronicle of Higher Education, December 9, 2022): Some recommendations including the “Skills for Scholars” series out of Princeton.
What’s On Your Bookshelf? Are you reading something (higher ed related or not) that you would like to recommend to your colleagues? Let us know!
Have a short article or some news related to teaching and learning at your institution that you’d like to share with colleagues? Send your contribution along to us. Also, please email Charla White (white@glca.org) if you have colleagues who would like to receive this weekly report.
GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning
Co-Directors:
Steven Volk (steven.Volk@oberlin.edu)
Colleen Monahan Smith (smith@glca.org)
Charla White (white@glca.org)