Teaching and Learning
The Secrets of College Success (Steven Mintz, Inside Higher Ed, March 2, 2023): Mintz summarizes the conclusions of two books: The Secret Syllabus: A Guide to the Unwritten Rules of College Syccess (Jay Phelan and Terry Burnham, Princeton) and Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy (Daniel Willingham, Simon & Schuster).
Teaching Peer Feedback: How We Can Do Better (Katherine Shwetz and Maria Assif, Inside Higher Ed, March 1, 2023): Peer-feedback or peer-review exercises require guidance and structure.
The Importance of a Good Bedside Manner for Doctors Teachers, Part 1 (Teresa Thompson, Faculty Focus, March 1, 2023): Having a positive attitude, while listening and connecting, can go a long way in making a difference to the person you are helping.
Theater for Change (University of Washington Center for Teaching and Learning and Memory War Theater): TfC uses Theater of the Oppressed and other interactive theater approaches to promote inclusive teaching and learning. (Thanks to Theresa Ronquillo of Amherst’s Center for Teaching and Learning for the tip.)
Lecturing: Basics, Level Up, Power Up (Todd Zakrasjek and The Scholarly Teacher): Three infographics for three levels of lecturing. (Thanks to Lew Ludwig for the tip in his Tuesday Teaching column.)
Engaging Students Through Experiential Learning Inside the Classroom (Barbara Jacoby, Faculty Focus, February 27, 2023): The concrete benefits of engaging students in experiential learning inside the classroom.
The Dangers of Dogmatism (Steven Mintz, Inside Higher Ed, February 26, 2023): Reflections on Professor Vincent Lloyd’s “A Black Professor Trapped in Anti-Racist Hell.
Connecting in the Classroom and Beyond (Beckie Supiano and Karin Fischer, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 23, 2023): Faculty members are struggling more than ever to reach their students. Emphasizing human connections in the classroom is a key success strategy.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT as an Assistive Technology (Maggie Melo, Inside Higher Ed, March 1, 2023): ChatGPT has tremendous potential as an assistive technology for faculty and students with ADHD.
Student Engagement
Rebounding Engagement: Has Higher Education Returned to ‘Normal’? (NSSE): Research suggests that students in 2022 were spending more time on average studying and preparing for class than prior to the pandemic.
The Liberal Arts
Reclaiming Subjectivity: A Report to an Academy (Philip Weinstein, Inside Higher Ed, March 3, 2023): In a take-off on Kafka’s “Report to an Academy,” Weinstein argues that to equate subjectivity with irresponsibility—to fantasize some human arena where subjectivity gets happily bypassed—is to dream of impossibilities.
The End of the English Major (Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, February 27, 2023): Enrollment in the humanities is in free fall at colleges around the country. What happened?
Academic Freedom and DEI
Sometimes Diversity Trumps Academic Freedom (Stacy Hawkins, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 28, 2023): Tensions between core values must be tested case by case.
Deference to Religion Has No Place in Higher Education (Katha Pollitt, The Nation, February 2, 2023): The controversy at Hamline over a painting of Muhammad shown in an art class demonstrates the danger of prioritizing religious beliefs over academic freedom.
Webinars
ChatGPT and Other Cutting-Edge Learning Tech: Chronicle of Higher Education asks a panel of experts what administrators need to know about the potential pitfalls of AI-based learning technologies. March 8, 2:00 PM Eastern: Register here.
“What Works Conference” at Kenyon
The Center for Innovative Pedagogy at Kenyon College invites presentations on teaching and learning for the 2023 What Works virtual conference, to be held the week of May 30-June 2, 2023. They are considering all proposals that would apply to undergraduate education at a small college or university, but we especially want to encourage proposals in three areas:
- collaboration between faculty and staff to support student learning
- new applications of educational technology
- courses that employ pedagogies of diversity, equity and inclusion
Proposals are being accepted at https://forms.gle/C7rRj9aQutzRQMWV6 . The deadline to submit has been extended to March 22. Please feel free to contact Joe Murphy (murphyjm@kenyon.edu) or Alex Alderman (alderman1@kenyon.edu) to discuss your ideas for a session!
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)