As I write, the faculty at Harvard have just voted to limit the number of A grades they award in any undergraduate course to a maximum of 20 percent of class enrollment in an effort to combat grade inflation (McMurtrie, 2026). This policy is an
As an instructor of bachelor’s-level courses in software development, where most assignments are code-based, I teach courses that are among the most vulnerable to AI misuse and outsourced learning. This reality left me with a foundational question: How can I structure my assessments so that
Feedback is one of the most important influences on learning, and providing it is one of an instructor’s most important duties. But it’s no secret that many, if not most, faculty consider providing students with feedback to be drudgery. AI provides a way to offload
“The Song Remains the Same,” a tune penned by Robert Plant, the energetic lead singer of Led Zeppelin, has a basic message: Even in the face of the passage of time or world events, core elements of life stay constant. That sounds like how we
Every time a student submits work that doesn’t reflect what you know about them, you face the same impossible task: proving something that was designed to be unprovable. AI detection tools offer a number, not an answer. Formal academic integrity processes demand evidence that, in
Picture this: You spend hours crafting a midterm exam that could provide valuable learning opportunities. Students get their exams back early in the course, leaving them plenty of time to improve before the final. Yet when you look at final exam results, you see that
Two truths and a lie is a popular social icebreaker game. In case you aren’t familiar with it, this is the way it goes. Each person thinks of three statements about themselves, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. It
One major impediment to learning is the “forgetting curve,” the fact that people rapidly forget what they learn without reinforcement (Smolen et al., 2016). Assessments are a good method of combating the forgetting curve as they call up past information and, in doing so, encode
It was midway through week four of the fall semester. The preservice teacher candidates sat in small groups, reviewing their assignments from the previous week. One student’s brow furrowed as she read her feedback, stopping on the comment “Add more differentiation for diverse learners.” She
If you use team projects and the grade comes only from you, you’re missing an essential opportunity. Including peer evaluations in your grades provides necessary information for you and gives your students a valuable team experience. Given that teamwork is one of the top skills
