We’ve all faced it—that moment when a meticulously planned lesson falls flat. You set the stage with clear objectives, a captivating PowerPoint, a class activity, discussion, and an in-class assignment. But during the activity, you notice blank stares and disengaged students. Then comes the dreaded
Generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot are, at their best, a bit like the computer aboard the Enterprise in Star Trek. In the show, the crew can ask a question in ordinary language and get an answer. But the system only responds to
Have you ever felt excited when students generate brilliant ideas and then puzzled as to why they don’t implement them? Alternatively, have you observed students jumping into action without thinking through the parameters of an assignment, seeking feedback, reflecting on prior experiences, or applying what
Faculty and course developers today are being asked to implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into their course design, but many are not sure how to do that. AI can come to the rescue by analyzing assignments and other course content and suggesting changes to
“Zip! Zap! Zop!” my 15-year-old son cried as he wildly waved his arms. “My math teacher makes us do this exercise halfway through class. You should try it with your students.”
While higher education focuses on how to prevent AI from diminishing student learning, over the past few months a number of major AI players have released study modes focused on helping students learn. This development has the potential to close the learning gap by providing
Large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Llama have become powerful tools that can boost productivity and learning support, but they also undermine academic integrity by making it easier for students to submit unoriginal or automated work. How can we keep assessments purposeful, relevant, and
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
When students come to class without understanding the assigned reading, I often assume that they didn’t do it. While this can be the case, I have also found that many students simply didn’t get the needed information out of the assigned texts. Being an expert
Like many college instructors, I approached this summer with one goal in mind: to figure out my approach to AI once and for all. I assembled a sizable stack of AI-related teaching books and embarked upon my reading program.
