CETL in the News - Winter Round-Up
While classes were out (and Oxford was covered in ice), the CETL staff were sharing their expertise with the higher ed community!
This "CETL in the News" round-up covers December 2023 and January 2024, a two-month period that featured a lot of CETL appearances in the news and on podcasts!
“ChatGPT Has Changed Teaching. Our Readers Tell Us How.” In December, Chronicle of Higher Education reporters Beth McMurtrie and Beckie Supiano took a look back at the role of generative AI in teaching and learning in the fall. They quote CETL’s Emily Donahoe on the subject of AI-assisted cheating. “I have not once this semester suspected a student of passing off AI-generated material as their own work or otherwise using AI inappropriately,” said Emily. She credits her students, but also her “ungrading” approach to course design, which reduced incentives for cheating.
“Unmaking the Grade.” Speaking of ungrading, Emily Donahoe’s blog about ungrading continues to draw attention across higher ed. In January, she was the featured guest on the Tea for Teaching podcast hosted by John Kane (an economist) and Rebecca Mushtare (a graphic designer) at SUNY-Oswego. Emily was particularly excited to be on this podcast, as she is an avid tea drinker!
“AI Is Forcing Teachers to Confront an Existential Question.” Also in December, Washington Post writer Molly Roberts interviewed Marc Watkins, academic innovation fellow and friend of CETL, about the work he and his colleagues in Writing & Rhetoric have been doing with generative AI in their courses. “There’s no better place to see how academia is handling the explosion in ChatGPT and its ilk than at Ole Miss,” writes Roberts.
“Teaching Expert Predicts Trends in Online and Professional Education.” CETL’s Derek Bruff was one of several experts who contributed to a new report from UPCEA, the online and professional education association, on predictions for 2024. Derek predicted a rise in customized, domain-specific generative AI tools this year that would have an impact on higher ed, as well sa continued growth in courses and programs offered in a variety of onsite and online modalities as higher ed responds to changing students needs post-pandemic.
“Should You Seek an Adult Diagnosis of Neurodivergence?” In January, a Chronicle piece by Katie Rose Guest Pryal explored the experiences of higher educational professionals navigating their work with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, and other kinds of neurodivergence. CETL’s Liz Norell was interviewed for the article about her autism diagnosis as an adult and how it clarified particular challenges she had faced in her career. (Note that Liz is leading a workshop later this semester on supporting students with dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia, which are other types of neurodivergence.)
“Bridging Dialogues: Partnering with To Improve the Academy.” CETL’s Liz Norell wears many hats, and one of them associate editor of To Improve the Academy, the flagship peer-reviewed publication of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network. Liz talked about this work on the late January episode of Centering Centers, the POD Network’s podcast, and about her professional journey as a faculty member and educational developer. Look for more from To Improve the Academy on the Centering Centers podcast as the podcast starts an occasional series interviewing TIA authors!
“Blurring the Lines for Faculty Development.” Just last week, CETL’s Derek Bruff published a guest post on the UPCEA blog. In the post, Derek reflects on the ways that faculty were (or were not) supported in their professional learning as teachers before the COVID-19 pandemic and how those support structures have changed since 2020. Teaching modalities (onsite, online, hybrid) have been rapidly changing, but, Derek writes, “What if we provided instructors of all kinds with the professional learning they need to teach well, regardless of modality?”
That’s a lot for just two months! Nothing from CETL’s fearless leader, Josh Eyler, but he is presenting at SXSWEdu in early March, which is very exciting. And Josh announced the new title of his forthcoming book, Failing Our Future: How Grades Harm Students and What We Can Do about It, out in August from Johns Hopkins University Press.