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News of the Week – September 4, 2026

This week’s issue is curated by Zachary Adams. Zach is the Assistant Director, Center for Teaching and Learning and Instruction Specialist at Hope College.

Teaching and Learning

Rethinking Course Design to Enliven Student Engagement (Nasreen Sultana, Times Higher Education Campus, August 20, 2026): Sultana offers four practical strategies for making in-person class time more interactive, relevant, and clearly connected to assessment.

Are Office Hours Pointless? (Tim Franz and Lauren Vicker, Inside Higher Ed, August 26, 2026): Franz and Vicker argue that office hours still matter, but faculty may need to rethink how, when, and why they invite students to use them.

A Four-Step Writing Protocol to Teach Students How to Practise Attention (Leonard Nalencz, Times Higher Education Campus, August 27, 2026): Nalencz shares a simple classroom protocol that combines rereading, writing, reflection, and conversation to help students practice sustained attention and close reading.

Today’s Students

What New Research Reveals About Student Success (Joshua Bay, Inside Higher Ed, August 18, 2026): Recent research on mental health, financial vulnerability, campus resources, neurodiversity, and career preparation challenges assumptions about what students need to persist and succeed.

Tech-ish

Student’s Perception of UX Design on an LMS Course: Designing Online Courses Students Can Actually Navigate (Mark Savignano and Scott Page, Faculty Focus, August 10, 2026): A useful reminder that LMS design is part of course design: clear navigation, consistent organization, and accessible layouts can reduce frustration and help students focus on learning.

Top Tools for Learning 2026, with Dave Stachowiak (Bonni Stachowiak and Dave Stachowiak, Teaching in Higher Ed, August 27, 2026): Bonni Stachowiak shares her current top tools for learning and the “seek-sense-share” practice behind them, offering faculty a useful way to think about how digital tools support their own learning and teaching.

Tidbits

A Classroom in Concert: How to Design a Truly Rockin’ Learning Experience (Teresa Thompson, Faculty Focus, August 21, 2026): Thompson draws parallels between a well-designed concert and a well-designed class, highlighting how intentional openings, sequencing, storytelling, and use of space can create a more engaging learning experience.

What Students Know About College That Critics Don’t (opinion) (Richard Detweiler, Inside Higher Ed, September 2, 2026): Detweiler, former president of the GLCA and author of The Evidence Liberal Arts Needs: Lives of Consequence, Inquiry, and Accomplishment (MIT Press, 2021) argues that we must continue to create relational, intellectually stretching, community-embedded experiences to produce not just capable workers, but citizens, leaders and contributors to the larger human project.

GLCA is hiring!

The GLCA is hiring a Senior Program Director to help lead collaborative academic and administrative initiatives across our thirteen liberal arts colleges. This hybrid role is an opportunity for an experienced faculty or faculty-adjacent administrator to convene faculty and academic leaders, strengthen professional development and leadership programs, and help institutions respond creatively to a changing higher education landscape. Review of applications begins October 30, 2026.  More information about the position and the application process can be found here.

 

Editor:  Colleen Monahan Smith, GLCA, [email protected]

News of the Week – Aug 21, 2026

This week’s issue is curated by Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón. Sergio is Director of The Gertrude B. Lemle Center for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship and Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies at Oberlin College. 

Teaching & Learning

How to Teach a Good First Day of Class (James M. Lang, Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug 21, 2018). An oldie but a goodie: in this piece, Lang offers a feel-good and helpful guide to the first day of classes (looming for a big chunk of us). He opens with principles for day one that, semester in and semester out, I find affirming: lead with curiosity and learning, humanize yourself and your students, set up course expectations.

What Do You Know? Judging Your Own Learning Doesn’t Always Improve It. (Michelle Miller, Substack, August 03, 2026). In this piece, Miller surveys recent research that tests whether learning self-checks lead to improvement (it doesn’t), and concludes that deliberate teaching of material and explicit retrieval activities are the way to go. Interestingly, this piece echoes many other recent research articles (and Substack rewrites) that is starting to insist that growth mindsets and metacognition is all good and intuitive, but without good research proven pedagogical practices (retrieval, spacing, etc) it yields very little beyond vibes.

Just-In-Time Assessment Strategies for Lasting Learning (Joshua D. Morrison, National Teaching and Learning Forum, April 07, 2026). Last semester, I found this article useful to remind myself to integrate small real-time, in-class checks to gauge student understanding and adjust learning before things got too bad. I promised myself I would re-read it to have it in my toolkit this semester.

Tech-ish

Against Optimized Efficiency: Why Foreign Language Learning Still Matters  (Kit Pribble, Critical AI, April 1, 2026). The author argues that language is not code, like functionalists often believe. As all of us language teachers know, language proficiency entails an engagement with and openness that” lies in the capacity to engage meaningfully and intentionally with the target language, with a full understanding of the social and cultural beliefs and practices that language articulates”.

The Psychology of Technology: The Science We Need in the Age of AI (Nathanael Fast and Juliana Schroeder, Designing Tomorrow, June 3, 2026). The authors reflect on a decade leading the Psychology of Technology Institute, and warn that, as generative AI rapidly scales, developers must avoid pushing for optimization at the risk of eroding attention, trust, and mental health. They share their Institute’s framework for an interdisciplinary research program paired with proactive ethical interventions—including public tracking indices, ethical design standards, and evidence-backed policy.

Around the GLCA

In case you missed it, here is the recording of the most recent GLCA CTL program, Right on Time or Just in Time: Welcoming Students into Class with Larry Chavis (Kalamazoo College), Cory Christenson (Washington & Jefferson College) and Lew Ludwig (Denison University).  Watch the recording and learn about strategies your colleagues have tried for beginning class in ways that help students feel welcome, engaged, and accountable to one another.

Editor:  Colleen Monahan Smith, GLCA, [email protected]

 

This week’s issue is curated by Zachary Adams.  Zach is the Assistant Director, Center for Teaching and Learning and Instruction Specialist at Hope College.

Dear Colleagues:  The NOTW is heading off for its summer break and will return in August.  This semester, we moved to an every-other-week format with guest curators from across the GLCA.  What did you think?  Let me know!   Wishing you all a joy filled summer! 

Teaching & Learning

Bringing Learning to Life with ThingLink (Georgette Kluiters & Ally Fleischer, The Teaching Professor, April 13, 2026): ThingLink lets faculty turn static images, videos, and 360-degree media into interactive course materials with clickable hotspots for text, links, audio, and quizzes. Kluiters and Fleischer offer cross-disciplinary examples, making this a practical tool to explore before fall. Free account required to read.

Teaching Toward Slow Hope (John Warner, Inside Higher Ed, March 11, 2026): Warner interviews Douglas Haynes, whose new book connects place-based, community-rooted learning to a basic question prompted by pandemic-era burnout: What is college for?

Grading That Feels Good (Molly Gutilla, Alyson Huff, Mark Hussey & Jess Rushing, Grading for Growth, May 4, 2026): Four faculty ask whether alternative grading made them like their jobs more. Their answer is yes: specs-based and outcomes-based approaches reduced end-of-term stress, improved student relationships, and better aligned grading with their reasons for teaching. Published on the Grading for Growth Substack, edited by Robert Talbert and David Clark at Grand Valley State University.

Surviving Peak Higher Ed with Bryan Alexander (Derek Bruff, Intentional Teaching Podcast, May 5, 2026): Bryan Alexander joins Derek Bruff to discuss enrollment contraction, campus closures, faculty implications, and what AI may or may not change.

Why Civil Discourse Powers New Levels of Engagement (Alcino Donadel, University Business, May 13, 2026): Pandemic-era students often arrive on campus without practice navigating disagreement. This piece profiles institutions using structured civil dialogue programs to rebuild those skills in low-stakes settings, with benefits that extend well beyond the political into critical thinking, communication, and career readiness.

Tech-ish

Maintaining Academic Integrity in the Age of AI (Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Kansas): A free faculty resource with syllabus language, policy frameworks, and guidance for student conversations about generative AI. Useful as a working document for fall course prep.

2026 Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence: Human Wisdom for the Age of AI (Elon University, AAC&U & The Princeton Review, 2026): This free guide helps students build human capabilities that remain essential in an AI-rich world: curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, ethical reasoning, and relational skills. Institutions may share, distribute, and adapt it under a Creative Commons license.

Book Recommendation

Purpose and Joy: Pursuing a Meaningful Career in Christian Higher Education (Dr. Elisabeth E. Lefebvre & Dr. Kristin VanEyk, ACU Press, June 2, 2026): Essays by and for faculty navigating promotion, leadership, research, sabbath rest, and vocation in Christian higher education. GLCA connection: co-author Kristin VanEyk is Assistant Professor of English Education at Hope College. Pre-order now; releases June 2.

Editor:  Colleen Monahan Smith, GLCA, [email protected]

News of the Week – May 1, 2026

This week’s issue is curated by Zachary Adams.  Zach is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the Center for Teaching & Learning at Hope College

Teaching & Learning

Grade Inflation Is Called a Crisis. The Real Problem Is Deeper Than That. (Beth McMurtrie, The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 27, 2026): McMurtrie examines the tension many faculty are feeling as students arrive with weaker academic preparation while institutional and evaluative pressures make it harder to hold firm lines.

The COPE Method for Assisting Struggling Students. (Dr. Jaime Davis and Maria Lyon, Faculty Focus, April 6, 2026): A useful article for faculty who want earlier and lighter-touch ways to support students before small problems become bigger ones.

What I Learned from Giving 71 Oral Exams in 12 Days. (Jason Linn, Faculty Focus, April 20, 2026): Linn highlights their experiments with oral exams in lower-division history courses and found that they created opportunities for immediate feedback, more personal assessment, and richer academic conversation. Free.

The Students Who Won’t Use AI. (Beth McMurtrie, The Chronicle of Higher Education Teaching Newsletter, April 16, 2026): A look into the students who remain skeptical, cautious, or resistant to AI use as found in a Gallup-Lumina survey.

Podcast Pick & Book Recommendation

Reimagining Grading with Sharona Krinsky and Robert Bosley (Derek Bruff, Intentional Teaching, February 24, 2026): A grounded conversation about grading reform, barriers to change, and how centers for teaching and learning can help faculty rethink grading practices.

The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Classes (Flower Darby, University of Oklahoma Press, April 21, 2026): A timely spring pick for readers thinking about motivation, rapport, and course climate in digital learning spaces.

Tech-ish

Make Learning Accessible to All in Higher Education. (Luke Searle, Times Higher Education Campus, April 16, 2026): Searle focuses on digital accessibility in higher education and argues that accessibility should be built into teaching and learning design from the start, not treated as an afterthought.

Editor:  Colleen Monahan Smith, GLCA, [email protected]

News of the Week – April 17, 2026

 This week’s issue is curated by Stephanie Strand.  Stephanie is an Associate Professor of Biology,  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The College of Wooster. 

 Teaching and Learning

What Happens When Students Stop Believing Their Work Matters (by Marc Watkins; April 12, 2026). A thoughtful article about the complexity of finding meaning in work that can be done with AI technology.

When AI Can Do Everything, What is Left to Learn? (by Chrysanthos Dellarocas; The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 13, 2026).  The question posed by the author, “What do we want students to do in the age of intelligent machines, and do our courses still develop those capabilities” is one we should all consider as we wrap up spring semester and plan for summer/fall courses.

A Simple Weekly Question That Adds Curiosity and Critical Thinking to Online Courses (by Nicole Kripalani; Faculty Focus, April 10, 2026).  This simple once-a-week strategy would be an interesting add-on to any course regardless of whether it is in-person or online.

Can’t Quit the Lecture?  Try Quasi-Active Learning (by Yunteng He, Inside Higher Education, March 25, 2026). This article offers some accessible tips for adding active learning to your class.

Use White Boards for Flexible Retrieval Practice (by Pooja K. Agarwal; retrievalpractice.org).  If you are looking for a screen-free active learning practice for your classroom, this article suggests an interesting option.

Tidbits

How to Form and Sustain a Faculty Growth Club (Zhanna Sahatjian, Jimena Ramirez Marin and Eileen L. Zurbriggen, Inside Higher Education, March 4, 2026). I love the idea of a small, personalized professional development community; this article suggests how to start one.

Forget “Work-Life Balance” (by Olga Kipnis, Inside Higher Education; April 7, 2026) The reflections questions within this article encourage us to continue the important work of building meaningful and sustainable careers.

News of the Week – April 3, 2026

This week’s issue is curated by Stephanie Strand.  Stephanie is an Associate Professor of Biology,  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The College of Wooster. 

Teaching and Learning

Throwback: Rigor: (David Clark and Robert Talbert of Grading for Growth;  March 30, 2026) The term rigor is often used to describe courses, yet definitions of rigor vary.  This post discusses some of the challenges associated with the term and how we might get at some of the assumptions of rigor by using alternative grading systems.

In-class Writing with James Seitz (Intentional Teaching Podcast: Episode 85, March 10, 2026). Derek Bruff of the Intentional Teaching Podcast interviews University of Virginia English Professor Jim Seitz.  As stated in the episode description Jim “has moved the writing his students do into the classroom. This move is a response to generative AI’s disruption of writing instruction, yes, but it’s also the latest in a series of teaching choices Jim has made to teach his students writing as a way of thinking and to change their relationship with writing.

“Blips” of Knowledge Reduce Accuracy and Increase Confidence (written by Cindy Nibel, The Learning Scientists Blog, March 2026). Does a “blip” of knowledge (in a brief summary for example) make people overconfident about what they know?  And if so (and in the age of many “blips of knowledge”, what are the implications for teaching and learning? 

Instructor Talk and Student Belonging in Introductory Biology: Not all Talk Matters and Relationships Very by Student Identity (Benjamin D. Jackson et. Al; CBE Life Sciences Vol. 25, No. 2). I recently attended the American Association of Colleges and Universities Transforming STEM Conference.  The authors of this paper led a session at the conference about the research studying “non-content instructor talk” in the classroom.  While this research was done in the context of STEM education, I believe it is worth thinking about how the findings could apply to other disciplinary areas. 

Tidbits

Why College Graduates Feel Betrayed (Noam Scheiber; New York Times, March 26, 2026) As graduation seasons approaches, encourage those students who are entering the job market to begin the career search early and to make good use of the resources available at their institutions to help them with the process.

When Faculty Stop Showing Up (David DeMatthews, The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 20, 2026)  Faculty engagement on campus has changed, and it may be impacting the student experience.

10 Books for the Evidence-based Professor (by Benjamin Pacini, Inside Higher Ed, February 25, 2026)  I love a book list, and this list of ten books about evidence-based teaching practices is a good one.   If you are thinking about engaging in some professional development reading over the summer or are looking for a book to read and discuss with colleagues, this list might be a good place to start.

Around the GLCA

Plato’s Symposium “Read-A-Thon”: A Stand for Academic Freedom at DePauw – The DePauw

On March 11, supporters of academic freedom filled Meharry Hall for a “Read-A-Thon” of “The Symposium” by Plato. 20 readers recited various sections of “The Symposium,” braving the heat of East College to publicly oppose censorship in higher education. The Read-A-Thon was organized by Professors of English David Alvarez and Harry Brown, along with Professor of Philosophy Jennifer Everett; the event was co-sponsored by the Departments of Art, Art History, Classical Studies, Communication and Theatre, English, German Studies, Global French Studies and Political Science.

According to Alvarez, the organizers were “inspired by Dr. White’s championing of academic freedom at DePauw.” In his opening remarks at the Read-A-Thon, he again emphasized Dr. White’s mission to have DePauw “shine brightly as a beacon for the liberal arts and sciences.”

Read more here:  Plato’s Symposium “Read-A-Thon”: A Stand for Academic Freedom at DePauw – The DePauw