CTL Events

Are your students reading…or just turning the pages?  Could a few small changes shift how students approach reading? 

Reading requires students to integrate what they are reading with prior knowledge. One of the biggest problems that students face is that they don’t often bring the right strategies to a reading situation. Rather, they attempt to read a text the same way they read a novel.  We hope you will join us for a workshop: Getting Students to Read with Dr. Chris Hakala, (Springfield College), September 29, 2025 at Noon.

In this workshop, we will talk about what it takes to learn from text:  what reading strategies might be helpful to ensure that students have a better understanding, and better motivation, to learn from text.  Some strategies include pre-reading, pre-lecturing, goal-oriented reading, etc.

Dr. Chris Hakala is the Director for the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship at Springfield College, where he is also Professor of Psychology. His academic work in psychology has focused on psycholinguistics, and specifically, reading comprehension.

In the workshop, Chris will:

·       Introduce the concept of reading from the cognitive science perspective

·       Show the differences in processing that is required to learn from text versus narrative

·       Do a demonstration to show what it’s like for students to try to read without prior knowledge

·       Give examples, and demonstrations, of how to improve the ability to read this kind of text

Register HERE for this virtual event on Monday, September 29th at Noon EDT (confirm time zone here).  A link will be sent the day before.  The session will be recorded.

Teaching and Learning

3 Questions for Springfield College’s Chris Hakala (Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed, September 18, 2025): A conversation with the director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship.

192 Teams from 176 Institutions Selected to Participate in AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum (AAC&U, August 21, 2025): Teams, including Denison, Kenyon, and Ohio Wesleyan, among others, will participate in an institute to help departments, programs, colleges, and universities respond effectively to the challenges and opportunities artificial intelligence (AI) presents for courses, curricula, and higher education in general.

University of Arkansas Creates Faculty Learning Community (Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed, September 17, 2025): The new initiative helps improve teaching with a focus on student-centered classrooms and connection to support resources.

Supporting the Student Researcher: Effective Teaching, Learning, and Engagement Strategies (Curtis L. Todd and Quintero J. Moore, Faculty Focus, September 17, 2025): The dual function of research advisor as both advisor and mentor can have a lasting impact on students’ academic success and career trajectories.

AI Teaching Learners Today: Pick Your Pedagogy! (Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed, Inside Higher Ed, September 17, 2025): AI is stepping in as a powerful new teaching assistant, capable of tailoring learning to every person’s needs.

10 Ways AI Is Ruining Your Students’ Writing (Wendy Laura Belcher, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 16, 2025): And how to help them see that AI cannot craft good essays.

Teaching in the Age of AI (Nana Lee, Inside Higher Ed, September 15, 2025): Your choice of pedagogical method can support personalized learning no matter what new technology comes along.

How We Think, How We Teach: Five Ways to Think About AI in Faculty Work (Nathan Pritts, Faculty Focus, September 15, 2025): Begin with asking, “What kind of thinking does good teaching really require?” With that as a start, we can begin to see where AI fits and where it doesn’t.

CDI Conversation Guide on Utah Shooting (Constructive Dialogue Guide, September 12, 2025): A guide to help campus leaders and facilitators create space for open, supportive dialogue after Charlie Kirk murder.

Higher Ed in Today’s World

With Charlie Kirk’s Killing, a New Chapter of the Campus Speech Wars Has Begun (Emma Pettit, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 17, 2025): Some campuses have disciplined professors for cheering his death, raising complex legal and institutional questions.

The Path Forward after Political Murder (Caroline Mehl and Jonathan Haidt, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 17, 2025): The solution to violence isn’t less speech – it’s better dialogue.

Americans Tend to View International Students Positively, though Some Support Limitations (William Miner, Sneha Gubbala, and Laura Silver, Pew Research, September 17, 2025): 79% think it’s “good for U.S. colleges and universities to accept international students.”

Here Are the Details of Trump’s $1.2-Billion Call to Remake UCLA in a Conservative Image (Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2025): The Trump administration is asking UCLA to pledge to reduce its financial reliance on foreign tuition, agree not to admit “anti-Western” international students, and to “socialize” those it does enroll on free inquiry and open debate in exchange for restoring federal research funding.

After Kirk’s Death, Some Conservatives Blame Higher Ed for Political Violence (Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher Ed, September 16, 2025): The president and his allies are accusing the “radical left” of “terrorism,” blaming unnamed organizations. Some conservatives are condemning universities.

The Assassination That Broke Campus Free Speech (Keith E. Whittington, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 15, 2025): Professors are allowed to say hateful things. That doesn’t mean they should.

Perceived Importance of College Hits New Low (Lydia Saad, Gallup, September 15, 2025): Americans have been placing less importance on the value of a college education over the past 15 years, to the point that about a third (35%) now rate it as “very important.” Forty percent think it is “fairly important,” while 24% say it is “not too important.”

A Better Model for Campus Dialogue (Cherian George, Inside Higher Ed, September 15, 2025): The killing of Charlie Kirk highlights the need for universities to foster counter-polarizing dialogue, not commodified debates.

Charlie Kirk’s Death Is a Catastrophe for Higher Ed (David Austin Walsh, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 11, 2025): Things were already bad. They’re about to get worse.

University Leaders Must Act: An Open Letter on the Threats Facing Critical Interdisciplinary Programs Like Women’s and Gender Studies (Carrie N. Baker, Michele Tracy Berger, Christa Craven, and Janell Hobson, MS Magazine, September 10, 2025): Professors of women’s, gender and sexuality studies urge presidents, provosts and other leaders to defend the future of higher education.

Extra Credit Reading

U.S. Education Dept. Unites Conservative Groups to Create ‘Patriotic’ Civics Content (Sequoia Carrillo, September 17, 2025): The U.S. Department of Education announced a partnership Wednesday with more than 40 conservative organizations to create programming around civics aimed at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. This despite the fact that since 1970, federal law [20 U.S.C. § 1232a] prohibits any federal official from being involved in curriculum in any way.

The Myth of Faculty Indoctrination (David A. Bell, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 15, 2025): Charlie Kirk’s killing has reignited a right-wing canard.

Action after Affirmative Action (Justin Driver, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 15, 2025): Colleges can still pursue diversity. Here’s how.

Education as Freedom (Michael S. Roth, Inside Higher Ed, September 12, 2025): As a new academic year begins, the author argues that colleges must redouble their commitment to educating for freedom—including freedom from governmental intrusion.

How Teacher Evaluations Broke the University (Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, September 12, 2025): “We give them all A’s, and they give us all fives.”

UC Berkeley Shares 160 Names with Trump Administration in ‘McCarthy Era’ Move (Sam Levin, Guardian, September 12, 2025): Prominent professor Judith Butler among students and faculty investigated for ‘alleged antisemitic incidents.’ [See, as well, When Universities Become Informants (Judith Butler, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 13,2025): A practice from the McCarthy era makes an ugly return.]

What the Texas A&M Firing Portends for Faculty Speech (Keith E. Whittington, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 11, 2025): On its face, this looks like a textbook violation of academic freedom.

Editor: Steven Volk ([email protected])

Did someone forward this email to you?  Subscribe here
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.

GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning
Co-Directors:
  
   Lew Ludwig ([email protected])

Colleen Monahan Smith ([email protected])

Teaching and Learning

Layered Learning: Designing Video with Intention and Authenticity (Bonni Stachowiak, Teaching in Higher Ed, September 11, 2025): A discussion with M. C. Flux on video creation and learning.

Only One-Third of College Students Have Positive Mental Health (Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed, September 11, 2025): A new survey finds poor mental health conditions, particularly anxiety and depression, continue to impact a significant share of college students.

Teaching Sept. 11 Using Virtual Reality (Adam M. McMahon, Inside Higher Ed, September 11, 2025): Seeking a way to convey the import of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to students too young to remember them, the author turned to virtual reality.

How to Teach with AI Transparency Statements (Jason Gulya, Faculty Focus, September 10, 2025): Students describe how they used GenAI and then defend their use of non-use of the technology.

The Student Brain on AI (Beth McMurtrie, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 9, 2025): A panic over “brain rot” obscures a more complex – and surprising – reality.

Teaching American Government During Trump II (Matt Reed, Inside Higher Ed, September 8, 2025): On helping students engage thoughtfully with American politics without sliding into either partisan cheerleading or fatalism.

What 130,000 Student Questions to AI Reveal About Critical Thinking (Muireann Hendriksen, Learning Scientists, September 4, 2025): In a large-scale analysis of student interactions with an AI-powered study tool, the author’s research team found encouraging evidence that students are using AI to build, rather than bypass, their critical thinking skills.

How to Get Students to Do Work Outside of Class (Beth McMurtrie, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 4, 2025): Among the ideas: mini-quizzes, pre-class quiz, ‘extra’ homework.

3 Ways to Liven Up Your Lectures (Kristi Rudenga, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 3, 2025): Small changes that can make a lecture-heavy course more engaging.

Why I Bring Bananas to Class (Fidelindo Lim, American Nurse, August 21 2025): How to get students to do the hard work of learning.

AI in the Classroom: Panic, Possibility, and the Pedagogy in Between (Demian Hommel, Teaching with Technology, August 13, 2025): Suggestions on how to engage, listen, and rethink what meaningful learning looks like in the age of AI.

Higher Ed in Today’s World

Education Dept. to End Funding for Minority-Serving Institutions, Affecting Hundreds of Colleges (Sarah Brown, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 10, 2025): The department said that its move would affect $350 million in discretionary funding that was already allocated by Congress to minority-serving grant programs in the 2025 fiscal year. That money will be “reprogrammed into programs that do not include discriminatory racial and ethnic quotas,” according to the department’s statement.

Students Report Less Tolerance for Controversial Speakers (Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed, September 9, 2025): Amid Trump administration attacks on free speech, more students—predominantly conservatives—say they don’t think controversial speakers should be given a platform on campus.

A ‘Volatile’ Climate for Campus Speech Has Worsened Under Trump, New FIRE Report Says (Sonel Cutler, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 9, 2025): Pressure from the Trump administration to crack down on pro-Palestinian student protests and diversity, equity, and inclusion practices has “deepened an already volatile climate for campus expression,” according to FIRE.

Harvard’s Mixed Victory (Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, September 6, 2025): A resounding win for the university in court still leaves the Trump Administration with plenty of ways to force schools into submission.

President of Northwestern, a School Attacked by the GOP, Will Resign (Anemona Hartocollis, Michael S. Schmidt and Tyler Pager, New York Times, September 4, 2025): The university’s president, Michael Schill, said he would step down following months of turbulence, including Trump administration cuts of $790 million from the university’s research funds.

Harvard Got a Big Win. Here Are 4 Key Quotes (Eric Kelderman, The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 4, 2025): The excerpts signal how one court reacted to the Trump administration’s strategy for overhauling the university’s policies — a playbook that’s been used nationwide.

Extra Credit Reading

Seven Theses Against Viewpoint Diversity (Lisa Siraganian, Academe, October 2025): The problems with arguments for intellectual pluralism.

College Board Cancels Tool for Finding Low-Income High Achievers (Stephanie Saul and Dana Goldstein, New York Times, September 4, 2025): After the Trump administration criticized the use of what it called “racial proxies,” the group behind the SAT shut down a way for universities to identify promising applicants from disadvantaged communities.

The Coming Collapse of Faculty Diversity (Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 28, 2025): For young scholars of color, the dream of an academic career is slipping away.

Virtual (and in Person) Talks

Wooster’s Democracy and Academic Freedom forum continues on Wednesday September 17th at 7:30pm with Professor Jamal Greene from Columbia Law School. His talk is titled “The Art of the Deal: Free Speech in the Age of Trump.” You can attend in-person at The College of Wooster Gault Recital Hall (525 E. University St.) or watch the live-stream. Recordings of past sessions are also available on the live stream link.

Editor: Steven Volk ([email protected])

Did someone forward this email to you?  Subscribe here

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.

GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning
Co-Directors:
  
   Lew Ludwig ([email protected])
Colleen Monahan Smith ([email protected])

CTL Event

What brings you joy in your work? As a new academic year begins, how do you plan to maintain your work/life balance?  What is one small thing you do each week to care for your well-being?

These questions are more important than ever as faculty face increasing demands and the risk of burnout. We invite you to join us for a practical and energizing online session: You Deserve Joy! Strategies to Avoid Burnout and Enhance Well-Being led by Alice Teall, Senior Director of Wellness at Kenyon College September 10th at Noon (EDT). 

In this session, we will explore the cognitive and physiological roots of burnout and well-being, and learn evidence-based strategies to restore meaning, strengthen resilience, and enhance joy in your professional life.  Practices such as gratitude, goal reflection, and connection-building will be shared as simple tools to support your personal and professional flourishing. 

Dr. Alice Teall is the senior director of wellness at Kenyon, where she oversees the Health Services, Counseling Services and Health Promotion teams at the Cox Health and Counseling Center. Passionate about fostering a thriving campus community, Teall leads innovative wellness initiatives, supports services that empower students, and promotes strategies to enhance the well-being of students, faculty and staff.

Register HERE for this virtual event on Wednesday, September 10th at Noon (EDT).  A link will be emailed one day prior.  The session will be recorded.

We look forward to seeing you and beginning the year with a renewed commitment to joy and well-being.

Teaching and Learning

Year of AI Exploration at Oberlin (Carmen Ambar, Oberlin College, September 3, 2025): Oberlin’s president lays out a year of activities exploring the impact of AI on all aspects of campus teaching, learning, and work.

‘I Did Feel Seen’ (Beckie Supiano, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 2, 2025): How creating ways to meet students individually can help them buy into a course.

How Are Instructors Talking About AI in Their Syllabi? (Sarah Huddelston, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 2, 2025): Most colleges don’t have a campuswide policy, leaving the crafting of such statements up to individual faculty members.

A Teaching Mantra for the New Year (Jeffrey Nesteruk, Inside Higher Ed, September 2, 2025): Be clear; be engaging; be honest; be kind.

Conflict as Curriculum (Theo Scheer, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 28, 2025): Caveh Zahedi’s course asks students to film their most uncomfortable moments.

Interleaving Is Less Effective When Taking Notes (Cindy Nebel, Learning Scientists, August 28, 2025): Interleaving refers to the strategy of mixing up the order in which material is reviewed or practiced instead of blocking materials. This works particularly well when learning new categories of items that are difficult to distinguish, but not so much when taking notes.

How AI Is Changing – Not ‘Killing’ – College (Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, August 29, 2025): Key findings from Inside Higher Ed’s student survey on generative AI show that using the evolving technology hasn’t diminished the value of college in their view, but it could affect their critical thinking skills.

The Update Desk (Niles Mattier, Inside Higher Ed, August 29, 2025): A simple five-minute practice can build community in the college classroom.

Toward Socially Just Teaching Across Disciplines (Bonni Stachowiak, Teaching in Higher Ed, August 28, 2025): A 42-minute discussion with Bryan Dewsbury.

Three Syllabus Tweaks Inspired by a Surprise Day Off That Will Give You – and Your Students – More Space to Breathe This Fall (Brielle Harbin, Notes from a Work Friend, August 13, 2025): Harbin describes a practice that allows her the power of pausing on purpose.

Learning Curve is a new podcast about AI and education curated by Jeffrey R. Young, a freelancer with the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Hechinger Report, and others.

Interdisciplinary Co-Teaching and Community-Engaged Learning: Integrating Community Case Studies to Teach Ethics, Justice, and Grassroots Leadership (Ziwei Qi, Lori Kniffin, and Samuel Byer, Currents in Teaching and Learning, August 2025: Pgs. 69-83.

Higher Ed in Today’s World

Ohio State Bans Land Acknowledgements (Emma Whitford, Inside Higher Ed, September 3, 2025): Statements that recognize the indigenous people who originally lived on the university’s land are banned from syllabi and class materials and cannot be spoken aloud classroom unless they are directly tied to the course, such as in a class about the history of American Indigenous peoples.

Judge Rules Harvard Funding Freeze Illegal (Josh Moody, Inside Higher Ed, September 3, 2025): A federal judge said the Trump administration violated the institution’s First Amendment rights when it froze billions of dollars in research grants.

The Battle for ‘Viewpoint Diversity’ (Ryan Quinn, Inside Higher Ed, September 2, 2025): Conservatives in and outside of higher ed have long argued that universities lack their perspectives. But empowered Republicans are now deploying tools including legislation and funding threats to force higher ed to incorporate more right-leaning views.

Extra Credit Reading

American College Student Freedom, Progress and Flourishing Survey (North Dakota State University, September 2, 2025): Survey reveals college students conflicting views on free speech, social media, and state of the world.

I’m a High Schooler. AI Is Demolishing My Education (Ashanty Rosario, The Atlantic, September 3, 2025): The end of critical thinking in the classroom.

Higher Ed Has a Bigger Problem Than Trump (E. Thomas Finan, The Atlantic, September 1, 2025): Universities should see the president’s interventions as a wake-up call, not the root of their troubles.

The Perverse Consequences of the Easy A (Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, August 28, 2025): In the era of grade inflation, students at top colleges are more stressed than ever.

The Mindset Lists (Tom McBride, August 17, 2025): The Unofficial Beloit Zeitgeist List – for the class of 2029.

Editor: Steven Volk ([email protected])

Did someone forward this email to you?  Subscribe here

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.

GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning
Co-Directors:
  
   Lew Ludwig ([email protected])
Colleen Monahan Smith ([email protected])

CTL Event

What brings you joy in your work? As a new academic year begins, how do you plan to maintain your work/life balance?  What is one small thing you do each week to care for your well-being?

These questions are more important than ever as faculty face increasing demands and the risk of burnout. We invite you to join us for a practical and energizing online session: You Deserve Joy! Strategies to Avoid Burnout and Enhance Well-Being led by Alice Teall, Senior Director of Wellness at Kenyon College September 10th at Noon (EDT). 

In this session, we will explore the cognitive and physiological roots of burnout and well-being, and learn evidence-based strategies to restore meaning, strengthen resilience, and enhance joy in your professional life.  Practices such as gratitude, goal reflection, and connection-building will be shared as simple tools to support your personal and professional flourishing. 

Dr. Alice Teall is the senior director of wellness at Kenyon, where she oversees the Health Services, Counseling Services and Health Promotion teams at the Cox Health and Counseling Center. Passionate about fostering a thriving campus community, Teall leads innovative wellness initiatives, supports services that empower students, and promotes strategies to enhance the well-being of students, faculty and staff.

Register HERE for this virtual event on Wednesday, September 10th at Noon (EDT).  A link will be emailed one day prior.  The session will be recorded.

We look forward to seeing you and beginning the year with a renewed commitment to joy and well-being.

Teaching and Learning

Speed Checks (Matt Reed, Inside Higher Ed, August 21, 2025): When to interrupt a student heading down a path to failure.

AI Can Facilitate Mastery Learning in Higher Education (Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed, August 20, 2025): What if higher education moved beyond rigid calendars and assembly-line teaching to AI-powered, mastery-based learning where every student truly understands the material before moving forward?

4 Ways to Adjust Your Prose Style for a Public Audience (James M. Lang, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 19, 2025): What kind of teacher do you want to be for your nonexpert readers?

To Get Students Reading, Let Them Pick the Texts (Beckie Supiano, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 14, 2025): Suggestions from Mary Isbell, author of the freely downloadable text, Searching for Wonder: Teaching Literature with Student-Selected Texts.

Beyond the Tool: Why True AI Literacy Is About Critical Thinking, Not Prompting (Michael G. Wagner, The Augmented Educator, August 12, 2025): How to cultivate a critical, cultural, and human-centered approach to AI in the classroom.

First Day of Class

6 Ideas to Perk Up Your First Day of Class (Kristi Rudenga, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 5, 2024): How to start the semester in ways that will pay off for the rest of the course.

How to Teach a Good First Day of Class (James Lang, Chronicle of Higher Education): An oldie but goodie advice guide.

Higher Ed and the Trump Administration

More Barriers on the Horizon for International Students (Johanna Alonso, Inside Higher Ed, August 20, 2025): Advocates worry the Trump administration is planning to end a long-standing policy that allows international students to stay in the U.S. until their studies are complete.

The Troubling Lines That Columbia Is Drawing (Eyal Press, New Yorker, August 18, 2025): By adopting an overly broad and controversial definition of antisemitism, the university is putting both academic freedom and its Jewish students at risk.

Federal Judge Declares Education Department’s Attempt to Bar Diversity Programs Unlawful (Juan Perez Jr and Rebecca Carballo, Politico, August 14, 2025): The Trump administration is permitted to have its policy positions, the judge wrote, but “it must do so within the procedural bounds Congress has outlined. And it may not do so at the expense of constitutional rights.”

‘Just Disappeared’ (Camila Gomez, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 14, 2025): Trump’s immigration crackdown is imperiling college access for undocumented students.

White House Uses Back Door to Axe Approved Funds for Exchange Programs (Karin Fischer, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 14, 2025): The “irregular” process cancels spending for global-education programs already greenlit by Congress.

Extra Credit Reading

The Test-Optional Conundrum (Greta Hsu and Amanda J. Sharkey, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 20, 2025): For many colleges, the policy shift was merely symbolic.

Education Department Ends Federal Work-Study Jobs that Support Voting (Susan Carpenter, Spectrum News, August 19, 2025): College and university students will no longer be able to hold jobs that help with voting as part of Federal Work-Study program.

Our Graduates’ Successes: What the Data Tells Us About the Value of Women’s and Gender Studies Degrees (Carrie N. Baker, Michele Tracy Berger, Christa Craven, and Jane Hobson, Ms. Magazine, August 18, 2025): The authors, including Christa Craven of the College of Wooster, describe the value of critical interdisciplinary programs. They are offering a related webinar on August 22, 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern, which is free and open to the public. Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent upon registration.

Faculty Are Not the Enemy (Graham Wright and Leonard Saxe, Inside Higher Ed, August 18, 2025): Research suggests the fight against antisemitism would be better served by treating faculty as allies, not antagonists.

College Students Have Already Changed Forever (Ian Bogost, Atlantic, August 17, 2025): Members of the class of 2026 have had access to AI since they were freshmen. Almost all of them are using it to do their work.

The Strange History of University Autonomy – and Why We Need It More Than Ever (Adam Sitze, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 15, 2025): Academic freedom from the Middle Ages to apartheid South Africa to now.

‘Integral to What it Means to Be an American’: College Students on Free Expression (PEN America, August 11, 2025): Interviews with 11 undergraduate students from universities around the country.

Events Around GLCA  – All are welcome!

“Contemporary Attacks on Academic Freedom: Historical and Comparative Perspectives,” a talk by Eve Darian-Smith, Global and International Studies professor from UC Irvine, sponsored by the College of Wooster, September 3, 7:30 PM (Eastern) in person (Gault Recital Hall) or live-stream. This is the first in a series of three events as part of Wooster’s Democracy and Academic Freedom Forum.

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 Colleen Monahan Smith ([email protected]) if you have colleagues who would like to receive this weekly report.

Steven Volk ([email protected]), Editor

GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning
Co-Directors:
  
   Lew Ludwig ([email protected])    Colleen Monahan Smith ([email protected])

Teaching and Learning

Beyond Behaviorism: Why Motivation Matters (Katie Muenks and Carlton Fong, Inside Higher Ed, August 13, 2025): Understanding the science behind motivation is crucial for supporting student learning.

Online Learning: Past the Tipping Point (Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, August 13, 2025): Twin surveys of chief online learning officers highlight the gap between student expectations and institutional maturity when it comes to online education.

AI in the Classroom: Panic, Possibility, and the Pedagogy in Between (Demian Hommel, Faculty Focus, August 13, 2025): The gulf between those working to integrate AI into their teaching and those swearing off its use entirely is growing wider by the month. It’s not just about comfort with technology; it’s about pedagogical identity, ethics, trust, and the role of higher education in a rapidly changing world. 

Resources for Creating/Revising Your Syllabus (Center for Learning and Teaching, Denison): a one-pager with links to resources for creating/revising your syllabus from Denison.

Study: Eliminating Testing Requirements Can Boost Student Diversity (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed, August 12, 2025): The percentage of underrepresented minority students increased in some cases after universities stopped requiring applicants to submit standardized test scores, according to a study published Monday in the American Sociological Review.  

Students Are Using ChatGPT to Write Their Personal Essays Now (Ellen O’Connell Whittet, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 11, 2025): AI can replicate the shape of a narrative, but not the struggle that makes it meaningful.

Why Faculty Hold the Keys to Higher Ed’s AI Digital Transformation (Aviva Legatt, Forbes, August 10, 2025): With AI, the stakes are cognitive—determining how future leaders will think, decide, and solve problems. If institutions approach AI as a bolt-on feature rather than a faculty-driven transformation, they risk outsourcing not just content delivery but the very definition of academic rigor.

Diversity Training Is Out. Dialogue Workshops Are In (Aisha Baiocchi, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 7, 2025): Campuses are increasingly offering programming on fostering constructive dialogue. One president sees the change as “a future for the work of equity and inclusion.”

Higher Ed and the Trump Administration

Trump Administration ‘Chipping Away’ at Undocumented Student Protections (Inside Higher Ed, August 14, 2025): Dreamers and their advocates say the Trump administration has launched a multifront attack on DACA and benefits historically extended to noncitizens.

Tracking Trump’s Higher-Ed Agenda (Chronicle of Higher Education, August 11, 2025): The federal government is reshaping its relationship with the nation’s colleges. Here’s the latest.

Gender Data Would Be Off-Limits Under Proposed NIH Policy (Stephanie M. Lee, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 12, 2025): A draft rule would bar scientists funded by the agency from collecting data about gender identity, following other steps the administration has taken to restrict research on LGBT topics.

Fearing Deportation, International Students Go Silent at California’s Universities (Emewodesh Eshete, Cal Matters, August 8, 2025): After hundreds of international students lost their status this spring, then regained it following lawsuits, the uncertainty of it happening again has created fear. Some students say they’ve changed the routes they take on campus, the topics they research, and what they post on social media.

Extra Credit Reading

They’re Killing the Humanities on Purpose (Eric Adler, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 13, 2025): The crisis is not one of resources but of values.

Events Around GLCA  – All are welcome!

The College of Wooster is hosting a series of speaker this fall on Democracy and Academic Freedom supported by the Office of the President, Department of Philosophy, Lindner Endowment, and Bell Distinguished Lectureship in Law.  Live streaming and updates about the event throughout the series will be found here. 

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 7:30 p.m.: Eve Darian-Smith opens the series with “Contemporary Attacks on Academic Freedom: Historical and Comparative Perspectives,” a talk addressing attacks on colleges across the United States and similar attacks now occurring around the world.

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 7:30 p.m.: Jamal Greene, Dwight Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, will deliver the annual Constitution Day and Bell Distinguished Lectureship in Law, titled “The Art of the Deal: Free Speech in the Age of Trump.”

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m.: Robert Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University, delivers the Annual Lindner Lecture in Ethics, titled “Academic Freedom and Academic Responsibility.”

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 Colleen Monahan Smith ([email protected]) if you have colleagues who would like to receive this weekly report.

Steven Volk ([email protected]), Editor

GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning
Co-Directors:
  
   Lew Ludwig ([email protected])    
Colleen Monahan Smith ([email protected])