NEWS OF THE WEEK (January 9, 2026)
And we’re back! We are piloting a few exciting changes as we relaunch in the new year. Look for bi-weekly publication (rather than weekly) featuring guest curators from across the GLCA. We are here to support YOU! We will continue to provide access to teaching resources and connections to a vital community of educators with a shared commitment to enhancing liberal arts teaching and student-centered learning. Thanks for reading!
This week’s issue is curated by Barb Bird. Bird joined Ohio Wesleyan University in 2024. She is the inaugural Director of the Smith Center for Faculty Excellence.
Teaching & Learning
How to write Clearly Defined Standards (Robert Talbert, Grading for Growth, Dec. 22, 2025). Talbert briefly reviews backward design best practices, and then he shows a nice workflow diagram and three key questions that help instructors determine what content to cut or consolidate.
In the age of AI, Human Skills are the New Advantage (Jean Daniel LaRock, World Economic Forum, Jan. 2, 2026). Since AI threatens human agency, LaRock suggests that “we need an updated model for teaching students how to think with rigour, depth, and originality, and to act with wisdom and efficacy.”
If you Care about it, Do it in Class (James Lang, Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 16, 2025). Lang argues that faculty need to shift class time from “first exposure” (as in, lecture) to practicing the skills we care most about, giving 3 specific examples from different disciplines.
Active Learning That Engages All Learners with Matthew Mahavongtrakul (Bonnie Stochawiak, Teaching in Higher Ed, Jan. 2, 2026). Stochawiak and Mahavongtrakul discuss research on active learning and the effects on students and the classroom experience–for classes of 8 or 200.
Rethinking Student Attendance Policies for Deeper Engagement and Learning (Simon Cullen & Dannie Oppenheimer, Bonnie Stochawiak, Oct. 9, 2025). Their article: Choosing to Learn, Science Advances, 10(29), July 17, 2024. This is one of the best articles I have read in the last year!
Attention Activism (D. Graham Burnett, LearningWell Coalition Radio, Jan. 6, 2026). In this interview, Burnett, discusses the research and collaborative work on attention and the exploitation by the tech industry of human attention.
Timely Tips
Constructing a Learner-Centered Syllabus (Aaron S. Richmond, IDEA, Sept. 2016). Although this is older, it is still one of my go-to resources for new faculty because it is clear, great concise explanations, and practical.
If you want 2026 to be the best year of your life . . . (Dan Pink, You Tube, Dec. 29, 2025). As with all of Dan Pink’s work, this video would is practical in research-based. He includes a free “workbook” to work through his strategies. I highly recommend this!
26 Stats for 2026 (Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 19, 2025). This is an interesting, short list of stats related to higher education. Look at #10 & #22.
Tech-ish
Can Educators Counter Agentic AI? (Marc Watkins, Chronicle of HE, Nov. 20, 2025). Marc Watkins discusses the dangers of agentic AI, especially for online learning.
Colleges and Schools Must Block And Ban Agentic AI Browsers Now. Here’s Why. (Aviva Legatt, Forbes, Sept. 25, 2025). Although this is a little older, this is a great article on what agentic AI browsers can do and how we can respond.
5 predictions on how AI will Shape Higher Education (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 5, 2026). Palmer invited 5 experts to provide predictions about AI in higher education.
Tidbits
A Professor’s Framework for Meaningful, Joyful, and Sustainable Work (Julie Sochacki, Faculty Focus, Dec. 15, 2025). Sochacki gives 5 specific suggestions for more joyful, sustainable work, each ending with one specific way to get started in that practice.
Why loving Moments with Strangers Carry Lasting Benefits (Taylor N. West & Barbara Fredrickson, Greater Good Magazine, Dec. 10, 2025). New research finds that connecting with strangers not only boosts your mood–it helps build a kinder, more cooperative society (and a more kinder, cooperative faculty).
Resources I love:
The Little Book of Joy: Tiny Ways to infuse Delight into Teaching and Learning (Joy Cards) (Curated by Eugene Korsunskiy, Korsunskiy). Knowing that a “joyful learning environment helps students thrive,” they have created an edited collection of specific activities that create joyful moments.
Active Learning Continuum 2.pdf (Chris O’Neal and Tershia Pinder-Grover, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, University of Michigan–from this site: CRLT Teaching Strategies). I have used this handout in many faculty development workshops or institutes. It is a great list of the most common types of active learning.
Happiness Calendar (Kira M. Newman, Greater Good Magazine, Jan. 1, 2026). I have been subscribing to these calendars for several months. If you subscribe, you will see the daily happiness recommendation show up at the top of each day.
Thoughts on recent books I’ve been reading
Kind: The Quiet Power of Kindness at Work (Graham Allcott). Although the book discusses kindness at work (which obviously applies to how our campus cultures operate), this research also applies to the classroom culture.
The Happiness Track: How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success (Emma Seppala). “. . . being happy is the most productive thing we can do to thrive—whether at work or at home.
I am currently reading The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World. Allison Pugh’s extensive research reveals a “connective labor” involved in most jobs, and this mostly invisible labor is essential.
We know that human connection is essential for student learning and thriving, and the research on connection, happiness, kindness, and attention strongly support the need for connection, especially in our highly tech- and AI-driven context. One of the most effective ways to counter students’ AI misuse is to double down on our human connections with students.
Additionally, all of these sources (and both Dan Pink’s video and the Attention Activism interview) mention the power of the pause: taking time to disconnect from “focus” and technology to allow our brains to process and create.
GLCA Announces Winners of the 2026 New Writers Award
The Great Lakes Colleges Association is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 GLCA New Writers Award for Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Non-Fiction. Since 1970, the New Writers Award confers recognition on promising writers who have published a first volume in one of the three genres. This award reflects outstanding literary achievement in the judgment of a committee of scholars-critics-writers who are faculty at GLCA member institutions. Winning writers visit GLCA institutions by invitation to give readings, participate in discussions, and engage with students and faculty. We extend our warmest congratulations to the 2026 Award Winners:
Poetry: Tarik Dobbs, Nazar Boy: Poems (Haymarket Books)
Judges: Travis Chi Wing Lau (Kenyon College), Pablo Peschiera (Hope College), Marlo Star (The College of Wooster)
Fiction: Alisa Alering, Smothermoss, (Tin House)
Judges: Ghassan Abou-Zeineddine (Oberlin College), Kari Kalve (Earlham College), Chris White (DePauw University)
Creative Non-Fiction: Hala Alyan, I’ll Tell You When I’m Home, (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster)
Judges: Marin Heinritz (Kalamazoo College), Agata Szczeszak-Brewer (Wabash College), Angela Zito (Albion College)
Read the full 2026 announcement here.