News of the Week
March 3, 2026
This week’s Guest Curator is Amy Jo Stavnezer. Amy Jo is a Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at The College of Wooster.
Teaching and Learning
I Made My Students Write by Hand. It Gave Them Their Brains Back (Hannah Pittard, Chronicle for Higher Education, February 25, 2026). Pittard explains their requirement of a hard-bound sketch pad rather than a laptop for Introduction to Creative Writing and argues that “speed is the enemy of thinking”. She argues that we need to help our students slow things down, at least when we have them in our learning spaces.
Unlayering group activities: Tying together some threads on neurodiversity and group work (Sarah Silverman, Beyond the Scope, February 5, 2026). Silverman asks us to deconstruct group work and recognize the multiple layers impacting student engagement, learning, and how some actions impact neurodivergent students.
A Foot in the Door: Students are hungry for work-integrated learning, even if they’re not sure what all their options are. How ready are colleges to provide it? (Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, February 26, 2026). Flaherty discusses the value and barriers to work-integrated learning, internships, and apprenticeships from the 2025 Student Voice survey.
Teaching and Learning: alternative grading
(More) Student Perspectives on Collaborative Grading (Emily Pitts Donahoe, Unmaking the Grade, January 23, 2026). In this essay, Donahoe shares comments from student evaluations of courses and contextualizes them inside of her course learning goals, focusing on learning over grades.
Six things I no longer do with alternative grading (Robert Talbert, Grading for Growth, February 2, 2026). Talbert explores how he has removed areas of assessment to streamline grading. He explains how addition by subtraction has led to improved success for his students and his workload.
Pairs well with alternative grading: Supporting productive struggle by sending a consistent message. (David Clark, Grading for Grown, February 16, 2026). Clark reminds us of the importance of feedback loops for learning – in alternative grading systems, but also in group work, active learning, and reflection exercises. Supported, productive struggle isn’t always loved by our students, but it is linked to their growth.
Tidbits: Feeling the need just to be “seen”?
Higher Education’s Compensation Charade: We’ve come to accept illogical, unjust, and occasionally insulting pay practices. Why? (Kevin, McClure, Chronicle for Higher Education, February 2, 2026). McClure casts a cynical eye on the pay and raise structures in higher ed.
Burnout by a Million Paper Cuts. Behold: a job posting you’d never accept, but already did. (Tim Franz , Erin Halligan-Avery and Laurel McNall, Inside Higher Ed, February 18, 2026). In this opinion piece, the authors bring to light the overwhelming list of job expectations but also close with a set of ideas for personal empowerment and cohort support.
Rebalancing Academic Productivity: Writing accountability groups support all faculty and address unequal workloads. (Dustin T. Duncan, Inside Higher Ed, February 26, 2026). Duncan explores the importance of writing accountability groups as equity interventions to improve publication output across all faculty groups and areas of research.
Tidbits: Using spring break for self-reflection and renewal
Feeling Depleted? A Guide to Faculty Renewal, (Sarah Rose Cavanagh and Jennifer Herman, Chronicle for Higher Education, January 7, 2026). In this well-resourced piece, the authors provide 4 key ingredients to faculty renewal and reconnection, some of which you might be able to accomplish over an upcoming spring break.
They Need Us To Be Well: The surprising recipe for building students’ emotional well-being in the classroom? Rest and joy — for professors. (Sarah Rose Cavanagh, Chronicle for Higher Education, May 2, 2023). Cavanagh reminds us that our energy and passion are infectious to our students, but to maintain those, we have to care for ourselves. Though this article is framed as planning for fall semester, spring break might provide some space to make a shift.Less Busy, More Happy (Cassie Holmes interview with Mark Williamson, Action For Happiness, September 17, 2025). Holmes will share practical strategies to help you stop feeling time-poor and start living more intentionally. You’ll learn why more activity doesn’t always mean more fulfilment – and how making small shifts in how you spend your hours can lead to a happier life.
Time for a longer read over spring break?
The Caring Professor: A Meta-Analysis of Associations between Faculty-Student Relationships and Postsecondary Student Success. Educational Psychology Review. This is a January 2026, metanalysis exploring the importance of faculty-student relationships in college student academic achievement and persistence. In addition to the findings, this paper provides a good overview of the characteristics of strong faculty-student relationships
The Case for Warm Demanders in Today’s Schools(Wendy Amato, The Cult of Pedagogy, March 1, 2026). Though framed for K-12 educators, Amato’s characterization of warm demanders is completely applicable to a higher ed space. This is a different frame for explaining the importance of faculty-student relationships, with a paired expectation of high expectations with supported, productive student struggle.
Upcoming Pedagogical Conferences
Lilly Conferences on Evidence Based Teaching and Learning, May 18-20, Austin, TX
Annual Teaching & Learning Conference at Elon University, August 11, virtual and in person
AAC&U Conference on Learning and Student Success (CLASS), virtual and in person, April 15-18, Tucson, AZ
Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) Summer Workshop, July 16-19, North Central College, Naperville, IL
Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) East Regional Meeting, May 27-29, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY