News of the Week – November 13, 2026
This week’s issue is curated by Mark Bollman. Mark is the 1835 Endowed Professor of Mathematics at Albion College.
Teaching & Learning (AI Edition)
Less Time, Less Learning: Lessons from Research of AI on Student Learning (Dave Kung, Math Values, Mathematical Association of America, 26 October 2026.) It’s difficult not to hear about how AI is either going to destroy us all or become a tool for great things–and there doesn’t seem to be a middle path yet. As someone who remembers how calculators were going to destroy mathematics and math teaching, and then how computers were going to be the destructor, and then how the Internet was going to upend everything, I am inclined toward a less-panicked view than many–we figured out how to navigate those, and we’ll figure this one out. Dave Kung has some thoughts on how this looks for mathematics in light of the recent document drop by OpenAI.
At colleges, the AI boom means everyone wants to dabble in computer science (Heather Hollingsworth, APNews, August 3, 2026) Here’s a story from one corner of campus where AI is already having an effect: increased interest from students in computer science courses. How that plays out in the CS departments of America is a tricky thing. There’s a quote from a music professor in Virginia that kind of aligns with my own thoughts (above) about the effect of AI down the line.
Does an AI-Powered Grade School Belong on a College Campus? (Shea Vance and Haley Zimmerman, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10 November 2026.) In case there was any doubt that things are changing rapidly in and around artificial intelligence and teaching, we have this idea which would not have made much sense 5 years ago. Something about a grade school “based on computer-generated content for the students” brings The Jetsons to mind. (Of course, we still don’t have the fold-up flying cars that that cartoon promised.)
That said, the phrase “The adult in the classroom’s job is now to facilitate that learning” is language that is familiar to a lot of us who pay attention to trends in education.
The Big Picture
What Should Educated People Know About Science? (Chad Orzel, Counting Atoms Substack, 2 April 2026.) In 1968, a report from the Hazen Foundation asserted, reasonably, that “one of the great indoor sports of American faculties is fiddling with the curriculum”. Often, this takes the form of tweaking or totally modifying the general education requirements for students. Chad Orzel, a physicist at Union College in New York, has some food for thought (as is appropriate here in the runup to Thanksgiving) about what the core requirements in the sciences should look like.
What Should Educated People Know About Not-STEM? (Chad Orzel, Counting Atoms Substack, 7 July 2026.) In equal time for other fields, Chad also weighs in on what every student should study outside the sciences.
The AP quandary and how to resolve it (Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli, The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 5 November 2026.) Going in the other direction–what students do before they get to our classrooms–here are some thoughts on how Advanced Placement courses might have changed and might consider changing in light of recent developments in colleges.
Tidbits
On The Lighter Side…because there should be some fun among all this serious stuff
An Ode To Overhead Projectors (Eric Fournier, Inside Higher Ed, 26 October 2026.) Back in the day (for some of us), the overhead projector was an indispensable piece of teaching technology. Now, it’s hard even to find one. At Albion, we had a colloquium speaker request one in 2024, and it was a challenge across several College buildings to track down one that worked. A challenge which ultimately succeeded, I might add–we have it securely stored in case we ever need one again. Eric Fournier has some thoughts on this bygone device. Trivia nugget: The technical term for an overhead projector is “epidiascope”, which is not a word that Fournier uses. A missed opportunity, that.
Willis Opinion: Division III’s Five-Year Eligibility Debate Deserves More Nuance (Steve Ulrich, D3Playbook.com, 4 November 2026.) While college sports probably qualifies for the “lighter side”, this looming decision is perhaps a little less light than fun musing on older technology. GLCA schools are Division III schools for sports, and so discussions of athlete eligibility in the division will affect all of us in one way or another. Steve Ulrich offers some thoughts on how “5 in 5″ might look–or not look, depending on which way the division chooses to go. I’m not convinced that new graduate programs designed specifically so athletes can use a fifth year of eligibility without changing schools will be regarded favorably by the wider market.
How many NCAA schools are 44 percenters? (Steve Dittmore, Glory Days Substack, 11 November 2024.) Also in the sports section, some thoughts on the “right” percentage of student-athletes on a college campus. Steve Dittmore advances the argument that 44% is an inflection point for this percentage, suggesting that exceeding 44% is a danger sign. This is a bigger concern in Division III than in Divisions I and II. The data are a couple of years old, but the analysis is interesting at a time when athletics is under consideration at many colleges similar to GLCA schools as a means to drive enrollment higher. (There’s a follow-up article for subscribers, that focuses on Division III and names some names, here.)
Grant Funding for Workshops
Students regularly protest and rally; but have they read the Constitution and do they understand their rights, and the importance of voting?
Fringe Benefits Theatre wants college-aged youth to understand how the social justice causes they’re fighting for are supported by our founding documents and get the word out to their peers.
Through the “Constitutional Crash Out!” Initiative, they are offering free online workshops with nationally recognized writers, comedians, activists, and artists who help students understand the founding documents on a personal level and brainstorm ways to articulate their ideas in thoughtful, engaging videos in a variety of genres. Students across the nation are invited to share their work online and compete in a national short-form video competition to win cash prizes.
Grant funding is available for an honorarium to lead a couple workshops to help students script “Pay Attention to Democracy” video shorts. To find out more about integrating Constitutional Crash Out! into your classes or clubs, contact Norma Bowles at [email protected] or Amy Sarno at [email protected].
Editor: Colleen Monahan Smith, GLCA, [email protected]