GLCA/GLAA Event
How Neurodiverse Students Can Use AI to Enhance Their Learning with Todd Zakrajsek
College can be both exciting and overwhelming, especially for neurodiverse students balancing studying, organization, and campus life. We hope you will join us for this webinar, How Neurodiverse Students Can Use AI to Enhance Their Learning, with Dr. Todd Zakrajsek, Tuesday October 14 at Noon EDT. We will look at how AI can step in as a supportive partner and help neurodiverse learners with study routines, organization, and even social connections. Together we’ll explore practical strategies for using AI to reduce barriers, build confidence, and create more opportunities for success in college.
Anticipated learner outcomes:
- Describe at least 3 aspects of college that are particularly challenging for neurodiverse students.
- Create or implement at least one specific strategy pertaining to how AI might be used to help neurodiverse students be more successful in college.
- Explain at least one area in which neurodiverse students may have an advantage over other students with respect to college life and learning new content or skills.
Todd D. Zakrajsek PhD, is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at UNC at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining the SOM he was a tenured associate professor of psychology and built faculty development efforts at three universities. Todd has authored/coauthored 6 books in the past 5 years and has given keynote addresses, campus workshops, and conference presentations in all 50 states, 12 countries, and 4 continents. Follow and connect with Todd on Twitter (@toddzakrajsek), Instagram, and LinkedIn. Read more about his work at https://www.toddzakrajsek.com/
A link will be sent the day before the event and the session will be recorded. REGISTER HERE.
Teaching and Learning
Students Who Lack Academic Confidence More Likely to Use Generative AI for School (Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed, September 30, 2025): New survey data also finds that students with robust peer support and strong internet search skills are less likely to rely on AI tools for academic help.
How Students Should Practice, In and Out of Class (Beckie Supiano, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 26, 2025): A professor structures exercises to reduce busy work and boost engagement.
A Final Project that Can Bring Joy and Meaning (Peter C. Herman, Inside Higher Ed, September 26, 2025): With the rise of AI-enabled cheating, a creative assignment can be a powerful alternative to the traditional term paper.
Students on Academic Quality, Success (Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, September 26, 2025): Undergraduates across institution types rate the quality of education they’re getting highly and share what could boost their academic success.
5 Ways Students Can Think about Learning So That They Can Learn More (Jerrid Kruse, The Conversation, September 16, 2025): Five beliefs beyond the growth mindset that can help students become better learners.
Cultivating Critical Hope: Reflections on Pedagogical Partnerships in Higher Education (Austen Morris, Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education, 2025): Pedagogical partnership broadly seeks to rewrite the narrative surrounding faculty and student dynamics into one of partnership, where students and faculty are colleagues.
Extra Credit Reading
HHS Moves to Cut Harvard Off from All Federal Grants and Contracts (Laura Spitalniak, Higher EdDive, October 1, 2025): The agency’s Office for Civil Rights on Monday recommended blocking the university’s access to the funding to protect the public interest.
Should College Get Harder? (Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, September 30, 3035): A.I. is coming for knowledge work, and yet college seems to be getting easier. Does something need to change?
White House Considers Funding Advantage for Colleges that Align with Trump Policies (Laura Meckler and Susan Svriuga, Washington Post, September 28, 2025): The proposal could transform the government’s vast research funding operation, which has long awarded university grants based on scientific merit.
Texas Tech Moves to Limit Academic Discussion to 2 Genders (J. David Goodman, New York Times, September 26, 2025): The university system said faculty must comply with President Trump’s order recognizing only two genders, possibly a first for a major public institution of higher education.
Where the Battle Over Free Speech is Leading Us (Louis Menand, New Yorker, September 26, 2025): Menand considers two books, Christopher L. Eisgruber, Terms of Respect: How Colleges Get Free Speech Right (Basic), written by the president of Princeton, and Fara Dabhoiwala, What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea (Belknap), by a member of Princeton’s history department.
Poll: Public Confidence in Higher Ed Growing (Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed, September 26, 2025): According to the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy polling published Thursday, 47 percent of 1,030 Americans surveyed said they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education institutions, with a net positive rating of 33—up 13 percentage points since 2023.
Compassion Fatigue in Educators (Chiara Horlin, The Learning Scientists, September 25, 2025): A 38-minute podcast featuring Dr. Chiara Horlin, on wellbeing in educators and specifically about a phenomenon called ‘compassion fatigue.’
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Distributed by the GLCA/GLAA Consortium for Teaching and Learning