I was the first-generation immigrant college student, trying to navigate college, and working towards a degree was quite challenging. I share the sentiment with @Casandra; I thought everyone had it figured out except me. This especially became apparent when I took writing intensive courses, where I really struggled to communicate and express…[Read more]

Since I teach microbiology as a capstone course, I always make connections with the content I teach to students’ lives. This allows students to understand the importance of microbiology and its relevance to their personal and professional lives. For example, one of the exercises I developed entails students to use their own gum sample in order t…[Read more]

WAC pedagogy is foundational to my approach to teaching. GPS is a natural inclusion in so far as we are trying to teach students skills that will translate across and carry through all of their classes and beyond. The growth-mindset language fits quite comfortably within these goals and offers a discourse that students can readily understand and…[Read more]

“Grit” is great. It offers itself as a nice metaphor for development that results in a pearl. However, I think “grit” also tends to get thrown around too casually, particularly by those who are just annoyed by how someone else works and struggles. “Resilience’ seems to me to be the better vocabulary because it is pretty much always going to be positive.

This really annoyed me. Although the exercises suggested were all sound, I already do many of them without AI. This exchange felt like a nagging sales pitch for inclusion of AI. I also bristled at the constant barrage of emotional language (e.g. “truly inspiring”). I really did not see any real pedagogical value in incorporating AI, although the…[Read more]

4.5 Tutor Summary

Thank you for such a thoughtful and engaging conversation! Throughout our discussion, you shared your experiences and concerns about incorporating AI into your teaching of an introductory English literature course. You emphasized the strength of your existing pedagogy, which prioritizes peer collaboration, authentic student…[Read more]

4.4 Tutor Summary

Thank you for this thoughtful and candid discussion. You’ve clearly demonstrated a deep commitment to fostering critical thinking, reflection, and resilience in your students. You’re already doing the hard work of guiding them through discomfort, helping them build confidence in their own ideas, and creating opportunities for…[Read more]

4.1 Tutor Summary

In our conversation, you expressed concerns about the potential negative impacts of generative AI on student learning and skill development. You shared your frustration with AI’s constant affirmation and how it may contribute to students’ expectations of positive reinforcement even when they are not succeeding. You also…[Read more]

Oh, this is an awful experience. I have an awkward cadence and a vocal timbre that just doesn’t feel welcoming (I have long felt this way and doing recording after recording has not changed this). I have a diction that always tends to sound overly formal. Thank goodness I didn’t have to do it in video where my Resting Jay Face (as my partner…[Read more]

Careen,

I really like your focus on getting them to accept challenges and failures as potentially productive. This is an attitude I have watched wither in our society over the past 20 or so years, and I think it has become rather dire at this point (2025). I have also heard an increasing parroting of reality tv discourse paired with…[Read more]

Cynthia,

I’m with you on ice-breakers, metacognition, and especially not requiring students to share personal information. Get to know each other: great. Think about process and purpose and what you’re learning: great. Tell everyone very publicly about your personal life: nope, no way. I keep my personal life personal and I invite them to do that…[Read more]

• What are some of the strategies discussed in this module that you already use to connect with your students?
• What is something new that you were introduced to?
• What are some concerns you may have about creating a sense of belonging now that you’ve learned what it could encompass?

I emphasize students talking to each other, participating i…[Read more]

I have rarely felt comfortable in social spaces and college was no exception. I had to force myself to talk to people the first two weeks of college because I decided it would be a long and miserable four years if I did not get to know people. That was a hugely important decision on my part. In doing that, I did meet people, some of whom I am…[Read more]

I tell students on the first day that they will get the most out of the class, that they will enjoy it most, if we work from their questions, from their ideas. All classes start with me asking what they want to ask or talk about. I also make clear that the questions they bring to class are also the foundations for the work that they will do going…[Read more]

I ask. However, it is important to note that I also tell students that they do not need to share personal information because it is personal. As Michael Stipe said in an interview somewhere in the early ’90s, when asked about his sexuality, ‘Unless you are sitting on my lap, it’s none of your business.’ I agree, and since no one in my college…[Read more]

Gen ed is a beautiful thing, although frustrating in the moment. Gen ed requires that students learn skills that will be foundational for their course of study–whatever course of study–throughout their college career. Even those gen ed courses that are not obviously related to what students intend to study introduce them to material, ideas,…[Read more]

Reflection, reflection, reflection. And dialogue. I require students to make comments on each written assignment to highlight what they think they did well (and explain why), less well (and explain why), describe what the struggled with (and why), and ask for feedback on specific things. I also invite them to reflect on previous assignments…[Read more]

I like beginning classes with questions. I like portfolio grading, which emphasizes process. I assign some classes scholarly-reading portfolios, where they must summarize articles. But I explain that I will grade the whole portfolio because I assume they will improve over time, as they get used to reading the discourse of the scholarship in this…[Read more]

Cynthia,

Not only have I made an ass of myself while teaching (e.g. writing gibberish on the board while trying to talk and write at the same time), but I now cultivate it. I teach students to do peer review by showing them an early draft of something I wrote with one of my long-time reader’s comments. I walk them through the very thorough…[Read more]

All of my classes are inquiry-based. That is, every class opens with questions students may have or things they would like to discuss as a group. I emphasize that I do not have all of the answers, but that we, as a class, will explore possible responses to questions and where the questions and the responses we generate as a class will lead…[Read more]