A Wicked Perspective: Faculty and Leadership in Academia
I remember seeing the musical Wicked while finishing my doctoral studies. The experience was so impactful that it led me to change my dissertation topic to focus on the idea…
Direct and Indirect Assessment Measures of Student Learning in Higher Education
Curriculum assessment and evaluation projects may not always spark immediate enthusiasm, but a recent well-organized team project in our higher education program demonstrated the power of collaboration. Thanks to the…
Assume the Best: Trust-Based Strategies for Empowering College Students
Creating a trust-based classroom begins with an essential mindset: students are doing their best. When we approach teaching from this perspective, we move away from punitive measures, fear-based management, and…
Why Data Alone Won’t Improve Retention
Data has become the cornerstone of decision-making and institutional strategy in today's higher education landscape. From tracking retention rates to measuring academic performance, data offers a clear, quantifiable view of…
Being Genuine in the Classroom
A few weeks ago, I went to my daughter’s open house at her high school and had a chance to meet her teachers. One teacher stood out to me from…
Using Generative AI to “Hack Time” for Implementing Real-World Projects
On our way to developing a curriculum for implementable real-world projects in professional classrooms, an interesting thing happened: Generative AI became ubiquitous. This provided a new perspective on the ideas…
Beyond the Classroom: Establishing Partnerships for Real-World Learning and Student Success
Students need to demonstrate their competencies in areas beyond traditional classroom assessments. In an era of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence, the use of these tools in education raises concerns…
Four Powerful Practices to Promote Student Success
Student success is teacher success. When our students overcome obstacles in their learning due to our support and encouragement, or experience transformations from our well-constructed course design and subsequent instruction,…
We Need to Distinguish Applied Humanities from Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is on the rise (Roberts & Welton 2022), perhaps because it can be a pathway to increased student engagement. But the term “experiential learning” is sometimes used interchangeably…
Indispensable Instructional Designers at Professional Schools
There are many ways to design a course in higher education, but why do it alone? As the educational landscape continues to evolve, the role of an instructional designer (ID)…