In higher education, student success is a widely used yet insufficiently defined concept. While some students equate success with academic performance, others view it through lenses of personal development, career preparation, or perseverance in overcoming obstacles. These varied definitions are shaped by diverse personal, environmental,
During my first few years of teaching, I made the classic mistake of adopting a “covering content” mentality. I planned my classes in terms of the topics I needed to cover and how I would motor through them. This is a sending-side perspective that views
Higher education faculty work with a wide range of adults, from first-year undergraduates to advanced graduate students to faculty colleagues and other professionals. Since learning can happen anywhere, at any time, our roles vary as mentors, facilitators, and coaches. Ultimately, our students are all considered
Teachers focus on developing students’ conscious learning and understanding of concepts, but there is a whole other dimension of mental life that teachers also influence: implicit thought and memory. Psychologists distinguish between explicit and implicit mental processes.[1] We are consciously aware of explicit processes, as
Geniuses are inherently fascinating. The notion that a lucky few have innate abilities to push the boundaries of what’s possible and rise far above us mere mortals gives hope that humankind can progress to unimaginable levels, even as it reminds most of us that we’re
While much of online learning occurs through discussion board conversations, it can be challenging for students to offer different perspectives or new responses to classmates’ posts when they are all answering the same question. Similarly, instructors may struggle to develop engaging questions.
“Why does my edition of Hamlet read ‘O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,’” my student Jake asked me, “but yours has ‘O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt’?”
After all, nearly every large language model (LLM) is good at summarizing readings, synthesizing large amounts of data and information across sources and culling it down to key points, and “remembering” foundational knowledge. So why memorize facts? Why practice applying concepts? Why learn to write?
In 1906, Francis Galton was visiting a livestock fair when he stumbled upon an interesting contest. Local villagers were asked to guess the weight of an ox, with the closest guess winning a prize. Of the over 800 guesses, nobody got the exact weight of
I often wear sunglasses on my walk from my parking spot on campus to my office. I recently realized that when I have them on, I am seeing but not really seeing. The shaded lenses provide a buffer from the world. I stroll by a
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