“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
Students taking online classes represent a key part of the college-attending population. Demand for online classes and online degrees has surged in recent years, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic (Knox 2025). But fully online students are less likely to successfully complete classes and to graduate
As AI use continues to grow in the field of education, we are only beginning to discover potential uses to support faculty work. Most of the focus has been on tools for creating learning materials, such as lessons and assessments. But AI tools can assist
You’ve prepared a fabulous, interactive class. You’ve designed engaging activities, developed meaningful discussion questions, and cultivated an inviting atmosphere for dialogue. You ask a wonderful open-ended question, anticipating a flurry of discussion and critical thinking—only to be met with silence. Your students stare back at
AI has become a part of nearly all facets of teaching, from lesson development to exam creation to answering student questions. But grading is the last bastion of education where it has yet to make meaningful inroads. This is partly due to the visceral reaction
Navigating the gulf between the most and least prepared students in a course can seem like an insurmountable obstacle, and not because some students are simply more or less capable than others. The course may be a major requirement that some students just don’t care
My course is literally about teaching reading to young children, a challenge given that research suggests that college students complete only 20–30 percent of assigned readings, a behavior inversely related to academic performance and engagement (Kerr & Frese, 2017; Deale & Lee, 2021). Further exacerbating
We’ve long known that reading long blocks of text can lead to wandering minds and lower retention. It’s better to break up explanatory text with images, especially ones that summarize main points. This allows students to see the big picture, and the visual analog to
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