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| As we enter year three of generative AI, where do you fall on the AI spectrum? Do you want to refuse AI? Adopt it minimally? Or Embrace it? This article, “How Can Your Courses be AI Aware,” links out to resources for making writing classes “AI aware” along each category on the spectrum. For example, if you want to resist AI in your writing classes, do so more intentionally. |
CfLT Newsletter
The posts below are from the CfLT newsletter which includes curated, research-based digital resources to support ongoing faculty development and pedagogical engagement. As of August 2025, CfLT Director Karen Spierling oversees the content. Posts from July 2020-May 2025 were compiled by previous Director Lew Ludwig.
Reaching (Not Just Teaching) Today’s Students: A Communication Cheatsheet
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| As we all gear up for the semester and work on conveying our visions and expectations for our classes in our syllabi, here’s a helpful quick read on how a couple of basic concepts from communication theory can help us to think more intentionally about communicating and connecting effectively with the students we’re teaching in 2025. |
Tech: LockDown Browser
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A new tool to ensure secure assessments in CanvasDenison has a new Canvas tool that will enable students to type their assessments on their own computer without access to electronic sources, websites, or AI: LockDown Browser. Instructors can create a LockDown assessment within Canvas quizzes, choosing whether students will have no access to websites or whether they have access to specific websites. |
Teaching: Rethinking Assessment- Paper Conferences
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| In my March 25 TTT contribution, I promised some suggestions for rethinking assessment to ensure students are meeting learning goals even if they (mis)use gen-AI to create their high-stakes writing assignments. And in my April 22 TTT contribution, I discussed an example of how I am re-weighting low-risk assessments. As promised, in this edition, I share a new type of assessment I am adding to my writing classes: paper conferences. |
Tidbit: Let the Robot Vacuum
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| I mowed my first lawn when I was nine years old. It probably wasn’t the safest or wisest decision, but my older brother – think Tom Sawyer with a dash of taskmaster – thought it was a brilliant way to free himself up for more “important” things. Armed with a 21-inch two-cycle Lawnboy that could mow over practically anything, I quickly learned the ropes. |
Tech: Help Your Students Keep Time During Exams
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| Last week we held a student focus-group to hear their thoughts on our campus learning spaces. One topic that came up: wall clocks. Students appreciate being able to quickly tell how much time is left, especially when taking an exam. One student appreciated an instructor who digitally projected the time on the classroom screen. Here are a few websites that enable you to do so: |
Teaching: Procrastinertia and the Importance of Planned Downtime
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| Procrastinertia. You know that feeling—you’re not actually getting anything done, yet somehow, just the effort of resisting productivity is exhausting. It’s all too familiar as we approach summer, caught between the impulse to rest and the persistent nagging of productivity. Last year at this time, I encouraged you to flip the narrative and schedule your downtime first, treating it as sacred space around which other activities must orbit. |
Teaching: Rethinking Assessment- Reweighting Low Risk
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| In my March 25 TTT contribution, I promised some suggestions for how to rethink assessment. If a high-stakes writing assignment can be adequately created with gen-AI, assessing that piece of writing does not provide an accurate measure of how well a student has met a set of learning goals. Instead, we need to seek additional evidence. |
Tidbit: 5 Strategies to Create Inclusive Learning Environments for International Students
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| Teaching mathematics, I’m used to having a fair number of international students in my classes. But this semester, something shifted—over 80% of my students are from Southeast Asia. That change has nudged me to rethink my teaching style in more deliberate ways. I’ve started grouping students into fours more consistently and have become much more intentional about my cadence and diction. |
Tech: Easy Grading via Canvas Teacher App
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| You can download Canvas Teacher for Android and iOS. This app gives you fast access to all of your courses and allows you to quickly check on submissions and discussions with a phone or tablet. You can even grade through this app using SpeedGrader; annotating and grading assignments with a tablet and stylus is quick and intuitive. |