At Denison, we are privileged to have an array of exceptional educators, each bringing creativity and passion into their classrooms. Yet, our faculty often downplay their innovative teaching methods, echoing sentiments like, “Oh, that’s not such a big deal,” or as one colleague humbly put it, “I’m as ordinary as dishwater.” To celebrate and share these creative endeavors, we’re introducing a new column this semester: “Caught in the Act.” This space is dedicated to showcasing the innovative teaching practices happening right under our noses. If you know a colleague who’s doing something extraordinary, let us know!
At the Open Doors debrief, Dan Homan (Physics) shared a small but powerful practice he uses early in the semester to break the ice and cultivate an engaged classroom. In the first few weeks, he gives students a brief in-class writing prompt—just two minutes responding to the reading—and then asks for volunteers to read their responses aloud with dramatic flair.
 |
||
|
 |
||
|
 |
||
|
Despite Sydney Green’s proficiency with AI prompting, she often finds extracting specific tasks from advanced models like ChatGPT or Gemini to be time-consuming and sometimes unproductive. To address this, she turned to Magic School AI, a platform offering over 80 AI-powered tools designed to assist educators with lesson planning, assignment creation, and material generation. It’s user-friendly, click-based interface allows users to interact without the need for specialized prompts.
 |
| A significant issue with students’ use of ChatGPT is their inability to craft effective prompts. Simply copying and pasting assignments into ChatGPT often leads to the tool providing solutions with minimal effort from the students, which can undermine their learning process.
To address this problem and turn ChatGPT into a productive learning tool, David Reher of Modern Languages creates specific prompts for his students. |
 |
| I (Julie Dalke) am auditing Hoda Yousef’s class titled “The Making of the Modern Middle East,” and I am excited to share three teaching methodologies for this week’s “Caught in the Act” column. Her commitment to transparent instruction, dynamic lecturing, and effective review strategies significantly enhances student engagement and learning outcomes.
Hoda consistently employs the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework, ensuring that students understand the purpose behind their learning activities. |
 |
During our recent Faculty Learning Community on AI, Laura Russell shared a novel way she engaged her 100-level personal storytelling class in considering writing in the age of AI. The exercise centered around two main questions:
|
 |
| Lew Ludwig caught Susan Villarreal in the act of good teaching, he writes: Last Monday, as I scrambled to finish my notes for the first week of class, I was kicking myself. I’ve taught this course many times before, but it had been three semesters since the last round. I can barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday, much less the details of what worked- or didn’t- three semesters ago. |
 |
| Rebecca Kennedy (Ancient Greek & Roman Studies/Environmental Studies/Women & Gender Studies) caught Megan Threlkeld (History/Women & Gender Studies) in the act of some great teaching. Megan writes:
I use a Library Scavenger Hunt with my advising circles and my W101 but you could adapt it for any class. I have refined it a lot over the years, and this version works well for me. |
