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| As we travel the current phase of this new AI journey with our students, we are facing an old and ongoing problem: How do we preserve our classrooms and liberal arts education as spaces for deep thinking at the same time that we are helping our students to prepare for their post-college professional lives?
Working toward an answer (or answers) requires considering a wide variety of perspectives and possibilities. |
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.
Word of the Day: Expectations
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| A week later, my head is still abuzz (does anyone use that word anymore?) with all the ideas, questions, challenges, and connections that emerged from the CfLT gatherings and RAISE (Readiness and Inclusion in Science Education) workshop led by guest speaker Leonard Geddes. I’m going to use my next few columns to highlight some ideas that stood out across these discussions, in the interest of promoting further reflection and conversation and, I hope, providing food for your teaching thought as the semester begins. |
If You Care About It, Do It in Class
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Ensuring that our students feel competent in the skills required to succeed in our classes is more important than ever if we want them to understand the value of their own learning and make intentional decisions about AI usage. James Lang offers some clear and concise advice as you finish crafting your spring syllabi:
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Align AI Policies with Learning Goals
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| As we approach the new semester, it’s important to reflect on how your course documents (syllabus, assignment sheets, etc.) communicate clearly to students the rules around AI use in your classes as well as the relationship between those rules and the course learning goals. Here’s my advice:
AI Policy: Articulate a clear AI policy in your syllabus, and if it makes sense to do so, articulate an AI policy in each assignment sheet. |
An AI Vocabulary Update
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| Are you anxious about having AI conversations with your classes when you don’t feel up to snuff on terminology? No idea of what’s the difference between a Chatbot and a GenAI agent?
Or is all of this lingo old news to you, but you’d like some quick and easy ways to explain it to students and colleagues? |
End-of-Semester Tech Wrap Up
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As the semester comes to a close, here are 5 things you can do now to tie up loose ends and prepare yourself for a smooth start next semester:
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We are Not in an AI Apocalypse
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This is my final dispatch for the semester, and I’m pleased to offer this concluding observation: We are not (yet) in an AI apocalypse!
Here’s what I mean by that:
- The more I use AI, the better I understand the amount of work it takes to transform AI-generated content into a high quality, college-level essay. I am, therefore, less worried about students offloading cognitive labor if and when they integrate AI into their writing process.
The Final Stretch
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| In this last week of classes, it’s easy to just focus on getting to the end. But the last days of class can also be a recognition of the semester’s learning and positive sendoff for your students. As Amena Shahid writes, “The last day of class should not feel like a transaction—it should feel like a moment of celebration. |
Policies and Practices That Make a Difference
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| Our December 4th Teaching Matters session was full of laughter, nods of appreciation, and thoughtful conversation. The group shared effective approaches to attendance, late work, engagement/contribution, and technology policies. We talked about the purpose behind various policies and the importance of communicating that purpose clearly to students.
One participant described evaluating each policy from three vantage points: how it facilitates their work as the professor, how it supports an individual student’s learning, and how it shapes the classroom community. |
The Value of the Liberal Arts in our AI Era
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| Do you need a post-Thanksgiving energy boost and reminder of the crucial value of our work as educators moving into an AI-infused future? Nazrul Islam, of the University of East London, makes the case that if we are to ensure that AI lives up to its beneficial potential, it’s more important than ever for human workers to have the kinds of liberal arts skills that are core to Denison’s mission. |