Welcome to the Intentional Teaching newsletter! I'm Derek Bruff, educator and author. The name of this newsletter is a reminder that we should be intentional in how we teach, but also in how we develop as teachers over time. I hope this newsletter will be a valuable part of your professional development as an educator.
Career moves in educational development
Career Moves in Educational DevelopmentHow does one move from faculty member to faculty developer? What are the pathways into professional roles at centers for teaching and learning? And why are educational developers so important to higher education with This week on the Intentional Teaching podcast, I talk with Leslie Cramblet Alvarez and Chris Hakala about their book Understanding Educational Developers: Tales from the Center and about the state of the field of educational development in 2025. Leslie is assistant vice provost and director of the Office of Teaching and Learning at the University of Denver. Chris is director for the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship and professor of psychology at Springfield College. Leslie and Chris share their own stories of moving into first faculty and then faculty development roles, and we talk about that faculty-to-faculty-developer pathway as a common but not universal way into the field. They make a strong pitch for the value of centers for teaching and learning during this challenging time for higher ed, and they offer advice for faculty considering a move into a faculty development role, as well as for those of us current working at CTLs trying to plan our careers. You can listen to my conversation with Leslie Cramblet Alvarez and Chris Hakala here, or search for "Intentional Teaching" in your favorite podcast app. Research Student Perspectives on AIOne of my co-authors on the forthcoming Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, Annette Vee, is leading an online workshop next week sharing some of her strategies for better understanding how students use and think about generative AI. It's a free workshop hosted by Norton, and it's scheduled for Tuesday, November 11th, at 2pm Central. How Are Students Using AI? A Research Toolkit for Faculty
When creating your plan for if and when to use AI in your course, it’s easy to forget one important perspective—that of students. Annette Vee (University of Pittsburgh) will share a research kit that faculty and institutions can use to learn more how their students are currently using AI and incorporate that into their course planning.
Here's what Annette posted about the workshop: "There's a lot of data out there now on student uses of AI, but the best data is *your* data. Join the workshop to get access to survey questions, study methodologies and ideas for learning more about your students and AI!" I would totally attend, but I'll be flying to Virginia for my fall visit to UVA! But I hope you can make it. You can register for the free workshop here. Thanks for reading!If you found this newsletter useful, please forward it to a colleague who might like it! That's one of the best ways you can support the work I'm doing here at Intentional Teaching. Or consider subscribing to the Intentional Teaching podcast. For just $3 US per month, you can help defray production costs for the podcast and newsletter and you get access to subscriber-only podcast bonus episodes. |
Intentional Teaching with Derek Bruff
Welcome to the Intentional Teaching newsletter! I'm Derek Bruff, educator and author. The name of this newsletter is a reminder that we should be intentional in how we teach, but also in how we develop as teachers over time. I hope this newsletter will be a valuable part of your professional development as an educator.
Programming Note: You might have noticed that there wasn't a new episode of Intentional Teaching in your podcast player this week. I aim for a biweekly release schedule, posting new episodes every other Tuesday. That didn't happen this week, mainly because I'm still catching up on work after being away for a week of fall break. I have a couple of fantastic interviews recorded, however, so look for a new episode in your feed next Tuesday. And since I didn't post a new podcast episode this...
Not Your Default Chatbot: Teaching Applications of Custom AI Agents As I've mentioned here, I've been working this fall with a number of faculty at the University of Virginia and elsewhere who are experimenting with custom AI chatbots in their teaching. So when OneHE reached out to ask me about doing an AI-related webinar next month, I thought it would be a great chance to share some of what my colleagues and I are learning about teaching applications of custom agents! Here's the abstract for...
Peer and AI Review of Student Writing Peer review is a signature pedagogy of writing instruction. What happens when you take that established structure and add in a layer of AI-generated feedback on student writing? You get PAIRR: Peer and AI Review and Reflection, an approach to integrating AI into writing instruction developed by a team of faculty at California public institutions. On the podcast this week, I talk with two members of that team, Marit MacArthur and Anna Mills. They share how...