Category Emerging ideas

Emerging ideas

Transformative Learning in Your Class

Climbers at the top of an outcropping, overlooking a boreal forest.
In the summer of 2012 the University of Alaska Board of Regents approved revisions to Policy 01.01.030 — University of Alaska Fairbanks Mission Statement and University of Alaska Fairbanks Core Themes. Contained therein was this vision statement: "Excellence through transformative experiences." How can we aspire to such a lofty goal? What is the intersection with teaching and learning? And, how might you go about fostering such things in your courses?

From Campus to Career: Adapting Higher Education to Modern Hiring Trends

Illustrated people moving multi-color puzzle pieces around a stylized environment.
In recent years, hiring practices have undergone significant transformations, accelerated by the impact of COVID-19. In response, higher education institutions are re-evaluating their roles in preparing students for the evolving job market. Microcredentials have emerged as a valuable tool to bridge the gap between academic learning and practical job skills. These credentials provide a verifiable way for students to showcase their competencies and align with employer demands for problem-solving, communication, and teamwork skills. Despite the shift away from traditional degree requirements, a college degree combined with relevant microcredentials is increasingly preferred by employers. This article explores how higher education can adapt to these changes by integrating microcredentials into their programs, enhancing students' employability, and aligning educational outcomes with market needs.

Q&A on AI Text Detection

A student working on a laptop in a cabin while a humanoid robot leans over his shoulder.
Are there any tools that can reliably detect if writing was created with artificial intelligence? No. No, There are no tools which can reliably detect AI-generated writing. This teaching tip covers the current state of automatic AI detection and where it falls short of being reliable, and illustrates why this trend will continue. More importantly, this teaching tip presents some methods in which faculty content experts can determine if writing has been created with AI.

Sharpening Critical Thought with ChatGPT

A diagram of concentric circles that place educators at the center of teaching design, preparation and practice
In this teaching tip, we explore the possibility of using ChatGPT to develop rich question pools with correct and incorrect responses and having students examine each response in a low-stakes manner. The teaching practice is borrowed from a published article from the Journal of Chemical Education.

Ungrading STEM

I recently ran into a friend at a Halloween bonfire party who is an accomplished faculty member in the sciences. As we huddled near the fire for warmth, we discussed the idea of “ungrading” and the specific challenges of this…

Join OEWeek!

A screenshot of OE Week website

It’s not too late to join in the conversations and activities happening for Open Education Week (OEWeek) on March 7-11.  In this Teaching Tip, we present some of the highlights from OEWeek and how to get involved. Open education is…