Designed for Learning

Faculty who teach online know that it comes with distinct benefits, with the ability to reach learners who might not otherwise have access to your course prominent among them.But as meaningful as that is, the logistical challenges online teaching can present means we don’t necessarily think of it as a “joyful” exercise, particularly in those courses with limited live interaction between instructor and students.An author and longtime advocate for online teaching, Flower Darby has written a new book titled The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Classes. It has much to offer anyone teaching in the online modality, whether your course is entirely on-demand or features regular live sessions.Key Topics Discussed:The turning point with a student that reshaped Flower’s approach to online teachingDrawing on positive psychology’s PERMA theory of well-being to create a better online learning environmentWhy being a “joyful” teacher entails something different than surface-level happinessThe importance of introducing energy to and generating energy in online classroomsThe impact instructors can have on students by doing simple things like knowing their names and genuinely responding to what they’ve saidWhy Flower believes instructors bringing their full selves into their asynchronous classes is the most effective way to counter unethical uses of AIFinding creative ways to connect with students and lean into what gives you joy as a teacher to improve their experience and your ownGuest Bio: Flower Darby is an associate director of the Teaching for Learning Center at the University of Missouri, an author, and a keynote speaker. She’s taught in higher ed for more than 30 years in subjects ranging from psychology to jazz dance. Her latest book is The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Classes, which is part of the Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed Series at the University of Oklahoma Press edited by Designed for Learning host Jim Lang and Michelle Miller.Resources Mentioned:Flower’s New Book: The Joyful Online Teacher: Finding Our Fizz in Asynchronous Classes (University of Oklahoma Press)PERMA Theory of Well-BeingSarah Rose Cavanagh’s Book: The Spark of Learning (West Virginia University Press)Flower’s WebsiteFlower’s LinkedInEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

American higher education has always stood out for its strong commitment to general education courses, or gen ed, the premise being that undergraduates should not necessarily jump directly into a major but instead have the room to learn and explore a variety of fields before choosing a particular path.With that principled purpose comes a practical teaching challenge: Most students enroll in a gen ed course to fulfill a curricular requirement, not because they actively chose to take that class.So how do teachers make the best possible case for a required course? And how do they make it a good experience for the students who may never return to the subject when the semester ends?A professor at Boston College and regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine, Carlo Rotella has written a book that follows 33 students through his own general education course and explores answers to questions like these.Key Topics Discussed:A description of the required literature course Carlo teaches at Boston College and why he chose to write about itHow he uses the first day of class to attempt to overcome students’ skepticismLeading with the utility of the course, even when you as the instructor believe in the subject’s inherent beautyThe distinct value to students of coming together to participate in a classroom with peers and an instructor and why that value only continues to grow as technology advancesStrategies for getting students to participate, including working with those who aren’t as comfortable speaking during classCarlo’s approach to managing the flow of discussions, why he doesn’t fear silence, and thinking of what goes on in the classroom as “the main event”Guest Bio: Carlo Rotella is a professor of English, journalism, and American studies at Boston College. He writes regularly for The New York Times Magazine, and his work has appeared in a number of other outlets, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, and The Best American Essays. He has written books about cities, boxing, blues, and literature and film, among other subjects; his latest, What Can I Get Out of This? Teaching and Learning in a Classroom Full of Skeptics, was named a Forbes Best Higher Education Book of 2025.Resources Mentioned:Carlo’s New Book: What Can I Get Out of This? Teaching and Learning in a Classroom Full of Skeptics (University of California Press)Episode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

Imagine you have a student who starts the semester strong but unexpectedly misses a deadline, and then you don’t see them in class for a few sessions. You reach out and are surprised to learn it isn’t because they lost interest in the course; it’s because they were so ashamed of missing that due date that it prevented them from coming back.Maybe you don’t have to imagine. If you’ve been teaching awhile, chances are you’ve had this exact experience, one that might be related to a student having ADHD.So what do learners with ADHD need from us as teachers? In her new book An Educator’s Guide to ADHD: Designing and Teaching for Student Success, Karen Costa shares strategies aimed at not only supporting these students but also taking advantage of the valuable strengths and perspectives they can bring to the classroom.Key Topics Discussed:Thinking of the ADHD neurotype as a house with all its doors and windows thrown openWhat we need to unlearn about ADHD, starting with the implications of the name attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorderTapping into the creativity and outspokenness often exhibited by students with ADHD to improve the overall classroom environmentStrategies for helping students with ADHD that will benefit everyone in the classKaren’s own experiences as someone with ADHD—both as a student and a professional—and why that drives her to talk about them openly, even when it’s uncomfortableNavigating potential sticking points between students who might thrive with more flexibility and faculty who are responsible for structuring a courseHow helping learners with ADHD can start with something as simple as making a checklistGuest Bio: Karen Costa is a faculty development facilitator, adjunct faculty member, and the author of 99 Tips for Creating Simple and Sustainable Educational Videos: A Guide for Online Teachers and Flipped Classes. Her latest book, An Educator’s Guide to ADHD: Designing and Teaching for Student Success, was published in January 2026 by Johns Hopkins University Press.Resources Mentioned:Karen’s New Book: An Educator’s Guide to ADHD: Designing and Teaching for Student Success (Johns Hopkins University Press)Karen’s Website: 100faculty.comEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

For decades now, the call to college teachers has been to rely less on lecture and to draw more on active learning techniques such as discussions, small group brainstorming, and think-pair-shares.Strategies like these fit well within smaller courses. But in an auditorium with a couple of hundred students, how do we encourage participation and community?To meet this challenge, Notre Dame’s Rachel Branco has turned to an assessment approach known as the two-stage exam. It’s worked so well that she has now written a how-to guide to help other instructors incorporate this active learning experience into classes of any size.Key Topics Discussed:How Rachel initially encountered the concept of two-stage exams, in which students answer the same set of questions first as individuals and then in groupsHer experience incorporating two-stage exams into her smaller courses and why that inspired her not only to adapt the setup for her larger classes but also to write a guide for other instructors interested in doing soWell-established advantages of using two-stage exams as well as Rachel’s own observations of the benefits based on surveys of her studentsThe logistics of deploying two-stage exams in a class with hundreds of students, including the importance of seating plans, the creation of the exam documents themselves, and group constructionWhy Rachel has each student turn in their own answer sheet for the group part of the exam and the kinds of questions that work best in light of the group dynamicWhy it’s critical to communicate the rationale behind this style of assessment to studentsGuest Bio: Rachel Branco is a neuroscientist and an associate teaching professor at the University of Notre Dame, where she teaches courses through both the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Neuroscience and Behavior Program. She is passionate about researching and implementing practical classroom strategies that improve how students learn about and experience science.Resources Mentioned:Rachel’s Implementation Guide for Two-Stage ExamsMail Merge Tool for Notre Dame Instructors: Yet Another Mail Merge (YAMM)Grading Assistance Software for Notre Dame Instructors: GradescopeEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

Among the most fundamental promises education makes is this: What you learn here, on campus, will help you when you’re out there, in the world. Learning researchers call this far transfer, describing the process by which students take a skill and apply it in another class, in an internship, or even in their careers after college.But what does it look like when that far transfer is part of the class itself? In community-based learning, professors embed their courses in real-world contexts, creating partnerships with organizations who have real needs connected to the course material.Notre Dame’s Wendy Angst has long embraced this approach to teach design thinking and business consulting, and she has now amplified it to a whole new level with the help of virtual reality (VR) technology. The result has been to give her students an unforgettable experience that makes an impact far beyond their classroom.Key Topics Discussed:How coming from an industry background motivated Wendy to incorporate hands-on consulting work into her teachingThe evolution of her Innovation & Design Thinking course to build a robust partnership with Saint Bakhita Vocational Training Center in Northern Uganda, starting with an eventful trip there in March 2020Working with ND Learning’s Office of Digital Learning to use VR to bring the experience of being on the ground in Uganda to more Notre Dame studentsThe businesses in Uganda that have grown out of student-partner projects in the courseHow VR builds empathy and understanding among the large number of students who do not actually go to Uganda—but also among those who doLessons Wendy has taken away from years of leading community-based learning and advice she’d give instructors looking to get started with itGuest Bio: Wendy Angst is the Michael & Melanie Neumann Director of the Powerful Means Initiative and a teaching professor in the Department of Management & Organization at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. She also serves as the director of undergraduate studies for the impact consulting minor and has been instrumental in shaping experiential learning opportunities that empower students to drive meaningful social impact and grow the good in business.Resources Mentioned:More About the VR Immersion in Wendy’s ClassOffice of Digital Learning’s Digital Learning Sprints ProgramProject Partner Website: Saint Bakhita Vocational Training CenterEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

With the advent of AI, many are questioning the traditional model of having students do much of the heavy lifting of a course on their own. If outside of class students can prompt AI to do homework, write essays, and create presentation slides, should instructors be using time inside the classroom differently than in the past?An applied ethicist, Lily Abadal has been a vocal proponent of a philosophy that has always existed on the edges of higher ed but that has taken on new prominence in this current moment: If we care about it, students should be doing it in class.Lily and host Jim Lang explore this idea and how she applies it to continue to push her students to become better writers and, in the process, stronger thinkers.Key Topics Discussed:How virtue ethics informs Lily’s argument that instructors should bring writing assignments into the classroom—and make students take their time with themThe way she has reimagined the traditional term paper as an in-class assignmentWhat this restructuring has meant for both the material she covers and what she does during a class periodThe role of the instructor as coach in pushing students to expend the effort to master the fundamentalsLily’s still-evolving approach to grading these assignments and getting students to focus on the process rather than checking boxesHow student attitudes toward the paper assignment change over the course of the semesterGuest Bio: Lily Abadal is an assistant professor of instruction at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Her research focuses on virtue ethics and moral formation, particularly in relation to emerging technologies. She is interested in helping mission-centered schools design pedagogical strategies, develop integrity-centered policies, reimagine assessments, and encourage genuine character formation in the age of AI.Resources Mentioned:Inside Higher Ed Piece: “A Way to Save the Essay”Journal Article: “Ensuring Genuine Assessment in Philosophy Education” (Teaching Philosophy)Lily’s Website: drlilyabadal.com Lily’s LinkedInEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

When satellite maps became available on our phones, some wondered what we would lose by becoming less oriented to the places we live or visit. But most of us have used these maps for many years now and find them to be incredibly useful. Which begs the question: Does it matter if we’ve lost our sense of direction a bit? Educators now find themselves asking similar questions about AI and teaching. What happens when we stop using a skill and allow technology to do it for us? Do we become de-skilled? When does that de-skilling matter? And in those cases where it does matter, how do we help students understand the importance of committing themselves to the hard work of learning?Educator, author, and higher ed consultant Derek Bruff joins host Jim Lang for a thoughtful conversation exploring how we might answer.Key Topics Discussed:The rubber duck effect as a way to think about AI’s potential role in brainstorming processesConcerns over people accepting the responses of AI as authoritativeThe sycophantic tendencies of chatbots and the importance of teaching students to read AI outputs with a degree of skepticismHow consulting AI compares to collective class discussion as a starting point for student papersDeveloping students’ metacognitive awareness and self-regulation so that they can determine when it’s helpful to use AI and when it’s notThe value to students of encountering course material in both digital and analog waysThe need to be intentional about AI use because the skills and experiences at play feel more core to who we are as humansA low-stakes experiment for instructors who don’t currently use AI muchGuest Bio: Derek Bruff directed the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching for more than a decade and is currently an associate director at the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Virginia, where much of his work focuses on helping faculty respond to the challenges and opportunities posed by generative AI. Derek has written two books, most recently Intentional Tech: Principles to Guide the Use of Educational Technology in College Teaching. He writes a weekly newsletter called Intentional Teaching and hosts and produces the Intentional Teaching podcast.Resources Mentioned:Derek’s Podcast: Intentional TeachingDerek’s Newsletter: Intentional TeachingAlternative Use Test Article: “How does generative artificial intelligence impact student creativity?” (Journal of Creativity)Example Assignment: Do Something Impossible with AINotre Dame Learning’s Lab for AI in Teaching and LearningEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

When you become a teacher, you commit to a life of learning—not just for your students, but for yourself. You can feel totally comfortable and confident in your teaching practices, and then suddenly some new technology or some new group of students comes along and upends everything you think you know about education.In those moments, instructors often seek out resources and conversations with peers and students to think through how they might adapt their teaching. But actually giving up a beloved teaching technique can provoke a real sense of loss, and adopting a new approach can be scary.Jordan Troisi, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Colby College, talks with host Jim Lang about one way colleges and universities can support faculty on this journey: course design institutes. Both Colby and Notre Dame are home to such programs, in which faculty gather with colleagues and teaching specialists in an extended process of reimagining their work as educators.Key Topics Discussed:How course design work led Jordan to make a concrete change to his own teaching practicesCommon features of course design institutes, which run for a relatively short amount of time, and ways they can advance instructors’ lifelong efforts to improve as teachersMaking the time instructors spend in these institutes worth their commitmentIncorporating your experience in a course design institute as part of the narrative around your CVThe prevalence of grading as a topic Jordan sees instructors wanting to discussDrawing on relationships among faculty and a broader sense of belonging to motivate more instructors to participate in structured explorations of their teachingThe questions to ask when planning a course design instituteGuest Bio: Jordan Troisi serves as the director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Colby College. He previously spent nine years as a psychology faculty member, first at Widener University and then at Sewanee: The University of the South. His scholarly work includes more than 20 peer-reviewed and invited publications on effective teaching as well as two books: Midcourse Correction for the College Classroom: Putting Small Group Instructional Diagnosis to Work and, most recently, Developing High-Impact Course Design Institutes: A Model for Change.Resources Mentioned:Book: Developing High-Impact Course Design Institutes: A Model for Change (Routledge)Colby Center for Teaching and Learning’s Course (re)Design InstitutesNotre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center Course Design AcademyEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

Over the last couple of decades, we’ve seen an explosion of books and articles about what’s often called “brain-based learning,” as neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists study and explain what circuits are firing when a student tries to memorize a fact or solve a problem.Without question, this scholarship has been a boon to teachers seeking to improve their practices. But there is a caveat: Not all brains think alike.Researchers call this neurodiversity, and it refers to the notion that every population will include people who have a range of ways of thinking, learning, and feeling.Author of the forthcoming book An Introduction to Neurodiversity for Educators, faculty development expert Sarah Silverman talks with us about challenges students who learn differently might face in the classroom and how instructors can foster environments where everyone has an opportunity to thrive.Key Topics Discussed:Sarah’s Ph.D. in entomology—and her journey from studying insects to working in the area of teaching and learning with a focus on neurodiversityThe origin of the term neurodiversity to describe the full range of cognitive differences among humans as well as the meaning and use of the related terms neurodivergent, neurotypical, and neurodiverseHow the neurodiversity movement emerged out of the desire of autistic people to be accepted rather than “cured” and the ways that influences Sarah’s work with facultyReal-world examples, including from her own experiences as someone who is neurodivergent, that illustrate the value of instructors connecting with students to get a fuller picture of who they areWays instructors might support neurodivergent learners who are encountering challengesAccess friction—i.e., when the access needs of one person or group come into conflict with those of another—and how being flexible can help instructors approach such situationsThe value of having students themselves help you find solutions (and why it’s okay if they’re not utopian)Guest Bio: Sarah Silverman is an independent scholar and faculty developer focusing on neurodiversity and accessibility in higher education. In her work on many different campuses, she helps faculty better understand how neurodiversity impacts teaching and learning and how to balance many different needs among instructors and learners. Her book An Introduction to Neurodiversity for Educators will be published next year by the University of Oklahoma Press as part of the Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed Series, which is edited by Designed for Learning host Jim Lang and Michelle Miller.Resources Mentioned:Sarah’s Substack Newsletter: Beyond the ScopeNeurodiversity concepts discussed during the episode drawn from Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement: Stories from the Frontline edited by Steven KappEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

If you follow the conversations about higher education on social media or in the news, a primary topic on people’s minds is the impact of artificial intelligence on the purposes and processes of an education.For better or worse, much of the focus has been on cheating: Are students outsourcing their work, and their learning, to tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini? Some high-profile stories have gone so far as to suggest cheating is so rampant that the whole college system is basically collapsing around us.Tricia Bertram Gallant, coauthor of the new book The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI, helps us put these claims into context, providing insights into the deeper questions that we should be asking about academic dishonesty and integrity and sharing pedagogical strategies for adapting to AI’s widespread availability.Key Topics Discussed:Why students cheat (spoiler: the reasons aren’t new)The role of “neutralizing,” or moral justifications, in allowing people to view cheating as bad in the abstract but not in their current situationNot putting the burden to intuit the purpose of an assignment on studentsHow AI has changed cheating, but not why students do itExperimenting with AI tools so you can create guardrails for students—and why doing so doesn’t mean you think less of them as peopleStrategies for communicating effectively with students about generative AIRethinking when, why, and how writing is assigned, including the benefits of having students complete some of that work in the classroomThe potential of pairing written exams with oral assessments—which it turns out students often appreciateHow Tricia suggests instructors react when suspecting a student has cheatedGuest Bio: Tricia Bertram Gallant is the director of the Academic Integrity Office and Triton Testing Center at the University of California San Diego. President emeritus of the International Center for Academic Integrity, she has more than 20 years of experience as an academic integrity researcher, author, teacher, and practitioner.Her fifth book, The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI, which she co-authored with David Rettinger, was published this March. It is part of the Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed Series at the University of Oklahoma Press edited by Designed for Learning host Jim Lang and Michelle Miller.Resources Mentioned:Book: The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI (University of Oklahoma Press)Tricia’s Podcast and Contact Info: theoppositeofcheating.comNotre Dame Learning’s Lab for AI in Teaching and Learning (LAITL)Notre Dame’s Undergraduate Academic Code of HonorEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

Can you draw lessons from the way you teach and apply them in your writing? Designed for Learning host Jim Lang thinks so—so much so that he’s written a new book about it called Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience.To learn more, we flipped the script and asked Kristi Rudenga, director of Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, to interview Jim, a professor of the practice at the Kaneb Center, about his latest project.He shares his insights on the intersection of teaching and writing, offering strategies for educators looking to expand their reach through engaging, accessible prose intended for broader audiences. He also talks about how a life-threatening health situation shaped the creation of Write Like You Teach.Key Topics Discussed:Jim’s career trajectory as an academic, speaker, and writer of popular books and columns on teachingThe inspiration behind Write Like You Teach and how it bridges his passions for teaching and writingTranslating classroom teaching practices into impactful writing techniquesThree core areas to consider to write like you teach: questions, attention, and evidenceOvercoming impostor syndrome when writing for non-academic audiences by recognizing your role as an educator in both classroom and writing contextsJim’s personal journey of recovery from a heart transplant and stroke, and how it affected his writing processGuest Bios: Jim Lang is a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence. The author of several popular books on teaching, including Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It and Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, Jim writes regularly on teaching and learning for The Chronicle of Higher Education and co-edits a book series on higher education for the University of Oklahoma Press. His latest book is Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience.Kristi Rudenga is the director of Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, where she is appointed as a teaching professor. In addition to overseeing the Kaneb Center’s team, strategy, partnerships, and initiatives, Kristi consults with instructors on pedagogical approaches and facilitates seminar series and workshops on teaching and mentoring. She writes about pedagogy for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and she has served on the Core Committee of the POD Network, the national organization supporting educational development.Resources Mentioned:Book: Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience (University of Chicago Press)Website: jamesmlang.comJim’s LinkedInEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

With Notre Dame’s Summer Online courses set to get underway in June, we turn our attention to teaching online—specifically ways to create a sense of community among instructors and students when meeting through screens, and why that matters in the first place.Rebecca Glazier is an ideal person with whom to have this conversation. A professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, she is the author of Connecting in the Online Classroom: Building Rapport between Teachers and Students.Grounded in academic research, original surveys, and experimental studies, the book provides practical strategies for helping everyone, students and instructors alike, get the most out of their online courses and take advantage of the increased access to education that online learning enables.Key Topics Discussed:Rebecca’s journey as an online instructor after having only previously taught in person and the longitudinal research she conducted to improve her online teachingHow she found that a high-rapport teaching strategy not only improved the experience for her students, but also for her as an instructorThe importance of connecting with students early in the semester and building rapport in ways that are authentic to your personalityTaking proactive steps to ensure students in online classes don’t feel like second-class citizensGiving students an AI assignment to help them learn the difference between ethical and unethical applicationsStrategies for leveraging class discussion boardsFour concrete things you can do to build rapport in your online class, including sending students personalized emails (and using mail merges to help manage the amount of time that takes)Guest Bio: Rebecca Glazier is a professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. In addition to researching religion and politics, U.S. foreign policy, and political communication, she studies the scholarship of teaching and learning and is passionate about improving the quality of online education. She is the author of two books, including Connecting in the Online Classroom: Building Rapport between Teachers and Students.Resources Mentioned:Book: Connecting in the Online Classroom: Building Rapport between Teachers and Students (Johns Hopkins University Press)Mail Merge Tool for Notre Dame Instructors: Yet Another Mail Merge (YAMM)Notre Dame’s Summer OnlineBarbara Oakley and Terrence Sejnowski Online Course: Learning How to LearnEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

Although artificial intelligence has been part of higher education for a couple of years now, faculty are still struggling with what this development means for themselves, their students, their courses—and especially their assessments.Notre Dame Learning recently launched the Lab for AI in Teaching & Learning (LAITL), led by Alex Ambrose of our Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, to help instructors navigate this terrain. Alex is an eloquent spokesperson for the argument that by building their AI literacy and taking advantage of the opportunities it provides, faculty can expand student learning.But are faculty buying it? And a deeper question: Does everyone need to embrace AI? Or are there times and places where we shouldn’t be welcoming it into our lives and our courses?Fresh off hosting several campus AI workshops together, host Jim Lang and Alex discuss these issues, AI at Notre Dame, and a variety of helpful resources for faculty.Key Topics Discussed:The experiences that have led Alex to become a cautious optimist/power user of AI, a path informed by his long-standing concern over technology’s impact on student learningWhat’s happening right now at Notre Dame with respect to AI in teaching and learning, including the availability of Google Gemini to all faculty, staff, and students and an AI academy for facultyThe case Alex would make to a skeptical colleague about AI, one that is centered around empathy, literacy—and a very practical exampleThe relationship of the two AIs, artificial intelligence and academic integrity, and the results from a survey of Notre Dame studentsResources to help instructors articulate AI policies for their courses and assignments (see “Resources Mentioned” section for links)Imagining next-generation assessments that push students to go beyond just creating a final productAn example of how Alex is starting to see AI assist faculty with assessmentsGuest Bio: G. Alex Ambrose is a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, where he serves as program director of assessment and analytics and leads the new Lab for AI in Teaching & Learning (LAITL). His work has been published in a range of academic and technology-based journals and earned him the 2015 Campus Technology Innovator Award as well as recognition by Google, IBM, USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.Resources Mentioned:Generative AI Acceptable Use Scale (aka the traffic light)The AI MenuStudent AI Acknowledgment FormNotre Dame Learning’s AI Hub: learning.nd.edu/ai Book: Next Generation Genres: Teaching Writing for Civic and Academic Engagement (Norton Professional Books)Designed for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

Instructors everywhere responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with new ideas and strategies for teaching students. Georgetown University’s Maggie Debelius is the co-editor of a new book of essays highlighting this work with the intention of helping colleges and universities become more resilient centers of learning.Here, Maggie joins host Jim Lang to discuss the book, titled Recentering Learning: Complexity, Resilience, and Adaptability in Higher Education, and explore how higher education should evolve in our post-pandemic, AI era.Key Topics Discussed:Where the idea for Recentering Learning came fromThe undeniable power of residential experiences, but the moments of beauty brought about by remote learning in the midst of the pandemic’s disruptionThe ongoing importance of resilience to meet future challengesWhy Maggie and her co-editors made sure Recentering Learning features contributions from staff and students as well as facultyWhat institutional responses to the pandemic say about higher ed’s ability to adapt in the long term when there is no immediate crisis to contend withHow the prevalence of generative AI makes the central premise of the book—that is, the need to recenter what makes for good learning—even more urgentMaggie’s advice for recentering learning for both individual faculty and institutions more broadly, including by prioritizing relationship-buildingGuest Bio: Maggie Debelius is the senior director of faculty initiatives at the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS) at Georgetown University, where she also serves as a professor of English and of learning, design, and technology. With Joshua Kim and Edward Maloney, she is co-editor of the essay collection Recentering Learning: Complexity, Resilience, and Adaptability in Higher Education, published in December 2024 by Johns Hopkins University Press. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Princeton University and an M.A. from Georgetown.Resources Mentioned:Book: Recentering Learning: Complexity, Resilience, and Adaptability in Higher Education (Johns Hopkins University Press)Episode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

“Incredibly rich and textured and nuanced.” “Re-energized me to continue working on my teaching.” “Really wonderful and empowering.”These are some of the phrases past attendees have used to describe the Notre Dame Inclusive Teaching Academy (NDITA). To learn more about what makes it so special, Designed for Learning host Jim Lang talks with Horane Diatta-Holgate, one of its organizers, and 2024 participant Dana Lashley, who is an associate teaching professor of chemistry at Notre Dame.NDITA combines keynotes, interactive sessions, and structured work time to allow participants to reflect on their teaching practices and learn practical strategies for promoting inclusivity in their courses to the benefit of all students.Hosted in Chicago by Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, NDITA is open to educators from both Notre Dame and other institutions, with the Kaneb Center covering much of the cost of attendance. Applications for the 2025 NDITA are due by March 10.Key Topics Discussed:The history and structure of NDITA, including the financial support available for participants to attendThe 2025 NDITA theme of making learning more accessibleDana’s takeaways as a past NDITA participant who came to the academy already possessing a considerable amount of teaching experience The distinctions between various terminologies in the inclusive teaching spaceThe open nature of NDITA, where everyone is welcome, regardless of their particular pedagogical mindsets and what inclusive teaching means to themWhy when he works with instructors on inclusive teaching, Horane starts with what they’re already doing (and doing well)The experiences as students that led to Dana’s and Horane’s interests in inclusive teachingGuest Bios: Horane Diatta-Holgate is an assistant teaching professor in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence, where he develops and coordinates programs to support instructors with designing courses and classroom environments that foster critical thinking, meaningful engagement, and effective interpersonal communication.  He earned his MSEd and Ph.D. in educational psychology and research methodology from Purdue University.Dana Lashley joined Notre Dame’s Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry as an associate teaching professor in 2024 after 10 years on the faculty at William & Mary. She holds a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry from Auburn University and teaches both semesters of the organic chemistry sequence at Notre Dame, among other courses.Resources Mentioned:Webpage and Application: 2025 Notre Dame Inclusive Teaching AcademyEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

In this inaugural episode of Designed for Learning, host Jim Lang sits down with cognitive psychologist and author Michelle D. Miller to explore the challenges and rewards of something that sounds so basic it’s easy to overlook how daunting it can be:Learning and remembering student names.As you prepare to meet students when they return to campus for the new semester, mastering their names isn't just a memory exercise—it’s a step toward creating a welcoming, inclusive classroom environment.Key Topics Discussed:The science behind why names are uniquely difficult to rememberThe importance of knowing students’ names for fostering connection and inclusivityMichelle’s four-step strategy to improve name recall: Attend, Say, Associate, RetrieveThe role of attention and retrieval in reinforcing memoryPractical tips for large and small classes, including the use of name tents and group activitiesHow learning names enhances engagement and classroom participationGuest Bio: Michelle D. Miller is a professor of psychological sciences and President’s Distinguished Teaching Fellow at Northern Arizona University. Originally trained in cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, and neuroscience, she now focuses mainly on using the findings of these fields to help faculty choose and use educational technology and design engaging, effective college courses. Her latest book, A Teacher’s Guide to Learning Student Names: Why You Should, Why It’s Hard, How You Can, offers practical, research-backed strategies for educators looking to build a sense of connection with their students.Resources MentionedBook: A Teacher’s Guide to Learning Student Names: Why You Should, Why It’s Hard, How You Can (University of Oklahoma Press)Michelle’s R3 Substack NewsletterMichelle’s LinkedInEpisode TranscriptDesigned for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.

Designed for Learning is a podcast from Notre Dame Learning, a collaborative unit at the University of Notre Dame that works with faculty and other instructors as they seek to enhance learning for their students. In that spirit, the show features interviews with teachers, experts in teaching and learning in higher education, authors of new books and resources, and anyone else we can learn from. New episodes are released monthly.Designed for Learning is hosted by Jim Lang, a professor of the practice in Notre Dame Learning’s Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and the author of several influential books on teaching. The podcast is produced by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning. For more, visit learning.nd.edu/podcast. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.