Intentional Teaching, a show about teaching in higher education

Pop Quiz on Faculty and the Law with Kent Kauffman

In the last year, we’ve seen many stories of college and university faculty being accused by students of teaching something that the student didn’t think the instructor should be teaching. These incidents have a lot of instructors worried about teaching controversial topics—and just about any topic can be controversial these days. Previously on the podcast, we've explored pedagogical responses to the current political climate. Today, we look at our legal options.Our guest is Kent Kauffman, author of the 2024 book Navigating Choppy Waters: Key Legal Issues College Faculty Need to Know. Kent knows the caselaw on academic freedom, and he has a lot of insight to offer faculty who are who are making hard decisions about what to leave on or take off their syllabi. In our conversation, he argues that academic freedom is under attack and he provides practical suggestions for preventing and responding to these attacks.However, we start the conversation in a little lighter mode. I invited Kent to give me a pop quiz of sorts by describing a few scenarios faculty might encounter and challenging me to identify the legal issues involved. You’ll have the chance to test yourself as you listen—and to find out how I did on Kent’s quiz. Episode ResourcesNavigating Choppy Waters: Key Legal Issues College Faculty Need to Know (Bloomsbury, 2024)Teaching in Higher Ed Episode 557 featuring Kent Kauffman Support the showPodcast Links:Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.Subscribe to the Intentional Teaching newsletter: https://derekbruff.ck.page/subscribeSubscribe to Intentional Teaching bonus episodes:https://www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/supporters/new Support Intentional Teaching on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intentionalteachingFind me on LinkedIn and Bluesky.See my website for my "Agile Learning" blog and information about having me speak at your campus or conference. 

In-Class Writing with James Seitz

Last November, University of Virginia English professor James Seitz offered a workshop through the UVA Center for Teaching Excellence titled “Teaching in the Age of AI: How Students Can Do All Their Writing in the Classroom.” When I saw the workshop announcement, I have to admit that my initial reaction wasn’t a positive one. Was this another call to return to the days of blue books, with high stakes essay exams depending on students being able to practice the lost art of handwriting? No! I’m excited to have Jim Seitz on the podcast today to share how he has moved the writing his students do into the classroom. This move is a response to generative AI’s disruption of writing instruction, yes, but it’s also the latest in a series of teaching choices Jim has made to teach his students writing as a way of thinking and to change their relationship with writing. Jim takes a very thoughtful and intentional approach to his in-class writing days, as you’ll hear in our conversation. Episode ResourcesJames Seitz’s website, https://jamesseitz.com/ “What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing?” by Hua Hsu in The New Yorker“Bringing the Term Paper into the Classroom,” an interview with Lily Abadal on the Designed for Learning podcast“Getting Started with Specifications Grading,” a Teaching Hub collection by Dorothe Bach“Strategies for Avoiding AI” and “More Strategies for Avoiding AI” on the UVA Teaching Center websiteSupport the showPodcast Links:Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.Subscribe to the Intentional Teaching newsletter: https://derekbruff.ck.page/subscribeSubscribe to Intentional Teaching bonus episodes:https://www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/supporters/new Support Intentional Teaching on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intentionalteachingFind me on LinkedIn and Bluesky.See my website for my "Agile Learning" blog and information about having me speak at your campus or conference. 

Reimagining Grading with Sharona Krinsky and Robert Bosley

This past December, I had the honor of being a guest on the Grading Podcast ("reimagining grading as a tool for student success") hosted by Sharona Krinsky and Robert Bosley. We had such a great conversation that I thought I would return the favor and invite Sharona and Boz on my podcast.Sharona Krinsky is the executive director of the Center for Grading Reform, a non-profit that hosts an annual conference on grading, among other things. She’s also a math instructor at California State Los Angeles. Robert Bosley, better known as Boz, is director of programming for K12 at the Center for Grading Reform and an instructional coach in the Los Angeles Unified School District. In our conversation, Sharona and Boz share why they named their podcast the Grading Podcast and not the Alternative Grading Podcast. They also share the state of the grading reform movement here in 2026 and talk about the barriers that teachers face when trying to adopt alternative grading practices. And they have advice for centers for teaching and learning on supporting grading reform on their campuses.Episode ResourcesThe Grading PodcastThe Center for Grading ReformThe Grading ConferenceDerek’s appearance on the Grading PodcastSupport the showPodcast Links:Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.Subscribe to the Intentional Teaching newsletter: https://derekbruff.ck.page/subscribeSubscribe to Intentional Teaching bonus episodes:https://www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/supporters/new Support Intentional Teaching on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intentionalteachingFind me on LinkedIn and Bluesky.See my website for my "Agile Learning" blog and information about having me speak at your campus or conference. 

Student-Designed AI Chatbots with Windy Frank and Sarah Gibson

When I heard my friend Windy Frank, an adjunct faculty at Lipscomb University here in Nashville, talk about an assignment of hers in which students designed custom AI chatbots, I was very interested. Windy teaches in the College of Bible at Lipscomb, and she asked her students to create AI chatbots based on figures in the Old Testament. Students then engaged their chatbots in conversation, asking the prophet Jonah about his biggest failure or Daniel to make up some names for the lions he famously encountered.Today on the podcast, I talk with Windy Frank and with Sarah Gibson, faculty fellow for AI and professor of communication at Lipscomb about Windy’s assignment in particular and about Lipscomb’s approach to generative AI more generally. They share what led to the Lipscomb faculty pushing its administration to provide AI tools for the entire campus, and the kinds of objections that students have had to AI-integrated assignments—including religious objections from students at this faith-based university. Episode ResourcesSarah Gibson’s faculty page, https://lipscomb.edu/directory/gibson-sarahSarah Gibson’s website, https://professorgibson.com/Windy Frank on the Lipscomb University College of Bible and Ministry podcastBoodleBoxSupport the showPodcast Links:Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.Subscribe to the Intentional Teaching newsletter: https://derekbruff.ck.page/subscribeSubscribe to Intentional Teaching bonus episodes:https://www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/supporters/new Support Intentional Teaching on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intentionalteachingFind me on LinkedIn and Bluesky.See my website for my "Agile Learning" blog and information about having me speak at your campus or conference. 

Intentional Tech Six Years Out with Derek Bruff

Last fall, I was interviewed on a podcast called Transform Your Teaching from the Cedarville University Center for Teaching and Learning. Hosts Rob McDole and Jared Pyles had me on to talk about my book Intentional Tech six year out from its publication date. I shared the Intentional Tech principles I find most relevant today, especially as higher ed continues to respond to generative AI, and I talked about what I would put in a second edition of the book were I to write one. Rob and Jared asked me very good questions, and we had a lot of fun with the interview. Episode ResourcesTransform Your Teaching podcastCedarville University Center for Teaching and LearningSupport the showPodcast Links:Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.Subscribe to the Intentional Teaching newsletter: https://derekbruff.ck.page/subscribeSubscribe to Intentional Teaching bonus episodes:https://www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/supporters/new Support Intentional Teaching on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intentionalteachingFind me on LinkedIn and Bluesky.See my website for my "Agile Learning" blog and information about having me speak at your campus or conference.