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 neurodiversity
• The 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 neurodiverse
• How 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 faculty
• Real-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 are
• Ways instructors might support neurodivergent learners who are encountering challenges
• Access 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 situations
• The 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. She earned a Ph.D. in entomology from the University of California, Davis, and an advanced certificate in disability studies from the CUNY School of Professional Studies. 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 Scope
• Neurodiversity concepts discussed during the episode drawn from Autistic Community and the Neurodiversity Movement: Stories from the Frontline edited by Steven Kapp

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. 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 situation
• Not putting the burden to intuit the purpose of an assignment on students
• How AI has changed cheating, but not why students do it
• Experimenting with AI tools so you can create guardrails for students—and why doing so doesn’t mean you think less of them as people
• Strategies for communicating effectively with students about generative AI
• Rethinking when, why, and how writing is assigned, including the benefits of having students complete some of that work in the classroom
• The potential of pairing written exams with oral assessments—which it turns out students often appreciate
• How Tricia suggests instructors react when suspecting a student has cheated

Guest 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.com
• Notre Dame Learning’s Lab for AI in Teaching and Learning (LAITL)
• Related Designed for Learning Episode: Navigating AI’s Evolving Role in Teaching and Learning
• Notre Dame’s Undergraduate Academic Code of Honor

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. 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 teaching
• The inspiration behind Write Like You Teach and how it bridges his passions for teaching and writing
• Translating classroom teaching practices into impactful writing techniques
• Three core areas to consider to write like you teach: questions, attention, and evidence
• Overcoming impostor syndrome when writing for non-academic audiences by recognizing your role as an educator in both classroom and writing contexts
• Jim’s personal journey of recovery from a heart transplant and stroke, and how it affected his writing process

Guest 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.com
• Jim’s LinkedIn

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. You can also follow Notre Dame Learning on LinkedIn.