Teaching Tactics

Since the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, many university administrators and educators across disciplines have encouraged the use of large language models (LLMs) in the classroom for the purpose of course and assignment design. However, advocates for AI in education overestimate the capabilities of LLMs in the learning process and overwhelmingly ignore the social, environmental, and epistemological consequences of AI—including plagiarism. In this paper, I critique the discourse surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education. I argue that the perceived benefits of LLMs to the process of teaching and learning are overhyped and are largely antithetical to pedagogical best practices and models. In addition to critiquing the assumptions and premises made by advocates for AI in education, I also argue that the real-world consequences of LLMs means that there is no ethical use-case for AI in higher education.

This adapted fishbowl discussion method is presented to foster student engagement, reduce anxiety, and ensure a focused, inclusive dialogue. The combination of preparatory assignments and a structured format that integrates principles from Reflective Structured Dialogue, this method emphasizes the inclusion of all voices—author and students—within a structure aimed at helping students feel more confident and prepared to participate. Students submit detailed outlines, opening statements, and discussion questions in advance, and the discussion follows a three-round format: an opening statement, personal reflections, and question introductions. A timed, focused discussion ensues, followed by a final reflection. This approach aims to create a supportive environment for deeper engagement with the material, ensuring all voices are heard, and discussions stay grounded in the content.

In the contemporary study of religion Max Weber’s well-known proclamations concerning technology, rationalization, and the disenchantment of the world are frequently cited. Often overlooked, however, is the context in which he spoke, not as a prophet, demagogue, or leader of the modern era, but as a teacher and fellow student. Ultimately, education, as Weber understands it, is an existential task that seeks to prepare the student, and the educator, to engage the challenges of the day full in the face. The inconvenient fact of the matter, for us in our day, a day further dominated by techno-rationalization within and without the classroom, is that these challenges have become all the more demanding. Employing a Weberian analysis to the educational challenges of our day, the present work seeks to question how and in which ways video game technologies might help us reenchant student learning experiences and outcomes in a university setting.

Video games provide virtual playgrounds for exploring religious identity and ethical decision making. Games like Papers, Please should replace the trolley problem and other contrived thought experiments when teaching ethics, while other games such as Indika allow players to control a character going through a crisis of faith. Gameplay demonstrations of these two games will be provided. Student reactions to these games will be described, as well as the relevant scholarship that can transform games like these from pastime activities into serious objects of scholarly study. 

This paper explores various ways instructors might approach their teaching and their students’ learning about lived Buddhism, so that they can determine which might work for their own students at their specific institutions. Framing my discussion around the seven characteristics of religious practice identified by Nancy Ammerman—embodiment, materiality, emotional, aesthetics, moral judgment, narrative structuring, and spirituality (2020, p. 9)—I show how each dimension lends itself to a particular pedagogical approach. Embodied and sensory-based learning facilitates the study of embodiment, place-based learning directs students’ attention towards materiality; affective learning strengthens their awareness of emotions; arts-based learning encourages their critical reflection about aesthetics; applied learning assists in their moral judgment; storytelling enables them to appreciate narrative structuring, and contemplative and integrative learning supports their study of spirituality.