Welcome to TLC’s Guilt-Free Book Club! Join Josh Luckens to explore texts about the art and science of teaching and learning in the higher education classroom. Although reading will enrich your experience, our programming is designed to benefit you even if you don’t get to the reading in time!
Guilt-Free Guidelines
- Come even if you haven’t had a chance to read- your perspective will enhance our community of practice!
- Free and open to all
- Sessions hosted on Zoom
- Register for upcoming sessions in advance via the links provided below or via our TLC Events page
- Missed a session? Watch a recording- all session recordings are below!
- Feel free to request access (by emailing teach@wit.edu) to our collaborative notes documents from specific sessions- our thinking made visible!
Spring, 2025
This semester’s book is Grading for Growth: A Guide to Alternative Grading Practices that Promote Authentic Learning and Student Engagement in Higher Education by David Clark and Robert Talbert. We will discuss strategies for designing equitable and inclusive assessment practices that empower lasting learning.
As our book has 3 sections, our 3 meetings are aligned with the arc of the book. Wentworth affiliates can access the book though the Wentworth Library via this link.
February 11- Part 1: What Is Alternative Grading?
Watch our discussion from 2/11/25, focused on the first section of the book: “What Is Alternative Grading?”
This session was co-sponsored by the WIT faculty ambassadors of inclusive excellence and featured Wentworth physics professor Jeremy Wachter. Professor Wachter shared his experiences employing a variety of alternative grading strategies in the physics classroom. He discussed his scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) research about the impacts of his alternative grading interventions. As a faculty ambassador of inclusive excellence, he explained how he uses alternative grading as an inclusive instructional practice.
March 11, 9:30-10:30 AM- Register for the zoom meeting here.
Part 2: What Alternative Grading Can Look Like
Featuring Wentworth applied mathematics professors Mel Henriksen and Mami Wentworth. Register for the zoom meeting here.
To open up the discussion, Professors Henriksen and Wentworth will discuss their experiences using specifications grading systems in the applied mathematics classroom.
Part 2 is the book’s longest section, from pages 51-145. If you’re short on time, I recommend choosing a chapter that speaks to your interests. Our special guests will be discussing their experiences with specifications grading, the topic of chapter 6. You could also explore the case study list on page ix and look at case studies from academic disciplines that interest you.
April 8, 12:30-1:30 PM- Register for the zoom meeting here.
Part 3: Making Alternative Grading Work For You
Featuring Tufts University biology professor Katie Mattaini. Register for the zoom meeting here.
To open up the discussion, Professor Mattaini will share her perspective on the power of alternative grading practices. A thought leader in the higher education alternative grading community, Katie Mattaini is a lecturer in biology at Tufts University. Dr. Mattaini is a contributing author to the Grading for Growth Substack, writing about how alternative grading structures can support meaningful student-instructor relationships, and how to explain the advantages of alternative grading strategies. She has been featured on the Grading Podcast discussing how alternative grading promotes inclusive instruction. She runs the Biology Grading for Growth Online Forum and organizes the Center for Grading Reform’s Grading Conference, which promotes grading practices that are focused on equity and authentic learning.
- Check out the Grading for Growth Substack site featuring a fabulous array of resources.
- Wentworth affiliates can access the book though the Wentworth Library via this link.
What is Grading for Growth?
Grading practices in higher education and elsewhere need a reboot. For too long, grades have gotten in the way of learning, and learners have focused on scoring points and playing school instead of on learning and growth. The good news is that we can change these practices, and many instructors are doing just that, using innovative grading methods that work with rather than against student learning: specifications grading, standards-based grading, ungrading, and more. Grading for Growth is a guide to this emerging revolution in grading. We hope it inspires you to reimagine assessment in your classroom. (Source: David Clark and Robert Talbert’s website)
Past Semesters
Fall 2024: Panel Discussion Series on Meeting Today’s Students Where They Are
Fall 2024
Our fall book club theme was meeting today’s students where they are. We featured 3 panel discussions that brought together student, faculty, and staff voices to discuss timely topics in teaching and learning.
Generative Artificial Intelligence
Our first program on 10/8/24 was a collaboration with the Colleges of the Fenway’s Artificial Intelligence Think Tank. TLC’s Josh Luckens moderated an interdisciplinary panel of students, faculty, and staff from across the COF. They shared diverse perspectives on the transformative role of generative artificial intelligence in higher education.
Academic Support Strategies
On 11/7/24, TLC collaborated with Wentworth’s Success Studio on a program about meeting the academic support needs of today’s learners. TLC’s Josh Luckens co-hosted the discussion with Tom Batcho, the Associate Director of Academic Support, and featured a panel of Wentworth student Peer Tutors. We discussed instructional strategies targeted to Gen Z that can be applied to both tutoring and classroom teaching.
These resources informed our discussion:
- Chronicle of Higher Education article: Declarations of Dependence
- Chronicle of Higher Education Teaching Newsletter: Connecting with Gen Z Through Course Design
- Chronicle of Higher Education Teaching Newsletter: Reaching Generation Why
All In This Together: Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Classroom
On 11/14/24, TLC collaborated with Wentworth’s Center for Wellness on a program about supporting the unique needs of today’s college students in the classroom from a mental health perspective. We examined a variety of resources and strategies to address the challenges of teaching and learning in an age of anxiety and distraction.
TLC’s Josh Luckens co-hosted the discussion with Maura Mulligan, Associate Dean of Health and Wellness, and Leanne Fisher, Associate Director of Health Promotion and Education. We featured a panel of Wentworth students from the Wellness Education and Empowerment Team.
These resources informed our discussion:
- Chronicle of Higher Education article: Fighting The Mental Health Crisis Narrative
- News clip about college students and anxiety (5 minutes, CBS news)
- Video interview with NYU Professor Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation (28 minute podcast from the Prof G Show)
- The Anxious Generation website resource: Thought and Action Starters for Gen Z
- WIT Center for Wellness resource: Wellbeing in the Classroom
- Promoting Student Well-Being in Learning Environments: A Guide for Instructors from the Washington University in St. Louis
Summer 2024 Special Topic: Belonging in Higher Education
The Teaching & Learning Collaborative partnered with Wentworth’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Center for Wellness in sponsoring this discussion about Belonging in Higher Education.
TLC’s Josh Luckens was joined by special guests Kathleen Portillo from DEI, Maura Mulligan from Wellness, and Professor Kelly Colón from the School of Management. Through our partnership with the Colleges of the Fenway, we also featured Sarah Rose Cavanagh from Simmons College’s Center for Faculty Excellence. Dr. Cavanagh is a psychology professor, celebrated author, and frequent contributor to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Our inspiration was the research of Stanford Psychology Professor Geoffrey L. Cohen, the author of Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides. Here are some learning options:
- An article, featuring a short interview with Dr. Cohen, entitled “The Science of Belonging and Connection”
- A 12-minute video lecture in which Dr. Cohen shares key takeaways from his research
- A 27-minute podcast audio interview (with a transcript) in which Dr. Cohen discusses key ways to apply his research to educational settings with young adults
Fall 2023 & Spring 2024: Learning That Matters: A Field Guide to Course Design for Transformative Education
During fall 2023 and spring 2024, we read selections from Learning That Matters: A Field Guide to Course Design for Transformative Education by Cynthia Alby, Karynne Kleine, Julia Metzker, and Caralyn Zehnder, winner of the 2022 Society of Professors of Education book award.
Wentworth library card holders can access the book online through the Wentworth library at this link.
Fall Session 1
Fall Session 2
Fall Session 3
Spring Session 1
Spring Session 2
Spring Session 3
Summer 2023: Relationship-Rich Education
This summer, we read selections from Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College by Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert.
Session 1
Session 2
Spring 2023 Special Topic: Practical Responses to the Artificial Intelligence Revolution
Check out the resources on this topic that we shared during this program.
Fall 2022: What Inclusive Instructors Do
Come read with us! (But come discuss even if you aren’t able to — we’re guilt-free!) This fall, the Guilt-Free Book Club is partnering with Wentworth’s Equity in Learning group to read and discuss What Inclusive Instructors Do (Tracie Addy et al., 2021). All sessions are conducted via Zoom and open to faculty and staff within the Colleges of the Fenway (COF) community.
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Summer 2022 Special Topic: Trauma-Informed Pedagogy
TLC’s Josh Luckens and Megan Hamilton Geibert partnered with Maura Mulligan and Amber Goulart from Wentworth’s Center for Wellness to discuss trauma-informed pedagogy alongside colleagues from the Colleges of the Fenway.
Recorded on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.
Trauma-Informed Pedagogy
Trauma-informed pedagogy is a holistic approach to teaching and learning that recognizes and responds proactively to the collective and individual traumas that both students and faculty experience.
Underpinned by the neuroscience of learning, this approach brings heightened awareness of the crucial role of emotion in cognition.
Trauma-informed teaching practices seek to create classroom communities in which students feel safe, empowered, and connected. Such thoughtful promotion of student and faculty well-being fosters deeper engagement and more equitable learning outcomes.
Resources
These resources will help you prepare for our upcoming discussion about trauma-informed pedagogy. Each link below offers actionable strategies to help you support student success in your classroom:
- Video: Trauma-Informed Pedagogy & How Is Your Heart? (One Higher Ed, ft. Maha Bali and Mays Imad)
- Article: Leveraging the Neuroscience of Now: Helping Students Thrive in Times of Trauma (By Mays Imad, Inside Higher Ed)
- Guide: Trauma-Informed Teaching Checklist (By Karen Costa, 100 Faculty)
Spring 2022: Teach Students How to Learn
Back cover: “For more than a decade, Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire has been acclaimed for her presentations and workshops on metacognition and student learning, because the tools and strategies she shares have enabled faculty to facilitate dramatic improvements in student learning and success. This book encapsulates the model and ideas she has developed in the past 15 years, ideas that are being adopted by an increasing number of faculty with considerable effect.”