How might generative AI reshape course design, faculty development, and the scholarship of teaching and learning? This episode highlights an open-access International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning article that poses three questions about advocating for human-centered teaching and learning in an AI-enhanced future.
View our extended episode notes at https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/generative-ai-and-the-future-of-the-scholarship-of-teaching-and-learning/.
How might generative AI reshape course design, faculty development, and the scholarship of teaching and learning? This episode highlights an open-access article that poses three questions about advocating for human-centered teaching and learning in an AI-enhanced future. Read the full article:
Wymer, Kathryn C. 2025. "Generative AI and the Future of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: What Do We Stand to Gain or Lose?" International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 19 (2): Article 2. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2025.190202
This episode was hosted, edited, and produced by Jessie L. Moore, Director of the Center for Engaged Learning and Professor of Professional Writing & Rhetoric.
60-Second SoTL is produced by the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University.
Music: “Cryptic” by AudioCoffee.
Image in episode art is by DC Studio on Freepik.
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Jessie L. Moore:
How might generative AI reshape the scholarship of teaching and learning—and what’s at stake if SoTL researchers don’t engage critically? That’s the focus of this week’s 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. I’m Jessie Moore.
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In “Generative AI and the Future of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: What Do We Stand to Gain or Lose?” Kathryn Wymer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explores how generative AI is already influencing course design, assessment, and faculty development. Her open-access article appears in the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
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Framed by ISSOTL’s Grand Challenges, the essay poses three urgent questions:
As a quick reminder, the Grand Challenges for SoTL, as outlined by Lauren Scharff, Holly Capocchiano, Nancy Chick, Michelle Eady, Jen Friberg, Diana Gregory, Kara Loy, and Trent Maurer, are available on the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning website. I’ll include a link in the episode notes, but briefly, they suggest that SoTL practitioners study postsecondary teaching and learning to better understand and improve…
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In her analysis of GenAI and the future of SoTL, Wymer suggests that asking whether using generative AI improves an educator’s ability to be effective in the classroom leans into grand challenges 1 and 2 on developing critical and creative thinkers and encouraging students’ engagement in their learning.
In asking if generative AI would replace traditional faculty professional development, Wymer evokes grand challenges 4 and 5, noting that different instructional professionals—tutors, instructors, and faculty developers—bring a human touch to teaching and learning; through examples, Wymer implicitly suggests that studies of GenAI’s ability to automate or augment teaching practices need to attend to specific teaching roles and contexts.
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With her third question—how could generative AI help us assess teaching and learning interventions?—Wymer moves away from the Grand Challenges for SoTL and instead offers an example of a conversation with ChatGPT about how the GenAI tool could help her analyze survey responses for a SoTL project. Wymer notes that GenAI has the potential to be a research assistant but that the human researcher retains responsibility for assessing accuracy and relevance.
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Wymer ultimately calls on SoTL scholars to act now—researching, shaping policy, and advocating for human-centered teaching and learning in an AI-enhanced future. To learn more about this study, visit our show notes for a link to the open access article.
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Jessie Moore:
Join us for our next episode of 60-second SoTL from Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning for another snapshot of recent scholarship of teaching and learning. Learn more about the Center at www.CenterForEngagedLearning.org.
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