165 - Go on Offense: Make It About Learning, An Interview with John Warner

When students can outsource much of their schoolwork to generative AI, is the answer to make assignments harder to cheat on? Or is it to make learning more worth doing? In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by writer, educator, and Inside Higher Ed columnist John Warner, author of More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI. Drawing on two decades of teaching writing and his own journey from traditional assessment to ungrading, John explores the tensions between the learning experiences instructors say they value and the grading systems used to evaluate them. The conversation turns to the arrival of what John calls the new “homework machine,” the limitations of retreating entirely to locked-down, in-class assessment, and what it might mean to approach student AI use as a learning and course-design problem rather than primarily as a problem of cheating and academic integrity.

Links

Please note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!

More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI, by John WarnerThe Real Mission of Higher Education Is Hiding in Plain Sight, on Inside Higher Ed, by John Warner(Some) Starter Questions for Measuring Learning, on Inside Higher Ed, by John WarnerMoral Instruction Will Not Stop Cheating, on Inside Higher Ed, by John Warner

Resources

The Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.

The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.

Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:

The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia Blog

Recommended Books on Alternative Grading:

Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse Stommel

Follow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.