Making College “Worth It” – Season 3, Episode 1

In this episode we explore how generative AI is influencing current writing pedagogies in higher education. We speak with Dr. Mandy Olejnik, Assistant Director of Writing Across the Curriculum at Miami University of Ohio. Our conversation focuses on the impact GenAI has had on the assignment creation process.

View the transcript for this episode.

Meet our Guest

Dr. Mandy Olejnik is Assistant Director of Writing Across the Curriculum at Miami University’s Howe Center for Writing Excellence (HCWE), where she supports disciplinary faculty and graduate instructors in their teaching of writing. She leads all AI faculty development programming at the Center, including the AI-Informed Writing Pedagogy Certificate. She co-edited the 2022 collection Changing Conceptions, Changing Practices: Innovating Teaching Across Disciplines and is co-editor of the contracted and forthcoming edited collection Bad Ideas about AI and Writing: Toward Generative Practices for Teaching, Learning, and Communication. Her research has also appeared in The WAC Journal, Across the Disciplines, Composition Forum, Xchanges, and Transformative Works and Cultures. In her free time, she enjoys classic ballroom dancing, gardening, and learning about personal finance. 

Episode Credits

This episode is co-hosted by Jessie L. Moore, Director of Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning, and Nolan Schultheis, a third-year student at Elon University, studying Psychology with an interest in law. Nolan Schultheis also edited the episode. Making College “Worth It” is produced by Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. 

Episode art was created by Nolan Schultheis and Jennie Goforth. 

Funky Percussions is by Denys Kyshchuk (@audiocoffeemusic) – https://www.audiocoffee.net/. Soft Beat is by ComaStudio. 

Explore Resources Related to The Episode

Olejnik, Mandy. (2023, December 8). “AI Won’t Replace Writing Instruction (Opinion).” Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2023/12/08/ai-wont-replace-writing-instruction-opinion 

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