Woman sitting in an office behind translucent textured glass wall. Overlayed orange and dark brown diagonal shapes frame text that reads: "Each of us experiences life through unique intersections of our identities, which affect how we mentor and are mentored."

Building Trust in Mentoring Relationships

Mutual trust is widely recognized as a significant component of effective mentoring relationships because emotional and psychological safety allows both mentors and mentees to use their energy for learning and productivity rather than self-protection. Unfortunately, limited research exists on building…

On a tan background, large teal quotation marks frame the text: ""A true expert knows when and how to go beyond the expected. It's an ability that develops over time, as the expert learjs from experimentation and develops an engaging voice. Deceloping as an expert is iterative."" To the right is an AI-genertated illustration of a friendly robot sitting in a carnival booth with an ""Ask the Expert"" banner.

AI and the Increased Value of Expertise

This post was written with ideation assistance from Google Gemini 1.5 Pro, using the following prompt: “Please act as a writing consultant. A client has come in and wants to write a 500-word blog post about the effect that AI…

Cover of Teaching with AI. Center for Engaged Learning Book Review. "One of the most intriguing aspects of the book was the section on creativity.... The authors argue that AI systems can enhance creativity because they aren’t bound by human judgment issues such as anchoring and adjusting that can cause people to stop considering the best ideas.” Amanda Sturgill

Book Review: Teaching with AI

Bowen, José Antonio, and C. Edward Watson. 2024. Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.  Bowen and Watson’s work has the mixed blessing of being a first attempt to…

Hand-drawn map of relationships supporting students' development. Text overlay reads, "Mentoring Matters. Mentoring in a Constellation."

Mentoring Constellations in Global Contexts

Recent scholarship emphasizes the essential role of mentoring to support student engagement in undergraduate research (UR) and global learning and highlights the potential of blending these high-impact practices (HIPs) for enhanced learning and relationship-building (Allocco et al. 2022; Whitehead et…

A toy construction vehicle in a sandbox. Text overlay reads, "If Einstein says play is the highest form of research, I like to think undergraduate research is one of the purist forms of academic play. I thoroughly enjoy the sandboxes, obstacle courses and playgrounds I have gotten to engage in with students and colleagues over my career. I often think, how did I get so lucky?"

Academic Play: The Power of Mentoring

If Einstein says play is the highest form of research, I like to think undergraduate research is one of the purist forms of academic play. I thoroughly enjoy the sandboxes, obstacle courses, and playgrounds I have gotten to engage in…

Blue background with gold lines forming a border and leaves in two corners. Text reads, "After allowing myself to being pulled with the flow over sharp rocks and through slimy river weeds, splashing and struggling to keep my head above the current because I believed getting a lifejacket made me less of a swimmer, I finally saw the importance of reaching out and realizing my capabilities and where I needed support."

The Importance of Asking for Help

There is a saying that I’m sure many of you have heard, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” It means that in order to get what you need, you have to fight for it; it won’t simply be given to…