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 

Generative AI and Non-Majority Students: Risks and Benefits 

Generative AI offers both potential and limitations for minoritized and disabled students. Recent publications show a clear tension: these tools can expand—making access and participation a reality for some learners who might have been excluded.  At the same time, generative tools have the potential to strengthen the very…

Student Engagement with GenAI Brainstorming

60-Second SoTL – Episode 71 How can generative AI support student brainstorming without replacing thinking, voice, or agency? This episode highlights an open-access article about a GenAI-enabled brainstorming app used in an interdisciplinary writing course: Chia, Joanne, and Angela Frattarola. 2025….

Generative AI and the Future of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

60-Second SoTL – Episode 66 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….

Re-thinking SoTL for the Age of GenAI

60-Second SoTL – Episode 64 How might the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning evolve when humans and generative AI are deeply entangled? This episode highlights an open-access article that offers five propositions, each paired with GenAI prompts, to help SoTL scholars…

Incorporating Artificial Intelligence into Engineering

Making College “Worth It” – Season 3, Episode 3 In this episode, we explore the technical, ethical, and social complexities of using AI in engineering. We speak with Dr. Blake Hament, Assistant Professor of Engineering at Elon University, who shares an example of developing a voice-enabled…