This Is Howe We Do It

In this episode, Dennis Cheatham and I discuss various ways for partnering with generative AI as a thinking partner for writing and designing through a process-centered framework. Drawing from a course he specifically designed around creating with AI, this conversation offers insight into the use of AI tools in teaching design and writing in ways that focus on and assess the process as the means for learning. We emphasize the need for human writers and designers in this process while also highlighting the capabilities and consequences of using AI tools.Resources Related to this EpisodeDennis's Design Workbench WebsiteAI Design Workbench Website Integrating AI to Guide Learning (HCWE Teaching Resource)AI Text Generators and Teaching Writing Starting Points for InquiryAI Text Generators: Sources to Stimulate Discussion Among Teachers (compiled by Anna Mills)Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at hwac@miamioh.edu if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

We're back from a brief hiatus with a really exciting episode for you! In this episode, you'll hear from Liz Wardle about the sensemaking method that she has developed and evolved from our Howe Faculty Writing Fellows Program. We offer an introduction to the what, why, and how behind the sensemaking method for supporting teams of faculty looking to solve problems and make change in their institutions. We are then joined by Mark Sidebottom and Jennifer Kinney to share their perspective as faculty who have been both participants and facilitators in different programs informed by this method. Resources Related to this EpisodeFaculty Writing Fellows Program"Howe Center Hosts Groundbreaking "Sensemaking for Student Success" Seminar funded by Lumina FoundationSensemaking for Student Success: A Cohort-Based Faculty Change MethodElizabeth Wardle's website: Activating Your ExpertiseVideos on our Sensemaking Method (Howe Center for Writing Excellence Youtube Channel)Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at hwac@miamioh.edu if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.Also, follow us on Instagram at our newly launched account! Feel free to send us questions or comment on our post for this episode to share your response to this question: What problems at your institution may benefit from using the sensemaking method to leverage faculty expertise?

In this episode, I talk with Assistant Director of the Howe Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Program, Dr. Mandy Olejnik, to discuss two different perspectives on graduate student writing—our experiences with being graduate student writers and insights for supporting and advising graduate student writers, drawing from Mandy's research and our HCWE programming on graduate student writing support. We reflect on some of the differences between writing as a graduate student and an undergraduate student, the affective elements of writing in graduate school, and the needed systems that advisors and faculty can help change and innovate to support graduate students.Resources Related to this EpisodeHWAC Resource: Supporting Graduate WritersHCWE News: Changing Graduate Student Writing with Dr. Mandy Olejnik“Navigating Contradictions while Learning to Write: A Disciplinary Case Study of a First-term Doctoral Writer.” by Elizabeth Hutton, Mandy Olejnik, and Miranda Corpora"Potential of WAC in Graduate Writing Support: Helping Faculty Improve Systems of Graduate Writing" by Mandy OlejnikCheck out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at hwac@miamioh.edu if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

This episode features a conversation with former Graduate Assistant Director for the Howe Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Program Will Chesher as he reflects on his role and experiences as a graduate student working in this administrative role. This discussion offers insight into the projects from the past few years that were especially memorable to Will and the impact doctoral students can make in this role.Resources from Will's Projects at the HCWEFaculty Writing Fellows ProgramMiami Writing InstituteArticle announcing Peer Review FLCResources Shared by WillCompRhet Money MapRook Music (Will's music)Finally, if you're interested in reading more or applying to the English: Composition & Rhetoric graduate programs at Miami University of Ohio and the opportunities offered to doctoral students, you can learn more at this website. Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at hwac@miamioh.edu if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

In this episode, our behind the scenes executive producer Will Chesher steps in as a guest host to interview Miami graduate student, and your very own podcast host, Rena Perez as this week's guest to continue the conversation from last episode on ePortfolios. While our last episode featured faculty perspectives on teaching ePortfolios, Rena offers a writers’ experiences and insights into the types of ePortfolios you may create, where to start when creating an ePortfolio, and the processes of selection and reflection on your chosen content.Resources on ePortfoliosAcross the Disciplines special issue: ePortfolios Across the DisciplinesAAC&U: ePortfoliosPresentation by Dr. Randy Bass on ePortfoliosPortfolio Keeping: A Guide for Students by Nedra Reynolds and Elizabeth Davis (link on Amazon)Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at hwac@miamioh.edu if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

In this episode, we unpack the genre of ePortfolios and their value for teaching and learning with Miami instructors Beth Reed and Julie Szucs. Drawing from their experiences participating in Faculty Learning Communities on ePortfolios through the HCWE, we share ideas for implementing and scaffolding ePortfolio assignments and what students can do with these compositions at the university and beyond.Resources on ePortfolios or Mentioned in the EpisodeAcross the Disciplines special issue, ePortfolios Across the DisciplinesAAC&U: ePortfoliosPresentation by Dr. Randy Bass on ePortfoliosCheck out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at hwac@miamioh.edu if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

In our third episode, we are joined by two Miami instructors, Jen Bulanda and Anne Whitesell, to continue our discussion of op-eds and their usefulness for helping students write to public audiences on issues of interest to them. Anne and Jen offer different perspectives on how and why op-eds can be designed and taught as an assignment and why they are useful for students’ learning and writing.Resources on Op-Eds/Mentioned in the EpisodeWrite to Vote Project How to Write a Compelling OpEd_0 (1).pdfThe Miami StudentThe Howe Writing Center: make an appointmentCheck out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at hwac@miamioh.edu if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

Our second episode features Miami student Meredith Perkins, who has written op-eds for various newspapers, to discuss this genre as an important means for sharing your voice and perspective and engaging public audiences and strategies for organizing your ideas from her experiences learning how to write and publish them.Resources on Op-EdsWrite to Vote ProjectResources Mentioned in the EpisodeThe Miami StudentMeredith's personal writing portfolio websites: meredithwrotethis.com & https://sites.google.com/view/meredithwrotethis/homeThe Howe Writing Center: make an appointmentCheck out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at hwac@miamioh.edu if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

In the episode, Elizabeth Hoover and Liz Wardle talk about the purpose of capstone projects, the importance of letting students take the lead, and what students learn from these engaging capstone experiences at Miami University.HCWE handout on  Creating Capstone AssignmentsMiami Writing Spotlight about Designing Transformative CapstonesCheck out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at hwac@miamioh.edu if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.