By John Warner. Smith College is giving students certificates of “failure” as part of a program called “Failing Well,” which aims to “destigmatize failure.” More...

By John Warner. I’d assigned Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in a gen ed literature class at Clemson. Class had around 45 students, and while the bulk of their grades were based in essays, I used reading quizzes as I always had, as a way to incentivize getting the reading done in time for class so we could have a robust discussion. More...

By John Warner. This seems to be the first question to arise when anything is proposed in the education space. More...

By John Warner. Good news: I sold not one, but two books to publishers. I’ll write more about the specifics another day, but they both draw significantly on the exploration of writing pedagogy I’ve done in this space, and I’m excited for the opportunity to spread the word to different and wider audiences. More...

By John Warner. Noble prizewinner and Stanford physicist Carl Wieman has taken the next step on his mission to transform undergraduate teaching with the publication of Improving How Universities Teach Science: Lessons from the Science Education Initiative, which lays out the results of Wieman’s multi-year effort to move undergraduate science instruction beyond the “big lecture.” More...

By John Warner. One of the worst disservices the students I work with have experienced prior to coming to college is being led to believe that their writing – academic or otherwise – should strive for “objectivity.” More...

By John Warner. Per student funding for higher ed has declined by 18% nationally on an inflation adjusted basis as compared to pre-recession levels. In Arizona, where the legislature seems dedicated to a program of zeroing-out state funding to higher ed, and Illinois where an ongoing political struggle has left the state budget-less, the declines are over 50%. More...

By John Warner. If you ever have to ask someone if they’re paying attention, the answer is likely to be “no,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean they weren’t doing something important. More...