Reflections on Friday SLO Talks, the assessment of student learning, and the ideas shaping higher education, by Dr. Jarek Janio and guests.
In this Friday SLO Talk, Melissa Ko, Rachel Weiher, Courtney Gomas, and Tara Mason from the UC Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning examine how rubrics can move beyond checklist-style grading to better support meaningful learning. Drawing on their work with the AAC&U VALUE rubrics and campus-wide instructional design initiatives, they explore how assessment practices […]
In this Friday SLO Talk, John Moore and Phil Reeves from the National Board of Medical Examiners examine how medical schools assess student performance during real clinical work. Drawing on a multi-institutional study of workplace-based assessments, they analyze millions of evaluation records to explore how clinical competencies are measured in practice. Their findings raise important […]
Rethinking Higher Education in the Age of AIPresented by Dr. J.D. Mosley-Matchett In our first Friday SLO Talk of Spring 2026, Dr. J.D. Mosley-Matchett challenged us to move beyond reactionary thinking about artificial intelligence in higher education. Instead of asking whether AI is “good” or “bad,” she framed the moment through three powerful metaphors: Each […]
What happens to student learning when the classroom no longer has just one doorway? That was the guiding question in Professor Brian Beatty’s Friday SLO Talk, where he unpacked how HyFlex courses expand access without losing sight of what matters most: evidence of learning. What Does Learning Mean in HyFlex? HyFlex (Hybrid + Flexible) courses […]
by Jarek Janio, Ph.D. Inspired by a recent Friday SLO Talk featuring Dr. Leslie Jennings, Missina Minter, Megan Zara, and Dr. Stacy Greathouse from The University of Texas at Arlington. Imagine registering for a course that looks manageable only to find out halfway through that the reading load is crushing, the assignments are endless, and […]
by Jarek Janio, Ph.D. What if credentials weren’t just about certifying completion—but about catalyzing connection? At a recent Friday SLO Talk, Noah Geisel delivered a compelling challenge to how we think about digital credentials, student learning outcomes, and the very role of recognition in education. In his words, badges and micro-credentials are not products—they are […]
by Jarek Janio, Ph.D. In my last post, I explored the idea sparked by Dr. Gavin Henning’s Friday SLO Talk that AI can be used not just to assess students, but to analyze how instructors shape learning through feedback. This “meta-assessment” flips the script: instead of asking only how students performed, we start asking how […]
by Jarek Janio, Ph.D. In higher education, conversations about learning outcomes often orbit one central framework: Bloom’s Taxonomy. It’s ubiquitous in curriculum design, accreditation rubrics, and faculty workshops. But what if Bloom isn’t enough? At a recent Friday SLO Talk, Dr. Gavin Henning encouraged educators to think beyond traditional cognitive frameworks. He introduced alternative taxonomies […]
by Jarek Janio, Ph.D. In an era of AI tools, auto-graded quizzes, and self-paced asynchronous content, it’s easy to assume that a well-designed course can teach itself. But what Ruth Lane, Program Director of Mathematics at South University, made abundantly clear in her Friday SLO Talk is that students don’t learn from design they learn […]
by Jarek Janio, Ph.D. Education is full of signals. Transcripts, GPA, course titles, and degrees all tell a story but not always the full story. At a recent Friday SLO Talk, Noah Geisel reminded us that much of what makes a student truly prepared for life and work is never reflected in these conventional signals. […]