This Is Howe We Do It

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Will Chesher (Howe facilitator) and Dr. Kelli Rushek about their work in a cross-disciplinary Faculty Learning Community exploring peer review—also known as peer response, peer feedback, or reader response. They share insights from their research into the practice of peer review and reflect on their experiences testing out two different edtech platforms designed to support it. Tune in for practical takeaways on how to make peer feedback more meaningful in the classroom (and for an outstanding Montel Jordan impression from Kelli)!

Resources Related to this Episode

• Eli Review - Peer review platform developed by writing studies scholars Jeff Grabill, Bill Hart-Davidson, and Mike McLeod
• "Engaging Students in Effective Peer Response" - Howe Writing Across the Curriculum Teaching Resource
• What is an FLC?: Miami University Center for Teaching Excellence "Faculty Learning Communities (FLC)"
• Article about this project: "Howe Center for Writing Excellence and Center for Teaching Excellence Earn Technology Grant Award to Pilot Peer Review Platforms in Spring 2023"

Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at [email protected] if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

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In this episode, we are joined by Dustin Edwards to unpack digital damage, his framework for understanding the extractive nature of large-scale digital infrastructures drawn from his forthcoming book, Enduring Digital Damage: Rhetorical Reckonings for Planetary Survival. His insights into the environmental and ethical costs of using AI tools and the implications of digital infrastructure on people and places prompts us to question and consider the impacts of choices for/when using (or not using) generative AI tools.

Resources Related to this Episode

• Pre-order Dustin's book ahead of its expected November 2025 release here: Enduring Digital Damage: Rhetorical Reckonings for Planetary Survival,
• Dustin Edward's previous work in this area: Edwards, Dustin. “Digital Rhetoric on a Damaged Planet: Storying Digital Damage as Inventive Response to the Anthropocene.” Rhetoric Review, vol. 39, no. 1, 2020, 59–72. Honorable Mention for the 2020 Theresa J. Enos Anniversary Award.

Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at [email protected] if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

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In this episode, we hear the perspectives of three undergraduate writing center consultants, Meredith Perkins, Kylie Mullis, and Ally Britton-Heitz about their research on AI-generated feedback on writing and how it compares to the written feedback given by writing center consultants. We discuss what they have learned about using AI tools, the strengths and weaknesses of the feedback it generates, and the implications for these tools on writing centers and writers' practices for engaging with feedback.

Resources Related to this Episode

• Graphic with Research Findings on AI-Generated vs. Consultant-Generated Feedback
• Ally Britton-Heitz & Jeffrey Merhout's 2024 article: "Human Roles in Implementation and Oversight of Artificial Intelligence: Towards a Governance Framework"
• Perkins, Meredith, Ally Britton-Heitz's, and Kylie Mullis. (2025) "How the Lack of Cohesion in University AI Policy Poses Challenges to Writing Consultants." Praxis: A Writing Center Journal 22(1).

Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at [email protected] if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

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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 Episode

• Dennis's Design Workbench Website
• AI Design Workbench Website
• Integrating AI to Guide Learning (HCWE Teaching Resource)
• AI Text Generators and Teaching Writing Starting Points for Inquiry
• AI 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 [email protected] if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

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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 Episode

• Faculty Writing Fellows Program
• "Howe Center Hosts Groundbreaking "Sensemaking for Student Success" Seminar funded by Lumina Foundation
• Sensemaking for Student Success: A Cohort-Based Faculty Change Method
• Elizabeth Wardle's website: Activating Your Expertise
• Videos 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 [email protected] 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?

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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 Episode

• HWAC Resource: Supporting Graduate Writers
• HCWE 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 Olejnik

Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at [email protected] if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

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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 HCWE

• Faculty Writing Fellows Program
• Miami Writing Institute
• Article announcing Peer Review FLC

Resources Shared by Will

• CompRhet Money Map
• Rook 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 [email protected] if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

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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 ePortfolios

• Across the Disciplines special issue: ePortfolios Across the Disciplines
• AAC&U: ePortfolios
• Presentation by Dr. Randy Bass on ePortfolios
• Portfolio 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 [email protected] if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

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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 Episode

• Across the Disciplines special issue, ePortfolios Across the Disciplines
• AAC&U: ePortfolios
• Presentation by Dr. Randy Bass on ePortfolios

Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at [email protected] if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

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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 Episode

• Write to Vote Project
• How to Write a Compelling OpEd_0 (1).pdf
• The Miami Student
• The Howe Writing Center: make an appointment

Check out additional resources at our website: https://miamioh.edu/HCWE or write to us at [email protected] if you have questions or ideas for topics you’d like to hear about in future podcasts.

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