Podcast: CELTcast – The Podcast of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Institution: Concordia University Wisconsin & Ann Arbor (CUWAA)

Hosts: Kate Robertson and Kari Bjerke

Producer: Ashley Curtin

Guests: Dr. Bruna Damiana Heinsfeld

Featured Article: Universities risk becoming passive arms of Silicon Valley if they don't question how AI shapes truth, a professor says

Bruna Damiana Heinsfeld is an assistant professor of learning technologies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her research interests center on the field of Critical Studies in Education and Technology, focusing on critically examining the complex intersections of technology, society, and education. She was recently cited in this article from Business Insider, which led to our CUW team reaching out to her for an appearance on CELT-cast.

Podcast: CELTcast – The Podcast of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Institution: Concordia University Wisconsin & Ann Arbor (CUWAA)

Hosts: Kate Robertson, Natalie Upson, and Kari Bjerke

Producer: Ashley Curtin

Guests: Dr. Lane Freeman

Featured Article: The AI Sandwich: Human-First, Human-Last in an AI-Rich Educational Environment

Dr. Lane Freeman is a nationally recognized educator, consultant, and thought-leader in online learning and artificial-intelligence integration. Lane serves as State Director of Online Learning for the North Carolina Community College System, leading policy, faculty development, and strategy for 58 colleges. Lane has presented at OLC Accelerate, the AVID National Conference, Inside Higher Ed webinars, and technology summits from Florida to South Dakota. His workshops empower K–12 districts, community colleges, universities, and workforce partners to harness AI for personalized learning, assessment innovation, and workforce up-skilling.

CELTcast Episode 11

Podcast: CELTcast – The Podcast of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Institution: Concordia University Wisconsin & Ann Arbor (CUWAA)

Hosts: Kate Robertson & Kari Bjerke

Producer: Ashley Curtin

Guests: Dr. Don Saucier

Featured Article: Lessons Learned from Students Using AI Inappropriately in My Class

Dr. Don Saucier is a university distinguished teaching scholar and professor of psychological sciences, and faculty director of the Teaching and Learning Center at Kansas State University. His numerous awards and honors include the Putting Students First Award for Outstanding Service to Students, University Distinguished Faculty Award for Mentoring of Undergraduate Students in Research, William L. Stamey Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Dr. Ron and Rae Iman Outstanding Faculty Award for Teaching. Dr. Saucier’s research interests center on expressions of antisocial and prosocial behavior. Our podcast conversation with him focuses on the student experience with the use of AI in assignments and how instructors can set students up for success regarding AI usage and policies.

CELTcast Episode 10

Podcast: CELTcast – The Podcast of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Institution: Concordia University Wisconsin & Ann Arbor (CUWAA)

Hosts: Kate Robertson & Kari Bjerke

Producer: Ashley Curtin

Guests: Dr. Sean Cho Ayres

Featured Article: How I rehumanize the college classroom for the AI-augmented age

Dr. Sean Cho Ayres is a poet, AI ethics researcher, and educator currently serving as an Assistant Professor in the English Department at Kennesaw State University. He completed his PhD in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Cincinnati, where he worked at the Digital Scholarship Center and served on the editorial teams of The Cincinnati Review and Acre Books. He currently serves as Editor in Chief of The Account: A Journal of Poetry, Prose, and Thought and Poetry Editor at Overhead Lit. Across his scholarship, poetry, and public-facing essays, he aims to develop approaches that treat AI as a human story—one shaped by labor, culture, and care—and to advocate for creative practices that foreground transparency, ethics, and the lived experiences behind technologies.

additional article: Human Error Is the Point: On Teaching College During the Rise of AI

Here is a little blurb about the extra article: This essay is a thoughtful, honest reflection on teaching in the age of AI, reminding us that the awkward moments, mistakes, and human messiness in the classroom are actually where learning happens—and why those things still matter more than ever.

Podcast: CELTcast – The Podcast of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Institution: Concordia University Wisconsin & Ann Arbor (CUWAA)

Hosts: Rob Balza & Kate Robertson

Producer: Ashley Curtin

Guests: Dr. Jennifer Smith

Featured Article: The Importance of Connection in the Age of AI

Dr. Jennifer Smith is an assistant professor and internship coordinator in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kansas State University. Dr. Smith’s primary research interest is how technology is impacting the psychology of intimate relationships and contributing to the epidemic of loneliness. Our podcast conversation with her centers on college students’ need for relationships and connection, and how AI use intersects with those needs.

CELTcast Episode 4: Brains, Not Bots — Promoting Human Thinking in the Age of AI

Podcast: CELTcast – The Podcast of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Institution: Concordia University Wisconsin & Ann Arbor (CUWAA)

Hosts: Rob Balza & Kate Robertson

Producer: Ashley Curtin

Guests: Dr. Tara Salinas (University of San Diego) and Dr. Ed Love (Western Washington University)

Featured Article: “Brains, Not Bots: Developing Thinkers in the Age of AI” – Psychology Today

In this episode of CELTcast, Rob and Kate dive into one of the most pressing questions facing higher education today:

How can we promote authentic, human thinking in the age of artificial intelligence?

Our guests are both accomplished scholars and co-authors of the Psychology Today article “Brains, Not Bots: Developing Thinkers in the Age of AI.” Together, they explore the tension between AI’s growing capabilities and our enduring need for critical thought, empathy, and ethical reflection.

Dr. Salinas, a professor of business ethics and Chair of the Management Department at the Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego, focuses her research on ethical leadership and corporate culture development.

Dr. Love, Professor of Marketing and Department Chair at Western Washington University’s College of Business & Economics, studies decision theory and how people form preferences in marketing contexts.

CELT-cast: Beyond the First Response—Prompting with Purpose in University Classrooms

Hosts: Kate Robertson and Rob Balza, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Concordia University Wisconsin & Ann Arbor

Guest: Dr. Lisa Delgado-Brown, Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Tampa

Produced by: Ashley Curtin

Episode Summary

In this episode, hosts Rob Balza and Dr. Kate Robertson delve into the evolving landscape of AI in higher education with guest Dr. Lisa Delgado-Brown of the University of Tampa. Dr. Delgado-Brown discusses her work in integrating AI throughout the curriculum in her sophomore education courses, focusing on the critical shift from simply accepting AI output to engaging in thoughtful, ethical prompt engineering.

CELT-cast: AI and the Flipped Classroom: Moving from Content Coverage to Skill Development

Hosts: Kate Robertson and Rob Balza, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Concordia University Wisconsin & Ann Arbor

Guest: Jarek Janio, Faculty Coordinator for the School of Continuing Education at Santa Ana College and the California Outcomes Assessment Coordinators Hub.

Produced by: Ashley Curtin

Episode Summary

In this episode, hosts Rob Balza and Kate Robertson welcome Yarek Janio of Santa Ana College and the California Outcomes Assessment Coordinators Hub to discuss his recent article in The Evolution, Modern Campus Illumination on how artificial intelligence is flipping the classroom. The conversation focuses on the monumental cultural shift brought on by AI and the need for faculty to evolve from delivering content to cultivating essential skills in students.