Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence
JETE is a collaborative publication by multiple units across the Utah State University system. The intent of this journal is to benefit faculty and instructional professionals who teach by providing a place where they can share their ideas, practices, and research around teaching. The intended audience includes faculty and professionals at all institutions who teach, develop instruction, and conduct research related to teaching in higher education.
Current Issue: Volume 10, Issue 1
View the Current Issue PDF View the Current Issue EbookFeatured Article
How Intelligent? Student Success, Student Engagement, and Faculty Use of Intelligent Agents in Online Classes
Teresa P. Raczek, Kennesaw State University
Anja Bernardy, Kennesaw State University
Audrey E. Garcia, Kennesaw State University
Ulrike Ingram, Kennesaw State University
Laura McGrath, Kennesaw State University
Snehal Shirke, Kennesaw State University
Abstract
In asynchronous online classes, consistent engagement with the course instructor helps students connect to the course and perform better. Automated Intelligent Agent (IA) emails that can be set up in a learning management system allow faculty to send targeted communications to students in the form of personalized reminders, offers of help, words of encouragement, praise, and other tailored messages. To assess the effectiveness of IAs in supporting student success, this study analyzed the use of the technology by 10 faculty across seven humanities and social science disciplines. We examined how IAs impact grades on a specific assignment, whether IAs increase two-way communication with students, and how faculty experience using this technology. We found an association between using IAs and higher grades, potentially because faculty who used IAs communicated more often to students, sending them more reminders and messages of praise. We found that use of IAs did not increase student emails to faculty and that faculty found IAs to be a time-efficient way to track student progress and communicate with students. We provide several recommendations to faculty on how best to take advantage of this technology.
Featured Book Review
Book review of Rosenberg, B. (2023). “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It”: Resistance to Change in Higher Education. Harvard Education Press.
Chris Babits
Utah State University
Abstract
Book review of Rosenberg, B. (2023). “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It”: Resistance to Change in Higher Education. Harvard Education Press. In “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It,” Brian Rosenberg challenges entrenched traditions in higher education. Combining candid insight and wry humor with bold proposals, Rosenberg critiques static institutional structures, advocates flexible teaching models, and questions the sacrosanct nature of majors. This review highlights Rosenberg’s efforts to foster innovation, inclusivity, and meaningful student engagement in college-level teaching.
Recently Published Articles
1. Overcoming Current Challenges in Higher Education through Team Teaching
Carol Rogers Shaw, Corinne Brion, and Katelyn Case
2. Effects of Cross-Curricular Instruction on Clinical Education Outcomes for Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Students
Michele Dacy and Kimberly Smith
3. Navigating Your First Technical Paper in Social Sciences: Understanding Single Case Research Design
Diana Parry-Cruwys, Allen Karsina, and Jacquelyn M. MacDonald
4. SNAP Challenge in Teacher Education
Eric Hogan, Sean Forbes, and Carey E. Andrzejewski
5. How Intelligent? Student Success, Student Engagement, and Faculty Use of Intelligent Agents in Online Classes
Teresa P. Raczek, Anja Bernardy, Audrey E. Garcia, Ulrike Ingram, Laura McGrath, and Snehal Shirke
JETE Worldwide Readership
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Looking for a specific article? All previous issues of JETE are searchable by topic, keyword, or author. Click the button below to search now:
Now Accepting Article Submissions
Submit NowAudience and Topics
We encourage tenure and non-tenure track faculty who teach, instructional designers, librarians, graduate teaching assistants, graduate instructors and other instructional professionals to submit articles on the following topics:
- student engagement
- teaching and learning evaluation
- instructional design strategies
- content, resources, and tools
- technology implementation reviews
- teaching book reviews
JETE Contact
Editor-in-Chief
Nichelle Frank
Assistant Editor
Jason Twede
Editorial Board Members
David Advent
Aimee deNoyelles
Karin deJong-Kannan
Chris Garrett
Neal Legler
Aicha Rochdi
Elena Taylor
Travis Thurston
Joanna Weaver
Email:
empowerteaching@usu.edu
Review For JETE
Looking for opportunities to contribute to Teaching Excellence? Consider becoming a peer-reviewer for JETE, and share your insights and expertise:
Top Downloaded Articles
1. Understanding Gen Z Students to Promote a Contemporary Learning Environment
Kathleen Mohr and Eric Mohr
2. Promoting Critical Thinking in General Biology Courses: The Case of the White Widow Spider
Joseph Wilson
3. Student Success: A Literature Review of Faculty to Student Mentoring
David Law, Kim Hales, and Don Busenbark
4. Building Positive Student-Instructor Interactions: Engaging Students through Caring Leadership in the Classroom
Oscar Solis and Windi Turner
5. Design Case: Implementing Gamification with ARCS to Engage Digital Natives
Travis N. Thurston
Book Reviews
Access Previous Issues
- Volume 10, Issue 1 (Spring 2026) pdf - ebook
- Volume 9, Issue 2 (Fall 2025) pdf - ebook
- Volume 9, Issue 1 (Spring 2025) pdf - ebook
- Volume 8, Issue 2 (Fall 2024) pdf - ebook
- Volume 8, Issue 1 (Spring 2024) pdf - ebook
- Volume 7, Issue 2 (Fall 2023) pdf - ebook
- Volume 7, Issue 1 (Spring 2023) pdf - ebook
- Volume 6, Issue 2 (Fall 2022) pdf - ebook
- Volume 6, Issue 1 (Spring 2022) pdf - ebook
- Volume 5, Issue 3 (Special Issue) pdf - ebook
- Volume 5, Issue 2 (Fall 2021) pdf - ebook
- Volume 5, Issue 1 (Spring 2021) pdf - ebook
- Volume 4, Issue 2 (Fall 2020) pdf - ebook
- Volume 4, Issue 1 (Spring 2020) pdf - ebook
- Volume 3, Issue 2 (Fall 2019) pdf - ebook
- Volume 3, Issue 1 (Spring 2019) pdf - ebook
- Volume 2, Issue 2 (Fall 2018) pdf - ebook
- Volume 2, Issue 1 (Spring 2018) pdf - ebook
- Volume 1, Issue 2 (Fall 2017) pdf - ebook
- Volume 1, Issue 1 (Spring 2017) pdf - ebook
One of the peculiar things about working in higher education is that we rarely receive formal training on how to teach. This understandably may lead us to feel like an imposter when we think about sharing our insights on teaching. I encourage you to tell your inner critic to shut up and to share your knowledge. When diverse and unique perspectives are shared, we all benefit as educators.