Intentional Teaching, a show about teaching in higher education Intentional Tech Six Years Out with Derek Bruff
Feb 3, 2026
Derek Bruff, education researcher and author of Intentional Tech, shares updates and reflections six years after his book. He highlights times-for-telling, learning communities, and authentic audiences. He discusses using AI for critique and simulations, staying pedagogy-first when choosing tools, and small practical steps faculty can take each semester.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Prime Curiosity With Purposeful Gaps
- Create "times for telling" that force students to see the limits of their understanding before lecturing.
- Use tech (polling, simulations, games) to surface misconceptions and prime curiosity for learning.
Have Students Critique AI Outputs
- Use generative AI to create activities where students evaluate or correct AI outputs.
- Turn AI mistakes into teachable moments that reveal necessary domain skills.
Coding Lesson Reveals AI Limits
- Rich Ross had students try to generate R code with ChatGPT and struggle for 15–20 minutes.
- A short instructor mini-lecture then fixed their mistakes and showed why coding knowledge still matters.
