Inspire Blog Author: Deborah Mundorff

Whose Work Is It Anyway? Writing an AI Statement Worth Reading

Last year, as the instructional designer for a software engineering course, I knew the instructor had leaned on AI throughout the course’s development. I suggested he be transparent about it with his students. After all, he was asking the same of them. What he wrote back went further than I expected. His syllabus statement opens not with rules for students but with an accounting of his own use. He names Claude the second author of his course, separates his own contribution from what emerged from that collaboration, and only then turns to what students may do. After getting his permission, I shared it with my team. Within minutes, colleagues were asking to keep it as an example. One had just … Whose Work Is It Anyway? Writing an AI Statement Worth Reading
by · August 10, 2026

The Group Project Paradox: Everyone Thinks They Did the Most Work

The Skill Students Resist, and Employers Expect I have a confession. When I was earning my M.S.Ed. online, I dreaded seeing “group project” on a syllabus. I juggled coursework with a full-time job, logged in at odd hours, and did most of the work on every collaborative assignment. My standards were higher, my contributions more substantial, my late nights longer. I carried the team. Here’s the awkward part: so did everyone else. Researchers have been studying this phenomenon since 1979, when psychologists Michael Ross and Fiore Sicoly found that group members consistently overestimate their own contributions (Ross & Sicoly, 1979). When you ask everyone on a team to estimate their percentage of the work, the numbers don’t add up to … The Group Project Paradox: Everyone Thinks They Did the Most Work
by · April 15, 2026

Students Don’t Want AI Bans—They Want a Seat at the Table

Many educators are grappling with questions about AI detection. Yet, AI detection tools are unreliable, biased, and distressing. False positives can harm students’ academic standing and well-being, with marginalized groups often disproportionately affected, while detectors still miss significant portions of AI-generated text (Lurye, 2025; Encouraging Academic Integrity, 2025; Hirsch, 2024). And detection tools assume students simply copy and paste AI outputs, when in reality many use these tools more fluidly–taking suggestions, rewriting, or iterating through prompts–making their work indistinguishable from original writing. As one student noted, “it’s very easy to use AI to do the lion’s share of the thinking while still submitting work that looks like your own…” (Terry, 2023). What Students Want Most students believe institutions should address … Students Don’t Want AI Bans—They Want a Seat at the Table
by · November 25, 2025

Liminal Space: Belonging and UDL 3.0

This is a guest post by Winter 2025 Ecampus Instructional Design Intern Terrence Scott. Creating Online Learning Spaces Where Adult Learners Belong Today’s college students are increasingly adults returning to education to pursue career shifts, personal growth, or new credentials. Yet, this return often brings discomfort. Adult learners find themselves in a liminal space, caught between who they were and who they are becoming as students. This “in-between” state is a psychological and social threshold where identity and belonging are in flux (Maksimović, 2023; Turner, 1969). Liminal space is defined as “characterized by the questioning and reexamination of one’s identity, often as a result of transitional moments in an individual’s life such as separation, loss, and conflicts” (Maksimović, 2023). Rather … Liminal Space: Belonging and UDL 3.0
by · May 21, 2025

Enhancing Course Quality

This layered paper art depicts the Heceta Head Lighthouse amid colorful hills, a flowing river, and tall green trees. Whimsical clouds and birds add depth, creating a vibrant and detailed handcrafted scene.

I’d like to share a recent experience highlighting the crucial role of collecting and using feedback to enhance our online course materials. As faculty course developers and instructional designers, we understand the importance of well-designed courses. However, even minor errors can diminish the quality of an otherwise outstanding online course. A Student’s Perspective Recently, feedback was forwarded to me submitted by an online student enrolled in a course I had helped develop. He praised the overall design of the courses and the instructors’ responsiveness, but he pointed out some typographic and grammatical errors that caused confusion. He mentioned issues like quiz answers not matching the questions and contradictory examples. What stood out to me was his statement: “These courses are … Enhancing Course Quality
by · October 29, 2024