Introduction

Welcome to the Spring 2026 issue of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence! At JETE, we function generally on a two-year term for the assistant editor and Editor in Chief, which means that this is my (Nichelle’s) final edition as Editor in Chief. I have learned so much from all the authors who so generously share their experiences in each manuscript we receive, and I’m grateful to the incredible support of the journal’s previous editors (Dr. Kim Hales and Dr. Jason Olsen in particular) and the editorial board members who helped me navigate the scholarship of teaching and learning. I am happy to recognize current Assistant Editor, Dr. Jason Twede, as the very capable person who will now shift into the EIC position with a new Assistant Editor incoming. He has been a responsive, organized, and thoughtful Assistant Editor. We know great things and growth are ahead under his purview!

In this issue, we present to you a series of articles ranging broadly in topic and drawing from studies involving various disciplines. Just as our mission states, we hope that these articles speak to you regardless of the specific discipline in which you teach. Here are some previews:

When I was a freshman in college many years ago, two professors team-taught one of the very first courses that I took. Still an underused and understudied form of teaching, team teaching might benefit both students and faculty, as “Overcoming Current Challenges in Higher Education through Team Teaching” investigates. Based on a team-taught online doctoral course, the study results show increases to instructor content knowledge, teaching skills, and collaboration with colleagues. With examples from both synchronous and asynchronous experiences, this article may speak to a range of readers who already teach in online settings or are hoping to do so. Learn what the authors, Carol Rogers Shaw, Corinne Brion, and Katelyn Case tell us about the instructors’ experiences in feeling relief from burnout as well as a stronger sense of community (in an online environment to boot!) among instructors and students alike.

“Effects of Cross-Curricular Instruction on Clinical Education Outcomes for Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Students” by Michele Dacy and Kimberly Smith draws from a speech-language pathology course, but it holds great potential for readers teaching in many disciplines. This article shows that even a single lecture might positively influence knowledge, level of confidence, and clinical skills. This study of graduate students might inspire readers to try similar targeted single lectures that could help students—graduate or undergraduate—in their own disciplines. Sometimes, instruction can be overwhelming when we focus on the many places that we might improve our work. This article shows that even a smaller effort may be impactful for students in important ways.

For the social sciences readers in particular, “Navigating Your First Technical Paper in Social Sciences: Understanding Single Case Research Design” provides a useful exploration of how to assist students in understanding how to complete a single case research design paper. The authors, Diana Parry-Cruwys, Allen Karsina, and Jacquelyn M. MacDonald, filled this article with rich detail that readers might apply to their own assignments. I will let the article speak for itself!

In “SNAP Challenge in Teacher Education,” Eric Hogan, Sean Forbes, and Carey E. Andrzejewski explore how incorporating an experiential learning assignment—having students live for a short time on a food budget consistent with SNAP benefits—affects students’ understanding of food insecurity. It is an excellent example of the impact experiential learning can have on our students.

Last, in “How Intelligent? Student Success, Student Engagement, and Faculty Use of Intelligent Agents in Online Classes,” the authors invite us into their study of how automated Intelligent Agents (IAs) can be set up in a learning management system to generate messages to students using various prompts. IAs might send targeted messages with reminders, words of encouragement, and more. Based on a study across seven humanities and social sciences disciplines, the narrative here shows how IAs impacted grades on a specific assignment, whether IAs increased two-way communication with students, and how faculty experienced using this technology. Many thanks to authors Teresa P. Raczek, Anja Bernardy, Audrey E. Garcia, Ulrike Ingram, Laura McGrath, and Snehal Shirke for their insights into this emergent technology.

My best wishes to the journal in its future!

—Nichelle Frank, Ph.D.