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Supporting Student Reading with Jessa Roisen and Donna Battista

Intentional Teaching, a show about teaching in higher education

Intentional Teaching, a show about teaching in higher education
Supporting Student Reading with Jessa Roisen and Donna Battista
May 19, 2026 Episode 90
Derek Bruff

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Today on the podcast, I’m excited to welcome Jessa Roisen, professor of philosophy at St. Ambrose University. Jessa teaches those intro to philosophy courses with really challenging primary sources—Plato and Kant and Descartes and the like. She’s seen her students struggle with those readings, and it’s changed her approach to teaching these courses. She provides a lot of support and scaffolding for her students, both before and during class.

This episode of Intentional Teaching was produced in partnership with Top Hat, and joining the conversation is Donna Battista, managing director for learning solutions at Top Hat. Donna partners with educators across higher ed, helping them use the Top Hat platform to address the teaching challenges they face.

In today’s episode, Donna and Jessa share their perspectives on the challenge of teaching students to read hard things, and they offer both philosophical and practical responses to that challenge.

Episode Resources

·       Jessa Roisen’s faculty page

·       Donna Battista’s LinkedIn page

·       Top Hat

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