In January, Marcus also presented at the Eastern Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association on a panel "Quantitative and Narrative Approaches to Philosophy Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)."
He argued for the importance of narrative accounts of classroom innovation, suggesting that while quantitative studies show correlations, theory-based causal explanations better capture teaching effectiveness. Marcus asked participants to reflect on the nature of evidence for teaching effectiveness and argued for the utility of narrative accounts of classroom innovations. Narrative evidence is often neglected or denigrated in contrast to longitudinal studies. He argued that the latter should not be taken as sufficient evidence for success, yielding at best correlations between teaching and achievement. Instead, we need theory-based causal accounts that can support or explain the effectiveness of our teaching.
Associate Professor of Philosophy Alex Plakias and Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy Jaime Castillo-Gamboa also presented at the meeting.
Last fall, Marcus and colleagues from the American Association of Philosophy Teachers received a $5,000 American Philosophical Association grant, “Communicating the Value of Teaching Philosophy In and Beyond the Discipline.” The grant supports the launch of a public-facing campaign to explain what philosophers do in the classroom and why it matters. Instead of speaking to other philosophers, the three plan to consult with a communications professional to think about how to develop a multimedia approach to reach the public.
In its first phase, Marcus will work with Ashylia Sloane ’26 and Gabrielle Brihn ’26 to explore AAPT archives. His co-investigators are Sarah Donovan (Wagner), Jane Drexler (Salt Lake City Community College), and Alexandra Bradner (Kenyon).
Posted February 26, 2026
