Rank #1: Team-based learning

Jim Sibley shares about Team-based Learning.
Podcast Notes
Team-based learning has come up a few times on the show previously (Dr. Chrissy Spencer in Episode 25). Today, however, we dive deep into this teaching approach and discover powerful ways to engage students with Dr. Jim Sibley.
Guest: Jim Sibley
Jim Sibley is Director of the Centre for Instructional Support at the Faculty of Applied Science at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. As a faculty developer, he has led a 12-year implementation of Team-Based Learning in Engineering and Nursing at UBC with a focus on large classroom facilitation. Jim has over 33 years of experience in faculty support, training, and facilitation, as well as managing software development at UBC. Jim serves on the editorial board of the Journal on Excellence in College Teaching.
Jim is an active member of the Team-Based Learning Collaborative and has served on its board and many of its sub-committees. He has mentored colleagues in the Team-Based Learning Collaborative’s Train the Trainer mentorship program. He is a co-author of the new book Getting Started with Team-Based Learning that was published by Stylus in July 2014. He is an international team-based learning consultant, having worked at schools in Australia, Korea, Pakistan, Lebanon, United States, and Canada to develop team-based learning programs.
Jim’s Book: Getting Started With Team-Based Learning
Jim's Website: www.learntbl.ca
More About Jim’s Personal Story:
Team-Based Learning Defined
- A form of small-group learning that gets better with the bigger size of class you have. The idea is to discuss the question until you get to some sort of consensus.
Team-based learning could easily be called decision-based learning, because as soon as you make a decision, you can get clear and focused feedback. That’s what team-based learning is all about. - Think about a jury, where you need brainpower. Then imagine you’re presenting the verdict, and you look around and see five other juries, on the same case as you. You can bet they’ve put a lot of thought into the verdict, and if they all have a different verdict than you, you can bet they’re going to give feedback.
- Team-based learning is not a prohibition on lecturing…but it’s in smaller amounts, and it’s for a reason like answering a student need or question. An activity will often make students wish they knew about something, then you teach it.
About Teams
- The Achilles heel of group work are students at different levels of preparedness. Team discussion has a nice leveling effect.
- Experience shows that smaller teams are the ones that have the most trouble
- 5-7 students is the ideal size for a group.
- Big teams work because you’re asking them to make a decision, and that’s something teams are naturally good at.
- Because team-based learning is focused on teaching with decisions, there is less opportunity for people to ride on the coattails of others.
- Instructors don’t have to teach about team dynamics or decision-making processes because teams are naturally motivated to engage in good discussion (if their conclusion is different than every other group, there will naturally be a lot of feedback).
The Team-Building Process:
- The instructor builds teams, trying to add diversity to each team.
- The instructor of a large class can do an online survey for diversity of assets.
- Even freshman classes can have diversity (different people are better at different subjects).
- CATME has an online team maker function, as does GRumbler.
Should students ever elect their own teams?
- Student-selected teams are typically a disaster, mostly because they’re a social entity, and you tend to pick people that are the same as you.
- It does work when students are passionate about the project.
Team-based learning requires commitment:
- Team-based learning is something you have to commit to, not just something you try on for a day. it’s not a pedagogy that you can sprinkle on top of your lecture course; it’s a total change to the contract between you and your students.
- It used to be that you were a “sage on the stage” or a “guide on the side.” Team-based learning means you’re a “sage on the side.”
- Roles change. Everybody is uncomfortable at the beginning; students are in a new role, you’re in a new role.
- You’ll get some student resistance, but if you commit, student evaluations at the end of the semester will show that students rate team-based learning courses better than conventional ones.
- Teachers who do commit talk about “joy” and say things like “I’m falling in love with teaching again” and “class is so much fun.”
When should we use Team-based learning? Any cautions?
- It works for all disciplines, but if you, as a teacher, are a last-minute person, be cautious with team-based learning. Because you’re making your students uncomfortable, and they’re looking for someone to pin it on, and if you’re disorganized, you'll become a target.
- For teachers, it’s a similar amount of work as a traditional course, but because you have to do all the work upfront, it might seem like more.
Resources
- teambasedlearning.org
- Jim's Site: www.learntbl.ca
- Jim's Book: “Getting Started with Team-Based Learning”
- Use the ERIC database to research your topic
- Use peer-evaluation tools like those available on CATME
Recommendations
- Bonni uses Feedly to subscribe to student blogs. It serves up all new student posts in one place, saving her from having to go to each blog individually. Feedly Pro allows you to gather student blogs, and then students can subscribe to the class collection with one click.
- Jim recommends an article in the Journal of Excellence in College Teaching by Bill Roberson and Billie Franchini. The article discusses why some teaching activities seem to crash while some seem to soar.
Nov 05 2015
37mins
Rank #2: Teaching Naked Techniques

C. Edward Watson joins me to talk about Teaching Naked Techniques on episode #137 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Resources Mentioned
- Teaching Naked Techniques* by Jose Bowen and C. Edward Watson
- Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers (2013)
- Measuring Cognitive Distraction in the Automobile III
- Please read while texting and driving
- TIHE article: The Invitation
Are You Enjoying the Show?
Rate/review the show. Please consider rating or leaving a review for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast on whatever service you use to listen to it on (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.). It is the best way to help others discover the show.
Give feedback. As always, I welcome suggestions for future topics or guests.
Subscribe. If you have yet to subscribe to the weekly update, you can receive a single email each week with the show notes (including all the links we talk about on the episode), as well as an article on either teaching or productivity.
RECOMMENDATIONS
How to Update Your LinkedIn Profile for 2017RECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain* by John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman
RECOMMENDED BY:C. Edward Watson
Jan 26 2017
46mins
Rank #3: Practical instructional design

Edward Oneill joins me to talk about practical instructional design.
Podcast notes
Practical instructional design
Guest
Edward Oneill, Senior instructional designer at Yale.
I know a little bit about a lot of things. – Edward Oneill (and also Diana Krall, etc.)
What Edward's clients often need
- intuitively-appealing ways of conceptualizing the learning process
- a survey of the relevant tools & which fit their needs & capacities
Edward's special skill
…finding the points in the learning process where assessment and evaluation can be woven in seamlessly
Design approach of Edward's early courses
Successes
- Made sure students had to do something every week
- Ensured consistent deadlines
- Weekly messages, creatively introducing them to that week
Failures
- Disconnected topics, no second chances
You don't learn anything by doing it once. – Edward Oneill
- Not opportunities for practice
I wanted to see it as the students' fault. It's so hard to get out of that [mindset]. – Edward Oneill
Biggest challenges in our teaching
- We know our content, but we don't realize how tightly packed our knowledge is…
- Edward's blog post about the Five stages of teaching
- Peter Newbury – prior Teaching in Higher Ed guest on episode #053 shared about recall / connections
Rehearsal and elaboration
It's about stepping away from the center and helping [students] communicate with each other. – Edward Oneill
Methods for incorporating assessment and evaluation into the design of courses
- Have shorter/smaller forms of assessment that aren't necessarily graded 100% of the time
- Use their performance as your own assessment
Bonni shares about teaching with Ellen's Heads Up iPad game
Jeopardy game as form of reinforcement
Recommendations
Bonni recommends:
Parker Palmer quote
I am a teacher at heart, and there are moments in the classroom when I can hardly hold the joy. When my students and I discover uncharted territory to explore, when the pathway out of a thicket opens up before us, when our experience is illumined by the lightning-life of the mind—then teaching is the finest work I know. – Parker Palmer
Edward comments:
There is a special privilege in people letting you help them grow and change. – Edward Oneill
Edward recommends:
On Becoming a Person, by Carl Rogers
As a teacher, I need to see you as a unique learner. If I really try to understand you and try to help you grow, it is not so much about information transfer; it is a more humane kind of relationship. – Edward Oneill
When you're passionate about teaching and you focus on it and you try to improve – you do. – Edward Oneill
Closing notes
- Rate/review the show. Please consider rating or leaving a review for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast on whatever service you use to listen to it on (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.). It is the best way to help others discover the show.
- Give feedback. As always, I welcome suggestions for future topics or guests.
- Subscribe. If you have yet to subscribe to the weekly update, you can receive a single email each week with the show notes (including all the links we talk about on the episode), as well as an article on either teaching or productivity.
Aug 06 2015
39mins
Rank #4: Engaging Learners

Gardner Campbell talks about engaging learners.
Quotes
Learning is an enormously powerful and eventful kind of experience.
—Gardner CampbellRecognize that great ideas of all kinds come from all kinds of people at all stages of their knowledge.
—Gardner CampbellThere are some great ideas that are forever closed off to an expert because he or she is simply too conditioned by prior learning.
—Gardner Campbell
Resources
- Seymour A. Papert's books
- APGAR for class meetings by Gardner Campbell
- Derek Bruff reflects on Gardner Campbell’s APGAR test for class meetings
- Book: Smart Mobs* by Howard Rheingold
- Video: Mr. Hand from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”
- Song: Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill
- PHPBB Discussion Forum
- Book: Where Good Ideas Come From* by Steven Johnson
- Hacking the Academy
Are You Enjoying the Show?
- Rate/review the show. Please consider rating or leaving a review for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast on whatever service you use to listen to it on (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.). It is the best way to help others discover the show.
- Give feedback. As always, I welcome suggestions for future topics or guests.
- Subscribe. If you have yet to subscribe to the weekly update, you can receive a single email each week with the show notes (including all the links we talk about on the episode), as well as an article on either teaching or productivity.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Great VCU Bike Race BookRECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Jon Becker’s blog about the project
RECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Courses involved in the project
RECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Quadraphonic set of Chicago albums*
RECOMMENDED BY:Gardner Campbell
On Knowing: Essays for the Left Hand* by Jerome Bruner
RECOMMENDED BY:Gardner Campbell
Toward a Theory of Instruction* by Jerome Bruner
RECOMMENDED BY:Gardner Campbell
Jun 30 2016
47mins
Rank #5: How to Effectively Use Presentation Tools in Our Teaching

Teddy Svoronos talks about how to effectively use presentation tools in our teaching on episode 168 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
A real tech win to me is a device that both enhances the student experience and also reduces friction.
—Teddy Svoronos
Think very carefully about what will enhance the learning of the people watching the presentation.
—Teddy Svoronos
When we adopt technology, there are are two considerations: how valuable it is and how much friction is it going to introduce.
—Teddy Svoronos
Resources Mentioned
- Teddy was on: Mac Power Users 383 and Mac Power Users 319
- Bonni was on: Mac Power Users 240 (workflow segment)
- Slide Docs via Nancy Duarte
- Slideuments via Garr Reyolds
- Apple Watch
- Poll Everywhere
- Simpsons – Star Wipes
- Example of one way Teddy used animations in explaining sampling distributions: deriving likelihoods
- Slideology* by Nancy Duarte
- Teddy’s post: In Praise of Goodnotes
- More from Teddy on Live Annotation of Student Work with Goodnotes
- Teddy’s post: A Good Day to Keynote Hard
- Apple Pencil
- Surface Pro*
- Surface Pen
- Doug McKee’s post: Teaching Online with Zoom, Duet Display, and PDF Expert
- Attendance2
Are You Enjoying the Show?
Rate/review the show. Please consider rating or leaving a review for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast on whatever service you use to listen to it on (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.). It is the best way to help others discover the show.
Give feedback. As always, I welcome suggestions for future topics or guests.
Subscribe. If you have yet to subscribe to the weekly update, you can receive a single email each week with the show notes (including all the links we talk about on the episode), as well as an article on either teaching or productivity.
RECOMMENDATIONS
10.5” iPad ProRECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Write something down every day: Day One Journal
RECOMMENDED BY:Teddy Svoronos
Aug 31 2017
38mins
Rank #6: Rethinking Higher Education

Wendy Purcell shares about rethinking higher education on episode 207 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
I think you’re seeing that universities now are needing to be much more connected to the society we serve.
—Wendy Purcell
You really will be learning throughout your life.
—Wendy Purcell
The very best education should transform you.
—Wendy Purcell
You are supporting transformation of people, and through people, transformation of society at large.
—Wendy Purcell
Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
—Socrates
To an unprecedented extent, universities must partner with government, business, and civil society to take on the grand challenges of sustainable development that lie ahead.
—Jeff Sachs
If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Resources Mentioned
- Envisioning pathways to 2030: Megatrends shaping the future of global higher education and international student mobility. January, 2018
- Global universities unprepared for sea change ahead. 26th January, 2018
- Future of skills and lifelong learning. 22nd November, 2017
- Differentiation of English universities: the impact of policy reforms in driving a more diverse higher education landscape. Purcell, W.M. et al (2016).
- Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education 20(1): 24-33.
Education is the kindling of a flame: How to reinvent the 21st-century university. 5th Jan, 2018; update 8th Jan - The 2018 Trends Report (Chronicle of Higher Education)
- Episode 141: The Danger of Silence with Clint Smith
RECOMMENDATIONS
Pod Save the People Podcast: Year Gone ByRECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Educated: A memoir by Tara Westover
RECOMMENDED BY:Wendy Purcell
World Time Buddy
RECOMMENDED BY:Wendy Purcell
May 31 2018
35mins
Rank #7: Research on Engaging Learners

Peter Felten discusses the research on engaging learners on episode 216 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Notes from the episode
Shape what our students do and what they think in the most efficient ways possible.
—Peter Felten
Learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks. The teacher can advance learning only by influencing what the student does to learn. (from How Learning Works by Ambrose et al., 2010, p. 1)
Five Things Students Need to Do:
- Time
- Effort
- Feedback
- Practice
- Reflect
Three Things Students Need to Think/Feel:
- “I belong here.”
- “I can learn this.”
- “I find this meaningful.”
Resources Mentioned
- The Heart of Engaged Learning: What Students Do and Think
- David Perkins: Ladder of Feedback
- Constructive Criticism: The Role of Student-Faculty Interactions on African American and Hispanic Students' Educational Gains, Cole, Darnell
EPISODE SPONSOR
TextExpanderRECOMMENDATIONS
Amicus podcast with Dahlia LithwickRECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Campbell TC. When Minutes Matter. JAMA. 2015
RECOMMENDED BY:Peter Felten
Aug 02 2018
39mins
Rank #8: Using Evernote in Higher Ed

Scott Self and Bonni Stachowiak share how they each integrate Evernote into their classes and workflows. Even if you aren't an Evernote user, you're bound to pick up a few tips.
Podcast notes
Guest:
Director, University Access Programs, Abilene Christian University
The landscape of options for notebook-type applications
- Microsoft OneNote
- Writing-specific applications, such as Ulysses or Scrivener
- Circus Ponies Notebook
Guidance on maximizing the value of course assets
- Linking smart post
- LMS – keep the course assets out of it
Creating collaborative learning environments with Evernote
- Use it in a uni-directional way, not necessarily a conversational tool…
- Classroom becomes a kind of conversation around learning
- Scott gives students the unique, Evernote email address to send notes to the class-specific evernote notebook
- He sets permissions up so that he’s the only one who can edit the notes in the notebook – read-only
Getting started with Evernote
Scott’s posts
We both recommend
Big advantages of Evernote
- Easy capture
- On iOS – text, audio, sticky notes, documents (auto-size), photo
- Web clipper
- Drafts – iOS app – start typing
- Email – lots of tricks to organize when you send
- Search capabilities
- Integration with other apps and services
- Keeps one’s course out of the LMS environment – the instructor should own the material, not the LMS
Our advice
- Grow with it (start with the basics and go from there)
- Keep folder structure simple
- Bonni uses just reference, work, and personal, along with a shared notebook and a couple required ones that store my LiveScribe pencasts
- Scott has only a few notebooks. I do have one for each section of a course that I teach so that I can share lecture notes, resources, and “FYIs” with my students.
- As a “Premium” user, we have access to the “Presenter” view. Scott says:
Students see my lecture notes in a clear and uncluttered presentation, and have access to the information in the shared notes. I prefer that students take notes about the lecture – rather than copying down what’s on the screen.
- Use tags when you would have normally used a folder. Scott says:
Yes! The search function is so powerful, it is often faster to search for a note than to navigate through a tree of folders
- Capture whiteboard brainstorms in meetings (will recognize your handwritten text). Scott says:
My students with disabilities have become infamous on campus for snapping pictures of whiteboards. This saves time (and frustration for the students with learning disabilities), and the snaps can be annotated.
- Use the inbox for quick capturing and have an action in your task management system to process it however regularly you need to… Scott says:
This can be done very quickly, since you can select a number of notes and bulk process them (tagging, merging, or sending to a notebook)
When you get really geeky with Evernote
- Automate agendas in Evernote
- Use Drafts app to prepend / append notes on a given topic (our kids’ “firsts” notes, research ideas)
- Use TaskClone to capture and sync to dos with your task manager
- Katie Floyd’s Article on Evernote and Hazel
- Save Kindle highlights into Evernote
Recommendations
Scott recommends
Bonni recommends
Closing credits
Celebrate episode 50 with us!
Please call 949-38-LEARN and leave a message with a take-away you've had from listening to Teaching in Higher Ed, and a recommendation.
May 14 2015
39mins
Rank #9: Creating Immersive Learning Experiences in Online Courses

Ric Montelongo describes how he creates immersive learning experiences in online classes on episode 191 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
If you experiment, look at what support your institution has to offer.
—Ric Montelongo
Technology isn’t limited to online classes.
—Ric Montelongo
Be very mindful of privacy — not everyone likes to be recorded.
—Ric Montelongo
Resources Mentioned
- Episode 163 with Stacy Jacob
- GoPro HERO6 Black*
- Roller Coaster Database
- Roller Coaster POV Ride GoPro Example
- Salsa, Soul, & Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age – Juana Bordas
- Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs)
- Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs)
- SHSU Online
- SHSU Digital Education Summit
- Texas A&M University Galveston Campus & Hurricane Ike 2008
- Hurricane Harvey Blog post for ACPA 2018 Convention
- Virtual Reality – CBS This Morning
- Planet Money podcast
- Marketplace podcast
- VoiceThread
RECOMMENDATIONS
FlipGridRECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Educate yourself on the capabilities and limitations of the action cameras you're interested in.
RECOMMENDED BY:Ric Montelongo
Salsa, Soul, & Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age by Juana Bordas
RECOMMENDED BY:Ric Montelongo
Feb 08 2018
36mins
Rank #10: Professional Online Portfolios

Today’s guest, Dr. McClain Watson, at University of Texas at Dallas, advocates for the importance of our students being able to: “ convince people in the professional world that they 1) know what they’re doing, 2) can be trusted, and 3) are interesting to be around?” On today’s episode: Professional Online Portfolios.
Guest: McClain Watson
Clinical Associate Professor, Director of Business Communication Programs Organizations, Strategy and International Management
Bio: http://jindal.utdallas.edu/faculty/john-watson
Resources
- Episode 101: Public sphere pedagogy with Thia Wolf
- Going public with our learning
- What are POPs?
- A Domain of One’s Own on UMW site
- University of Wisconsin – Stout rubric for assessment e-portfolios
Sample portfolios
- http://danyalahmed93.wix.com/portfolio
- http://andreacastanedae.wix.com/andycastaneda
- http://olasaleh.weebly.com/
- http://nathanblumenthal.weebly.com/
- http://luzechanove.wix.com/misitio
- http://thomasjmckee.com/
- http://guohaoyue1990.wix.com/howardguomusic
- http://edq130030.wix.com/elainequayle
- http://adrianhovelman.wix.com/pop2
Are You Enjoying the Show?
- Rate/review the show. Please consider rating or leaving a review for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast on whatever service you use to listen to it on (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.). It is the best way to help others discover the show.
- Give feedback. As always, I welcome suggestions for future topics or guests.
- Subscribe. If you have yet to subscribe to the weekly update, you can receive a single email each week with the show notes (including all the links we talk about on the episode), as well as an article on either teaching or productivity.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Blog: Meaningful, moral, and manageable? The grading holy grail, Betsy BarreRECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Album: Disintegrator by Daniel Markham
RECOMMENDED BY:McClain Watson
Album: Delusions of Grand Fur* by Rogue Wave
RECOMMENDED BY:McClain Watson
Jun 20 2016
35mins
Rank #11: How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching

Josh Eyler shares about his book How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching on episode 231 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
Part of the purpose of college is to help students develop the skills to ask really great questions.
—Josh Eyler
People are conditioned to fear failure.
—Josh Eyler
How do we build in opportunities for mistakes and errors?
—Josh Eyler
Part of the work of college is to help our students figure out what they find meaningful in their lives and pursue that.
—Josh Eyler
Resources Mentioned
- The Scientist in the Crib, by Alison Gopnik, Andrew N. Meltzoff, and Patricia K. Kuhl*
- The Gift of Failure, Jessica Lahey*
- Robin DeRosa on Teaching in Higher Ed
- Hoda Moftosa on Teaching in Higher Ed
- Retrieval practice
- Video: Why is Math Different Now
- What the Best College Teachers Do, by Ken Bain*
EPISODE SPONSOR
TextExpanderRECOMMENDATIONS
How to Take Great Photos on Your Smart PhoneRECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
The Hungry Mind, by Susan Engel *
RECOMMENDED BY:Josh Eyler
The Scientist in the Crib, by Alison Gopnik, Andrew N. Meltzoff, and Patricia K. Kuhl,Â
RECOMMENDED BY:Josh Eyler
The Gift of Failure, Jessica Lahey *
RECOMMENDED BY:Josh Eyler
Being Wrong, Kathryn Schulz *
RECOMMENDED BY:Josh Eyler
Nov 15 2018
37mins
Rank #12: Gifts for Learning and Productivity

Dave and Bonni Stachowiak share ideas for holiday gifts on this special 181st episode of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Resources Mentioned
- Greetabl* (15% off link)
- Blinkist* (free trial)
- Kindle*
- Audible* (2 free books + 30 days free)
- Article on digital reading
- Amazon Fresh* (free trial)
- Blue Apron*
- Acuity Scheduling* (free trial)
- Sanebox* (free trial and $15 off)
- Apple Watch
- Apple AirPods
- The Way to Stop Spinning Your Wheels on Planning
- Best Year Ever course*
Are You Enjoying the Show?
Rate/review the show. Please consider rating or leaving a review for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast on whatever service you use to listen to it on (Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, etc.). It is the best way to help others discover the show.
Give feedback. As always, I welcome suggestions for future topics or guests.
Subscribe. If you have yet to subscribe to the weekly update, you can receive a single email each week with the show notes (including all the links we talk about on the episode), as well as an article on either teaching or productivity.
Nov 30 2017
35mins
Rank #13: Recipes for Effective Teaching

Elizabeth Barkley shares recipes for effective teaching on episode 263 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?
—Elizabeth Barkley
Teaching and learning is a complex process that involves the interaction of human beings.
—Elizabeth Barkley
We can never go into a classroom with a completely rigid script.
—Elizabeth Barkley
Resources Mentioned
- Interactive Lecturing: A Handbook for College Faculty*
- Learning Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty\*
- Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty\*
- Collaborative Learning: A Handbook for College Faculty (2nd Edition)\*
- The Joy of Cooking\*
Elizabeth Barkley is an expert consultant for ACUE on the following course modules:
- Checking for Student Understanding
- Using Active Learning Techniques in Small Groups
- Planning an Effective Class Session
- ACUE Community article: The Importance of Checking for Student Understanding
RECOMMENDATIONS
How to Get Out of a Battle of Wills With Your KidRECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Ask “Why is this important to you?”
RECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Remember: You are not alone
RECOMMENDED BY:Elizabeth Barkley
K. Patricia Cross Academy
RECOMMENDED BY:Elizabeth Barkley
Jun 27 2019
31mins
Rank #14: Teaching Lessons from Course Evaluations

Dave Stachowiak and I talk about teaching lessons from my course evaluations on episode 165 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
I hope students realize that I’m learning too, and I’m willing to grow and change and adapt.
— Dave Stachowiak
Is there anything worthwhile you can glean from this [evaluation] that can make you a better teacher?
— Bonni Stachowiak
Resources Mentioned
- Betsy Barre talks about Research on Course Evaluations in Episode #089
- The Lean Startup* by Eric Ries
- On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss* by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler
- Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher* by Stephen Brookfield
- Stephen Brookfield’s Critical Incident Questionnaire
- Gardner Campell’s APGAR for Class Meetings
Are You Enjoying the Show?
Rate/review the show. Please consider rating or leaving a review for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast on whatever service you use to listen to it on (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.). It is the best way to help others discover the show.
Give feedback. As always, I welcome suggestions for future topics or guests.
Subscribe. If you have yet to subscribe to the weekly update, you can receive a single email each week with the show notes (including all the links we talk about on the episode), as well as an article on either teaching or productivity.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Keep a digital and a physical encouragement folder and use them, liberally.RECOMMENDED BY:Bonni Stachowiak
Use the Stop-Start-Continue model to get feedback from students.
RECOMMENDED BY:Dave Stachowiak
Aug 10 2017
43mins
Rank #15: How to take a break

Five faculty members share how they are spending their breaks and what recommendations they have for how to take a break…
Podcast notes
Ten things to do instead of checking email, by Natalie Houston (guest on episode #034)
How to take a break
- David Pecoraro from the Student Caring podcast
Heading to Fresno for son's swim meet
Reading: Building social business, by Mohammed Yunus - Christine – teaches part time. Fighting with insurance companies over the break. Dealing with snow days.
- Nicholas – teaches in Doha, Qatar (pronunciation of Likert scale)
“My spring break is already over, but I spent it learning how to use ScreenFlow so I can help my MA students learn to use Zotero better.” - Doug McKee from the Teach Better podcast
Two week break from teaching at Yale
Microsoft Word in review mode
PDF expert 5 on the iPad
Screencasting with Quicktime on the Mac (record screen and do light editing) - Sandie Morgan from the Ending Human Trafficking podcast
Engaging with others in diverse communities to combat human trafficking
Expand circles of influence
Connect app
Recommendations
David Allen on the Coaching in Higher Ed podcast
Closing credits
Please consider rating or reviewing the podcast via your preferred podcast directory. It is the best way to help others discover the show (gotta love algorithms).
Mar 19 2015
19mins
Rank #16: Interactivity and inclusivity can help close the achievement gap

Viji Sathy and Kelly Hogan describe how inclusivity can help close the achievement gap on episode 197 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
How do I communicate that their work ethic was actually more important than innate ability?
—Viji Sathy
When I first started teaching, I thought the classroom had to look a certain way.
—Kelly Hogan
The attention span of a class goes down the larger the class size.
—Kelly Hogan
Making a mistake is a big part of learning.
—Kelly Hogan
The more you do it, the more you start to see opportunities for improvement.
—Viji Sathy
Resources Mentioned
- Course in Effective Teaching Practices
- Why We’re Speaking Up About Inclusive Teaching Strategies on ACUE’s ‘Q’ Blog
- www.inclusifiED.net
- PollEverywhere
- Getting Under the Hood: How and for Whom Does Increasing Course Structure Work? (Eddy & Hogan)
- Classroom sound can be used to classify teaching practices in college science courses
- SF State researchers create new tool that measures active learning in classrooms
- Loud and Clear: Study details tool to help professors measure how much active learning is happening in their classrooms.
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Mar 22 2018
46mins
Rank #17: What the best college teachers do

Ken Bain describes What the Best College Teachers Do…
PODCAST NOTES
Guest: Ken Bain
President, Best Teachers Institute, Ken Bain (Twitter: @kenbain1)
“Internationally recognized for his insights into teaching and learning and for a fifteen-year study of what the best educators do”
“His now classic book What the Best College Teachers Do. (Harvard University Press, 2004) won the 2004 Virginia and Warren Stone Prize for an outstanding book on education and society, and has been one of the top selling books on higher education. It has been translated into twelve languages and was the subject of an award-winning television documentary series in 2007.”
He was the founding director of four major teaching and learning centers.
WHAT THE BEST COLLEGE TEACHERS DO
Many will be familiar with What the Best College Teachers Do… If not, press stop, and get your hands on it.
What’s still the same, in the >10 years since the book was published?
“Ask engaging questions that spark people’s curiosity and fascination that people find intriguing…”
What’s changed, if anything?
- More definition around the natural critical learning environment
- Started with 4-5 basic elements
- Since then, they have identified 15 different elements…
- Deep approach to learning; deep achievement in learning
[Good teaching] is about having students answer questions or solving problems that they find intriguing, interesting, or beautiful. (Ken Bain)
Learner isn’t in charge of the questions. Teacher can raise questions that the learner will never invent on their own.
Need to give learners the same kind of learning condition and environment that we expect as advanced learners.
[As an advanced learner, asking for input from colleagues]… I would expect an environment in which I would try, fail, receive feedback… and do that in advance of and separate from anybody's judgment or anyone's grading of my work. (Ken Bain)
Bonni's introduction to business students are listening to the StartUp Podcast and making recommendations to the founders in the form of a business plan
The tone that you set in the classroom matters
We often teach as if we are God. (Craig Nelson)
Need to recognize the contingency in our own knowledge.
As advanced learners in our respective fields, we are interested in certain questions, because we were once interested in another question. (Ken Bain)
Another important study by Richard Light at Harvard asked: What are the qualities of those courses at Harvard that students find most intellectually rewarding?
When he published his initial results:
- High, but meaningful standards… important to the students beyond the scope of the class.
- Plenty of opportunity to try, fail, receive feedback… try again… all in advance of an separate from any grading of their work
As a historian, could begin with: “What do you think it means to think like a good historian.” Think, pair, square, share… Would then have an article on hand that someone else had written on the topic. Ask them to look at that article to compare their own thinking with that.
What people are doing when they learn something is joining a community of knowledgeable peers. (Kenneth Bruffee)
Essential to this whole process is engagement
Harvard Professor: Eric Mazure, winner of the $500k Minerva Prize
Peer instruction
RECOMMENDATIONS
Think, pair, share (Bonni)
The girl who saved the king of Sweeden, by Jonas Jonason (Ken)
kenbain [at] usa [dot] com
Feb 19 2015
38mins
Rank #18: Make large classes interactive

It seems that the larger classes get, the more distant our students can seem. On today’s episode, Dr. Chrissy Spencer helps us discover how to make large classes interactive.
Even if you teach classes of 20, the resources she uses in her classes as large as 200+ will be of benefit.
Podcast notes
Guest: Dr. Chrissy Spencer, teaches at Georgia Tech
Ph.D., Genetics, University of Georgia
Active learning video: Turning students into chili peppers
The interactive classroom
- Learning Catalytics
- Prepared in advance a few slides that help clarify commonly misunderstood concepts
- Allowing students to fail or struggle with an answer
Interrupted case studies
- Traditionally a set of materials where there are specific stopping points built in
- Powerful, because students need to have their progress monitored and milestones achieved
- Bonni's case studies rubric
- Forming groups
- Catme team maker
Team-based, low stakes assessments
- Georgia Tech Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning workshop on team based learning
- Don't try team based learning half way
- Start small
Switching from clickers to Learning Catalytics
- Pearson's Learning Catalytics
- Strength in the types of questions that can be asked
- Bonni uses PollEverywhere
Flipped classroom
- Khan Academy
- Reinforce that reading ahead and reading in a particular way is important to making the class time in interesting ways
- Process called team based learning
- Lesson learned/ ignored: “start small and do things in a small and measured way”
- Evernote
- TopHat audience response system
Service learning
The way that students could apply learning from a content area in the real world and also give back to the community in some way (Chrissy)
- Identified project partners that met certain criteria
- Outside in the field
- CATME tool helped to determine who had cars
Recommendations
- The Dip (Bonni)
- Find something that you love and bring it in to the classroom (Chrissy)
Closing Credits
Dec 04 2014
Rank #19: Universal design for learning

Mark Hofer shares how he implements Universal Design for Learning in his teaching, so that all students have the opportunity to learn.
Podcast notes
Guest: Mark Hofer
Universal design for learning
Student, Tony, who helped Mark identify the need for Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
…gives all individuals equal opportunities to learn. – National Center on Universal Design for Learning
If you think about [the UDL] components as you're designing your course, you're going to wind up with better learning experiences for all your students. – Mark Hofer
Addressing concerns about UDL
We inadvertently put up barriers for our students in their learning.
Mark's compare and contrast example, written about on his blog
Get started incorporating UDL into a course
Step 1:
- What do I know that students struggle with related to this [topic or competency]?
Step 2:
- What kind of options could I include to help them with [those common challenges]?
It does take students some time to get used to the idea that there may be more than one way to [accomplish] something. – Mark Hofer
Guidelines
- Engagement – Mark is building his course around badges and experiences (through gamification and choice)
…goal is to try to make the learning as relevant and interesting to the learning, not just initially, but to sustain their interest in the learning… – Mark Hofer
- Representation – pulling together readings, videos, interactives, where you can choose the way to learn
- Action and expression – Mark is creating, for each project, 3 different options, all measured by the same rubric
While it is more [work] to select the various kinds of resources, it's paid back when in class the students are more prepared and we can go into further depth. -Mark Hofer
Getting started with UDL
- Peter Newbury describes getting started with peer instruction on episode #053
Don't try to do [UDL] for every lesson, every day; it's a recipe for burnout. – Mark Hofer
- Make sure all assignments aren't of the same type, over the course of a semester
- “Pick a topic / concept that you know that students struggle with and try to find a range of different materials and see if it makes a difference.” – Mark Hofer
Common misconception about UDL
- While technology can help you implement UDL, it isn't dependent on using it…
- UDL is an instructional approach and does not require technology
In relation to universal design
If you apply good accessibility practices to [course content], it will really benefit multiple learners in the process. – Mark Hofer
Recommendations
Bonni recommends:
Mark recommends:
- UDLcenter.org
- UDLoncampus – specifically for higher ed
- Luminaris Link Blog
Closing notes
- Rate/review the show. Please consider rating or leaving a review for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast on whatever service you use to listen to it on (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.). It is the best way to help others discover the show.
- Give feedback. As always, I welcome suggestions for future topics or guests.
- Subscribe. If you have yet to subscribe to the weekly update, you can receive a single email each week with the show notes (including all the links we talk about on the episode), as well as an article on either teaching or productivity.
Jul 23 2015
38mins
Rank #20: Your teaching philosophy: The what, why, and how

How to formulate, refine, and articulate your teaching philosophy.
Podcast notes
The academic portfolio: A practical guide to documenting teaching, research, and service by J. Elizabeth Miller
Miller provides examples of the narrative from actual promotion and tenure portfolios.
What is a teaching philosophy?
- Why we teach. Why teaching matters.
- Not just a formula for teaching structure, but the rationale behind the structure.
Why is having a teaching philosophy important?
Helps guide our teaching methods. Needed in the job hunting process. Typically part of the promotion/tenure process at most universities.
How to identify, articulate, & refine it?
Questions from The Academic Portfolio (p. 13):
- What do I believe about the role of a teacher, the role of a student?
- Why do I teach the way I do?
- What doesn't learning look like when it happens?
- Why do I choose the teaching strategies and the methods that I use?
- How do I assess my students learning?
Questions of my own that I have found useful in articulating my teaching philosophy:
- Who are my students? How I describe them says a lot about how I approach my teaching.
- Who am I, as an educator? How I describe myself says a lot about my teaching, too.
- What is teaching? Is the purpose to convey information, or to facilitate learning (or something else altogether)?
Planet Money episode about young woman becoming a business owner in North Korea.
- What are the artifacts of my teaching? Observable things.
- What would I see/hear/experience that would be evidence of those beliefs, if I was in your class?
- Espoused beliefs vs theories in use. Chris Argyris / Edgar Schein
Podcast updates
Thanks to Suzie RN for giving us our first iTunes review. We appreciate iTunes or Stitcher reviews from listeners, as it helps us get the word out about the show. Also, if you haven't done the listener survey yet, please do. That will help us continue to make the show better meet your needs.
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