Tea for Teaching

Justin Shaffer discusses increasing course structure in STEM classes, highlighting benefits for all students. Topics include scaffolding student learning, authentic assessments, active learning strategies, co-requisites in STEM majors, metacognitive skills, group quizzes, and student-led teaching in STEM education.

Faculty and administrators have been faced with new challenges and opportunities as higher education adapts to a rapidly changing environment. In this episode, SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. joins us to discuss strategies that colleges and universities can adopt to navigate a successful path forward. After graduating from Harvard, Dr. King acquired a Master's degree from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, and taught high school social studies. He later co-founded Roxbury Preparatory Charter School and served as a co-Director for five years. Under his leadership, students in this school attained the highest scores of any urban middle school in the state and closed the racial achievement gap. After acquiring his doctoral degree from Columbia and a law degree from Yale, he served as New York State’s Education Commissioner from 2011 to 2014. Dr. King left NY for a while to work in the Obama administration as Deputy Secretary of Education from 2015 to 2016 and joined Obama’s Cabinet as Secretary of Education from 2015 to 2016. Following his work in the Obama Administration, Dr. King continued to advocate for increased educational equity and access as President and CEO of the Education Trust. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Recent trends in dormitory construction have provided students with more private space and less shared space. In this episode, Shelagh McCartney joins us to examine the reasons for this trend and discuss the effect these changes have on student persistence and success. Shelagh is a licensed architect and urbanist and an Associate Professor and Director of the Together Design Lab at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University.  She is the co-author with Ximena Rosenvasser of “Not Your Parents’ Dorm Room: Changes in Universities’ Residential Housing Privacy Levels and Impacts on Student Success.” A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Explore strategies to expand faculty participation and build community in educational development. Learn about fostering creativity, supporting vulnerable faculty, and addressing challenges in networking and emotional labor.

Graduates from a small number of elite private colleges account for a disproportionate share of America’s business and political leaders. In this episode, John Friedman joins us to discuss his recent study with Raj Chetty and David Deming that examines how admissions criteria at these institutions privilege students from high-income families. John is the Briger Family Distinguished Professor of Economics and International Public Affairs at Brown University, where he is the chair of the Economics Department. He is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and has served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council. John is also a member of the U.S. Treasury Council on Racial Equity, a co-Editor of the American Economic Review, and a founding Co-Director of Opportunity Insights. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Authors Adaira Landry and Resa Lewiss discuss their new book MicroSkills, offering practical advice for navigating professional environments. They delve into collaborative writing, workplace struggles, academic emergency medicine, self-care, networking, communication, and building reputation. The book emphasizes inclusivity, vulnerability, and storytelling for success beyond formal education.

In the last few years, a growing number of state and local governments have attempted to limit diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and to place restrictions on what students are allowed to learn. In this episode, Kevin Gannon and Cyndi Kernahan join us to discuss strategies that can be used to resist these attacks on education. Kevin is a history professor and the Director of the Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence at Queen’s University of Charlotte. He is the author of Radical Hope: a Teaching Manifesto, which is available from West Virginia University Press. Kevin also appeared in 13th, the Netflix documentary on the 13th amendment. Cyndi is a Psychology Professor and the Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls. She is also the author of Teaching about Race and Racism in the College Classroom: Notes from a White Professor. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Lillian Nave, coordinator at Appalachian State University, discusses her implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in a first-year seminar course. Topics covered include the importance of accessibility, global collaboration, stepping out of comfort zones to create a diverse learning environment, the ThinkUDL podcast, and the opening of a new campus at Appalachian State University.

As we enter this spring semester, we take a break from our usual format to discuss what we are looking forward to in 2024. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

A growing number of faculty have been experimenting with ungrading. In this episode, Emily Pitts Donahoe joins us to discuss her ungrading approach and the documentation of this process on her blog. Emily is the Associate Director of Instructional Support at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Lecturer in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Mississippi. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.