Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning

In this episode of 4 mini-interviews, we ask Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) staff John Foo, Jamie Kim, Rebecca Petitti, and Corey Ptak what’s been on their minds as they go about their work as educational developers. What dead ideas in teaching and learning are they encountering in their day-to-day work with instructors, in their reading and research? What are the underlying systemic issues perpetuating these dead ideas? And how are these developers addressing these challenges? Listen in to hear their responses. ResourcesColumbia Science of Learning Research Initiative (SOLER)Columbia Office of the Provost’s Teaching and Learning Grants"The Tyranny of Content: ‘Content Coverage’ as a Barrier to Evidence-Based Teaching Approaches and Ways to Overcome It" (Petersen et al., 2020) in CBE—Life Sciences Education“Facilitating Change in Undergraduate STEM Instructional Practices: An Analytic Review of the Literature” Henderson, Beach, & Finkelstein, 2011) in Journal of Research in Science Teaching “Four Categories of Change Strategies for Undergraduate STEM” (Henderson, Beach, & Finkelstein, 2011) in Accelerating Systemic Change in STEM Higher Education “Chemistry and Racism: A Special Topics Course for Students Taking General Chemistry at Barnard College in Fall 2020” (Babb & Austin, 2022) in Journal of Chemical Education CTL Teaching Transformations Reflection from Rachel Narehood Austin

Professor Leonard Cassuto discusses the lack of training for faculty teaching graduate students. Topics include the importance of student-centered education, restructuring teaching practices, consulting with students for feedback, and fostering a culture of communication and feedback in academia.

In this episode, we continue the conversation from our last episode on the topic of teaching development in doctoral education—this time from the student perspective! With co-host Caitlin DeClercq, Senior Assistant Director of Graduate Student Programs and Services at the Columbia CTL, we are joined by Columbia doctoral students Anirbaan Banerjee, Sara Jane Samuel, and Anwesha Sengupta. They share their experiences, thoughts, and advice on all things teaching development in doctoral education.

Drs. Benjamin Rifkin, Rebecca Natow, Nicholas Salter, and Shayla Shorter discuss the importance of teaching development in doctoral education. They explore the disconnect between graduate training and classroom expectations, the challenges of implementing teaching development courses, and the need for cultural change in higher education. They also emphasize the importance of making the value of education explicit to students.

Joanna Wolfe, Teaching Professor at CMU, discusses biases in teaching evaluations affecting women and faculty of color. She offers strategies for universities to mitigate biases in student evaluations, emphasizing the need for systemic changes in higher ed teaching.

Josh Eyler, author and Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Mississippi, recently posted a rebuttal on LinkedIn to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, in which he wrote, “Grade inflation is a monster that is often trotted out by folks who wish that grades were objective, accurate measures for both learning and rigor in the course. They're neither.” Today we speak with Josh to unpack this provocative quote and other persistent dead ideas around grading and grade inflation.ResourcesLinkedIn post by Josh EylerHow Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching (West Virginia University Press, 2018) by Josh Eyler“A Century of Grading Research: Meaning and Value in the Most Common Educational Measure” in Review of Educational Research (2016) by Susan Brookhart et al.  Forthcoming book: Scarlet Letters: How Grades are Harming Children and Young Adults, and What We Can Do about It (Johns Hopkins University Press) by Josh Eyler

How can we improve teaching AND support all the instructors who teach science courses for undergraduates? Today we discuss this question with Marielena DeSanctis, President of the Community College of Denver, and Cassandra Volpe Horii, Associate Vice Provost for Education and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Stanford University, who are co-authors of the article titled, “An Instructional-Workforce Framework for Coordinated Change in Undergraduate Education” (2023). Drs. DeSanctis and Volpe Horii discuss their framework—based on principles of justice, equity, and inclusion—which proposes treating all instructors (Visiting, Instructor, Teaching Assistant, Adjunct, Teaching Professor, TT/Tenured, Lecturer) as a unified workforce. Using the levers of governance, professional development, and reward systems, they offer institutions a path to significant improvement in the teaching of undergraduate science courses. Resource“An Instructional-Workforce Framework for Coordinated Change in Undergraduate Education” (February 1, 2023) by Mark Lee, Cassandra Volpe Horii, Ann E. Austin, Leanne Avery, Marielena DeSanctis, Noah Finkelstein, Emily Miller & Barbara Schaal in Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning

Dr. Michelle Miller, Professor of Psychological Sciences, discusses the undervaluing of teaching in higher education institutions and the need for change. She explores the damaging impact of learning styles and advocates for better course design. The concept of institutional courage is also explored, highlighting the importance of implementing changes despite pushback.

Cynthia Alby, Professor of Teacher Education at Georgia College, discusses why she believes AI will be the catalyst for the extinction of dead ideas in teaching and learning. Topics include reshaping assessment, promoting student-centered education, tapping into student interests, understanding the value of learning, teaching with passion, and fostering ethical thinking.

Have Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) actually created change in higher education teaching? Have they been able to demonstrate this change? How have their strategies evolved and how are they connecting with institutional priorities for larger scale changes? Today we speak with Mary Wright, Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning at Brown University and author of the newly released book, Centers for Teaching and Learning: The New Landscape of Higher Education (2023), for which she surveyed over 1,200 CTLs in universities across the U.S. In this episode, Dr. Wright helps answer these questions and dispels other dead ideas about CTLs. ResourceCenters for Teaching and Learning: The New Landscape of Higher Education (2023) by Mary Wright, published through JHUPress. Use promo code HCTL23 in the check-out for a discount (active through 7/7/24).