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). 

Emily Glover and Kyle Gordon, undergraduate Columbia University students and teaching and learning consultants, discuss the research on teaching and learning. They explore student engagement, assessment, debunking dead ideas in higher education, the benefits of being 'uncomfortable' while learning, and the importance of discussion-based classes at Columbia University.

How can instructors use research on teaching and learning to create change and tackle challenges in their courses? What can learning analytics tell us about student engagement and motivation in our courses? In this episode, we ask Samantha Garbers, Associate Professor in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, with guest host Adam Brown, Program Director of Columbia’s Science of Learning Research Initiative (SOLER). Professor Garber received a Provost's SOLER Seed Grant to work with Dr. Brown to explore how students are engaging (or not!) with course materials and resources.

Tara Harvey, Founder of True North Intercultural, defines Intercultural Competence as “the capacity to communicate and act appropriately, effectively, and authentically across cultural differences, both locally and globally.” In this episode, Dr. Harvey discusses how the research behind intercultural learning is unknown by many. She explains why intercultural development is so important in higher education, especially nowadays, for both faculty and students, and how it can be taught. ResourcesTrue North Intercultural ResourcesThe Intercultural Development ContinuumEducation in a VUCA-driven World: Salient Features of an Entrepreneurial Pedagogy (2022) by Varghese Panthalookaran

How should we educate students on the science of learning? Does this require systemic change? And do faculty have a moral obligation to teach students the processes necessary to succeed in college, in addition to the content in our fields? In this episode, we discuss these questions with Todd Zakrajsek, Associate Professor at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Director of the International Teaching Learning Cooperative, and author of The New Science of Learning, 3rd Edition (2022), a book for students on the science of learning. ResourcesThe New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony With Your Brain, 3rd Edition (2022) by Todd D. ZakrajsekTeaching At Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors, 5th Edition (2023) by Todd D. Zakrajsek and Linda B. Nilson