Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning

In today’s episode, Kevin Gannon, a Professor of History and Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Grand View University, discusses how the pandemic has highlighted “bedrock” flaws in higher education systems, including in faculty evaluation processes. These flaws, based on dead ideas such as emphasizing equality rather than equity, disproportionately affect marginalized groups. Dr. Gannon elaborates on the destructive potential of returning “back to normal” in these systems after the pandemic, and offers steps that faculty can take to best move forward. Gannon, author of the book Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto (2020), also shares what keeps him inspired and why he believes we should remain hopeful about the future of higher education. Transcript available at ctl.columbia.edu/podcastResourcesFaculty Evaluation After the Pandemic (June 9, 2021) by Kevin Gannon, The Chronicle of Higher Education Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto (2020) by Kevin Gannon

Today we speak with renowned teaching and learning theorist and thought leader Laura I. Rendón, a Professor Emerita at the University of Texas-San Antonio and author of the book Sentipensante (Sensing/Thinking) Pedagogy: Educating for Wholeness, Social Justice and Liberation (2009). As the pandemic nears its end, Dr. Rendón believes we are now in “nepantla”, or a liminal space of inquiry and possibility, regarding the future of higher education. As we return to campuses and classrooms, we need to deeply question what “normal” should be and make sure our pedagogical choices offer a “better” normal for all students, and especially for underserved populations. We need to ask ourselves what kind of an education students now need to help society and to solve our complex problems. We should be mindful of centering equity and inclusion in all of the learning experiences that students encounter.  Dr. Rendón discusses some of the entrenched beliefs that dictate the current culture of teaching and learning, and how they could be shifted to embrace a new vision of higher education. Transcript available at ctl.columbia.edu/podcastResourcesSentipensante (Sensing/Thinking) Pedagogy: Educating for Wholeness, Social Justice and Liberation (2009) by Laura I. RendónThe Four Agreements (1997) by don Miguel Ruiz Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College (2020) by Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert “Dead Ideas: Reflections for Post-Pandemic Learning” (June 2021, Inside Higher Education) by Catherine Ross, Amanda Irvin, and Soulaymane Kachani 

Welcome to Season 3 of Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning! We begin this season by turning the conversation around: our guest today is Catherine Ross, Executive Director of the Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning, and host of Dead Ideas. Catherine, interviewed by Ian Althouse, Senior Assistant Director at the Columbia CTL, shares why she decided to start this podcast—including her own “aha” moment—and what motivates and inspires her to continue the work of unpacking implicit assumptions in teaching and learning in higher education. Catherine also gives listeners a sneak peek of this season’s upcoming guests. In Season 3, we will focus on teaching and learning systems in the academy, and how they need to be changed. Topics include beliefs about rigor, the value of undergraduate education in research universities, how to generate systemic change in institutions, issues of equity, and how faculty are evaluated.  

In May 2020, two months after Columbia transitioned to fully remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we interviewed four Columbia undergrads about their experiences. Now almost a full year out, we wanted to check in again on the student experience and identify what dead ideas have surfaced in this extended period of disruption. In this episode, we speak with Sajan Bar, a junior in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Michelle Yao, a junior in Columbia College, who both serve as undergraduate teaching and learning consultants as part of the CTL’s Students as Pedagogical Partners initiative. They discuss community building, study practices, grading and assessment, and share what they hope will remain and what will be left behind as we move towards more face-to-face settings. Learn more at ctl.columbia.edu/podcast

In his 1993 article, “Teaching as Community Property: Putting an End to Pedagogical Solitude”, renowned educational psychologist Lee Shulman argued that if teaching were viewed as community property, rather than something that happens behind closed classroom doors, there would be more value placed on teaching and more rigor in the evaluation of teaching. In today’s episode, we unpack this argument and its underlying dead ideas with Columbia doctoral students Thomas Preston, Diana Newby, and Ami Yoon—all who have worked in multiple teaching capacities at Columbia University. They discuss how their experiences have led them to believe that collaboration has a range of benefits in teaching and learning. Learn more at ctl.columbia.edu/podcast

What are small steps instructors can take to teach inclusively? Where, when, and how should they be implemented? In today’s episode, we chat with the authors of the new book What Inclusive Instructors Do: Principles and Practices for Excellence in College Teaching (2021). These experts share approaches to conducting inclusive courses that are student-centered, community-based, and transparent, and discuss why these approaches are important—as well as the dead ideas that they debunk. Learn more at ctl.columbia.edu/podcast. Authors: Tracie Marcella Addy, Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning at Lafayette College (PA) Derek Dube, Associate Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Student Research and Creative Activity at the University of St. Joseph (CT) Khadijah A. Mitchell, Peter C.S. D’Aubermont, M.D., '73 Scholar of Health and Life Sciences and Assistant Professor of Biology at Lafayette College Mallory SoRelle, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University

What are the benefits of online education? What misconceptions or “dead ideas” do both instructors and students harbor about teaching and learning online? And how can online activities (both synchronous and asynchronous) benefit student engagement, community-building, and inclusion in the classroom? In today’s episode, we speak with Roxanne Russell, Director of Online Education at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, about all things online, including what she has learned from her students and the “aha” moment that inspired her to start her career in online education. Learn more at ctl.columbia.edu/podcast

Transcript What does the syllabus do? Who is it for? Why is it chronically unread? And how can it be written to foster an environment of trust and collaboration in the classroom? William Germano, Professor of English at Cooper Union, and Kit Nicholls, Director of the Center for Writing at Cooper Union, are authors of the book Syllabus: The Remarkable, Unremarkable Document That Changes Everything (2020). In this episode, they tackle these fundamental questions about the syllabus, and discuss how it serves as a starting point for addressing larger dead ideas about teaching, learning, and student engagement. Learn more at ctl.columbia.edu/podcast.

Jesse Stommel, co-founder of Hybrid Pedagogy: the journal of critical digital pedagogy and co-author of An Urgency of Teachers: the Work of Critical Digital Pedagogy, has not graded student work—in the traditional sense—in 20 years. Instead, he practices “ungrading”, a word which “...suggests that we need to do intentional, critical work to dismantle traditional and standardized approaches to assessment.” In this episode, Jesse unpacks why he supports ungrading (as well as the dead ideas that it challenges), and explains how it promotes student learning. He also shares steps that listeners can take towards ungrading in their own classrooms. Learn more at ctl.columbia.edu/podcast. Transcript

Beginning In 2007, Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons (VP&S) began to radically rethink their curriculum and assessment strategies for first and second year medical students. In today’s episode, we speak with Jonathan (Yoni) Amiel, Interim Co-Vice Dean for Education and Senior Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs at VP&S, and Aubrie Swan Sein, Director of the Center for Education Research and Evaluation and Associate Professor of Educational Assessment at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Jonathan and Aubrie discuss the changes they have implemented and the dead ideas they have encountered— especially around assessment—and how things have turned out thus far. Learn more at ctl.columbia.edu/podcast.