
Teaching in Higher Ed
Thank you for checking out the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast. This is the space where we explore the art and science of being more effective at facilitating learning. We also share ways to increase our personal productivity, so we can have more peace in our lives and be even more present for our students.
Latest episodes

24 snips
Mar 10, 2022 • 44min
Annotation is
Remi Kalir discusses his #Annotate22 project and the impact of annotation in the world on episode 404 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
Annotation is all around us.
-Remi Kalir
Annotation is an everyday literacy practice and you are an annotator.
-Remi Kalir
Annotation provides information.
-Remi Kalir
This is an act of public pedagogy.
-Remi Kalir
Resources
Annotation, by Remi Kalir & Antero Garcia
Crowdsourcing Ungrading, by David Buck – produced by the #UNgrading Virtual Book Club
On Grading, Efficiency, and Contingency – Chapter by Mary Klann in Crowdsourcing Ungrading
Remi’s blog post: #Annotation is (#Annotate22 January)
Remi’s blog post: #Annotation on (#Annotate22 February)
Annotation is a grade with criticism. An instructor grading Jacques Derrida.
Annotation is a dedication, a date, a flower. “I give this June day to Ms. Gordon Bottomley the inside of this book. Michael Field June 5, 1908” MD was a pseudonym for authors Gathering Bradley & nice Edith Cooper
Annotation is a threat and criminal. Note by Jacob Chansley written at desk of Vice President Mike Pence in the U.S. Senate chamber on January 6, 2021
Annotation on the Woolworth’s lunch counter. February 1, 1960, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond & Jibreel Khazan – The Greensboro Four – began sit-in protests
The #marginalsyllabus
Debbie Reese
Analyzing Race and Gender Bias Amid All the News That’s Fit to Print, by Sandra Stevenson (about Alexandra Bell’s redactions to New York Times headlines)
The “Radical Edits” of Alexandra Bell, by Doreen St. Félix
PubPub platform
The Emancipation Proclamation: Annotated
The Declaration of Independence: Annotated

Mar 3, 2022 • 36min
Demystifying Online Group Projects
Rebecca Hogue talks about Demystifying Online Group Projects on episode 403 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
Get rid of the competition and become a team player.
-Rebecca Hogue
Assume good intentions.
-Rebecca Hogue
Resources
Preparing Online Teams for Success, by Rebecca Hogue
Treehouse Village Ecohousing
Consolidated Recommendations on Teaching in Higher Ed
Demystifying Instructional Design
Miro
Trello
Google Docs
Google Slides
Camtasia
Microsoft Sway
Google Sites
Zoom

Feb 24, 2022 • 45min
Playful Learning and Virtual Escape Rooms
Rachelle O’Brien and Nicola Whitton talk about playful learning and virtual escape rooms on episode 402 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
Be open to putting yourself in a position to try something that can potentially fail.
-Rachelle O’Brien
Have an idea that you can explain in a sentence. If it goes beyond that, it is probably too complex.
-Rachelle O’Brien
Resources
PlayThinkLearn
Eduscapes
Episode 397 with Audrey Watters: Teaching Machines
Episode 72 with Robert Bjork: How to Use Cognitive Psychology to Enhance Learning
What is a Game, by Bernard Suit
Education Burrito – unwrapping the ‘fun in games’
O’Brien, R, E., & Farrow, S (2020). Escaping the inactive classroom: Escape Rooms for teaching technology. Journal for Social Media in Higher Education.
O’Brien, R, E. (2020). The Great Escape – Escape Rooms for Learning and Teaching. Durham University.
O’Brien, R, E. (2021). Finding creativity and taming the online activity beast. AdvanceHE.
Using games in Teaching
My journey to the end of the course (DEIDGBL)

Feb 17, 2022 • 37min
The Problem with Grades
Josh Eyler discusses the problem with grades on episode 401 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
The more we focus on grades, the less we focus on learning.
-Josh Eyler
The grades are not the end of the story. They are not even the bulk of your story. They are a chapter of your story.
-Josh Eyler
Resources
Episode 65 with Josh Eyler: Teaching Lessons from Pixar
Episode 231 with Josh Eyler: How Humans Learn
How Humans Learn, by Josh Eyler
The New Education, by Cathy Davidson
David Buck on Twitter
Ungrading, an Introduction, by Jesse Stommel
Evergreen State College Evaluation

Feb 10, 2022 • 47min
The Heart of a Teacher
Jeff Hittenberger helps Bonni culminate her 400th episode by talking about the heart of a teacher on episode 400 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
I had some assumptions coming into teaching
-Bonni Stachowiak
I never knew how much my textbooks cost.
-Bonni Stachowiak
I care about other people and that I like to make meaningful progress towards a goal, I try to celebrate those parts of me.
-Bonni Stachowiak
I think we are all just continually trying to figure stuff out. Nobody really has it all together.
-Bonni Stachowiak
An episode has aired every single week since June of 2014. That is a kind of discipline I feel grateful for.
-Bonni Stachowiak
I am on fire for how much more we can collectively learn and wrestle with together.
-Bonni Stachowiak
Resources
Coaching for Leaders (Dave Stachowiak’s podcast)
Episode 230 with Peter Kaufman – Teaching with Compassion
Rachel Held Evans
Podcast page where you can browse by category
Episode 208 – The 208 Backstory (more on Bonni’s journey into teaching)
Katie Linder

Feb 3, 2022 • 12min
Satire from McSweeney’s
Bonni Stachowiak shares some satire from McSweeney’s Internet Tendency on episode 399 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
I hope that brought you a little bit of laugher in what I do know is a difficult time for so many.
-Bonni Stachowiak
Resources Mentioned
How We Will Separate You From Any Lingering Hope and Other Important Topics of Today’s Faculty Meeting, by Julie Cadman-Kim: Shared with permission by McSweeney’s and the author Julie Cadman-Kim
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: Daily Humor Almost Every Day Since 1998
Prof Michelle Ryan’s tweet re: tl;dr papers website
Intramolecular interactions play key role in stabilization of pHLIP at acidic conditions, by Nicolas Frazee and Blake Mertz
“Scientists do experiments which are hard to do in real life, but easy to do in a computer. They use a computer program to make the experiment happen inside the computer. Scientists use this process to understand how things work. They use this process to understand how biology works, and how things that we use work.” – the tl/dr version

Jan 27, 2022 • 40min
Pedagogy of the Depressed
Christopher Schaberg talks about his book, Pedagogy of the Depressed, on episode 398 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
Just talking to students once or twice a week is so important.
-Christopher Schaberg
Resources
Satsuma mandarins
Pedagogy of the Depressed
@ass_deans on Twitter
Robin DeRosa’s website
The attention economy, by Jenny O’Dell
The Book of Delights, by Ross Gay
The Hundreds, by Lauren Berlant and Kathleen Stewart

Jan 20, 2022 • 48min
Teaching Machines
Audrey Watters shares about her book, Teaching Machines, on episode 397 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
When people try to erase history, they do that to foreclose hope.
-Audrey Watters
If we have a better understanding of the history of educational technology, there is hope.
-Audrey Watters
I do not think that the future is already written.
-Audrey Watters
Resources
Teaching Machines, by Audrey Waters
B. F. Skinner
The 100 Worst Ed-Tech Debacles of the Decade, by Audrey Watters
Edward Thorndike
Sal Khan
Behaviorism
The Teacher Wars, by Dana Goldstein
Photo of a Teaching Machine from TMI

Jan 13, 2022 • 35min
Contingency and Pedagogy
Amy Lynch-Biniek discusses the ways in which contingency can impact pedagogy on episode 396 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
To be a teacher in the 21st century, you also have to be a bit of an activist.
-Amy Lynch-Biniek
As teachers we have to find ways to advocate for ourselves, for our students, for our campuses, and for our classrooms.
-Amy Lynch-Biniek
We have to remind ourselves to speak with, not for, others.
-Amy Lynch-Biniek
Begin advocacy by listening.
-Amy Lynch-Biniek
Resources
Sandra (Sandi) M. Leonard
Paula Patch on Twitter
Alex Venet was on Episode 372, talking about Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education
Episode 272: Inclusified Teaching Evaluation with Viji Sathy and Kelly Hogan
Episode 89: The Research on Course Evaluations with Betsy Barre
Twitter Thread: Contingent faculty
Indianapolis Resolution
Conference on College Composition
Ungrading: An FAQ, by Jesse Stommel
Jesse Stommel
PlayForge’s Wooden Dice Spinner for RPGs

Jan 6, 2022 • 38min
The End of Burnout
Jonathan Malesic shares about his book, The End of Burnout, on episode 395 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
Quotes from the episode
The data seems to suggest that around half of workers are somewhere on the burnout spectrum.
-Jonathan Malesic
In our culture we put a lot of expectations on work to fufill us.
-Jonathan Malesic
We need to see work as the support to whatever is at the center of our lives.
-Jonathan Malesic
Resources
The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives, by Jonathan Malesic
Are We All Really Burning Out: Academic Burnout is Real – But Difficult to Diagnose, by Jonathan Malesic for The Chronicle of Higher Education
Christina Maslach
O.C. Berkley Faculty Page: Christina Maslach
How to Measure Burnout Accurately and Ethically, by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter
Paraphrasing Alain de Botton: Writing a book is like telling a joke and then waiting two years to find out if anyone thought it was funny
The Parking Lot movie
Miya Tokumitsu’s book: Do What You Love: And Other Lies About Success and Happiness
Ruha Benjamin
Kate Bowler
Fake Buddha Quotes
“You don’t have to like it. That’s why it’s called work” George Malesic 1933-2018