Teaching in Higher Ed

Students voting to extend the class time? Professors reporting that students are doing the reading for the course without threats or other forms of coercion? Today, in episode 21, Dr. Mark Carnes joins me to talk role immersion games in the higher ed classroom. Podcast notes Dr. Mark C. Carnes, Professor of History, Barnard College Author of Minds on fire how role immersion games transform college, published by Harvard University Press The classroom struggle before Reacting to the Past Your class was less boring than most. Role immersion games Reacting to the Past Audio from Faculty Perspectives video (through the 2 minute mark) Transcending disciplinary structures. Origins of the title of Minds on Fire What we give up as professors to make role immersion games work Contributions from other academic disciplines to Reacting to the Past Scalability Aspects of playing the games Competition Imagining what it’s like to be someone else “Teaching” civil disobedience You give up the control of knowing what the classroom is going to be like. Instead, you get the drama and, often, these moments of extraordinary student performances and transformations that leave you amazed. Queen’s College class did the India Reacting class. High attendance. All focused on it. While some skepticism is appropriate, our tried and true methods aren’t that fail safe. Structure is different, because the “slacker’s” peers are counting on him/her. They can’t hide out like they can in other classes. Becoming someone different from who you are Recommendations Serial podcast (Bonni) Google “Reacting to the Past” videos (Mark) Reacting to the Past website Reacting to the Past consortium Closing Credits Review on iTunes or stitcher to help others discover the show Weekly update /subscribe Feedback

In this episode, Dave Stachowiak joins me to answer community questions. Podcast notes Bonni gives an update on lessons from cheating lessons episode with James Lang Community Questions Gilbert asks: How do I engage students in discussion boards? WordPress.com A domain of one’s own (talked about on episode 18 with Audrey Watters) Use different mediums to mix it up each week Engage in some meaningful way with at least one other person YouTube’s creator studio A listener asks: How do I take an in-person class and put it online? Revisit learning outcomes Revisit assessments Treat content as “chunks” or assets Leverage existing and customized content A listener asks: What do you elearning authoring systems do you recommend? SCORM-compliant courses (sharable content object reference model) Adobe Captivate Articulate’s eLearning Studio and Storyline TechSmith’s Camtasia Screenflow Recommendations Dave recommends Lift app The name of this app has since been changed to: https://www.coach.me/ Bonni recommends Post-it Plus app Show credits Please consider writing a review or rating the show on iTunes or Stitcher, to help others discover the show. Subscribe to the weekly update: www.teachinginhighered.com/subscribe Give feedback: www.teachinginhighered.com/feedback

Catching a student cheating can evoke all sorts of feelings: frustration, disappointment, anger, ambivalence. In episode 19 of Teaching in Higher Ed, Dr. James M. Lang joins me to talk about lessons learned from cheating. Podcast notes Our reactions to cheating Disheartening experience Feels personal You’re the last thing on their mind. When a student is cheating… their cheating isn’t an assault on your and your values. – James M. Lang The reality of how many students are cheating in higher ed today [Cheating] is a long term and persistent problem in higher education. – James M. Lang The learning environment’s contribution to cheating A positive or a negative contribution The curricula The individual classes Reducing the likelihood for cheating Infrequent, high-stakes assessment Engage in more frequent assessment (with feedback) When students have the opportunity to retrieve knowledge from their mind multiple times, and then do something with it, the more likely they are to remember it. Service learning: helps foster students’ intrinsic motivation Offering unique learning experiences each semester Plagiarism vs cheating Both fall on a spectrum from easy/opportunity cheating to more planned Cheating and how learning works Academic integrity as something that has to be learned Knowledge: What is plagiarism? What’s a citation/source? Skill: Citing sources, etc. Value: Belief that it’s important and it matters Academic integrity campaigns: Involve your students Integrity at Lamar University Poster Project Advice for when we inevitably still encounter cheating Step back emotionally Have an educational response Report it when it happens Other cheating lessons Self efficacy: Carol Dweck’s research on mindset (video) Growth or fixed mindset Fixed mindset “I can’t write.” “I can’t do math.” Fixed mindset were more likely to report that they would cheat the next time “Learning is hard, but you’re capable of getting better.” “You say you worked hard on this.” Early success opportunities Recommendations Bonni recommends: James Lang’s Fullbright Specialist Program and speaking Jim recommends: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi gives a TED Talk on Flow: The secret to happiness Lessons for us in our lives, but also for how we approach our teaching Ending Credits Thanks again to James Lang for joining us for this important dialog on Teaching in Higher Ed. If you have found this show beneficial, please consider going on iTunes or Stitcher radio and rating or reviewing it. It helps others discover the show. Also, if you have topic or guest ideas, please visit https://teachinginhighered.com/feedback

Audrey Watters joins me for episode 18 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast to talk about how technology is changing higher education. Podcast notes Audrey Watters on Twitter Kassandra in Greek mythology Kassandra on Urban Dictionary Alan Levine @CogDog University of Mary Washington’s Maker Space The mythology Science and technology obsession We tend to not look at the past very well, in considering EdTech The history of teaching machines Predates computers Patents in late 1800s building devices that would teach people Teachers would be freed from lecturing and could be freed up to mentor and support students Educational psychology BF Skinner perhaps best known inventor of teaching machines The programable web Different model. Comes from the web. Rather than being just the recipients of knowledge, [students] now can be active contributors… building and sharing their own knowledge in a meaningful way. – Audrey Watters Constructing knowledge and sharing it with a network Reevaluating what we expect students to know and do How do we assimilate, how do we process, how do we share knowledge? Easier to participate as an academic in these new networks Privacy implications I know you you are and I saw what you did by Lori Andrews These digital tools demand our attention in a different way. – Audrey Watters There is a level of vulnerability that learning always involves, but it does take on a different level when we do it in public. – Audrey Watters The downside of having all student work live within the LMS Distractions abound Push notifications change what’s being demanded of us The Colbert Report Walter Mischel talks about his book “The Marshmallow Test” Audrey Watters writes about the new Apple Watch Digital literacy Mozilla’s digital literacy project University of Mary Washington’s A domain of one’s own Video that describes the Domain of One’s Own initiative Where to get started Mozilla’s digital literacy Audrey Watter’s EdTech Guide For educators For technology professionals Privacy and politics More than cheerleading Data and privacy The women and people of color gap in the EdTech universe Recommendations Bonni recommends Aziz Ansari defines feminism on letterman Audrey recommends Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas by Seymour A. Papert

Guest Dr. Janine Utell Bio Blog Profile on Academia.edu Study your own teaching Be a reflective practitioner Collect data on yourself Involve the students Teaching is something that is happening all of the time. – Dr. Janine Utell Bonni used Remind service/app to connect with her students to see if the song sung at the start of this This American Life episode was still in their heads, the day after we listened to it in class The Dip The Course of a Course, by James Athernon The trouble with course evaluations Failure can be a good thing to value. Failure, in terms of what didn’t work for me, but also failure on the students’ part. – Dr. Janine Utell Importance of taking risks in studying our own teaching and assessment Recommendations Bonni’s recommendation Use the B key when presenting with Keynote or PowerPoint Janine’s recommendations Dear Committee Members: A Novel, by Julie Schumacher Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your Classroom Will Improve Student Learning, by Jose Antonio Bowen Jose Bowen on Twitter

Biology, the brain, and learning Guest Dr. Joshua Eyler, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Rice University His Bio on Rice University’s Center for Teaching Excellence His Blog Follow Josh Eyler on Twitter Initial interest in the field of teaching and learning as a scientific enterprise What the Best College Teachers Do, Ken Bain Brain-based learning Amazing discoveries, but some limitations Gulf was created between the scientists and educators Cherry-picking results Too limiting, looks primarily at neuroscience and cognitive psychology The New Science of Teaching and Learning: Using the Best of Mind, Brain, and Education Science in the Classroom, Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa Framework for a biological basis of learning Bolster what we are learning from neuroscience to also include evolutionary biology and human development Context about anything that we are learning. The journey of an educator Doesn’t see students as subjects of experiments Understanding teaching and learning as a science, really created a bridge Prior knowledge – biological construct Mental models Learning from failure The expert blind spot Making assumptions about prior learning Advice for next steps Mind, brain, and education at Harvard’s graduate school of education The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching the Practice of Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning by James E. Zull What I find exciting is that we’re starting to ask different kinds of questions now. -Josh Eyler Guest post Josh wrote on MassMedievil.com Finally, nothing but a breath, a comma, separates us from our students–for we do not teach medieval literature, medieval art, medieval history, or medieval archaeology; we teach students about these subjects, about new ways to see their world through the lens of the past. Our field will continue to live and breathe only insofar as we dedicate ourselves to teaching it. And here I look to the wisdom of my dissertation director, Fred Biggs, who once told me that *everything* is a teaching activity—writing, presenting, publishing, but especially our work in the classroom, where we will teach hundreds and even thousands of students over the course of a career. The work we do with our students will push back the boundaries of our knowledge about the Middle Ages ever further, but to accomplish this we need to tear down the tenuous hierarchies of our classrooms—professor/student, expert/novice—and move forward together as fellow learners, engaging in projects together, teaching each other, finding meaning together in this moment—our own pause, our breath, our comma. Movie clip: “student/teacher… learners… not much really separates us.” – Josh Eyler Empathy is the foundation for all good teaching. – Josh Eyler Video clip of professors reading aloud negative student evaluations There’s a vulnerability in the teaching/learning interaction. Students put themselves in a very vulnerable place, willingly, when they say, ‘I don’t know that; please help me learn that.’ It’s almost sacred that they’re doing that. We have to take that and value it very highly. – Josh Eyler Recommendations Bonni’s: Overcast – a powerful yet simple iphone podcast player Josh’s: IMDb: Wit (2001) A renowned professor is forced to reassess her life when she is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. Faculty Focus newsletter Tomorrow’s Professor from Stanford University

Dr. Stephen Brookfield, an expert in facilitating learning in higher ed, discusses creating engaging and effective discussions. He highlights the use of fear as a motivator and the integration of Google Voice and Hangouts in teaching. The importance of researching student response to teaching methods is also emphasized.

Dave and I talk about how to deal with students that we perceive as difficult, engaging them in the learning experiences in higher ed. Podcast notes Engaging difficult students in higher ed Guest: Dave Stachowiak Dave and I talk about how to engage students that we perceive as difficult. We start by describing the dangers in labeling people as difficult. Be cautious about focusing on the more challenging students, at the expense of the learner who is engaged and desiring to learn. Dave tells a story about how his chemistry teacher created a memorable experience for his students. Distinguishing students who don’t want to be there, but aren’t distracting other students from learning, and those who are barriers to others’ learning. Help students save face, when possible. Attempt to keep conversations one-on-one, unless there’s a compelling reason that the dialog needs to happen in the classroom community. Recommendations Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Shelia Heen Hear Shelia Heen talk on Dave’s Coaching for Leader’s podcast about her latest book about feedback The End Subscribe to the weekly update, receive the free Educational Technology Essentials ebook, and get an email each week with an article about teaching and the notes from each podcast episode. [reminder]What do you think about when you’re driving down the road? How do you try to engage your more difficult students?[/reminder]

Help classrooms become worthy of human habitation… a dialog with Chip Espinoza on generational cohorts, specifically millennials. Podcast notes Generations “We aren’t saying that all these people are the same, just because they are the same age.” “My desire is not to have a conversation about millennials, but have a conversation with millennials. I don’t want to have a conversation about professors; I want to have a conversation with professors.” Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain Millennials The “before” and “after” of teaching in the early 90s and today In the 90s – no one would look at a syllabus In the 2000s – more legalistic view of the syllabus Can tend to perceive that quantity and quality are equal Think that everything is negotiable (the most effective leaders and teachers of this generation enjoy the collaboration) Frustrations of working with this generation Teaching multi-generational audience: Baby boomers, GenX, and Millennials What did you think about the book you were assigned (Chip’s book)? “What’s your theoretical framework for saying it’s hogwash?” Characteristics Access to information – where subject matter experts come in Sage on the stage >> Allison King 1990s article to Guide on the side >> to Learning with… KickStarter campaign for getting Chip’s book into the hands of millennials Importance of immediate feedback Recommendations Managing the Millennials Millennials at Work Take the quiz iRobot Roomba

It that season again: A lot of new faces and a lot of new names. How to get better at learning students’ names.   Podcast notes How to get better at learning names Dave and I talk about the approaches we use to learn students’ names. Attendance2 iphone app on iTunes (iOS) There is an iPad app, in addition to the iPhone app, but they don’t sync/connect with each other. It is best to choose the device that you’ll have with you during each class session, to make the process of attendance tracking easier. SoundEver app on iTunes – saves audio recordings into Evernote Recommendations How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie  (Dave) Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other by Sherry Turkle  (Bonni references this book, in relation to Dave’s recommendation) Visual thinking talk by Giulia Forsythe – her bio on Twitter is great: “I work at a university supporting teaching & lifelong learning. I think in pictures. Doodling helps me be a better listener, problem solver and communicator.” Article: A learning secret: Don’t take notes with a laptop from Scientific American Counter-point article: Study proves why we need digital literacy education Pencast example from Bonni on marketing (created with a LiveScribe smartpen) Doodle breaks My visual notes from Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipine The End If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Teaching in Higher Ed weekly update. It comes out once a week and includes these podcast notes in your inbox, a weekly article on teaching in higher ed, and you’ll also receive a free Educational Technology Essentials ebook: 19 tools for efficiency and teaching effectiveness. Also, please send us feedback for podcast topics or guests. We can make these podcasts even better with your help. Note: These podcast notes contain affiliate links. We typically make around $10 a year through our referral links, though perhaps this year will generate more money than that. Maybe $12? We have not been paid for any of the recommendations we made on this post, or received any free products. However, many of my students have commented that the people over at LiveScribe should give me a free smartpen, given how many times I’ve talked about them in my classes. As of now, they’ve got me hooked, buying my own… Thanks for listening. Please tell a friend about Teaching in Higher Ed.