I'm reading a book for an upcoming episode of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast that has me reflecting on the choices I make in my pedagogy, particularly with regards to assessment.
It's written from a highly prescriptive perspective. Each section starts out with the authors' recommendation regarding various aspects of assessment.
- Should we give points for attendance?
- Is extra credit a good practice?
- Should late assignments be accepted?
Reflecting on Needed Changes
I have found myself agreeing with about 90% of their recommendations and wrestling with about 10% of their proposals. Each time I find myself mentally debating with them, I am able to revisit the rationale they give for their advice. Then, I discover that I am either more aligned with what they suggested than I originally realized, or I admit that I have some work to do in how I approach a given means of assessment.
Resources for Teaching Transformations
I was interviewed for the EdSurge podcast recently about how my teaching has changed since I first started the podcast back in June of 2014. I tried to discipline myself not to be too verbose regarding this particular set of questions. It would have been easier to answer how my teaching hasn't been changed from almost 200 conversations with such phenomenal educators.
I came across a number of articles in recent weeks that encompass a few of those transformational areas in my teaching that I wanted to share with you.
- Open Education Resources Applications from around the world
- Ten Key Points About Active Learning
- Another Terrible Idea from Turn it In
- Literature Review of Teaching
The more I learn about teaching, the more I discover the importance of being adaptable in our practice. Our collective humility is essential for becoming better able to serve our students.
Teaching in Higher Ed Transcripts
Episode 200 is coming in April. I'm excited to share a conversation with fellow educators about what we have changed our minds about regarding our teaching in recent years.
I was going to keep it a surprise until episode 200 airs, but have received such valuable feedback when I shared the news with others that I have decided to start spreading the news. The Teaching in Higher Ed podcast is going to have transcripts of every past episode and the ones going forward.
We are still working out the precise user interface that will be available to access the transcripts, but hope that it will make the podcast more accessible, as well as having it be easier to discover. Here's a couple of transcripts to whet your appetite for what is to come:
If you have any input in terms of making the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast transcripts as beneficial for faculty as possible, please get in touch with me.
My husband and I had already begun to invest our own money in this important endeavor. However, when I recently asked for input on the transcripts on the POD Network listserv, we were able to discover an unexpected partner to support us on the financial end of things.
The West Virginia University Press Teaching and Learning in Higher Education book series’ editor, James M. Lang, has been a regular guest on Teaching in Higher Ed since the beginning. Jim was on episode 19, episode 92, and episode 146 (with Ken Bain).
Many of the other WVU Press’s Teaching and Learning in Higher Education authors have also been on the podcast in the past. The series is providing financial support to make the first 200 episodes of Teaching in Higher Ed available in transcript form.
As a part of our partnership, other authors will be visiting the podcast throughout the rest of 2018, about once every other month. I am looking forward to making the transcripts available to all of you and to share about the wonderful resources on how to make our teaching more effective with the books in the WVU Press’s Teaching and Learning in Higher Education series.
Discount Code for Preorders of My Forthcoming Book
As I shared recently, my new book is now available for preorder. Use the code TPOP20 to receive a 20% discount at che
ckout for:
The Productive Online Professor: A Practical Guide
Bonni Stachowiak
Forward by Robert Talbert
Thrive Online Series
I will be doing some type of giveaway to those who preorder using the Stylus website, though I haven't quite figured out what that is going to be just yet.
Let's just say that Katie Linder's Academic Book Promotion Toolkit has given me plenty of ideas and resources to spark my imagination and then some.
