Since I first heard about the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), I’ve been intrigued by this area of research.

I was copied on a Tweet this week from Nick Byrd, asking about where to find empirical studies and experiments about education practices/outcomes.

Tweet from Nick Byrd regarding his search for empirical studies and experiments about education practices/outcomes.

Someone replied to his request with this article from The Association for Psychological Science, which seems like a helpful resource.

However, I had a much longer reply that has been formulating in my mind since he first inquired. In this post, I’ll explore the broad area of study surrounding the effectiveness of education, as well as some of the subdomains under the broader research area that I find particularly interesting.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

The broad area of this kind of research tends to fit under the domain of The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (or #SoTL on Twitter).

In researching items for this blog post, it would seem that #SoTL also has something to do with cigars (unrelated to our discussion of #SoTL). It can be unfortunate when a hashtag gets some overlap like that, but it was easy enough to skip over to focus on items of particular interest to me. To skip over any cigar references, the newly-established #SoTLchat hashtag is solely focused on conversations around the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Anyone interested in pursuing this research area may benefit from this article with “Advice for New SoTL Researchers” from the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL). Another good starting point is this related discussion on Good Practices in SoTL.

Getting a background on the ethics involved in conducting this form of research is also important. The University of Calgary provided this overview of their ethical review of their research on teaching and learning.

In attempting to answer Nick’s question, I knew that I would be insufficient to address the wide-ranging areas that this body of research explores.

I’m going to discuss some of the parts of the scholarship of teaching and learning that I’ve read the most about. I also encourage you to browse the current and past issues of the Journal of Teaching and Learning Inquiry to find those topics that provide the most interest for you.

Research on Learning

At the risk of oversimplification, most of us want to know whether or not what we are attempting to do in our teaching is actually going to work. Or, if we’re already convinced of the benefits to our experimentation, we may come across skeptics who want to know the efficacy of our recommendations.

Past episodes of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast that most relate to these questions are:

1. Episode #094 with Pooja Agarwal on retrieval practice. “When we think about learning, we typically focus on getting information into students’ heads. What if, instead, we focus on getting information out of students’ heads?” The Retrieval Practice website is full of resources for exploring the research behind this approach to teaching.
2. Episode #072 with Robert Bjork on cognitive psychology also emphasizes retrieval practice, as well as the role that forgetting plays in our learning.
3. Episode #132 with Saundra McGuire on how to teach students how to learn. Her background as a chemistry professor had her continually seeking ways to support her students in their learning. Her interview with ACUE helps us understand “what changed the trajectory of her research and scholarship.”
4. Episode #069 with Meg Urry on correcting mental models shares approaches we can use to help our students grasp complex information. As a professor of physics and astronomy, she recognizes that “real learning takes time,” and offers a prescriptive checklist for solving problems to help students think more critically.
5. Episode #135 with Sarah Rose Cavanagh on her book, The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion discusses the role that emotions play in learning.
6. Episode #062 with Rebecca Campbell on the power of mindset. She shares on the episode, “It isn’t about teaching differently, but about framing the conversation differently.” She also describes ways to help students achieve more of a growth mindset, based on the research.
7. Episode #047 with Todd Zakrajsek provides similar information as the episode with Rebecca, only this time regarding metacognition. He describes it as “thinking about thinking; knowing when you know.”
8. Espidoes #037 with Tine Reimers did a deep dive on the research that explores approaches to developing critical thinking skills. The show notes include Tine’s taxonomy of some of the critical thinking theories and suggestions for how to grow critical thinking in our students.
9. Episode #016 with Josh Eyler looks at biology, the brain, and learning. On the episode, he provide a framework for a biological basis of learning and recommends resources from Harvard’s graduate school of education on the mind, the brain, and education.

Books Worth Reading on Related Topics

In addition to the books that were highlighted in the episodes, above, I also must mention two of my favorite reads related to teaching and learning.

• What the Best College Teachers Do, by Ken Bain
• Small Teaching, by James Lang

While both books are written in a less-formal tone than an academic journal article would be, they are based on extensive research on teaching and learning and have references to their primary sources, should you want to dive deeper than they do on any approach.

Your Turn

I know I have just skimmed the surface with this post, but it is time to get back to the writing I’m doing on my book. Now you probably know why I didn’t feel I could tackle this in 140 characters on Twitter, though.

What are others exploring about the scholarship of teaching and learning? How do you address those who are skeptical as to the effectiveness of some of our teaching methods? What resources did I miss that can help Nick familiarize himself more with this body of research?

As I've written about previously, I am writing a book this summer. It's my first book. I've written a dissertation, before, and there are certainly parallels. But, it's my first time having such a strict timeline to get it done, and to have my work be a part of a series of books.

Our academic year is over, and I'm officially into summer. While I find such joy in teaching, it is always a relief to have a break and be renewed for the next season of teaching.

In my process of conducting a monthly review, I always select a theme for the coming month. In May, it was writing. For June, I had also selected writing.

However, I am reconsidering.

As overused as the concept is, I'm starting to think that my theme should be balance. Yes, I need to write a book. And I want to write a book. But, I also realize this is a precious season for our children and I am fortunate to be able to spend a bit more time with them during the summer than I can during the academic year.

I write all of this to explain why I am working at not feeling guilty when I get distracted by something fun. I don't have to be constantly focused in order to achieve my goals for this season. The pace of my days doesn't have to be as relentless as it can often be during the academic year.

To that end, here are some wonderful distractions I've been experiencing in recent weeks. When I wasn't writing, of course…

Doodling for Academics

All the way back on Episode 17, Janine Utell recommended a wonderful book called a Dear Committee Members: A Novel, by Julie Schumacher. I devoured it right away and have since bought copies for multiple colleagues who I thought could use a more humorous look at parts of our work.

It made me all that much more excited that the author was coming out with an adult coloring book. Doodling for Academics: A Coloring and Activity Book allows Julie Schumacher to continue to keep us laughing and not taking ourselves too seriously. My mom bought me a copy and I have been enjoying leafing through the pages and chuckling over the common dysfunctional ways of our own institutions and of higher ed, in general.

HubSpot’s HTML Email Signature Creator

Another recent find involves less laughter and more beautiful design. I found HubSpot, a website that allows you to build a gorgeous HTML signature for your email for free. There are some paid services that do this for you, but I'm reluctant to pay a monthly subscription fee for something like this.

I wanted a signature that could live inside my email client and not on someone else's servers. One of the important questions to ask whenever something is supposedly free, is what am I giving up and exchange for this benefit I'm looking to receive.

I was asked to give up some demographic information and my email address in exchange for my new signatures. The company sells website and marketing services and I know I am potentially going to be marketed to in the future. They have sent one email over the course of the last few days with a link to a white paper. They do provide an easy way to unsubscribe from their emails and seem to comply with the Can-Spam Act properly.

If you have some basic HTML skills, you can make modifications to their code in your email client. In fact, you may be able to achieve the desired result us by typing directly in to the signatures text editor of your email client, after you copy and paste your signature.

Using a Different Email Client: In My Case – AirMail 3

When it comes to email, most people either stick with whatever email client their institution uses (such as Microsoft Outlook), or whichever one is the default on their computer (such as mail, on the Mac).

After listening to Katie Floyd and David Sparks talk about alternatives to email clients on Episode #303 of the Mac Power Users, I decided to finally take the plunge. I read a lot of articles, and finally landed on that using Airmail on both my Mac and on my iOS devices.

Forbes’ Anthony Karcz makes the case for why Mac users should consider using Airmail 3 as our email client of choice. I’ve been delighted at the gorgeous user interface and some of the small touches, like being able to send an email later (only works on certain email services, like gmail or Office 365), and the integration with my task manager of choice: OmniFocus.

NPR's Wow in the World Podcast

Dave (my husband) and I frequently joke that our kids are going to grow up thinking that every adult in the world has a podcast.

• Daddy has Coaching for Leaders…
• Mommy has Teaching in Higher Ed…
• Mrs. Sandie has Ending Human Trafficking…
• Mr. Stephen has Stephen Explains the News…

While the kids do get to listen to their fair share of music in the car, until now, they never knew of the existence of a kid-oriented podcast.

NPR launched their Wow in the World podcast about a month ago. It is entertaining for kids and adults and is a big hit for our family. They describe Wow in the world as:

…a new way for families to connect, look up and discover the wonders in the world around them. Every episode, hosts Mindy and Guy guide curious kids and their grown-ups away from their screens and on a journey. Through a combination of careful scientific research and fun, we'll go inside our brains, out into space, and deep into the coolest new stories in science and technology.” -NPR

Here is our son’s review of the Wow in the World podcast, in his own words:

He sounds like he is making a paid endorsement for Wow in the World. Trust me. NPR doesn't know we're doing this and with how good it is, they don't need our help.

Your Turn

What have been some fruitful distractions for you, as we head into summer? 

When I was preparing my promotion and tenure portfolio in 2010, the resource I used more than any other was the book:

The Academic Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Documenting Teaching, Research, and Service, by Peter Seldin and J. Elizabeth Miller*.

The first half of the book lays out a structure for how to approach documenting one's development in higher education, while the second half contains samples of portfolios from faculty in various disciplines.

While I am not actively working on a portfolio at this time, I have enjoyed continuing to read teaching philosophies that various faculty include on their websites/blogs.

Teaching Philosophy Inspiration

Ryan Cordell's teaching philosophy is inspirational, both in the way he describes his approaches and also from the examples he links to of how his teaching philosophy gets realized.

Jeffrey W. Murray asserts that we should consider non-traditional ways of developing a teaching philosophy, if we find ourselves too constrained by the standard format.

Adam Croom's talk on Openness Without Penalty cautions us to avoid thinking of every possible educational technology as a prescription for effective teaching. He states:

In fact, I would go further and say that not every technology is congruent with every teaching philosophy. As an instructor I’m not a neutral entity; I teach my subjects the way I want to teach them. Similarly, technologies are not neutral as they, too, have biases that have been implicitly or explicitly built into them and their uses.”

Elizabeth (Betsy) Barre takes the courageous route of articulating how love may even enter into our teaching philosophies. She also describes the ultimate benefit of a liberal arts education as she writes:

A truly liberal education, on the other hand, provides students the motivation, information, and tools necessary to “liberate” themselves from the dictates of authoritative truth—academic or otherwise. This means, incidentally, that I am just as concerned about avoiding proselytization as my colleagues. If my teaching philosophy prioritizes any values, they are the values that provide the foundation for intellectual diversity. Thus, the primary goal of normative debate in my classroom is to encourage students to learn how to think for themselves. In the end, they may accept the value of authority and continue to hold the positions they held when they entered the classroom. The hope, however, is that they will have secured better reasons for doing so. Put simply, my central concern is not what my students think, but whether and how they do so.”

Jeffrey Wiese describes in his statement of teaching philosophy how he went through four phases of a teacher, from trying to show medical students how much he knew to when he was able to follow his father's example and become more of a coach (which he describes further on episode #096 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast: The Clinical Coach).

Finally, one area of content that I didn't explore in my first academic portfolio that I hope to include in my one for full professor is regarding how my teaching philosophy has been shaped by others who have taught me. Gardner Campbell has modified his recent syllabi by adding a dedication. This is the way he acknowledges those who have been what he calls “a cloud of witnesses” around him in his teaching.

Gardner shares:

These are the people whose work has shaped me, and who have shaped my work. In the most intimate cases, these are people with whom I’ve broken bread. People with whom I’ve fought, and cried. People who’ve believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself, people who’ve encouraged me, people who’ve intervened at key moments. People who are with me as I think and write and teach and learn.

I have always felt that the courses I design and lead, at their best, do not deliver content so much as they mingle souls, as John Donne said letters do.

Your Turn

I know I have missed a plethora of wonderful examples of teaching philosophy statements that faculty have placed online. If you have links to share of other teaching philosophies that have resonated with you, please share them in the comments or via email.

As I begin to compose this blog post, my browser has more tabs open than I think I've ever had open at one time before. I've bookmarked 30+ articles about digital literacy the past couple of years, with each post linking to a plethora of additional resources on the subject. My goal in this post is to increase our literacy about the topic of digital literacy.

My Quest

I want to write a post about digital literacy, as a means of recapping my conversation with Mike Caulfield that was published last week.

The Trouble

It is so challenging to even just begin by defining digital literacy, let alone to begin to discuss some of the criticisms of the more popular publications on the topic.

My Compromise

Instead of trying to give readers a thorough exploration of the topic (Mike Caulfield admitted on Twitter that his Digital Literacies: Which One? post was initially intended to be just a few hundred words, but before he knew it, quickly grew into thousands), I'm going to introduce a few places to get started with the subject.

Digital Literacy: A Definition

JISC defines digital literacy as:

Digital literacies are those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society.”

They go on to explain:

Digital literacy looks beyond functional IT skills to describe a richer set of digital behaviours, practices and identities. What it means to be digitally literate changes over time and across contexts, so digital literacies are essentially a set of academic and professional situated practices supported by diverse and changing technologies. This definition quoted above can be used as a starting point to explore what key digital literacies are in a particular context eg university, college, service, department, subject area or professional environment.”

Lest I leave you assuming that this is the agreed-upon definition for digital literacy, there are as many definitions as there seem to be publications on the subject. Belshaw cautions us about the ambiguity that emerges, when we refer to digital literacy.

Belshaw's TEDx talk on the essential elements of digital literacy provides a wonderful overview:

Essential Frameworks

There are a few frameworks that are critical to understanding the ways in which we might think about digital literacy. Some of these frameworks focus on domains, while others are more tool/skill-oriented.

• Developing Digital Literacies from JISC
• Digital Literacy: An NMC Horizon Project Strategic Brief (though also reading this critique of the brief is helpful)
• ALL ABOARD: Digital Skills in Higher Education
• The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies
• Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education from ACRL

While not specific to solely digital literacy, I do think Mozilla's web literacy map is worth exploring, as well.

Domain-Specific Sites

As Mike Caulfield asserted, a big part of increasing our digital literacy is improving our knowledge within the specific domain being evaluated. Here are just a few resources to help with that endeavor:

• Politifact
• SciCheck
• Quote Investigator
• Snopes

Next Steps

There are two specific ways I plan on taking action on what I have been learning about digital literacy. I plan on sharing the ALL ABOARD digital skills framework with the faculty development committee I chair, as a means of brainstorming on possible breakouts for our annual Fall faculty gathering. I also hope to introduce students to some relevant domain-specific sites that could support them in increasing their own digital literacy. Like Mike Caulfield, I also hope that these types of sites continue to grow.

What steps are you taking in developing your own or someone else's digital literacy?

I was helping a student get prepared for a job interview yesterday. She said that half of her time at the company was going to be spent in a one-on-one interview, while the other half of the time would be devoted to an assessment of her Word and Excel skills.

She admitted to not being adept at Excel, but touted her Word skills, since she had been using it extensively in her current internship. I inquired as to whether or not she knew how to set tabs. She said she knew how to “tab over,” but didn't even know what I meant when I asked about “setting” a tab.

I have the utmost confidence in her ability to do well on the interview. She will quickly be able to learn more of the word processing and spreadsheet skills she needs and the organization she's interviewing with will have an exceptional intern.

However, it did get me thinking about the most common features in word processors that many faculty don't utilize, which ultimately make their work harder in the long run.

Here are the most essential features I recommend you leverage, when using a word processor:

Use Styles

If you've written an academic paper, or a manual of some kind, you've likely made use of headings and subheadings. However, most people don't know that you can create a style in your word processor that, when applied, automatically places that formatting on a given line/paragraph. There are some built-in styles in most word processors, which you can modify at any time to have the look-and-feel that you want.

This documentation shows you how to create styles in Microsoft Word, but you're only a search away from discovering how to use styles in whatever word processor you happen to use.

Here's a video of how to create styles in Microsoft Word from Lynda.com*.

Auto-create a Table of Contents

Once you have styles set up in your document, it becomes incredibly easy to auto-create a table of contents in your document. After you auto-create a table of contents, you can come back later and right-click and choose update, to have the table of contents reflect any changes you have made in your document since you first created it.

Here's how to auto-create a table of contents in Microsoft Word.

This video shows you how to quickly create a table of contents, and incorporates a review of applying styles, as was discussed, above.

Insert Page or Section Breaks (Versus Pressing Enter a Bunch of Times)

When you want to move down to a new page in your document, many people are tempted to accomplish this goal by pressing enter a bunch of times. The problem with this is that, if you make changes to your document down the road, your page breaks will all likely be shifted a bit and your pages will not appear as you originally desired.

Instead, if you insert a page break, or a section break – new page, you can be assured that no matter what changes you make to the document, a new page will appear where you originally intended. Section breaks are helpful if you want to have a different page numbering scheme (like roman numerals at the start of a document that then move into regular numbers), or if you want each section of a document to have a different header (like perhaps the name of the chapter or section of a document). Page breaks can be inserted and also can be deleted, if you change your mind later.

Here's the documentation on how to insert a page break in Microsoft Word.

Below is a short video on how to insert a page break in Microsoft Word.

Next Steps

Those are just three features in a word processor that have a lot of leverage, but it is really just the beginning of finding ways to save yourself time. I've found that the website Lynda.com* has plenty of video tutorials to help me work more effectively with many different technology tools. Here's a referral link* that will allow you to receive a free, 2-week trial to their service*, which I highly recommend.

Your Turn

What features do you consider most essential in getting the most out of a word processor?

I was honored to get to speak with Lina Gomez for the Utopistica YouTube television show, from the Universidad del Este, Puerto Rico, a few weeks ago.

Utopística, programa de discusión y análisis que procura constatar la realidad como precondición para la formulación de alternativas verosímiles de futuro

Lina asked challenging questions that really got me to reflect about how my experience with Teaching in Higher Ed has changed my teaching, since June of 2014, when it launched. Their professional setup for the show made me really wish that we had a green screen in our home studio.

It looks like I'm shaking my fists in anger (or celebration?) in the still shot for the video. Instead, I'm imitating myself playing the Ellen Head's Up game (without using my iPad as a prop).

The interview is in English.

Resources Mentioned During the Interview

• Attendance2 app
• Retrieval Practice
• PollEverywhere
• Ellen’s Heads Up Game with Custom Decks
• Research in Action Podcast
• Plickers
• Sticky Notes as a Teaching Tool
• Peer Instruction episode with Peter Newbury
• Harold Jarche: Personal Knowledge Management
• Episode with Ken Bain
• Episode 100: The Failure Episode
• Inbox Zero episode
• Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
• Music’s Role in Our Teaching
• Choose Your Own Adventure Assessment
• Episode with Linda Nelson on Specifications Grading

Paul Simon

I also reminisced about how one of my college professors got me to learn more about history by playing Paul Simon before and after classes.

As most of you who have been listening to the Teaching in Higher Ed for a while already know, I'm a huge fan of podcasts.

I still chuckle when I recall this segment of This American Life when Alex Bloomberg shares about his Nielsen families fallacy, as well as the woman who received a special gift from trained monkeys.

And who could forget:

Xing

I'll never look at crossing signs the same way, again.

I've been having fun catching up with The Revisionist History Podcast (thank you, Roger Heuser). Revisiting the movie, Memento, with the Very Bad Wizards was great fun, too. I still could listen to them talk about Mr. Robot on every single episode and not be left wanting, though…

This week, something amazing happened in my podcast listening universe. Someone came out with a podcast that combines my passion for teaching with my love of audio storytelling.

Mike Wesch just launched LIFE101 – Real stories about real students seeking a real education.

The Chronicle shares highlights from the first episode, though I won't even attempt to capture what's happening in a single headline.

When this professor got into a frat party, a line of people formed to take selfies with him: https://t.co/HKGFrHt6lg

— Chronicle (@chronicle) August 28, 2016

As I went down a delightful rabbit trail on Mike Wesch's YouTube channel, I came across his animated story called The Sleeper:

Take three minutes out of your day to watch it.

Here's what I hope you didn't miss:

1. The moral of the story isn't that the student stopped sleeping. He didn't.
2. Mike hasn't ever animated anything before. This video is his first attempt. He regularly puts himself into the role of learner, to have better empathy for his students and to become a more effective teacher.
3. There's a shift that can occur when we go from thinking a student's behavior is about us (our teaching, etc.) to perceiving that just maybe it's about her… And some part of her that isn't instantly evident…
4. The student he shares about is a real person. Not a caricature  of “kids today…”

Mike is perhaps most famous for his video entitled A Vision of Students Today… It's been viewed over 5 million times and shown in plenty of faculty workshops.

I'm looking forward to episode 2 of LIFE101 and all that will be released after that. If you listened to his first episode, I would love to read your reflections in the comments.

 

We just started our semester this week. My second day of classes begins tomorrow. It has been fun getting to know our students a bit and experiencing all the energy and chaos that a new academic year can bring.

Here is what I've got “packed” in my bag for the start to school:

Grit-It Organizer

I discovered the Grid-It organizer a couple of years ago and have found it extremely helpful in not leaving things behind in the classroom. One of my colleagues will tell you that as recently as yesterday, I left my adapter behind in the classroom. But, it sure doesn't happen nearly anywhere near as often as it used to… And I make sure and label everything I might potentially leave behind, to lessen the likelihood of losing items forever.

Poll Everywhere

This polling service has been my go-to tool for helping the students discover the power of retrieval practice. I get by with the free version, which allows for up to 40 anonymous respondents at one time. While I do have times in the classroom when we are device-free, there's something about starting a semester by encouraging the students to take out their phones and to engage in that manner that surprises them.

Wireless Presenter

My preference is to move about the classroom, without being stuck behind a laptop to advance my slides. While I know there are now options to advance slides on one's Apple Watch or mobile phone, I still have a preference for a wireless presenter remote. I own two different types of wireless presenters, which I like equally well. As long as they fit easily in my hand and I'm unlikely to accidentally press the button to advance a slide when I didn't intend to, they work great for me.

Apple Pencil

I've been a user of various stylus devices for decades now. Apple Pencil is hands down the best one I've ever used. I use a blended learning approach in most of my classes. I typically don't lecture in the in-person classes, but instead create what I call pencasts (which are videos of me talking about a topic, while drawing like a seven year-old, images that make the main points much more memorable). The Apple Pencil glides across the iPad screen and allows for adding color and varying the pen/pencil thickness easily.

Doceri

The app that I have found most useful for capturing / creating pencasts is Doceri. I first sketch out whatever the drawing is going to be for the pencast. Doceri is recording a video of my ever pencil stroke, for playback when adding in the audio portion. When I record myself narrating the drawing portion, I can pause the playback of my pencil strokes, as well as slow them down. I used to need to draw at the same time as talking, which I found to be incredibly difficult. Doceri and the Apple Pencil are game-changers for those who want to create pencasts.

What's “packed” in your bag for the start of your academic year? 

My apologies to those of you who prefer a bit more sophisticated reference to the movie Jerry Maguire… I'm coming off of more than a week with a nasty virus and may not be able to manage much more than this.

At 1:15 in the clip, Jerry says, “Help me, help you.”

That's what I'm asking you for today…

I've been airing Teaching in Higher Ed podcasts weekly since June 2014.

As I start thinking about summer of 2016, I wonder if I should keep going with the same pattern that I have been on, or perhaps modify my approach a bit during those months.

Help me, help you

Please consider getting in touch through the comments section, below, or if you receive this via email, you can just reply with answers to any of the following questions:

1. How could Teaching in Higher Ed best support your professional development over the summer?
2. How regularly will you be listening to podcasts over the summer?
3. What have been 1-2 of the episodes that we have aired so far that have changed your teaching in some way and how did they impact that change?
4. What's one area in your teaching or personal productivity that you are struggling with right now?

[reminder]Thank you for considering providing input as I consider how to approach summertime with Teaching in Higher Ed. [/reminder]

I know that many of you teach year round and appreciate hearing from you, as well, about your listening habits and episodes that have transformed  your teaching… 

This past week was definitely rewarding.

• James Lang wrote an article for The Chronicle of Higher Education about the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast that was edifying.
• Josh Eyler came back on the show to talk about teaching lessons from Pixar movies (episode #065). I think it was my 3 1/2 year-old son's favorite episode yet. [Disclosure: Our son only wanted to listen to the movie clips, though.]
• I got to speak to Ainissa Ramirez, a science evangelist who I had learned about on NPR's All Things Considered. The episode with her will air on Thursday, September 17.
• The Teaching in Higher Ed podcast was listed among the top 10 higher ed podcasts on itunes throughout the week.

It is so energizing to get to connect with people who are so committed to teaching and learning. I'm excited to think about what this next year in podcasting will bring.

If you have gotten something out of Teaching in Higher Ed, would you consider helping others discover the show by:

1. Forwarding James Lang's article about Teaching in Higher Ed to others who have a passion for teaching
2. Commenting on the article James Lang wrote with what has been your favorite episode of Teaching in Higher Ed, so that it might get additional exposure with those who read The Chronicle
3. Rating or ranking the show (https://teachinginhighered.com/itunes – it will take you into iTunes, where you can rate/rank it, or via whatever app/service you usually use to listen)

Thanks for being a part of the Teaching in Higher Ed community.

 

It's official. I'm on summer break. I'm also healthy enough to be back to exercising and hanging out with the kids.

My mind is full of all the things I would like to do during the break to make the 2015-2016 academic year better than this past one. I had a good time teaching, but just felt like I was running to keep up the entire time. People say that's normal with two small children at home, but I yearn for a bit more preparation to occur before diving back in again.

In the meantime, I do want to recharge my batteries and capitalize on the opportunities to try and learn new things. Here are a few actions I've taken in the past to try to turbo-charge my summer that have worked well:

Share a meal with someone in a different discipline

One of the many things I'm grateful for about getting to do the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast is all of the experts I get to talk to in such different disciplines than mine. At first, I was incredibly intimidated to speak with some who I only had the most  shallow understanding of what they teach. However, I'm glad I pressed on, as I've found I'm learning far more than I bargained for when the podcast began.

If you're not able to get together for lunch or dinner, perhaps try the next best thing.

Listen to a podcast in an entirely different discipline than yours

Doug McKee recommended the Very Bad Wizards podcast to me a few months ago. It is a dialog between Tamler Sommers (a philosopher) and David Pizarro (a psychologist). They describe themselves as people who “share a love for ethics, pop culture, and cognitive science.” They also are quite funny and crass (in the best way possible).

I've enjoyed being challenged by the few episodes I've listened to so far. One recommendation I would have for those of you who really want to maximize your learning is to review the show notes for an episode before you listen to it and read the articles they post before listening.

Watch something purely for the fun of it

As I mentioned on episode #049, I spent another week in May with a cold. There's something seriously wrong when you can't keep yourself healthier than the people who stick things they find on the ground in their mouths on a regular basis. One upside to being ill was the excuse to binge watch House of Cards, a Netflix original series.

Now I'm going to want to listen to some of Slate's podcasts about House of Cards, as I understand they have some experts come and and compare real-world politics with the fictitious politics in House of Cards.

[reminder]How will you be maximizing any time off you have to turbo-charge your summer? [/reminder]

I'm preparing to record episode 50 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast and I need your help.

Share a take-away and a recommendation for episode 50

Please call our podcast voicemail line and leave a message for the show. Share a take-away you've had from any of the episodes this past year and give one recommendation you have for other members of the Teaching in Higher Ed community.

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I will use as many of your messages as I can on episode 50 and we can all look forward to rediscovering some of the lessons from the show so far.

Top Ten Most Downloaded Episodes

(as of 4/14/15; the download counts fluctuate greatly, as new people discover the show)

1. #023: How to engage students in the classroom and online (guest: Jay Howard)
2. #015: How to get students to participate in a discussion (guest: Stephen Brookfield)
3. #034: Practical productivity in academia (guest: Natalie Houston)
4. #037: Developing critical thinking skills (guest: Tine Reimers)
5. #018: How technology is changing higher education (guest: Audrey Watters)
6. #036: What the best college teachers do (guest: Ken Bain)
7. #041: What to do before you act on all you've captured (co-host: Dave Stachowiak)
8. #028: How to see what we've been missing (guest: Cathy Davidson)
9. #030: Teaching naked (guest: Jose Bowen)
10. #032: Lower your stress with a better approach to capture (co-host: Dave Stachowiak)

Top Ten Blog Posts This Month

1. EdTech recommendations for the Mac Power Users
2. How to make a seemingly boring topic come to alive
3. HeadsUp game is a lively edtech tool
4. Find the right reference manager
5. Creating micro lectures for blended or online courses
6. Getting things done gets re-done
7. 5 apps that will help you be more organized in the new school year
8. How to apologize [as a professor]
9. How to develop library research skills in college students
10. The danger of making assumptions as educators

[reminder]If you prefer not to leave a voicemail, please consider adding a comment with your take-away and recommendation.[/reminder]

A few episodes ago, I recommended the podcast called Serial.

It is the first podcast that I have heard described as one you're going to want to binge-watch. The good news is that there haven't been that many episodes released yet, so you have plenty of time to catch up with the rest of us obsessed fans.

Lest you think that there's no practical value to listening as a professor, there are plenty of lessons in there about effective storytelling.

If you are just checking out the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast and blog, you won't likely experience quite as much suspense as you will if you listen to Serial. However, we have had some great guests agree to come on the show and share their wisdom.

Top five podcast episodes

1. Role immersion games in the higher ed classroom with Dr. Marc Carnes (author of Minds on Fire)
2. How to move a course online and other community questions with cohosts Bonni & Dave Stachowiak
3. How to get students to participate in discussion with Dr. Stephen Brookfield
4. Back to school episode with Dr. Sandie Morgan
5. How technology is changing education with Audrey Watters

Five essential blog posts

While the following blog posts aren't necessarily ranked via objective criteria, such as hits, they stand out as essential reads to those looking to better their teaching:

1. Creating measurable learning objectives
2. Cultivating character
3. Stop yourself from becoming a digital hoarder
4. Shaping first impressions in the college classroom
5. The dangers of making assumptions as educators

If you have just joined the community, the resources listed above are a great place to start. I hope you'll join the conversation happening in the comments section of each episode and blog post.