A Word on Teaching

Dr.  Gabriel Ruiz-Saxon.

  In this episode, UIW professor of philosophy Paul Lewis discusses creating thought-provoking assignments.  Noting that university courses have many goals ranging from information transfer to encouraging the practice of thinking, Lewis focuses on that latter aspect of teaching.  He suggests that we carefully craft assignments that invite students to make personal yet thoughtful connections to course material. Lewis is a leader of UIW's “Core Activation Project,” and provides examples of assignments from that effort.“Does the Digital Classroom Enfeeble the Mind?” by Jaron Lanier  https://uiwtx.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A237391065/LitRC?u=txshracd2623&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=3d8b00cc     

In this episode, Lucretia Fraga talks about how to build courses where students   engage with content and collaborate with each other --and where instructors can have an ongoing sense of students'  progress. She also shares some wisdom about handling phones in classes. While Lucretia shares some useful tech tools, most important are her comments on building a community of learners. This episode is a little longer than some in this series, so if you need to break it up, 17.50 is a good spot. Here are the two podcasts Lucretia mentioned:                https://teachinginhighered.com/episodes/                  https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/pod/

Dr. Shaylon Rettig, UIW's medical director, points out that uncertainty is an important cause of stress.  So even though the COVID pandemic seems to be easing, it still brings uncertainty--and stress--to our lives.  Dr. Rettig suggests combating this stress moving forward with our lives--and offers practical strategies for doing this. He also describe early signs of problematic levels of stress and explains how to make a confidential referral.For more information on managing stress, see WebMD:  https://www.webmd.com/

LinkedInLearning is a collection of16,000  expert tutorials on  a wide variety of topics, what might be called "an academic YouTube."  Terry Peak, an instructional designer, and Ron Washington, an associate profession in the HEB School of Business and Administration, describe how they use these short tutorials in their courses.  Possible uses include introductory material to prepare for a class session and tutorials on broader topics like writing and informational literacy.  In addition, the business school has integrated LinkedinLearning into a four-year career readiness program for all their majors. UIW faculty can access LinkedinLearning through Cardinal Apps.HEB School of Business  Career Readiness Program Plan https://www.uiw.edu/hebsba/students/career-ready/program-plan.html 

Deepti, Kharod, an assistant professor in the Dreeben School of Education, discusses the many dimensions of play.  While her scholarship emphasizes the benefits of play for young children, here Dr . Kharod stresses its benefits in our teaching and our professional lives. She points our that play helps lower emotional barriers to learning and  supports  risk-taking.  Her session includes practical ways to bring playful approaches to teaching in many disciplines.Additional resources:Stuart Brown's TED Talk  "Play Is More Than Fun" https://www.google.com/search?q=stuart+brown+ted+talk&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS917US917&oq=Stuart+Brown&aqs=chrome.2.0i433i512j0i512l2j46i512l2j0i512l5.16560j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8Stuart Brown's book  Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul https://www.amazon.com/Play-Shapes-Brain-Imagination-Invigorates/dp/1583333789David Elkind's book The Hurried Child  https://www.amazon.com/Hurried-Child-25th-anniversary/dp/073821082XBoth books are also available in UIW's Mabee Library.  

Allison, McWilliams, an Assistant Vice President at Wake Forest University, discusses mentoring.  Since these relationships have been around since the days of the Ancient Greeks, the term mentoring has  a rich range of meanings.  In addition to exploring definitions, Dr. McWillliams offers suggestions on how strategies from mentoring work can can be applied to teaching.  She also points out that in culturally diverse environments, a network of mentors may be a good  choice. And while a real fan of deep mentoring relationships, McWilliams also points to the power of brief "mentoring moments." For more reading:The Mentor Leader by Tony DungyFive for Your First Five  by Allison McWilliams 

In his interview, chemistry professor Brian McBurnett discusses the importance of personal relationships in learning.  He describes  strategies for helping students  relate to their classmates, their instructors, and the content.  Coming from a quantitative discipline that sometimes frightens students, McBurnett illustrates ways to help students see the real-word applications of chemistry.  His strategies, of course, can be applied in many academic areas. Resources Mentioned in This Episode:"The Extraordinary Chemistry of Ordinary Things," C. H. Snyder"Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed the World," P. LeCouteur and J. Burreson