Professors Talk Pedagogy: Recent Episodes
Baylor University - Academy for Teaching and Learning
Today, our guest is Dr. Sarah-Jane Murray, professor of Great Texts and Creative Writing at Baylor University. Dr. Murray is scholar of Medieval and Renaissance texts. In addition to her doctorate in Romance Languages and Literatures from Princeton, Sarah-Jane completed a professional program in screenwriting at UCLA. Heavily involved in digital humanities and storytelling projects, she is an EMMY-nominated writer and producer who also teaches screenwriting and documental filmmaking in the Baylor’s Department of Film and Digital Media. Her body of collaborative work has played at major international film festivals and has been distributed by PBS, LinkTV, Amazon, and Netflix. At present, she is in post-production on her feature-length directorial debut (currently in post-production). Sarah-Jane’s writing, producing, and directing for short formats has also been recognized with over twenty international creative awards. Most recently, Sarah-Jane’s quest to break down barriers of access to engaging with the Great Texts while inspiring awe, wonder, and critical thinking led to the founding of her edumedia™ project, The Greats Story Lab™. We are delighted to have Dr. Murray on the show to discuss the well-formed (rather than well-filled) mind, film in education, and why we need stories.
Resources:
https://www.thegreats.org/
https://rtalbert.org/the-12-week-plan-for-building-courses/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjmurray/
Today, our guest is Dr. Michele Stover, lecturer in Chemistry and Biochemistry at Baylor University. Dr. Stover was selected to be a Baylor Fellow for the 2023-24 academic year, part of a cohort of faculty recognized for teaching excellence and charged to further experiment with their teaching and share their experiences with the broader Baylor community. Bringing her passion and experience as a high school teacher into higher education, Michele has experimented particularly with active learning pedagogies in large STEM courses as a way to increase student success. She has also served as Senior class co-leader for the William Carey Crane Scholars, a program for undergraduates exploring faith-animated learning and scholarship. We are delighted to have Dr. Stover on the show to discuss teaching technologies, treating students as whole persons, and much more.
Resources:
William Carey Crane Scholars
TopHat
Today our guest is Dr. Rebecca Flavin, senior lecturer in Political Science and director of Engaged Learning Curriculum at Baylor University. Dr. Flavin has research and teaching experience in constitutional law, the history of political philosophy, and American politics, particularly in the area of religion and politics. She is also co-author of a widely used textbook on Constitutional Law. Rebecca also serves as faculty advisor for Baylor’s Model United Nations. We are delighted to have her on the show to discuss the many permutations of engaged learning, how the teacher’s role changes based on context, and much more.
Resources: AACU High-Impact Practices
Today, our guest is Dr. Keith Sanford, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Baylor University. Dr. Sanford’s work research falls into three categories. Psychometric (techniques to develop and validate ways of assessing people); the influence of interpersonal relationships on health-related attitudes and behaviors, and discrimination and racial disparities in health. He teaches courses on data analysis and a course he developed titled "History of Psychology, Racism, and the United States." He is an enthusiastic experimenter in his teaching, using flipped learning and recording his own music videos to help students learn key material. Dr. Sanford is also a current Active Learning Lab fellow, selected in a competitive process to teach and reflect on pedagogy in one of Baylor’s premier active learning spaces. We are delighted to have Dr. Sanford on the show to discuss the journey of flipping a course, how music can help people learn, and wading into interdisciplinary teaching.
Resources: ForwardFaith.org
Today, our guest is Dr. Dave Bridge, Associate Professor of Political Science at Baylor University. Dr. Bridge researches American politics, American political and constitutional development, American public policy, judicial politics, and the Supreme Court. He teaches courses on American constitutional development, public policy and campaigns and elections. In 2022, 23 academic year, Dave was named an outstanding faculty awardee in teaching. And in 2022, he also received a Core Curriculum Virtues Recognition Award for his efforts to facilitate the development of the virtue of respect in his undergraduate courses. We are delighted to have Dr. Bridge, along with a special student guest, Noah Falk, on the show to discuss using games and simulations in teaching, developing virtues in our students and much more.
Jean Twenge, iGen
Today, our guests are a roster of Senior Fellows from recent years of our Baylor Fellows program. This fellowship recognizes professors across the disciplinary spectrum who exemplify excellence in teaching. Baylor Fellows are committed to a year-long process of pedagogical innovation, inspirational teaching, and the cultivation of these among Baylor faculty. We are delighted to have these great faculty on the show to discuss how pedagogical experiments take shape, what we can learn from colleagues in other disciplines, and thinking about your long-term trajectory as a teacher.
Today, our guest is Dr. Scott Cunningham, the Ben H. Williams professor of economics at Baylor University. Dr. Cunningham studies a number of topics including mental healthcare, sex work, abortion and drug policy. He is the co-editor of The Handbook for the Economics of Prostitution with Oxford University Press and the author of widely-read book Causal Inference: the Mixtape (which after several years, is still in Amazon’s top ten books in Economics and Statistics). On his Substack, Dr. Cunningham has been sharing his adventures with ChatGPT in his work, especially his teaching. We are delighted to have Dr. Cunningham on the show to discuss using artificial intelligence as a pedagogical partner, fostering students’ self-love, and much more.
Today, our guest is Nadine Welch, Associate Chair of Residential Academic Programs, Clinical Associate Professor, and Undergraduate Program Director in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Baylor University. Professor Welch researches augmentative communication and language and literacy disorders and teaches a range of courses in speech-language pathology, audiology and technology in communication and sciences and disorders. In the 2022-23 academic year, she was also a double award winner in her teaching. She simultaneously served as Active Learning Lab fellow and a Baylor teaching fellow. We are delighted to have Professor Welch on the show to discuss these fellowship experiences, supporting first generation students, and how the principles of Universal Design undergird nearly all she does.
Today our guest is Dr. Rishi Sriram, Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs, Graduate Program Director for the Department of Educational Leadership in the School of Education and Residential College Faculty Steward of Brooks Residential College at Baylor University. Dr. Shriram researches student affairs practice collaboration between academic and student affairs and college student retention, achievement and learning. He is currently at work on a book about the development of talent. We are delighted to have Dr. Shriram on the show to discuss where talent comes from, how students and instructors think about talent, and how higher ed faculty and student affairs can cooperate to improve student outcomes.
Today our guest is Dr. Hollylynne S. Lee, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Education at North Carolina State University. In Spring 2023, Dr. Lee is in residence at Baylor University as the recipient of the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching. Dr. Lee has secured millions of dollars in external and internal grant funding, and she has committed much time and energy to creating open educational resources, offering free online courses for educators from around the world, and sharing research-based multimedia materials via Creative Commons licensing. Her scholarship and writings include over 100 journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceeding papers, four co-authored books, and a co-edited book on Scholarly Practices and Inquiry in the Preparation of Mathematics Teachers. We are delighted to have Dr. Lee on the show to discuss teaching future teachers, creating resources for teacher development, and much more.
Today our guest is Dr. Michelle Herridge, post-doctoral fellow in stem education with the Academy for Teaching and Learning at Baylor University. Dr. Herridge has earned her PhD at the University of Arizona in chemistry with a minor in teaching and teacher education. She has worked in discipline-based education research since 2013 and has a BS in chemistry and a BS in sociology from Clemson University and an MS in chemistry from Missouri State University. Her research explores assessment and instructional practices, primarily in chemistry education and professional development for graduate teaching assistants and new faculty. She has taught in a variety of courses including Baylor Interdisciplinary Core’s Natural World Sequence, a science and integration course for pre-service teachers. We are delighted to have Dr. Herridge on the show to discuss recent developments in discipline-based education research, what excites stem college instructors, and what it's like to teach outside your area of expertise.
Today our guests are Drs. Amy Fleming (lecturer in music theory), Andrea Shepherd (Clinical Instructor at Louise Herrington School of Nursing), and Karenna Malavanti (returning guest and senior lecturer in psychology and neuroscience) at Baylor University. All three of our guests are recent fellows in Baylor’s Summer Affordable Course Materials Program, which offers Baylor faculty the opportunity to re-evaluate their course materials with an eye toward replacing required course materials with low- to zero-cost materials, such as open educational resources or OERs, in order to reduce the per-class costs for our students. We are delighted to have Drs. Fleming, Malavanti, and Shepherd on the show to discuss the inspiration, challenges, and impact of adopting, adapting, or creating affordable course materials.
Today our guest is Dr. Kelly Jo Hollingsworth, assistant professor of Elementary Music Education in the School of Music at Baylor University. In addition to her teaching in higher education, Dr. Hollingsworth has 17 years of teaching experience in early childhood and elementary school settings and worked with over 60 university students as lab students or interns in her classroom. Recently, Dr. Hollingsworth was recognized as Outstanding Faculty in teaching at Baylor. We are delighted to have Dr. Hollingsworth on the show to discuss the pedagogy of music, teaching future teachers, helping students take notes, what performing at Disney’s Magic Kingdom has to do with teaching, and much more.
Today, our guest is Dr. Becca Cassady, Graduate Writing Center program director at Baylor University. Dr. Cassady holds a PhD in rhetoric and composition from Baylor, with a dissertation exploring the ways writing consultants draw on prior knowledge when facing unfamiliarity in tutoring sessions. In her research, Dr. Cassady aims to identify ways to help writers and writing consultants approach writing as a subject to be studied and understood. In her current role, she directs a team of graduate writing consultants from across disciplines as they work with students on their writing and publications, offering feedback on writing projects and helping foster effective writing and publication habits. We are delighted to have Dr. Cassady on the show to discuss one growing area of her consultation work with graduate students: crafting teaching philosophy statements.
Today, our guest is Dr. Mikeal Parsons, Professor and Macon Chair in Religion at Baylor University. Dr. Parsons is a New Testament Scholar specializing in the Gospels and the book of Acts through the lens of rhetoric and literary criticism. Author or editor of over 30 books, Dr. Parsons has served as co-director of a Wabash grant for graduate student teaching. More recently, Dr. Parsons is a co-Principle Investigator on another Wabash-funded teaching project focusing on Pedagogical Practices and Faith traditions. We are delighted to have Dr. Parsons on the show to discuss graduate student training in teaching, the implications of religious backgrounds for teaching, and much more.
Today, our guest is Dr. Nicole Kenley, lecturer and director of first-year writing in the English department at Baylor University. Dr. Kenley researches detective fiction, contemporary American fiction, gender studies, and the literature of globalization. Recently awarded a University Teaching Exploration Grant, Dr. Kenley is piloting and researching the effectiveness of portfolio assessment for first-year writing courses. We are delighted to have Dr. Kenley on the show to discuss the pedagogy of writing, training writing instructors, grading and assessment of student writing, and much more.
Today our guest is Dr. Mojgan Parizi-Robinson, senior lecturer and director of the Learning Assistants program in Biology at Baylor University. Dr. Parizi-Robinson’s research focuses on intracellular signaling and pathways in wound healing and cancer. In addition to teaching human anatomy lecture and lab courses, she teaches a pedagogy course for biology learning assistants. This year (2022), Dr. Parizin Robinson was the recipient of the Collins Outstanding Professor award. We are delighted to have Dr. Parizi-Robinson on the show to discuss the role of struggle in learning, flipping her course, and teaching undergrads to help other students learn.
Today our guest is Dr. Trey Cade, Director of the Institute for Air Science at Baylor University. Dr. Cade came to academia after serving in the U.S. Air Force, specializing in weather and space. In 2015, Dr. Cade was selected as Baylor Fellow, a program recognizing gifted teachers and devoted to pedagogical experimentation. We are delighted to have Dr. Cade on the show to discuss teaching complex science to non-science majors, using history to teach science concepts, and more.
Today we have a special episode featuring a live recording of a recent seminar for excellence in teaching on the campus of Baylor University. The session, titled “Award winning faculty perspectives on teacher authority” was led by Nathan Alleman, associate professor of educational leadership, Byron Newberry, professor of mechanical engineering, and Sarah Madsen, doctoral candidate in educational leadership, all at Baylor University. These presenters shared fascinating original research on the relationships between faculty career stage and perceptions and uses of authority in teaching.
Today our guest is Sarah Mosher, Assistant Professor of costume design and technology in theatre Arts at Baylor University. She has an interest in universal design and design systems. Cultivating design thinking in students, and engaging with questions about design life cycles across disciplines. Recently, Professor Mosher participated in Baylor’s Paulo Freire Centennial, celebrating the founder of critical pedagogy, co-designing the celebration installation in the university library, and serving as a panelist discussing assessment in the fine arts and what she calls the pedagogy of autonomy. We are delighted to welcome Professor Mosher to the show to discuss the slippery work of assessing learning in the arts, Students’ fear and anxiety related to education ,and the journey toward critical pedagogy.
Today our guest is Dr. Mark Long, Director of Middle East Studies and Associate Professor in the Honors College at Baylor University. Dr. Long specializes in contemporary Islamic fundamentalism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and extremism in America. Before coming to Baylor, Dr. Long served eleven years on active duty as a Middle East analyst and as an instructor at the Air Force Academy where he taught Arabic and English literature. We are delighted to have Dr. Long on the show to discuss teaching in multiple contexts, the good and bad of addressing politics in the classroom, and his reflections at the close of his teaching career.
Today, our guest is Dr. Tammy, Adair, Senior Lecturer in biology and Director of course based undergraduate research in biology, and director of Baylor’s undergraduate research and scholarly achievement program known as URSA. Doctor Adair also teaches course based undergraduate research experience labs, such as the phage lab sponsored by HHMI and the Science Education Alliance. Her undergraduate researcher group, the M&M bears focuses on microbial genomics. We are delighted to have Dr. Adair on the show to discuss active and then experiential learning in STEM education and undergraduate research across the academy.
Today our guest is Dr. Karenna Malavanti, senior lecturer and neuroscience advisor in the department of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University. Dr. Malavanti’s research focuses on applied cognition and human memory, looking at issues of legal psychology such as eyewitness memory, and education, addressing issues such as study strategies. Recognized as a Baylor Teaching Fellow in 2018, Dr. Malavanti is active in the Society for Teaching Psychology. We are delighted to have Dr. Malavanti on the show to chat about teaching as an introvert, increasing your awareness as a teacher, reflecting on our teaching, and much more.
Today, our guest is Dr. Paul Martens, associate professor of ethics in the department of religion and director of interdisciplinary studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Martens holds a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and has published widely on John Howard Yoder and Soren Kierkegaard. Dr. Martens has been director of the Baylor ethics initiative, where he serves as Global Ethics Research Convener. We are delighted to have Dr. Martens on the show to discuss what is right and wrong about disciplines in the academy and why interdisciplinarity matters for researchers and students.
Today our guest is Dr. Brooke Blevins, the Conwell G. Strickland Endowed Chair, Associate Professor, and Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Baylor University’s School of Education. In 2017, Dr. Blevins was selected as a Baylor Fellow—a cohort of Baylor teachers recognized for excellence and stimulated for experimenting in their classrooms. She was also the senior fellow for the program in 2018. Dr. Blevins teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in secondary education, social studies education, and multicultural education. We are delighted to have Dr. Blevins on the show to discuss, infusing virtues into your classes, how civic education relates to politics, the differences between high school and college learners, and much more.
Today, our guest is Dr. DeAnna Toten Beard. Dr. Toten Beard is Professor of Theater History at Baylor University, where she teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate Theatre Studies courses. In 2012, she was named a Baylor Teaching Fellow, a recognition of great teaching with a cohort devoted to experiment in teaching. Dr. Toten Beard has also taught in the Baylor interdisciplinary core and is the past co-director of the Baylor in Oxford study abroad program. We are delighted to have Dr. Toten Beard on the show to discuss how place affects teaching, what students learn about themselves and each other and others when they study abroad. And much more.
Today our guest is Dr. Kara Poe Alexander, professor of English and Director of Baylor University’s Writing Center. Specializing in composition, rhetoric, literacy studies, and writing pedagogy, Dr. Alexander teaches undergraduate and graduate courses ranging from first year composition to travel writing to composition theory and pedagogy. She has published dozens of articles and book chapters on various aspects of teaching writing and teaching through writing. We are delighted to have Dr. Alexander on the show to discuss how the writing center fits in the mission of the university, why writing still matters, how to build on students’ writing skills throughout their college careers, and much more.
Today our guest is Dr. Jeff Doyle, associate director of planning and assessment in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at Baylor University. Dr. Doyle has a B.A. in Biology, M.Ed. in Counselor Education, and Ph.D. in Higher Education, all from the University of Virginia. Before serving in his current role, Dr. Doyle served for nine years as the Dean for Student Learning and Engagement at Baylor, where he oversaw the departments of Campus Living & Learning, New Student Programs, the Academy for Leadership Development, and Student Activities. Throughout his time at Baylor, Dr. Doyle has taught numerous behavior, leadership, and higher education management courses. We are excited to have Dr. Doyle on the show to discuss the full circle of student involvement with the university, from the freshman experience to assessing program outcomes.
Today, our guest is Robert Darden, professor in Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media at Baylor University. Teaching at Baylor since 1988, Prof. Darden has taught a range of courses from magazine writing to screenwriting to intro to Mass Communication. He has written over two dozen books, his most recent being the two-volume history of Black Sacred Music, Nothing But Love in God’s Water. Prof. Darden has won numerous teaching awards, including the Cornelia Marschall Smith Award in 2011; and this year, Prof. Darden was also named a Baylor Master Teacher—the highest honor for teaching bestowed by the University. We are thrilled to speak with him about the power of storytelling, teaching with emotion and humor, love for your students, and much more!
Today, our guest is Dr. Corey Carbonara, professor of film and digital media at Baylor University. Dr. Carbonara is an active filmmaker and teaches corporate communication, lighting, cinematograph, and production. Dr. Carbonara has frequently been recognized as an outstanding teacher. He was recently awarded the Excellence in Education Medal from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers; and in 2016, Dr. Carbonara was named Baylor Master Teacher—the highest award for teaching bestowed by the University. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Carbonara to the show to discuss the symbiotic relationship between industry and academia, the importance of getting students involved, and why it’s probably not a good a idea to stand on a table to make a point in class!
Today, our guest is Amy Goodman, Lecturer in Mathematics at Baylor University. An early advocate of online teaching at Baylor Professor Goodman is currently chair of Baylor’s Teaching, Learning, and Technology Committee. She is currently finishing her PhD in Learning Technologies at the University of North Texas. She was also a recent recipient of a teaching exploration grant for a project investigating technologies enabling online math students to more easily show their work. We are delighted to have Professor Goodman on to discuss creativity in online teaching.
Today our guest is Dr. Darin Davis, Director of Baylor’s Institute for Faith and Learning and clinical professor of moral philosophy in the Honors Program. Dr. Davis teaches courses on ethics and has been instrumental in scholars programs that help students connect faith and learning, including the William Carey Crane Scholars for undergraduates and the A.J. Conyers Scholars for graduate students. He is a regional editor for the International Journal of Christianity and Education and conducts research on the vocation of learning, educating for wisdom, and the philosophy of friendship. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Davis for a conversation about student character development, what it means to teach “Christianly,” and much more.
Today, our guest is Dr. Laine Scales, professor in the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University. Dr. Scales has served in many roles at Baylor, including teaching on the faculty of the School of Education, facilitating Baylor’s Summer Faculty Institute, and for many years as Associate Dean in the Graduate School, focusing on graduate student professional development. In 2016, Dr. Scales was named a Baylor Master Teacher—the University’s highest recognition for teaching excellence. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Scales to the show to discuss authenticity in teaching, relating to your students as “whole people,” and much more.
Today our guest is Dr. Gaynor Yancey, Lake Family endowed chair in Congregational and Community Health, Director of the Center for Church and Community Impact, and professor of social work teaching in both the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work and Truett Seminary at Baylor University. Dr. Yancey has won several teaching awards, including outstanding professor in 2006, the Cornelia Marshall Smith award in 2019. And she was also named a Baylor Master teacher, the highest honor awarded by the university. We are delighted to have Dr. Yancey on the show to discuss teaching as vocation, changes in students over the last generation, seeking continual improvement in our teaching, and so much more.
Today our guest is Dr. Thomas Fergus, associate professor of psychology at Baylor University. Dr. Fergus’ research focuses on gaining better understanding of anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder and the connections between psychological disorders and metacognitive beliefs. A published author on multiple studies related to student text anxiety, Dr. Fergus joins us today to talk about student mental health, wellbeing, and the implications on our teaching.
Today, our guest is Dr. Jennifer Cognard-Black, professor of English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Dr. Cognard-Black has received 12 faculty development grants from St. Mary's and two Internationalization and Teaching and Learning Grants (2011 and 2016), and she has been given the highest honor for teaching that St. Mary's students bestow, the Faculty-Student Life Award, at three distinct times during her career (2002, 2009, and 2019). She is also the 2020 recipient of the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, the nation's largest monetary award for university teaching. As part of her designation as the Cherry Award recipient, Dr. Cognard-Black is in residence at Baylor University in the Spring 2021 semester, teaching and collaborating with faculty. We are delighted to have Dr. Cognard-Black on the show to talk about the promise, unpredictability, and politics of Empathetic Teaching.
Episode description - Today, our guest is Dr. Charles Weaver, Professor and Chair of the department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor University. In 2020, Dr. Weaver was named a Baylor “Master Teacher,” the highest honor for teaching bestowed by the University. We are delighted to have him on the show to talk about Baylor’s teaching legends, enthusiasm for what you teach, and much more!
Today our guest is Dr. Anne-Marie Schultz, professor of philosophy and director of the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core. We are delighted to have her on the show to talk about mentoring teachers, metaphors for teaching, and literature on teaching that speaks to the heart.
Today our guest is Dr. Helen Harris, associate professor in the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. We are delighted to have her on the show to discuss community in online learning. [medfile]