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The Professor Podcast is taking a summer break.

It can be tempting to walk around busily, casually telling anyone who will listen how much is on our plate, perhaps while scribbling things down on official looking clipboards. Claire knows that the urge to appear busy is detrimental to her well being, and resists it. She was worried that enjoying validation for her hard work might lead her to try and appear busy. Ruth is sure that she wants to be calm and present with students and colleagues but feels anxious that she is not going to appear to be working hard enough. Both want to resist the temptation to pick up a clipboard! https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Ruth and Claire review some of the administrative tasks that are part of their job. Ruth shares her ongoing struggles with photocopying. Claire, in particular, notes the time taken filling out forms. Both Claire and Ruth feel that setting aside sufficient time for administrative tasks is crucial for stress management and effectiveness!  https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Claire’s students were excited to have a bonding adventure with their classmates before graduation. Ruth believes in the power of shared enterprise in building community, and so likes to have activities such as knitting for people to do together. Claire is wondering about creating a communal bonding experience, especially for graduating seniors. Ruth is working on building community for her online students.  https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Claire is happy to employ fads that support her fundamental teaching values. For example, active learning supports her belief that engagement with the material is crucial. However, flipping a classroom does not work with her teaching goals. Ruth has identified what feels fundamental to her teaching: organization and emotional safety. She loves fads but feels strongly that any new approach should not cause student anxiety.  https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Claire has found it very helpful to have another faculty member’s assignments and course materials to start with and then make her own, even if she ends up overhauling the course entirely. Similarly, Ruth finds having a template for a class is helpful whether you adopt it or not. Claire reminds us (and herself!) that it is normal to find using new materials difficult, whether you’ve designed them or not. Ruth struggles when she doesn’t commit to one approach.  https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Claire makes it clear where each topic in class and homework can be found in the textbook. She finds it really helps students when they read the book and wonders about assignments to encourage that. Ruth has developed reading assignments to encourage students to engage with the book. She wonders how effective her reading assignments really are. Ruth mentioned Just in Time Teaching https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Claire draws on her experience with fiction writing feedback to share with students that step one of feedback processing is to say thank you. Ruth is a fan of the compliment sandwich when giving feedback. Claire is working on providing students with the tools to use constructive criticism. Ruth wants to work on normalizing the feedback process. https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Ruth shares her experience of giving group exams. She uses them as an opportunity for students to slightly improve their grade while working together with their group to revise the mistakes on their tests. It works wonders! Students really engage with the material and much improve their understanding of the material. https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast.

Ruth and Claire discuss helping students get the most out of internships. Ruth and Claire both want to remind students that they aren’t expected to know much about the research or the company before they start. Ruth suggests saying “yes” to all opportunities in order to maximize learning. Claire suggests asking questions. Ruth wonders about when to switch to another research group and when to stick it out. Claire wonders about the best way to help students prepare for internships - would an end-of-semester workshop be helpful? https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Claire just tried out self-grading, and it was phenomenal! Students interacted more with the material, had lively discussions about the content, and appeared more engaged. Several students spontaneously told Claire they liked the format. All that AND the grading only took a fraction of the time?! Claire is sold.  https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Ruth and Claire discuss academic resource accommodations. Ruth has learned to go through official resource center channels. Claire finds it helpful to ask resource center staff for clarifications.  Ruth is working on saying ‘no’ to unreasonable accommodations. Claire is working on making images of handwritten notes accessible. Claire mentioned Life on the Tenure Track, by James M. Lang

Ruth and Claire discuss opportunities for students to share their research. Claire finds that the on-campus research poster session is an excellent opportunity for students at all levels of experience. Ruth found it helpful to assign managerial jobs to a student in the preparation of a poster or paper. Claire is working on balancing the benefits of dissemination with the time away from research needed for preparation. Ruth is working on setting expectations early in the process.  Ruth and Claire mentioned NCUR and AJUR

Ruth and Claire discuss talking about grades with students. Ruth has found it helpful to discuss grade changes once students have written a description of the review request. Claire has found redirecting conversations from grades to the content shifts the focus back to the purpose of the exam. Ruth is working on setting expectations about partial credit. Claire is thinking about setting students on a good trajectory when they are in danger of failing.  https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Ruth and Claire discuss the return to being physically present in the classroom. Claire and Ruth are delighted to be teaching face to face, the immediate feedback of facial expressions, the informal connection opportunities and, of course, the eavesdropping! Claire is working on reestablishing norms of physically attending labs. Ruth is working on reversing the expectation of total flexibility.  https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Claire likes to be physically present when onboarding new students to her research group. She wonders how to make individual projects meaningful. Ruth gives a research talk for students interested in joining the group. She also wants to hold students accountable for reading papers.  Claire mentioned: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Is traditional lecturing really so bad? Ruth and Claire discuss a 2019 article that argues it’s not. They both choose to do a combination of more traditional lecturing (“sage on the stage”) and student-led active learning in their classes. Claire is reassured that there are demonstrated benefits to sage on the stage. Ruth feels that building trust is crucial for any active learning exercises. Ruth is working on finding the balance between lecture styles. Claire has been inspired by Professor Gilbert Strang’s advice about how to work through content at a speed understandable to a new student. Article discussed: Back from “guide on the side” to “sage on the stage”? Effects of teacher-guided and student-activating teaching methods on student learning in higher education. Claire mentioned this interview with math Professor Gilbert Strang at MIT on his lecturing style. https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

Claire and Ruth discuss supporting students doing oral presentations. Acknowledging the difficulty of presenting, Claire is generous with her grading and uses a rubric for feedback. She wonders how to share her presentation tips without being overwhelming. Ruth finds having frequent low stakes assignments helps students overcome anxiety. She also wants to convince students to practice their presentations.  Ruth mentioned: You are Good podcast https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

As some of us return to work on campus, Claire and Ruth discuss spending time with colleagues. Ruth remembers how effective working in a group can be. She wants to find the balance between the efficiency of working from home with the benefits of collegial interactions. Claire has been excited to hear about other teaching approaches from colleagues. She is still finding her feet with resuming face-to-face communication.  https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast

While the STEM classes that Claire and Ruth teach are very math heavy, lab reports and reflection assignments have a written component. Claire finds that a rubric can be a powerful tool for feedback. She is wondering about implementing peer reviews as a stage in the writing process. Ruth sees the benefit of developing student writing skills but lacks confidence in her own writing and ability to teach it.  https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast