Teaching & Learning Buzz, a monthly podcast from the Center for Teaching and Learning at Georgia Tech, highlight teaching and learning topics important to the Tech community. Each month, we'll talk to campus and visiting experts as we explore challenging questions related to teaching and learning and share practical strategies for helping our students (and colleagues) learn and thrive at Georgia Tech and beyond. You can download Buzz episodes on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast platforms.
Teaching with the UN's SDGs with Drs. Rebecca Watts Hull and Evan Mallen
In this episode, Carol speaks with Drs. Rebecca Watts Hull and Evan Mallen about the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals and how they can be used effectively in the classroom across disciplines and school.
Transcript and Show Notes
Talking Well-Being with Dr. Brandy Simula and Joi Alexander
In this episode of the Buzz, Carol and Rebecca have a wide ranging conversations about faculty and student well-being, especially burnout and self-care, with Dr. Brandy Simula, Professional Development Specialist, and Joi Alexander, Director of Health Initiatives.
Transcript and Show Notes PDF | Transcript and Show Notes Embedded
Understanding Trauma-Informed Pedagogy
In this episode, Carol and Rebecca speak with Dr. Tiffiny Hughes-Troutman, Director of the Center for Assessment, Referral, and Education (CARE), about how faculty can understand trauma and work with students experiencing trauma, especially during the COVID-19 era.
Bonus Episode: Teaching Amid Election-Related Stressors
In this bonus episode, we share a panel of colleagues discussing the challenges of teaching amid stressors like the election and continued stress surrounding this election year. Our panelists include
- Gordon Moore, Executive Director, Student Diversity and Inclusion
- Zachary Taylor, Associate Professor, Public Policy
- Kim Cobb, Georgia Power Chair and ADVANCE Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Carol Subiño Sullivan, Assistant Director, Faculty Teaching and Learning Initiatives, Center for Teaching and Learning
- Kathleen Gosdsen, Assistant Chief Counsel, Employment and Litigation, Legal Affairs
The panel was moderated by Dr. Joyce Weinsheimer, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Bonus Episode: Design Your Syllabus for Remote Teaching
As part of the Georgia Tech Remote Teaching Academy in Spring 2020, CTL led faculty in a session using the backward design framework for course development to help faculty move face-to-face courses online for the summer. This episode shares the audio of that live session. While we are looking ahead to fall, this session offers effective and usable tips for designing any syllabus with a focus on student learning objectives.
For all resources related to this workshop, visit the CTL blog. You will also find the video of the full session on the GTRTA Canvas page.
Bonus Episode: Effective Assessment of Remote Student Learning
As part of the Georgia Tech Remote Teaching Academy in Spring 2020, CTL’s Dr. Carol Subiño Sullivan and Dr. Troy Courville, Director of Assessment & Educational Insights and Director of Learning Design, Professional Education, led faculty in a workshop using a design approach to help instructors identify changes to their assessment plan appropriate for the remote teaching environment.
For all resources related to this workshop, visit the CTL blog. You will also find the video of the full session on the GTRTA Canvas page.
Learning from Experience with Remote/Online/Face-to-Face Courses, with Dr. Mary Hudachek-Buswell
One way we can better understand the pedagogical differences between remote, online, and face-to-face courses is by hearing from peers who have done all three. Dr. Mary Hudachek-Buswell teaches undergraduate courses in the College of Computing, and in the Spring was the only faculty member teaching the College's Data Structures and Algorithm course, one that typically enrolls 700+ students in both face-to-face and online versions. Mary talks to Rebecca and Carol about how she developed the online version of her course and how that preparation translated to fully remote teaching in the Spring.
Transcript | Sample Syllabus | Activity Sample
Buzz Bonus: Remote Course Engagement Best Practices
Listen to a recording of the Remote Teaching Academy webinar on engaging students in remote courses, especially asynchronous courses. CTL's Dr. Chaohua Ou covers three main aspects of student engagement - communication, connection, and interaction - and shares strategies for each aspect. (Please excuse any brief gaps in the media as we edited the file for brevity.)
Keep Teaching: Taking Lab Courses Remote with Special Guests Drs. Mike Evans, Ben Galfond, and Himani Sharma
As remote instruction becomes the main learning platform for our courses for the rest of spring and into summer 2020, one big question on everyone's minds is what to do about lab classes when students don't have access to the lab, to the materials, or to the equipment needed for that hands-on learning portion of the courses? In this episode Carol and Rebecca with three faculty members who run lab programs at Georgia Tech. All at different stages of thinking about and/or moving their labs online, our guests shared with us what they've learned so far. We were joined by Dr. Mike Evans from the Department of Chemistry and Mike is the first-year chemistry lab coordinator. Dr. Ben Galfond runs the labs in the School of Chemical and of Biomolecular Engineering. And Dr. Himani Sharma runs the junior and senior lab programs in the School of Materials Science and Engineering.
Advice from Thank a(n) Online Teacher Recipients
In this bonus episode fo the Teaching and Learning Buzz podcast, we share the conversation from the Center for Teaching and Learning's April 7th, 2020, webinar, Keep Teaching: Advice from Thank a(n) Online Teacher Recipients. Rebecca and Carol were joined by our CTL colleague Dr. Vincent Spezzo, Program Manager for Teaching and Learning Online, to talk about some of the behind-the-scenes logistical aspects of teaching remotely, including managing your time in the "always-on" remote environment, integrating your TAs into remote teaching, providing effective student feedback, and taking care of your own well-being at this time. Our panelists were Dr. Polo Chau, Associate Professor, Computational Science, and Engineering; Dr. Michael Schatz, Professor, Physics; and Dr. Joel Sokol, Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering.
Transcript coming soon.
Keep Teaching: Making the Rapid Transition to Remote Teaching to Remote Teaching
In this special episode, Carol and Rebecca are joined by two campus experts in online teaching and learning, Dr. David Joyner, Associate Director of Student Experience for the Online Master of Science in Computer Science program, College of Computing, and Dr. Vincent Spezzo, Program Manager of Teaching and Learning Online, Center for Teaching and Learning. As we move to remote teaching for the rest of the Spring semester, David and Vincent share tips and strategies for making the most of the semester in this new environment. We talk about how to prioritize your course content, keep your teaching strategy and technology use easy, connect with your students, maintain inclusivity, and many other tips from our experts.
Supporting Student Learning with Special Guest Dr. Susan
In episode 3 of the Teaching and Learning Buzz podcast, Carol and Rebecca sit down with Dr. Susan Blum, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, and keynote speaker at the January 2020 Georgia Tech Retreat on Exploring Effective Teaching (GTREET). In this wide range of conversations, we talk about how Susan's research moved from the culture in China to student plagiarism and motivation, ways that traditional structures and practices in higher education can constrain learning, and the impact of innovative grading strategies can be used to improve the learning environment. Check out the episode on Soundcloud!
Transcript and Show Notes
Faculty's Role in Students' Academic Wellbeing with Special Guest Dean Steve McLaughlin
In Episode 2 of the Georgia Tech Center for Teaching and Learning podcast, Carol and Rebecca chat with Dr. Steve McLaughlin, Professor, Dean, and Southern Company Chair of the College of Engineering and co-writer of the Inside Higher Ed Opinion message of “A Friend at the Front of the Room”, to discuss his commitment to Georgia Tech students' mental health and how it is affected by their class environments. They also explore how faculty can become more involved in the facilitation of student mental health by creating a welcoming, but still rigorous, academic environment in their classrooms and offices. Check out the episode!
Transcript and Show Notes
Grading Practices at Georgia Tech and Beyond with Special Guest Dr. Al Ferri
Carol and Rebecca share student perceptions of how grading practices at Tech impact their learning and academic wellbeing and then delve into three different types of grading strategies - traditional, norm-based, and mastery-based. Dr. Al Ferri, Associate Chair of Undergraduate Education and Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, joins us to look at the research he's done on grading practices, his evolving perspective on his own grading, and the ways he works with faculty now to (re)consider their practices for better student learning and engagement.
Transcript and Show Notes | CTL Resources on Grading Practices