Podcast on Teaching & Learning Made Easier

Podcast on Teaching & Learning Made Easier

By Dr. Dinur Blum (CSU Los Angeles) and Dr. Adam Sanford (CSU Dominguez Hills)

This podcast (about how we learn, how we teach, and how they overlap) is designed to be used as resource to enhance teaching (for instructors) and learning (for students) at the college/university level. The podcast can be accessed through the link: https://undergradeasier.com/the-learning-made-easier-podcast/  (Podcast is also available on Android, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify)

Each episode discuses a learning-related topic (including research on that topic and the authors’ own experiences with it in the classroom and in coaching) and provides tips, suggestions, and recommendations on how they can be incorporated into classroom activities by instructors an on how they could be used by students to improve their learning. The episodes also include a “COVID Series: COVID-19 Teaching in Transition Special Episodes”, which includes recommendations for effective remote/online teaching during the pandemic.

Several episodes have already been published, which can be categorized under the following themes for Instructors and for Students:

  1. For Instructors

COVID-19 Teaching in Transition Special Episodes

  1. Accommodating our Students: Issues of Accessibility, Flexibility, Kindness, & Compassion

    • Episode 1: Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Teaching

    • Episode 2: The Issue of Rigor or Humane Teaching

    • Episode 5: What About Cheating?

    • Episode 6: Students Without Tech

    • Episode 7: They Didn’t Sign Up for This

    • Episode 10: Reassessing Priorities

    • Episode 11: Mental Health During the Pandemic

    • Teaching in Transition, Episode 19: When Your Institution Requires Synchronous Teaching

  2. Engaging Students

    • Episode 3: Teaching the Crisis

    • Episode 4: What About Engagement?

    • Episode 16: Revisiting Engagement

    • Episode 17: Creating Rapport in an Online Class

    • Episode 18: Creating Discussion Boards with Bloom’s Taxonomy

  3. Communicating with Students

    • Episode 7: They Didn’t Sign Up for This

    • Episode 8: A Guiding Hand and a Calming Voice

    • Episode 9: Communicating with Faculty

    • Episode 17: Creating Rapport in an Online Class

  4. Transparent Course Design and Accessible Course Materials

    • Episode 12: What About Materials?

    • Episode 13: Going Modular

    • Episode 14: Keeping Online Course Design Simple

    • Episode 15: Best Practices for Online Teaching

Test-Writing and Rubric Writing

  • Episode 38: How to Create Effective Tests
  • Episode 39: How to Write Effective Multiple-Choice, True/False, and Matching Questions
  • Episode 41: How to Write Effective Written Questions
  • Episode 42: All About Rubric Creation 

Student/Learning Mindset

  • Episode 55: How to Handle Mistakes (for both students and teachers)
  • Episode 68: How to Handle Difficult In-Class Conversations

Grading

  • Episode 51: Ungrading – Different Ways to Assess Student Work

For Students

  1. Student/Learning Mindset

    • Episode 3: Learning is not a race
    • Episode 4: Cramming (intellectual bulimia)
    • Episode 5 (Growth mindset vs Fixed)
    • Episode 6: Studying = interacting with material
    • Episode 7: Tradeoff
    • Episode 8: Improvement, not perfection
    • Episode 9: How to change your thinking
    • Episode. 11: Why early confusion doesn’t mean you’re not learning
    • Episode 18: How to get out of a slump
    • Episode. 19: Why we judge ourselves and how to stop
    • Episode 22: How talking it out helps you learn
    • Episode 23: How mistakes help you learn
    • Episode 24: How small improvements lead to big outcomes
    • Episode 26: Take your time to do it right
    • Episode 27-28: Work easier, not less
    • Episode 48: Grades and Self-Worth (can also be in mindset)
    • Episode 49: Getting Good With “Good Enough”
    • Episode 50: When Life Throws a Curveball
    • Episode 52: How to Do Things Right Without Being Stressed
    • Episode 54: Deserving vs. Earning
    • Episode 55: How to Handle Mistakes (for both students and teachers)
    • Episode 57: How to Stop Overthinking (Part 1 of 2)
    • Episode 58: How to Stop Overthinking (Part 2 of 2)
    • Episode 61: The Myth of Multitasking
    • Episode 62: “Trying Hard” vs. “Working Effectively”
    • Episode 64: The Myth of Motivation
    • Episode 65: Making the Most of Limited Time
    • Episode 66: Failure Planning with Future You
  2. Study/School Skills

    • Episode 10: Interview with Dr. Stacy Smith on Student Writing
    • Episode 17: How to Take Effective Notes
    • Episode 20: Interview with Gretchen Wegner, M.Ed. – study cycle and study senses
    • Episode 25: How to Make a Study Group Work for You
    • Episode 36: Professors and Attendance
    • Episode 43: How to Take Multiple-Choice, True/False, and Matching Question Tests
    • Episode 44: How to Take Essay, Short-Answer and Fill-In-The-Blank Tests
    • Episode 45: Group Work – and Free Riders
    • Episode 53: The 3×3 Method for Reading In-Depth
    • Episode 63: How to Ask Better Questions
  3. Time Management

    • Episode 12: Time Management: Making Time Noticeable
    • Episode 13: Time Management: Using a Planner and Calendar
    • Episode 14: Time Management: How to Prioritize
    • Episode 15: Time Management: How to Remind Yourself
    • Episode 16: Time Management: Disciplined Planning
  4. Critical Thinking

    • Episode 69: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Summarizing
    • Episode 70: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Questioning
    • Episode 71: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Unpacking
    • Episode 72: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Analyzing
    • Episode 73: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Relating
    • Episode 74: The SQUARED Method of Critical Thinking – Explaining
  5. Student Services, Help Outside the Classroom

    • Episode 32: Disabled Students and College Expectations
    • Episode 33: Academic Services – How to Make Students Aware of Them
    • Episode 34: How Professors See Academic Services
    • Episode 35: When Using Academic Services Seems Like Weakness
    • Episode 46: When Non-Academic Problems Need Non-Academic Help
    • Episode 56: Basic Self-Care for People Who Learn
    • Episode 67: When Your Professor’s Not Responding
  6. Grades

    • Episode 21: What Grades Mean in College
    • Episode 47: How to Talk to Your Professors About Your Grades
    • Episode 48: Grades and Self-Worth
  7. Tips for New Students

    • Episode 29: Kickstarting College – Academic Norms for Freshmen and Transfers
    • Episode 31: Kickstarting College – Non-Academic Norms for Freshmen and Transfer 
  8. Beyond Undergrad

    • Episode 37: Applying to Graduate School
    • Episode 40: An Interview with Professor Thomas Norman – applied learning
    • Episode 59: Letters of Recommendation
    • Episode 60: An Interview with Kyle Grappone – taking what you’ve learned beyond the classroom
  9. Miscellaneous

    • Episode 1: What We’re About
    • Episode 2: Pulling Back the Curtain
    • Episode 30: How to Apply for College (With TheCollegeSpy.Com)