Chef Educator

Understanding the brain's tendencies to avoid excessive thinking is crucial for educators. We need to leverage this knowledge to help foster a love for problem-solving and critical thinking among our students. Listen in as Dr. Colin Roche explores the idea that the human mind isn't inherently designed for thinking, and how we, as educators, can optimize our teaching strategies to encourage...

It is a fact that effective and engaging presentations are the result of proper preparation. They don't happen by accident or chance. So whether you are a culinary educator, business professional, or anyone else just looking to improve your presentation skills and get some help on how to convey your ideas effectively, then this episode is for you. Listen in as Dr. Colin Roche talks about prese...

We all know the struggle of enduring a monotonous presentation that leaves us counting down the seconds until it's over. But fear not, because in this episode we will be talking about some of the various ways that we can all become a more captivating and impactful presenter, by learning to deliver more powerful and engaging presentations. Listen in as Dr. Colin Roche talks about naturalness (t...

Active learning is an instructional approach that encourages students to actively participate in their own learning process. In this episode, Dr. Colin Roche focuses in on how to facilitate an effective experiential active learning activity, including some suggestions on ways you can form your student groups quickly and efficiently in the classroom. Creating effective learning groups requires some...

Active learning is an instructional approach that encourages students to actively participate in their own learning process. In this episode, Dr. Colin Roche explains why this is important and shares some of the techniques he has used to engage his culinary students in meaningful ways to enhance their learning experience. Chef Roche also mentions the book "Active Learning: 101 Strategies to Te...

Personal responsibility is the ability to respond wisely at each fork in the road with choices that move you closer to your desired outcomes and experiences. In other words, personal “response-ability” is the foundation for creating success! In this episode, Dr. Colin Roche shares information from the book "On Course" by Skip Downing ( https://a.co/d/aEZn60s ), which is intended for colleg...

Whether you are a new teacher / faulty member or a teaching veteran, if you are looking for advice on how to hold a better class discussion, then this episode is for you! Effective class discussions, much like effective lectures, are the result of careful planning! In this episode, Dr. Colin Roche shares information from his book "Culinary Educators' Teaching Tools & Tips" on how t...

While there are a number of instructional strategies and methods that can be used to help our students achieve cognitive objectives, such as lectures, discussions, and case studies, the demonstration method is the primary method by which learners receive instructions related to psycho-motor objectives. In this episode, Dr. Colin Roche shares information from his book "Culinary Educators' T...

A teacher's effectiveness is determined in large part by their subject matter competency, professional competency, and personal competency. Inadequacy in any one of these areas will have an adverse impact on student learning. In this episode, Dr. Colin Roche shares information from a variety of sources, including the research and writings of Dr. Andrew Johnson who is a Distinguished Faculty Sc...

The ability to stand and deliver a powerful presentation that engages the whole minds of our audience is more important today than ever before, partly because of the fantastic reach that out talks can have! In this episode, Dr. Colin Roche shares information from two books on presenting, titled " I Can See You Naked " by Ron Huff, and " The Naked Presenter " by Garr Reynolds. Prese...

Podcasting has been around for many years but has recently gained new interest and popularity due to new topics and celebrity hosts, as well as easier access to mobile technology apps that let you easily download and listen to podcasts “on the go”. Podcasts are a versatile medium which have also become more and more a part of education. Today students may encounter podcasts alongside other materia...

Teaching is a cognitive skill just like any other, so how can we increase the space in our working memory, our factual subject knowledge, and our procedural knowledge? Well, listeners to this podcast have heard me say many times, it is virtually impossible to become proficient at a mental task without extended practice. Therefore, our best bet for improving our teaching is to practice teaching! In...

A recent survey of undergraduate students revealed that 84% studied by rereading their notes or textbook. Despite its popularity, rereading has inconsistent effects on student learning. In addition, rereading does not always enhance students’ understanding of what they read, and any benefits of rereading, over just a single reading, may not be long lasting. Though rereading might be relatively eas...

Almost every student becomes angry at some point in school. After all, anger is a normal human emotion. And it is not a problem if a student becomes angry, as long as he or she expresses their feelings appropriately. However, it is a problem if they express their anger in a way that is hurtful to those around them or is disruptive to a class. A student who displays angry outbursts can throw a clas...

Neuroscience researchers have shown that when you learn something new, there is a physical change in your brain. You have approximately 86 billion brain cells and when you learn something new, some of your brain cells establish connections with other brain cells to form new networks of cells, which represent the new learning that has taken place. When frequently activated, these new networks have...

Memory is what enables us to learn by experience, therefore memory is essential to survival. And in this episode, we specifically focus on "working" memory, the term most scientists prefer over "short-term" memory. We first discuss working memories limitations and then talk about some of the methods teachers can utilize for overcoming some of them. Hosted by Dr. Professor Chef Coli...

The brain's programming promotes survival of the animal and the species. This programming has guided mammalian development and adaptations for survival in the unpredictable and perilous environments in which most mammals live. And memory is what enables us to learn by experience, therefore memory is essential to survival. Without the ability to learn, store, and recall how we should respond to...

A teaching philosophy (also known as an educational philosophy, a teaching statement, a philosophy of education, a philosophy of teaching, etc.) is a self-reflective statement of your beliefs about teaching and learning. In addition to general comments, your teaching philosophy should discuss how you put your beliefs into practice by including concrete examples of what you do, or anticipate doing,...

We know that exercise is great for our bodies, but what about for our brains? Does going for a run, hitting the gym, or lifting some weights really affect the health or strength of our brains? The answer is yes according to current research! Exercise is as good for brains as it is for our bodies! An abundance of evidence supports the importance of exercise in students’ ability to learn. Our brains...

Learning is a complicated process. Several thousand years ago, the primary job of the human brain was to figure out how to find food, avoid getting eaten by a predator, and to find a mate. Today, in addition to those three basic functions, our brains are inundated with other tasks and facts that need to be learned.  And now, thanks to breakthroughs in neuroscience research, we can observe how the...

Percentage grading systems that attempt to identify 100 distinct levels of performance distort the precision, objectivity and reliability of grades. And when averaging on a 100-point scale, the use of zeros is particularly damaging to a student’s grade. The mathematical problem with zeros is they represent an extreme score and their effect on the grade is always exaggerated. To recover from a sing...

When most students come into our classrooms, they bring with them an unhealthy attitude toward grading, which has often been instilled in them by parents and past teachers. It is an attitude based on the flawed assumption that grades are supposed to function as "carrots and sticks" In this episode, Dr. Colin Roche shares how he tries to explain grading to his students in order to ensure th...

Most aspects of grading and reporting have been around forever and reflect traditions that have been a part of our education system since the early 1900's. Though these traditions are entrenched in our education culture and part of everyone's school experience, it doesn't mean that they work, are accurate, or are in the best interest for our students. In this first episode of the serie...

Today's episode is titled "Top Ten Tips for Remote Learning" and is basically the same message that Dr. Colin Roche sent out all of his students this week to help them adjust to online learning. He shares it here in the podcast in case you think any of your students may find the information to be helpful. If so, please use it / share it as you see fit. Remember, we are all in this toge...

Listen to this short trailer to find out what the Chef Educator podcast is all about! Hosted by Dr. Professor Chef Colin Roche, the show is available for free in any app that supports podcasts (iTunes, Spotify, etc.) or through this link: www.chefeducator.com   If you find the show to be of interest, please be sure to subscribe and to share with all of your podcasting friends and teachers! We appr...