Recombinant Teaching: STEM Education Office Hours with Dr. Justin Shaffer

On today's episode in the STEM Course Design Series, Justin tackles the importance of the syllabus and the course schedule by looking at how to put them together, what to add to them, and how to handle them when things go awry (snow day!). Here is a link to the student-centered syllabus rubric tool developed by Michael Palmer and a link to the study on STEM syllabi from Brian Sato. Check out the s...

How do you pick course materials that are worth it for you and your students? In this episode of the STEM Course Design Series, Justin gives his advice and thoughts on this question through discussing the pros and cons of paid vs OER materials, how to use rubrics to choose a textbook and courseware, and what to think about with adopting AI tools for your courses. Check out the textbook and coursew...

In this episode of the STEM Course Design Series, Justin goes over the big picture of summative assessment design and how to make sure they are aligned to your learning objectives. Justin also discusses a few types of assessments including traditional quizzes and exams, group quizzes, and how to make your assessments authentic and gives examples of how he uses them in his STEM courses. Here is a r...

As we continue on in the STEM Course Design Series, in this episode Justin gives an overview of the critical importance of starting your course design experience with learning objectives and backward design. Justin also discusses how to write SMART learning objectives, how to scale them up and down Bloom's taxonomy, the importance of both content- and skills-based LOs, and how to unpack LOs. Here...

In this episode Justin walks you through the basics of high structure course design, what it is, where it came from, and how to start thinking about designing or re-designing your own courses. This episode will serve as a foundation for future episodes in the series. Check out Justin's book on High Structure Course Design Check out Justin's card decks to help with course design and student learnin...

This is an introduction to the forthcoming summer STEM course design podcast series! Listen in over the next two months to learn all about STEM course design and how to give your courses a strong foundation so that your students can have an outstanding experience. Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve S...

Taylor Darwin joins the show to talk with Justin about how to engage your students in the classroom – not necessarily about what to do in a typical 50 minute class, but rather how to engage them in the subject matter writ large (especially if it is a mandatory class that they have little interest in). Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Learn more about expectancy value theory here ....

Justin is joined by SPECIAL GUEST HOST Kelsey Metzger Metzbertsel to answer an age-old question about the best way to form student groups! Justin was sure glad to have Kelsey as a group partner to work through this toughie! Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Kelsey Metzger – Dr. KJAM to her students – is a professor in the Center for Learning Innovation and the director of faculty d...

Justin is joined by Lauren Stoczynski to discuss the age-old question of how to handle student resistance when it comes to active learning and structured course design. While a tough nut to crack, I guarantee you won't face any resistance with enjoying this episode! :) Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Lauren Stoczynski is an assistant professor of biological and environmental scie...

Brian Shmaefsky joins to show to share how he engages his students through community work and asks Justin how to do this in a way to match students interests and motivations. Listen in for some great examples of community-based learning that Brian is doing! Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Brian Shmaefsky is an environmental scientist who’s spent more over 30 years making complex...

Justin is joined by Christin Monroe to discuss how courses can be designed best to support neurodivergent learners. This is not Justin's area of expertise, so it was a good challenge to think through this idea together with Christin! Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Dr. Christin Monroe holds a PhD in Chemistry from Princeton University and is an Educational Research Associate at t...

Jessamyn Neuhaus joins the show to ask Justin how adding structure to college STEM courses can help everyone, students and faculty alike, do better and feel like they belong. Lots of great tips and advice in this one! Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Jessamyn Neuhaus is Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and Professor of Education at Syracuse University. Jessamyn hol...

Justin is joined by Kate Ireton Walker to answer Kate's question of how to approach faculty who are reluctant to using active learning in their courses. Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Kate Ireton Walker is a Biology Instructor at the University of Arkansas. Her teaching philosophy centers on innovative, student-centered learning strategies that advance science education initiati...

Justin is joined by Jane Harrington to figure out how the "A" (ART!) fits into STEM education. Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Jane Harrington, PhD, is a former microbiology professor and founder of MedMicroMaps, a company that provides XR gaming for STEAM experiences. https://www.linkedin.com/in/medmicromaps/ https://www.medmicromaps.com Learn how you, your department, or your i...

Justin is joined by Eleanor Sayre to discuss how to tell whether something you do in class is working (or not). This is a nice short intro to SoTL and DBER! Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Dr. Eleanor Sayre ( zaposa.com ) is a physicist and learning scientist.  She helps university faculty get started in education research and the scholarship of teaching and learning, including ...

Justin is joined by Pankaj Mehrotra to figure out how to teach both health sciences and business students about biotechnology - in the same class! Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Pankaj Mehrotra is an instructor at the University of the People in Pasadena, CA. Check out Pankaj's publication on his biotechnology course here . Check out CourseSource where you can publish peer-revie...

Justin is joined by Colleen Kelley to discuss the importance of foundational skills that lead to student success. What skill do you think they focus on? Hint: you just used that skill as you are perusing these show notes! Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question! Colleen Kelley, PhD, is a retired chemistry professor and current elementary school science teacher. You can learn more about he...

Justin answers a question from a sports science faculty member in Portugal about how to apply evidence-based STEM education principles to an exercise physiology course. Want to be a part of the show? http://recombinanteducation.com/podcast Our question comes from João Paulo Brito at the Sport Sciences School of Rio Maior | Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Portugal. ORCiD - 0000-0003-4357-4269 |...

Justin answers a question from a biology faculty member about getting their students to prepare ahead of time for a flipped classroom. Could it be that the word "flipped" is contributing to the issue? Want to be a part of the show? http://recombinanteducation.com/podcast Our question comes from Shaun Martins who is a biology professor at Cabrillo College in California. https://www.linkedin.com/in/...

Carter Moulton joins the show and Justin answers the question about how to help faculty use active learning in large classes. TLDR - yes, you can!! :) Want to be a part of the show? http://recombinanteducation.com/podcast Carter Moulton is a faculty developer at the Colorado School of Mines and the creator of the Analog Inspiration card deck. https://www.analoginspiration.ai/ Listen to Carter on t...

Justin tackles a question about how to handle genAI with take-home assignments. Want to be a part of the show? http://recombinanteducation.com/podcast Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together. www.recombinanteducation.com