Teaching Matters

Over the course of this season of Teaching Matters we have discussed a variety of topics and approaches to STEM education. Dr. John Ewing, President of Math for America (MfA), joins us in this episode to discuss how MfA creates a community for math and STEM educators to professionally develop and attain recognition for their efforts. As a veteran math educator and leader, Ewing also discusses his...

The Noyce Teaching Fellowship Program in the Patton College of Education at Ohio University provides interested students with the opportunity to earn a tuition-free Master’s Degree and certification to teach in a STEM field. Drs. Allyson Hallman-Thrasher and Danielle Dani, both faculty in the Department of Teacher Education, and Laura Diaco, a Noyce Scholar in the program, discuss how they enact S...

The topic of esports has recently gained significant traction in higher education as more and more universities have opted to field varsity and club-sport teams. Some universities have even planned for new academic programs to surround esport teams. Jeffrey Kuhn, an instructional designer in the Office of Instructional Innovation at Ohio University, is also a member of the Game Research and Immers...

The rise of smart and mobile technology has opened many doors for students and teachers. Although we use our devices to share pictures of pets and to argue on social media, we also have access to information unimaginable even a few years ago. Therein lies the problem: mobile smart technology provides powerful opportunities for learning and for distraction. Abraham Flanigan is an Assistant Professo...

Tracey A. Benson is the co—author, with Sarah Fiarman, of a recently published book titled “Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism.” In this discussion, Tracey, who is an Assistant Professor of Education Leadership at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, discusses how we can have productive and potentially transformative conversations about uncons...

As teachers we rarely have the opportunity to switch roles in the classroom and become students again. Dr. Laura Harrison did just that, rerunning to a classroom as a student interested in obtaining certification to teach English as a foreign language. In Harrison’s book, “Teaching Struggling Students: Lessons Learned from Both Sides of the Classroom,” she reflects on her experiences. Our discussi...

The second of a two-part series on augmented and virtual reality, this episode features faculty and students who work on the production of AR/VR content. Our discussion focuses on how content creation for AR/VR applications provide high-impact problem-solving opportunities for students with a diverse array of interests. Lessons learned from the Immersive Media Initiative at Ohio University can spu...

The first of a two-part series on augmented and virtual reality, this episode how ideas behind effective simulations start. Dr. Patti McSteen, Associate Dean of Students at Ohio University and Detective Rick Sargent of the Ohio University Police Department brought an idea to the Immersive Media Initiative team at OU. That idea was turned into a training simulation making use of what John Bowditch,...

Digital Pioneers Academy is a Washington DC charter school for 7th and 8th grade students focusing on computer science. The school, which is located in the Hillcrest neighborhood of the District, serves a student population that is entirely black and Latino. Mashea Ahston is the founder, CEO, and principal of Digital Pioneers Academy and discusses how she and her faculty enact their philosophy of...

Educational institutions at all levels establish concrete objectives related to diversity. In discussions about diverse educational environments, inclusion is mentioned less, but is critically important. Our discussion today with Dr. Michael Arrington from Sam Houston State University and Dr. Marlene De La Cruz-Guzmon from Ohio University explores the need for inclusive educational environments as...

As student matriculate from high school to college, they face both opportunity and challenge. Dr. Varun Soni, Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California, recently published an op-ed in the LA Times titled, “There’s a loneliness crisis on college campuses.” We discuss his essay to learn more about this phenomenon and what teachers, students, and institutions can do to try and m...

Teaching Matters is not just a great name for a podcast, its also a great name for an organization devoted to teacher development. Today’s guest is Lynette Guastaferro, the CEO of the non-profit organization, Teaching Matters, based in New York City. We will learn from Guastaferro how the organization uses micro-credentialing to empower teachers with best practices, innovative thought, and leaders...

Excellence in teaching and learning is increasingly tied to the need for assessment. As both students and methods of instruction change, faculty are called upon to assess learning in ways that are increasingly nuanced so that meaningful improvements can be made across programs and within specific courses. Dr. Terri Givens, an education consultant and former provost, argued in a recent Inside Highe...

Learning to play a musical instrument presents a number of winding paths for students. Besides needing to learn concepts related to music theory, students must also integrate their conceptual understanding with development of fine motor skills. Often overlooked is the affective dimension of learning. How can music educators keep students motivated to practice so that they can move their musical ex...

In this podcast, I explore the big picture of the Healthy Living Imitative from the perspective of it being a catalytic learning environment. In particular, we learn about three specific characteristics of the imitative that, in my opinion, serve as catalysts for learning that have positive effects for researchers, faculty, students, and community members.

In addition to the project-based work surrounding the fight against Chagas disease, students and faculty engaged in service learning project. In this episode, participants described two of the project. Following their explanations, I reflect on the important role of reflexivity in these types of learning situations.

The October 27 Primary School serves approximately 40 students who live in the three villages serving as the primary focal point of the Healthy Living Initiative. In this episode, I provide a description of the school and introduce you, though the translation skills of my colleague Lori Lammert, to two of the teachers at the school. After meeting the teachers and learning more about the school, I...

This episode is the first in a series of podcasts about my summer trip to Ecuador to participate in a place based/problem based learning project. This Episode focuses on the core part of the project—the search for Chucuro (or “Kissing Bugs”)—within homes constructed of adobe located in three small Southern Ecuadorian villages. In the podcast you meet various people involved in the bug search and I...

Teaching Matters is starting its third season! This short podcast provides an overview of some of the topics we are booking for the season. It also highlights two special series of Teaching Matters podcasts. One of the special series explores an international trip by students and faculty who engaged in place based/problem based learning, and the other highlights several Ohio K-12 teachers who are...

In an effort to improve assessment practices, a collaboration between 19 different organizations representing educational researchers, educational policy reform advocates, private sector interests, and others, recently released “The Ten Principles for Building a High Quality System of Assessment.” (http://deeperlearning4all.org/10-principles-building-high-quality-system-assessments) A primary obje...

Teaching Matters is excited to announce a special series of podcasts with award-winning teachers who will share their personal stories about teaching excellence. The second program in this series is with Jitka Nelson, who was selected as the 2017 Indiana Teacher of the Year through a program of the Council of Chief State School Officials (CCSCO), which is the oldest and most prestigious national h...

A constant challenge facing educators is to determine the best ways in which to motivate students to succeed. A recent collaboration between JFF, Persistence Plus, and several community colleges explored the use of “behavioral nudges,” or short personalized messages, to promote student success. Barbara Endel, Senior Director at Jobs for the Future, Jill Frankfort, Co-Founder and President of Persi...

Dr. Lynn Gangone is President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, a national advocacy group based on Washington, D.C. The AACTE advocates at both national and state levels in support of high-quality teacher preparation. The organization represents over 800 postsecondary institutions with teacher education programs. Dr. Gangone explains core tenets of the AACTE ap...

Dr. Brittany Peterson is an award-winning teacher in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University. Peterson was awarded the title of “Presidential Teacher” from 2017-2020; the Presidential Teacher Award is the highest teaching award given to one Ohio University faculty member each year. Recently, Peterson was also awarded the title of “University Professor,” which is a yearly award besto...

This episode expands on the topic of place-based learning, which was also covered in Episode 103. Whereas the previous interview focused on place-based learning in an urban setting, this episode focuses on a rural-based program, the Teton Science School. The science school offers place-based experiences for students and faculty, and also helps conduct workshops on this topic for faculty. We are jo...