Antagonistic relationships with students are not uncommon—there is a history of faculty distrust of students. In this episode Michelle Miller joins us to discuss a same-side approach where faculty and students work together in support of student learning.  Michelle is a Professor of Psychological Sciences and President’s Distinguished Teaching Fellow at Northern Arizona University. She is the author of Minds Online: Teaching Effectively with Technology, Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology: Teaching, Learning, and the Science of Memory in a Wired World and A Teacher’s Guide to Learning Students’ Names: Why You Should, Why It’s Hard, How You Can. Michelle is also a frequent contributor of articles on teaching and learning in higher education to a variety of publications including The Chronicle of Higher Ed and is the co-editor with James Lang of the Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed Series at Oklahoma University Press. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Women faculty of color in higher ed generally receive little training to prepare them for the challenges, unrelated to their teaching quality, that they experience in their careers. In this episode, Chavella Pittman joins us to discuss her new book, Empowered: A Woman Faculty of Color’s Guide to Teaching and Thriving, a resource she created to address these challenges and to help female faculty of color thrive. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

It’s easy to become discouraged and disconnected in today’s higher ed climate. In this episode, Kelvin Thompson joins us to discuss his new project designed to provide us with a lift in challenging times. Kelvin is the Vice Provost for Online Strategy and Teaching Innovation at the University of Louisville. Kelvin developed the BlendKit Course open courseware as part of the Blended Learning Toolkit which he developed while at the University of Central Florida. He regularly serves as an invited speaker on issues related to online and blended learning. Kelvin is a co-editor of the Sage Handbook of Online Higher Education and has long served as a co-host of TOPcast: The Teaching Online Podcast. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Students engage when they see a connection between what they are learning and their future objectives. In this episode, Angela Bauer joins us to discuss the benefits of integrating life skills into a liberal arts curriculum. Angela is a biologist and the Provost and Executive Vice President at Texas Women’s University. Prior to this, she served in several  leadership positions at High Point University. Angela is also the author of Teaching Life Skills in the Liberal Arts and Sciences: Preparing Students for Success Beyond the Classroom which has recently been released by Taylor and Francis. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

The rapid evolution of generative AI tools has introduced an expanding set of educational applications. In this episode, Dan Levy and Angela Perez Albertos join us to discuss how these changes are affecting faculty and classrooms. Dan is an economist and a senior lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University where he teaches courses in quantitative methods, policy analysis, and program evaluation. Angela is a graduate of the MPA program in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, and is the U.S. Head of Strategy at Innovamat. Dan and Angela are the authors of the first, and now the second, editions of Teaching Effectively with ChatGPT. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Students have varied levels of preparation for traditional types of classes and assessments used in colleges. In this episode, David Gooblar joins us to discuss a variety of instructional strategies that we can adopt to help all students succeed. David is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Iowa, a regular contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the creator of Pedagogy Unbound, and the author of The Missing Course: Everything They Never Taught You About College Teaching. His most recent book, One Classroom at a Time: How Better Teaching Can Make College More Equitable, was released in August 2025 by Harvard University Press. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

The U.S. higher education system has been a primary source of research that fuels innovation in science and industry, provides students from low-income communities opportunity to escape from poverty, and enriches the lives of graduates. In this episode, Rebecca Winthrop joins us to discuss how changes in federal policy are affecting the U.S. educational system and, ultimately, our society.  Rebecca is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, where her research focuses on education globally. Rebecca leads the Brookings Global Task Force on AI in Education and co-leads the Family Engagement in Education Network. In addition to her work with many other global education initiatives, Rebecca has served as the U.N. Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative’s Technical Advisory Group and served as co-lead for the Learning Metrics Task Force with the UNESCO Institute of Statistics. Rebecca is also a lecturer at Georgetown University and, with Jenny Anderson, the co-author of The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Faculty adoption and use of AI in higher education varies widely. In this episode, three colleagues from the University of Mississippi: Josh Eyler, Emily Pitts Donahoe, and Marc Watkins, provide their perspectives on AI use in higher education. Josh is the Senior Director of Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Emily is the Associate Director of Instructional Support in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Lecturer of Writing and Rhetoric, and Marc is a Lecturer in Composition and Rhetoric and Assistant Director of Academic Innovation. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Instructional designers have played an increasingly important role in supporting instruction in all modalities. In this episode, Safary Wa-Mbaleka and Gianina-Estera Petre join us to discuss a new resource describing effective instructional design practices in a global context. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Tenure is an employment protection threatened by changes in the labor market as well as declining public attitudes toward higher education and expertise. In this episode, Deepa Das Acevedo joins us to discuss the history of tenure, the value proposition of tenure, and what the cost to society and higher education would be if it were eliminated. Deepa is a legal anthropologist at Emory Law, the Editor of PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, a past Trustee of the Law & Society Association, and has held leadership positions in the Association of American Law Schools, the American Anthropological Association, and the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology. Deepa has published extensively in scholarly journals. She is the author of The War on Tenure, which will be released in September 2025 by Cambridge University Press. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Imagine exploring alternative teaching methods in a classroom focused on learning and not grades. In this episode, Russell Marcus joins us to discuss how this occurs in a two-week philosophy summer program. He is the Christian A. Johnson Excellence in Teaching Professor of Philosophy at Hamilton College. Russell specializes in the philosophy of mathematics and the pedagogy of philosophy. He is a Past-President of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers. Since 2018, Russell has been running a philosophy summer camp at Hamilton College designed to help faculty develop more effective teaching practices while also benefiting students. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Imagine having the ability to create personalized web applications that address your individualized needs. In this episode, Dave Ghidiu joins us to describe how you and your students can create such tools using a vibe coding process using free generative AI platforms. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Colleges and universities have survived many challenges. In this episode, Ian McNeely joins us to discuss how public higher ed institutions continued to thrive despite the challenges of the Great Recession, low-quality online diploma mills, and the COVID pandemic. Ian is a Professor of History and Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, He specializes in German history and the history of knowledge. Ian is the author of The University Unfettered: Public Higher Education in an Age of Disruption, which examines how modern research universities responded to the disruptions in higher education between the Great Recession and COVID-19 and the lessons learned from these experiences. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

New faculty often begin their teaching careers by emulating the teaching methods that they have observed, but these practices are often not consistent with evidence on how students learn. In this episode, Chris Hakala joins us to discuss the role that educational developers can play in shifting faculty focus from presenting to teaching. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

In past podcasts, we’ve often explored faculty concerns about student use of generative AI. In this episode, Kaija Hoyt joins us to discuss the evolution of her AI use. Kaija graduated from SUNY Oswego in May 2025 with a major in Human Resource Management and a minor in Mathematics. After graduation, Kaija provided a presentation on this topic to Oswego faculty and staff during an AI symposium.  A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Microaggressions interfere with the learning process and damage class community. In this episode, Kaija Hoyt joins us to provide a student’s perspective on microaggressions and strategies to address them. Kaija graduated from SUNY Oswego in May 2025 with a major in Human Resource Management and a minor in Mathematics. She completed an honors thesis on “Mitigating Microaggressions in the Workplace.” and recently provided a workshop presentation on microaggressions to SUNY-Oswego faculty and staff. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.  

Critical thinking skills are important in an environment where misinformation flourishes. In this episode, Linda Elder joins us to explore strategies higher ed institutions can use to encourage the development of critical thinking skills to improve the quality of life for students and faculty.  Linda is an educational psychologist and a leading authority on critical thinking. She is the President of the Foundation for Critical Thinking and the Executive Director of the Center for Critical Thinking. Linda is the author or co-author of 6 books on critical thinking.  Her most recent book is Critical Thinking Therapy: For Happiness and Self-Actualization. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Since the pandemic, universities have focused attention on student mental health. In this episode, Rebecca Pope-Ruark and Lee Skallerup Bassette join us to discuss faculty and staff mental health and wellbeing. Rebecca is the Director of Faculty Professional Development at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  She has 17 years of experience teaching undergraduates and is a Certified Scrum Master and design thinking workshop facilitator, an ICF-certified coach, and the host of The Agile Academic podcast. Rebecca is the author of Unraveling Faculty Burnout: Pathways to Reckoning and Renewal and the coeditor of Redesigning Liberal Education: Innovative Design for a Twenty-First-Century Undergraduate Education. Lee is the Assistant Director of Digital Learning at Georgetown University and is a regular contributor to Inside Higher Ed, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and ProfHacker. She is also the editor of Affective Labor and Alt-AC Careers and co-hosts the All Things ADHD podcast. Rebecca and Lee are editors of: Of Many Minds: Neurodiversity and Mental Health Among University Faculty and Staff, which is scheduled for release later this summer. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Updates to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act regulations require public colleges to increase their efforts to ensure that digital content meets accessibility standards. In this episode, Sean Moriarty joins us to discuss strategies to foster a culture of access across an institution. Sean is the Chief Technology Officer at SUNY Oswego. Sean and Rebecca have worked collaboratively on digital accessibility initiatives at SUNY Oswego since 2017 A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Technological change affects all aspects of our lives and our instructional practices must evolve to prepare students for their futures. In this episode, Loy Gross joins us to discuss strategies that she uses to prepare students for an industry that is evolving with digital tools. Loy is an online learning specialist and an adjunct technology instructor at SUNY Genesee Community College. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.