Teach Better

In our first Summer 2017 edtech episode, we talk about classroom response systems, aka clickers. We’re joined by three guests who have each used a different product extensively in their classes. First, Jenny Wissink (Cornell) shares how she uses iClicker to assess students’ understanding of pre-class video. Next, Bonni Stachowiak (Vanguard and the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast) explains why and how PollEverywhere gets students engaged. Finally, Susan Reilly (Florida State, Jacksonville) talks about how much fun her students have with Kahoot! Along the way we tell you what tools might be the best fit in different situations and how to get started with each tool.

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Edward and I are doing something different this summer on the Teach Better Podcast. Instead of our usual hour-long in-depth conversations with faculty, we’re focusing each episode on a separate category of educational technology tools and including several mini-interviews. Tomorrow we’ll publish our first episode on classroom response systems (aka “clickers”).

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Economic theory can be pretty dry for many students. This spring I decided to incorporate participatory games and simulations into my intermediate microeconomics class to make the material more concrete and the class a little more fun. We played an imperfect competition game on the first day, and then three more during the term. It went well, but there are some key tweeks I want to make next time around.

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A.T. Miller has published numerous articles on inclusive and multicultural teaching, and as the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Diversity, he currently directs Cornell’s Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives. In this episode we talk with A.T. about the valuable skills and alternative perspectives that non-traditional students bring to the classroom, and what “normal” academic things might not be obvious or comfortable for these students. A.T. shares a whole host practical ways to provide a level playing field to all your students.

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Intermediate Microeconomic Theory is the backbone of the undergraduate economics curriculum. This is where students learn the core mathematical models of the discipline, how to analyze them, and how to choose an appropriate model for a given scenario. These are essential skills for a working economist, and provide a window into how economists think. That said, economics is equal parts analysis and creativity. Students should also learn and practice constructing new models and extending models they’ve seen before. This spring I tried to incorporate these skills into the course through a semester-long creative project. Here’s what happened.

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Peter Rich, from Cornell’s Policy Analysis and Management Department, just finished his first year of college teaching. In this episode we focus on his big undergraduate class: Social Problems in America. Peter generously shares how he prepared, how it went, and what he learned from the experience.

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By the last class of the semester, everyone involved is usually pretty tired, and it can be a challenge to keep students engaged when you are reviewing material they’ve already seen. Instead of giving a greatest hits of the semester, I like to have students work through problems that combine multiple topics. This time around, I decided to up the ante and make the problems a little provocative.

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In this episode we are joined by Professor Drew Margolin from the Cornell Communications Department. Drew is an expert on the role of technology in communication and in particular social media. During our wide-ranging conversation he shares his thoughts on the growing importance of social media in our lives and our students’ lives, as well as how he uses Twitter to engage students in the classroom.

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I love music and I’ve always been a little jealous when I hear about other faculty who play songs before class that relate to the topics of the day. George Chauncey famously played gay anthems before his U.S. Lesbian and Gay History lectures at Yale. I’ve heard Anna Haskins sets the tone for Intro Sociology lectures with music here at Cornell. And both Dirk Mateer and Rebecca Stein connect songs to the topic of the day in introductory economics classes.

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