Podcast #13
Professor Lynne Regan from Yale’s Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry believes in the power of active learning. In this episode she shares what she’s learned incorporating active learning exercises into her classes.
Dipping a Toe in the Group Project Pool
If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you understand that I don’t have all the answers. I often write about things as I learn them. That’s especially true today as I try to implement group projects in one of my classes. This is something I’ve had mixed success with in the distant past, but for a variety of reasons, I’m giving them another try.
Podcast #12
Professor Craig Wright has been teaching an introductory course on classical music for as long as he can remember. It started as a traditional lecture course, became an active in-person lecture course, and four years ago he taught it in Yale Summer Session as a Small Private Online Course (SPOC). In the spring Craig transformed the course yet again, this time into a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Craig shares his journey with us on this episode of the Teach Better Podcast.
Podcast #11
Carla Horwitz spends her time teaching undergraduates about child development and directing one of the nation’s premiere early child care centers: the Calvin Hill Day Care Center and Kitty Lustman-Findling Kindergarten. In our conversation we talk about how these two jobs overlap, the importance of quality early education, and how college classrooms should be places for creativity and play.
Podcast #10
In this episode, we reflect back to identify eight habits which almost all of our guests have used to teach effectively. If you’re new to the podcast, this is a great place to start since it’s filled with our favorite quotes from earlier episodes.
Making Choices and Explaining Them to Our Students
For every teacher out there doing cool things in the classroom and blogging about it, there must be another hundred doing great work and not shouting it from the rooftops. Julia Kregenow from the Penn State Astronomy and Astrophysics Department is one of those people. She thinks deeply about teaching and has taught a wide range of classes in astronomy, math, and physics including several geared toward freshmen. I love how she has reasons for every choice she makes, and explains these choices to her students. Today, Julia is letting me share excerpts from a recent syllabus where she does exactly this.
First Day of (Summer) School
June is the time of year when most faculty are just settling into a summer away from teaching. Not me though–after submitting my spring grades I had about 2 weeks of catching up on everything I put off during the semester, and now I’m back at it teaching econometrics online in Yale Summer Session.
Podcast #9
In this episode, Vida Maralani, Yale Assistant Professor of Sociology, joins us with two of her students, Dan Rubins and Avery Jones. Together, we talk about how Vida teaches classes on social issues and quantitative methods to both undergraduate and graduate students.
Why are so few women majoring in economics?
Women are hugely under-represented in economics. This is true in the “real world,” but it’s equally true in college. Nationwide, there about three male economics majors for every female, and it’s not much better at elite institutions like Yale where males outnumber females by more than two to one.