ON Cultivating Student Engagement in Higher Ed

In this episode, Dr. John Jungck, Professor of Biological and Mathematical Sciences, and Jamie Summerfield, Ed tech Consultant with Academic Technology Services (ATS), talk with me about the popular Tech Talk Tuesdays speaker series at the University of Delaware (UD). John shares how he started the series in 2013 to facilitate cross-disciplinary conversations around using technology for teaching. Together, John and Jamie discuss the process of selecting diverse presenters and topics that highlight innovative teaching approaches and tools like AI. They emphasize creating an inclusive, casual environment that attracts faculty across disciplines. Successful past sessions have sparked new interdepartmental collaborations. Their goal remains to build a supportive learning community where UD faculty can share expertise, find mentors, and gain exposure for their teaching innovations. Learn more about Tech Talk Tuesdays: Website linkCan't wait until the next Tech Talk Tuesday?Learn more about these sessions:Register

In this captivating episode, part of our exclusive series on The Paul J. Rickards, Jr. Teaching Innovation Grant Program, we explore the transformative power of innovative teaching strategies within education. We're thrilled to feature Katie Leech, a distinguished graphic designer, fine artist, and educator with a deep-rooted passion for printmaking. Katie shares her expertise on the critical role of typography in communication, emphasizing its significance and influence in messaging. Further enriching the conversation, she delves into her explorations of how artificial intelligence tools could revolutionize the creative process. By assisting students in refining their decision-making skills, AI has the potential to significantly enhance customization in typography and imagery. This episode not only highlights Katie's work supported by the grant but also offers invaluable insights for teachers interested in sharing their innovative teaching strategies. With the grant application period now open as of March 1, 2024, we invite you to uncover how this opportunity can ignite your innovative teaching initiatives. Dive deeper into the possibilities at https://ats.udel.edu/grant/.

In this special episode that is part of a short series about The Paul J. Rickards, Jr. Teaching Innovation Grant program, we highlighted Dr. Katy Bender, an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Delaware's Lerner College of Business & Economics. With a Ph.D. in Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics from The Ohio State University, Dr. Bender specializes in Resource & Environmental Economics, Experimental Economics, Development Economics, and Applied Econometrics. Dr. Bender talked about her grant project, "DataEnchanted: Transforming Numbers Into Knowledge," which uniquely incorporates the influence of music icon Taylor Swift to make data analysis accessible and engaging, particularly aiming to inspire more women into the field of economics. The grant application period is now open as of March 1, 2024, we invite you to uncover how this opportunity can ignite your innovative teaching initiatives. Dive deeper into the possibilities at https://ats.udel.edu/grant/.

In this second episode, we're going to dive deeper into how UD's Academic Technology Services pivoted with resilience and innovation when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Stacy and Ali will share their insights on adapting to the sudden shift to remote learning, the creative solutions they provided, and how their support evolved as we emerged from that crisis. We'll also explore the compelling reasons why you, as an educator or content creator, should seriously consider tapping into these professional-grade facilities and services. Our guests will walk us through the straightforward process of how to get started.

You will have a chance to discover the state-of-the-art video production studios and services available right on the University of Delaware's campus in this insightful two-part series. In Part One, featured guests, Stacy Weile, Manager of UD Studio & Video Conf, and Ali Pawlowski, Digital Media Specialist offer an exclusive look at the impressive Pearson Hall studios, control rooms, and newly redesigned recording spaces operated by the Academic Technology Services. Together we'll explore the latest tools and technologies available, how faculty can access these facilities, and learn about the hands-on support available to elevate your online learning content.

This episode provides audio shorts that explore three tech tools for enhancing student engagement and assessment. This episode spotlights Poll Everywhere, Perusall, and FeedbackFruits as innovative edtech solutions for interactivity, collaboration, and meaningful feedback. This special episode includes the help of artificial intelligence as my co-pilot in providing audio bites for two of the three tools covered. Overall, these tools increase student participation, provide alternative assessments, save instructors time, and work in various course formats. 📍For more information: ATS, visit: https://ats.udel.edu/ KCTO, visit: https://sites.udel.edu/kcto/ Innovative Teaching Strategies (ITS), visit: https://ats.udel.edu/innovative-teaching-strategies/

In this second part of this first episode of Season 5, we continue with conversational stories about how our guests work with their teams of TAs to support the Poll Everywhere tool, their take on academic honesty with the use of Poll Everywhere, and their biggest challenge with the tool. We wrap up this episode with faculty sharing their discoveries that might not have been revealed if not for the power of Poll Everywhere. This faculty panel includes: Agnes Ly, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences and director of undergraduate advising for PSYC and NSCI majors. Haritha Malladi, director of first-year engineering and assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. Stefanie DeVito, assistant professor of biological sciences.

In this first season's episode, we dive into a two-part series exploring the transformative journey of Poll Everywhere at the University of Delaware. Since the onset of the pandemic, this multimodal tool has become an integral part of the university's pedagogical toolkit. Poll Everywhere has the ability to gather instantaneous feedback from students, even in large lecture settings, through various interactive features. You'll learn that this isn't just about technology—but about fostering inclusion, promoting engagement, and visualizing learning in real-time. In this series, we'll go beyond the basics. Hear firsthand accounts from esteemed faculty members who've seamlessly integrated Poll Everywhere into their large lecture classes. They'll share the highs, the lows, and the game-changing strategies they've discovered along the way. If you're keen to elevate your teaching methods or simply curious about the impact of real-time student engagement, this series is a must-listen! This faculty panel includes: Agnes Ly, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences and director of undergraduate advising for PSYC and NSCI majors. Haritha Malladi, director of first-year engineering and assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. Stefanie DeVito, assistant professor of biological sciences.

Part I: Navigating a Sea of Students - Class Size, Types, and First Experiences Ever wondered how the dynamics of a classroom change with its size? In this podcast, we dive into rich conversations with a faculty panel who share their perspectives related to whether or not class size mattered, the types of large courses they have been teaching, and their first teaching experiences with large lecture class sections. This faculty panel includes: Agnes Ly, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences and director of undergraduate advising for PSYC and NSCI majors. Haritha Malladi, director of first-year engineering and assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. Lindsay Hoffman, an associate professor of communication and political science.

Part II: Managing Challenges with Design and Delivery for Large Lecture Courses Teaching a sea of students is no easy feat but it comes with the job. This episode brings to the forefront the inherent challenges of large-scale instruction and how these educators implement thoughtful strategies for managing how they design and deliver their courses. Listen to their stories of innovation and adaptability as they turn these challenges into opportunities for learning communities and engagement for their large classes.

Part III: Tools, Tips, and Time Management in Large Lectures With the sheer volume of students in large lectures, how do faculty ensure every student feels seen? Tune in for this final episode to explore the tools and tactics these educators use for ongoing encouragement. From time management to assessment strategies, this final episode provides their pearls of wisdom and ways that they bring their best selves to their large lecture classes.

This podcast focuses on the perspectives of faculty work with specifications grading. The final part of this series features Ellen Monk, Associate Professor in the Department of Accounting and MIS in the Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware. Ellen also serves as the Associate Chair of the MIS department. Ellen shares her perspective of specs grading and the challenges that can come with it. The hope is that through this shared experience, listeners gain a well-rounded point of view as to whether or not this type of assessment might be right for their students.

This podcast focuses on the perspectives of faculty work with specifications grading. The first two parts feature three College of Engineering faculty members: Nazim Karaca, a data engineer at the University of Delaware who helps human-subject researchers collect and manage their data, who also teaches computer programming and ethics at UD. Sheldon Hewlett, an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware, who teaches introductory courses in materials science as well as junior labs, and Julie Karand, an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware, focuses on teaching undergraduate engineering and global experiences in the engineering curriculum.The purpose of this series is to provide perspectives that will help you as you consider whether or not this type of assessment might be right for you and your students.

This podcast focuses on the perspectives of faculty work with specifications grading. This second part of the series continues the conversation with three College of Engineering faculty members: Nazim Karaca, a data engineer at the University of Delaware who helps human-subject researchers collect and manage their data, who also teaches computer programming and ethics at UD. Sheldon Hewlett, an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware, who teaches introductory courses in materials science as well as junior labs, and Julie Karand, an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware, focuses on teaching undergraduate engineering and global experiences in the engineering curriculum. These brilliant faculty members explore their methods for communicating spec grading to their students, how they reflect it in their syllabi, and the student feedback received about this type of assessment.

In this second episode of Season 4, the new host Dr. Lauren Kelley, welcomes Vic Wang, director of noncredit professional programs for the University of Delaware’s Division of Professional and Continuing Studies (UD PCS). Vic oversees the creation, management, and successful implementation of all online and face-to-face noncredit programs, certificates, workshops, conferences, and customized programs. This podcast will focus on microcredentials in higher education. What is shared in this episode strives to shed light on how this impacts the recognition of educational experiences and completion. Take a listen to how microcredentials have evolved at the University of Delaware and how microcredentials, in general, have continued to evolve and change the workforce.

In this first episode of Season 4, the new host Dr. Lauren Kelley, an instructional designer in UD-IT Academic Technology Services (ATS) welcomes the UDCapture Team. The UDCapture Team is also part of ATS and they are responsible for a suite of tools that allow faculty and students to create and share videos. This tiny team has oversight and coordination of automatic classroom capture for in-person classes, a variety of recording studios, and self-service platforms for your media. 📍Be sure to listen until the end for an opportunity to participate in an AI-based pilot with the UDCapture Team. This pilot involves profile development. After listening to this episode, if this pilot piqued your interest - please contact them at udcapture@udel.edu. Space is limited to 8-10 faculty from a diversity of disciplines.

In this teaser trailer, the new host Dr. Lauren Kelley, an instructional designer in UD-IT Academic Technology Services (ATS) welcomes ON - Cultivating Student Engagement in Higher Ed listeners to the new season. She shares what you can expect from this reimagined podcast and promises ON listeners that they can expect to become better acquainted with support services available to them regardless of their course modality.

In this episode, Katy Berkow shares exciting news about her new transition. She introduces her podcast successor and invites her listeners to get ready for an exciting new season! 📍Need the transcript for this episode? Access it here.

This episode focuses on how we can contribute to successful searches, with a focus on including candidates of all backgrounds. Dr. Lauren Vicker shares her expertise, published in The Complete Academic Search Manual, and includes some great ideas for sourcing and evaluating candidates and making sure new hires make connections after they join your team.

Katy speaks with Em Rowe and Bri VanArsdale about gender inclusivity in the classroom and how it contributes to student success both in and out of the classroom. This episode starts with gender and leans into reducing barriers to learning for all of our students.