Tea for Teaching

UDL at Scale

The Universal Design for Learning framework is often adopted by individual faculty for particular courses. In this episode, Tom Tobin joins us to discuss the potential benefits associated with an institution-wide adoption of this framework.

Tom is an internationally recognized scholar, author and speaker on technology mediated education, especially copyright, evaluation of teaching practices, academic integrity, accessibility, and universal design for learning, which is a topic we'll be talking about today. He helped found the University of Wisconsin Madison Center for Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring. Tom is on Ed Tech Magazine's Influencers Dean's List, and has been honored with the Wagner Leadership Award in Distance Learning Administration, and he is one of EduFlow’s global top 100 learning influencers. Tom serves on the boards of Advances in Online Education, The Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, and the Oklahoma University Press: Teaching, engaging and thriving in higher ed series. We're very glad that he's made time to be with us with all these activities. His books include Evaluating Online Teaching, The Copyright Ninja, Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: UDL in Higher Education, Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers, Implementing UDL in Irish Further Education and Training, and what we'll be talking about today, UDL at Scale: Whole-Campus Universal Design for Learning, which is coming out this summer.

A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Teaching Neurodivergent College Students

Neurodivergent students experience challenges in traditional lecture settings. In this episode, Jennifer Pusateri joins us to discuss strategies to reduce these challenges while supporting and leveraging the strengths that neurodivergent students bring to our classrooms.

Jennifer is the Senior Universal Design Consultant at The University of Kentucky and has served as the co-chair of the international UDL in Higher Education Network. She is a member of the CAST National Faculty and is the author of Transform Your Teaching with Universal Design for Learning: Six Steps to Jumpstart Your Practice. Her newest book, A Practical Guide to Teaching Neurodivergent College Students has recently been released by Harvard Education Press.

A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Emotional Prosody and Online Learning

The use of instructor-narrated video slideshows has increased in response to both the growth of online instruction and increased use of flipped classroom teaching approaches. In this episode, Corinne Syrnyk and Alyson Kubat join us to discuss their study examining the impact on student learning of audio vs video narration and of the emotional tone conveyed by the instructor’s voice. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Random Audits to Deter Cheating

The growing capabilities of generative AI platforms have made it increasingly difficult for faculty to reliably distinguish between student work and AI-generated output. In this episode, David Wiley joins us to discuss the possibility of using random audits to promote academic integrity in a scalable manner. 

David has an extensive record as an innovator, entrepreneur, and leader in open educational materials beginning with the Open Content Project in 1998, continuing with his work as Director of Educational Licenses for Creative Commons, a co-founder of several education-related organizations, including Lumen Learning, where he also served as the Chief Academic Officer from 2012 to 2025. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including an NSF Career grant. David is currently an Associate Professor at Marshall University where he teaches courses in Entrepreneurship and Management Information Systems. Much of his recent work has been on the intersection of generative AI, open education, entrepreneurship, instructional design, and student success.

A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

The Public Scholar

The incentives of academia tend to focus faculty discussions within their narrow disciplinary fields. In this episode, David M. Perry joins us to discuss how faculty expertise can be used to enhance public discussions and decision-making.

David is a journalist, a medieval historian, and the Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in History at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. In addition to his books on medieval history, his work on history, parenting, disability, and politics has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Daily Beast, Smithsonian, Slate, CNN, and many others. His most recent book, The Public Scholar: A Practical Handbook, has just been released by Johns Hopkins University.

A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Not Token Gestures

While colleges and universities have made substantial progress in attracting a diverse mix of students, there are still substantial equity gaps in student outcomes. In this episode, Roberta Hurtado joins us to discuss approaches that can be used to reduce these gaps. Roberta is an associate professor in the English and Creative Writing Department here at SUNY Oswego, where she also serves as Director of Latino and Latin American Studies, and has been a fellow in the Triandiflou Institute for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Transformative Practice. She also has served as a 2023 Fellow in the SUNY Hispanic Leadership Institute.

A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Teaching = Coaching

Coaches and teachers work to develop skills by providing structured learning environments, motivational strategies, and individual feedback. In this episode, Christian Fauria and Constanza Bartholomae join us to discuss the similarities among coaching, teaching, and the work of educational developers. 

Christian is a former NFL tight end who played 13 seasons and won two Super Bowl Championships with the New England Patriots, and a national champion at the University of Colorado. Following his retirement from football, Christian transitioned into sports media, working as a college football analyst for ESPN and CBS, while co-hosting a radio show on WEEI in Boston. He is now a Professional in Residence at Bryant University in the Communication and Language Studies Department, teaching courses in sports broadcasting and organizational leadership in sports. Constanza is the Interim Director of the Center of Teaching Excellence at Bryant University.

A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Program-Level AI Responses

When generative AI platforms first appeared on the scene, faculty had to address these challenges alone. In this episode, Kathleen Landy joins us to discuss how program-level collaboration can help educators adapt more rapidly and effectively.

Kathleen is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Genesee Community College. Prior to this, Kathleen has served in leadership roles at teaching centers at Cornell University, Queensborough Community College, and Mercy College. She has taught in multiple modalities and also has extensive K-12 teaching experience. Kathleen also served on the POD Network Core Committee from 2022 through 2025, and currently serves as the Co-Chair of the SUNY Council on Assessment.

A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

AI Pre-Mortem

Many faculty, administrators, and students often become caught up in the potential benefits of new technology, but do not always consider the long-term consequences. In this episode, Rebecca Winthrop joins us to discuss a report summarizing the long-term benefits and risks associated with student use of generative AI.

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.

Where Did My Time Go?!

Faculty workload often feels overwhelming. In this episode, Kristin Croyle joins us to discuss strategies that can help us manage time and keep our workload under control. Kristin is a psychologist and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Sciences and Engineering at SUNY Oswego.

A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.