Episodes

Wednesday Mar 26, 2025
Critical Thinking in the Age of AI
Wednesday Mar 26, 2025
Wednesday Mar 26, 2025
Throughout human history, we have relied on technology to make our work easier. In this episode, Michelle Miller joins us to discuss how to foster students’ critical thinking skills in the age of AI.
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.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Wednesday Sep 11, 2024
Essentials of the New Science of Learning
Wednesday Sep 11, 2024
Wednesday Sep 11, 2024
Most freshman students enter college with little knowledge of evidence-based strategies for successfully navigating the college experience. In this episode, Todd Zakrajsek joins us to discuss a variety of approaches that students can use to more efficiently achieve their learning goals. Todd is an Associate Research Professor and Associate Director of a Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also the Director of four Lilly conferences on evidence-based teaching and learning. Todd is the author of many superb books, and has published six books (so far) in the past five years. His most recent book is Essentials of the New Science of Learning.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Higher Ed Then and Now
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Teaching practices have gradually evolved as we’ve learned more about how humans learn. From one year to the next, these changes may appear small, but the cumulative effect is profound. In this episode, Todd Zakrajsek joins us to reflect back on the changes that have occurred in higher ed during our careers.
Todd is an Associate Research Professor and Associate Director of a Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also the director of four Lilly conferences on evidence-based teaching and learning. Todd is the author of many superb books, and has published four books in the past four years. His most recent book is a fifth edition of Teaching at it's Best, a book he co-authored with Linda Nilson.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
Study Like a Champ
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
Wednesday Jun 14, 2023
The study strategies that most students use may be helpful in passing high-stakes assessments, but do not generally support long-term recall of fundamental concepts. In this episode, Regan Gurung and John Dunlosky join us to discuss a new resource they have created that is designed to help students develop more efficient study strategies and improve their metacognitive and self-regulatory skills.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Wednesday May 17, 2023
The Cognition-Motivation Connection
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Emotions can have both positive and negative impacts on learning. In this episode, Michelle Miller joins us to explore the relationships that exist between emotions and 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 and Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology: Teaching, Learning, and the Science of Memory in a Wired World. Michelle is also a co-editor, with James Lang, of the superb West Virginia University Press series on teaching and learning.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Moving the Needle
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
Wednesday Mar 29, 2023
The study techniques that most college students adopt do not align with what research tells us about how we learn. In this episode, Sheela Vermu and Adrienne Williams join us to discuss what happens when an instructor in a community college biology class attempts to encourage students to adopt evidence-based study methods. Sheela is a biologist at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove. Illinois. Adrienne is a biologist at the University of California, Irvine.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
The New Science of Learning
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Students who enter college without a preparation in effective learning strategies often do not persist to degree completion. In this episode, Todd Zakrajsek joins us to discuss what incoming students should know to successfully navigate the college experience.
Todd is an Associate Research Professor and Associate Director of a Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also the Director of 4 Lilly Conferences On Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning. Todd is the author of many superb books. His most recent book is the 3rd edition of The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony With Your Brain.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Teaching at its Best
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
Wednesday Feb 15, 2023
New faculty often start their faculty roles without training in teaching. In this episode Linda Nilson and Todd Zakrajsek join us to talk about the evolving roles and expectations of faculty and explore the new edition of a classic teaching guide.
Now Director Emeritus, Linda was the Founding Director of the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation at Clemson University. Todd is an Associate Research Professor and Associate Director of the Faculty Development Fellowship in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Linda and Todd are each individually the authors of many superb books on teaching and learning and now have jointly authored a new edition of a classic guide for faculty.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Mind Over Monsters
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
Wednesday Jan 18, 2023
During the last few years, college students have been reporting mental health concerns at unprecedented levels, straining the resources provided by college and university counseling centers. In this episode, Sarah Rose Cavanagh joins us to discuss the role that faculty can play in addressing these concerns.
Sarah is a psychologist, professor and Senior Associate Director for Teaching and Learning at Simmons University. She is the author of The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion and Hivemind: Thinking Alike in a Divided World as well as numerous academic articles and essays in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Lit Hub, Inside Higher Ed, and Vice. Her most recent book, Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge will be released in spring 2023.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
The New College Classroom
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Despite all that we have learned from cognitive science about how people learn, the most common form of classroom instruction still involves students passively listening to a lecturer standing at a podium at the front of the room. In this episode, Cathy Davidson and Christina Katopodis join us to discuss alternative approaches that treat student diversity as an asset and allow all students to be actively engaged in their own learning.
Cathy is a Distinguished Professor at the CUNY Graduate Center, the author of more than twenty books, and a regular contributor to the Washington Post and the Chronicle of Higher Education. She has served on the National Council of Humanities and delivered a keynote address at the Nobel Forum on the Future of Education. Christina is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Transformative Learning in the Humanities Initiative at CUNY and has authored over a dozen articles on innovative pedagogy, innovative pedagogy, environmental studies, and Early American Literature. She has received the Dewey Digital Teaching Award and the Diana Colbert Initiative Teaching Prize.
A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.