The Centre for Teaching and Learning at Columbia has a new podcast that invites instructors, students and leaders in higher education to reflect on “dead ideas” in teaching and learning. These are ideas that are not true but are often firmly embedded in popular culture and sometimes in the pedagogical choices we make.
The theme originates from the article “The Tyranny of Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning” (The Sociological Quarterly, 2011) by Diane L. Pike, Professor of Sociology at Augsburg University. Pike writes,
Ideas are dead because they are no longer correct, if they ever were. They are tyranny because we cling to them despite the evidence…Clinging to dead ideas about teaching and learning limits our practice as professors. The resulting tyranny means we fail to educate our students as effectively as we might…The good news is that learned behaviors, sociologically informed reflection, and the application of the research in the scholarship of teaching and learning can liberate us and improve the experiences of teachers and learners alike.
Past episodes include:
- What does Research Tell Us about Grading and Grade Inflation? with Josh Eyler
- AI as a Mass Extinction Event for Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning? with Cynthia Alby
- A Neuroscientist’s Perspective on Student Engagement with Alfredo Spagna
- Let’s Stop Relying on Biased Teaching Evaluations with Joanna Wolfe
- Assessment For and As Learning with Jonathan Amiel and Aubrie Swan Sein
Each episode is about 30 minutes in length and features an interview with someone who has been wrestling with these ideas in their current teaching and learning practice. You can listen to an audio preview here.
Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning (columbia.edu)
I have had this bookmarked and finally found the time to listen to it! I enjoyed listening to Liz Norell talking about her new book, “The Present Professor: Authenticity and Transformational Teaching” (2024). Authenticity has been a topic of interest to me ever since the rise of social media platforms, which, in my opinion, has supported a big shift in our approach to networking and increasingly promoted a lack of authenticity at various levels. Norell says that when we are moderating who we are, we are devoting several resources to self-monitoring and self-control, and these resources use energy that’s taken out of the learning process. If, instead, we apply all of our energy to deeply listening and being present in the classroom, both instructors and students will deeply benefit from that. In my experience teaching, I’ve noticed how bringing a more authentic self into the classroom has encouraged students to be authentic as well. We act as a mirror. How we present ourselves and how we are present in the classroom will always make an impact on all participants in the learning process.