Show Notes
It's likely that many of us have experienced or practiced traditional lecturing where all or the majority of class time is spent with the instructor giving a lecture and the students passively absorbing it. You may have heard it described as the "sage on the stage" approach, and we all know how that often goes, in one ear and out the other. Know that if you're doing this, you're not alone. Many of us start by teaching how we were taught, and lots of us were taught through traditional lecture. Are you interested in making a change and looking for other ways to teach, approaches that engage your students with the material and move them from passive to active learners? If so, you've come to the right place!
In this episode, Angela and honored guests, Ashley Tharpe, Branka Manojlovic, Chris Ferrigno, and Mike Bradaric discuss alternatives to the traditional lecture and reflect on their own experiences learning and teaching using active learning strategies. They offer practical advice on how to reserve in-class time for discussion, application, and group work, while still allowing time for lecturing as needed, and the pedagogical reasons for doing so. They also discuss how faculty can get help implementing these changes.
CTEI extends a big thank you to our guests and their valuable contributions to this discussion!
Dr. Ashley Tharpe is an Online Chair in the School of Business and Associate Professor for the Department of Public & Community Health at Liberty University. She holds an EdD in Educational Leadership, Master of Public Health, MA in Human Relations, a MS in Health Sciences, and is a Certified Health Education Specialist. She is currently serving as the past-president of the Virginia Public Health Association (VPHA) and serves on several health-related committees with ImmunizeVA, VPHA, and the Northeastern Distance Learning Association board of directors. Dr. Tharpe is passionate about online education, supporting faculty, and the optimal health of people and communities.
Branka Manojlovic is an Instructional Designer (ID) at the Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation at Rush University. Branka has been working in the field of Instructional Design for the past 10 years. Prior to coming to CTEI, Branka worked as an ID at Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies and Indiana University Northwest Center for Innovation and Scholarship in Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Chris Ferrigno is an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology. Prior to coming to Rush in 2011, he was a Physical Therapist. He completed his PhD in Anatomy and Biomechanics at Rush University in 2015, and subsequently joined the Rush faculty. He teaches courses in gross anatomy and neurobiology for the medical, nursing, and health sciences colleges at Rush. His clinical research interests are in the areas of knee osteoarthritis and gait analysis, as well as anatomy education.
Dr. Michael Bradaric is an associate professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology and the current Director of Pharmacology for Rush Medical College. Mike has a PhD in pharmacology and was a cancer researcher specializing in gynecologic malignancies. Prior to his position at Rush, he taught integrated pharmacology for Chicago State College of Pharmacy, where he researched anticancer compounds from marine sources.
Episode transcript
More from Teaching in the CTEI
In this episode, Angela and guests, Gabriela Illa Acevedo, Samantha Pratt, and Jessica Bishop-Royse discuss their experiences teaching and learning in Rush University's Online Teaching & Course Design (OTCD) course, designed and developed by CTEI. OTCD is a 5-week, fully asynchronous online teaching training course provided for Rush University faculty who teach any course that is 50% or more online. So far, about 280 Rush faculty members have graduated with an OTCD 1.0 credential! Our guests discuss the many benefits of learning together in OTCD and how it challenged their assumptions and changed their teaching practices for the better. If you are Rush University faculty and have not taken OTCD but would like to, reach out to CTEI at [email protected]. We'd love to have you! A huge thank you to our wonderful guests for sharing their experiences! Gabriela Illa Acevedo is a proud Chicagoan and health law practitioner. Since 2011, she has worked to address issues including community emergency preparedness, access to health coverage and reproductive healthcare, childhood lead exposure prevention, support for survivors of domestic violence, and more. Currently, Gabriela currently runs Integrity Legal Services, a solo healthcare law firm, and holds a faculty appointment at Rush University where she teaches health law and ethics. Gabriela also serves on the board of directors for Saint Anthony Hospital. Samantha Pratt is an Assistant Professor with Rush University’s College of Nursing and is the assistant program director of clinical education for the nurse anesthesia training program, where she focuses on ensuring diverse and effective educational opportunities for clinical trainees. She earned her MSN in Nurse Anesthesia from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014, and her DNP through Rush University in 2021. She also holds a post-master’s teaching certificate in nursing pedagogy (2021). Samantha teaches chemistry and physics to first-year nurse anesthesia students, provides hands-on point-of-care ultrasound training to trainees and anesthesia staff, supports nurse anesthesia student clinical curricular development, and advises DNP projects. Jessica Bishop-Royse is an Associate Professor in the Rush University College of Nursing’s AHGN Dept. She teaches statistics and consults with RUCON faculty on their research and scholarship. She earned a PhD in Sociology in 2010. She joined RUCON in 2022.
In this final episode of a three-part series on AI in higher education, Angela and guests, Emily Rush, Eda Bozkurt, and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin answer fundamental questions at the heart of the AI debate. These include: why has the AI conversation become so emotionally charged? what concerns around AI's negative effects feel most urgent right now? and what would responsible institutional leadership around AI actually look like? Topics include equitable access, ethics and trust, learning and productive struggle, deskilling, and much more. A big thank you to our wonderful guests for sharing their time and expertise!
In this second episode of a three-part series on AI in higher ed, Angela and guests, Dilnoza Khasilova, Thomas J. Tobin, and Peg Checchi discuss the foundational skills that still matter in the age of AI. Questions pondered include, "What is one skill students absolutely still need to learn themselves, even if AI can do it for them?" and "Where do you draw the line between AI assistance and AI replacement?" Topics such as the mental work of writing, the importance of reasoning and intentionality, and the balance among guidance, tools, and learner agency are addressed. A huge thank you to our guests for their generosity and thoughtful insights!
We're back! After an extended hiatus, Teaching in the CTEI has returned with a 3-part episode series on AI in higher education. We're so happy to be back and have lots to discuss in the coming months! This first episode welcomes Dr. Elle Corvette, Dr. Felicitas Hartung, and Professor Chris Friend to the conversation, and attempts to tackle the big questions about AI's role in teaching & learning. For example, "What are we pretending still matters educationally because we're attached to tradition?" and "What do you think higher education could realistically look like in 10 years if AI continues advancing rapidly?". Topics include the value of critical reasoning, metacognition, grading and its alternatives, career readiness, and the importance of human relationships and community building. We are so grateful to our guests for their participation and thoughtful insights!
In this first episode of a two-part series, Angela leads a panel discussion on the role generative AI can play in helping faculty complete their many tasks and responsibilities. Panel experts discuss ways generative AI can be used to create and modify course materials, refine individualized feedback to students, and save time with common, but time-consuming tasks, such as writing emails and letters of recommendation. Our guests also discuss concerns both faculty and students share about the ethical implications of using AI in teaching and learning.