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Hi! I'm Bonni Stachowiak. Host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.

Each week I send an update to subscribers with the most recent episode's show notes and some other resources that don't show up on the podcast. Subscribe to the Teaching in Higher Ed weekly update.

Posts
“One of the most important functions of grades or marks given on individual assignments is to communicate to students about how they're progressing in a certain subject. Traditional grades don't serve this communicative function very well.” - Emily Pitts
Featured Post

Teaching in Higher Ed Update // Learning About Grades from an Emerging Failure and Special Guest Emily Pitts Donahoe

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 588 of Teaching in Higher Ed, I welcome Emily Pitts Donahoe, Associate Director of Instructional Support at the University of Mississippi’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, as well as Lecturer in Writing and Rhetoric. Using an experimental podcast format for the show, Emily joins me to set up and reflect on a candid conversation I previously recorded with my daughter, Hannah, about her experiences with grades...

10 days ago • 2 min read
"I think these students struggle so much with attention that bringing them back with a really simple question just helps." M.C. Flux

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 587, I welcome Dr. Flux from the University of Colorado Boulder with a joint PhD in neuroscience and clinical psychology, to Teaching in Higher Ed. We explore the art of intentional and authentic video creation for layered learning in higher education. Dr. Flux shares his approach to designing educational videos that blend science, storytelling, and social media aesthetics, focusing on making content students truly want to...

17 days ago • 2 min read
"My goal is to challenge my students intellectually. My goal is not to stress them out." Seth Offenbach on Teaching in Higher Ed

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 586, I welcome Seth Offenbach, Associate Professor in the History Department at Bronx Community College (CUNY), to Teaching in Higher Ed. We explore ways to foster kindness and a sense of community in online asynchronous classrooms, drawing from Seth’s recent article in Currents in Teaching and Learning. Seth reflects on his own evolution as an educator and how he’s been inspired by figures such as Kevin Gannon and Katherine...

24 days ago • 3 min read
"You don't have to be able to save the world, but you're obligated to try, right? And so the whole key behind that is in trying, you almost by definition achieve more." Bryan Dewsbury on Teaching in Higher Ed podcast

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 585 of Teaching in Higher Ed, I welcome Bryan Dewsbury, Associate Professor of Biology at Florida International University, back to the podcast. Bryan joins me to explore what it means to teach in ways that are socially just across academic disciplines. Drawing on his extensive experience as both a classroom teacher and a faculty developer, Bryan shares how trust-building, transparency, and deep mentorship are foundational to...

about 1 month ago • 4 min read
"Our role as teachers is not to be cops, it's to teach and therefore to be in a position where we can trust you and help you make the right choice." Danny Liu

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 584, I welcome Danny Liu, Professor of Educational Technologies at the University of Sydney, to Teaching in Higher Ed. We explore what it means to trust students in the age of AI and how traditional assessment metaphors like traffic lights often fall short in guiding student use of artificial intelligence. Danny Liu introduces his “menu” framework, inspired by his own experience on a Disney cruise, to help educators guide...

about 1 month ago • 3 min read
"When you take a reader on a journey, as the reader works through an essay or book that you've written, they spend a lot of time with you." James Lang

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 583 of Teaching in Higher Ed, I welcome back James M. Lang, Professor of Practice at the Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Notre Dame and acclaimed author of several influential books, including Small Teaching, Distracted, and his latest, Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience. Jim joins me to explore how educators can leverage their classroom strengths—curiosity,...

about 1 month ago • 4 min read
"Their voice really comes through in the letter format in ways that I don't see in other forms of writing. I encourage them to loosen up a little bit with what they think I am expecting them to write about or how to write." - Adriana Aldana on Teaching in

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 582, I welcome Adriana Aldana, Associate Professor of Social Work at California State University, Dominguez Hills, to Teaching in Higher Ed. We explore the transformative practice of counterstory pedagogy, exploring how storytelling, particularly through letter writing, can serve as a tool for reflection, empowerment, and building community among students. Adriana shares her experience developing assignments that create space...

about 1 month ago • 3 min read
“The opposite of joy isn't suffering, it's numbness.” - Alexandra (Ana) Kogl on Teaching in Higher Ed podcast

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 581, I welcome Alexandra (Ana) Kogl, Political Theory and Women’s Studies Professor at the University of Northern Iowa, to Teaching in Higher Ed. We explore Ana’s change in perspective from viewing teaching as an emotionally distant, strictly intellectual endeavor to discovering the transformative potential of joy, even amidst the most difficult topics in political science. Ana reflects on how opening the classroom to the...

about 2 months ago • 3 min read
"Learning is incredibly hard work. It's one of the things that does drain the body of energy." Leslie Bayers on the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 580 of Teaching in Higher Ed, I welcome Dr. Leslie Bayers, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at University of the Pacific, to the podcast. Leslie’s background spans Spanish and Latin American studies, educational development, and the teaching of movement, with her recent scholarship questioning inherited practices in higher education and empowering college teachers and learners. In this conversation, we discuss...

2 months ago • 3 min read
"Moving slowly or taking your time is a very key theme of Mr. Rogers neighborhood, and also Fred Rogers’ life and the way he lived it." Jennifer Baumgartner

Reader, here's your weekly Teaching in Higher Ed update. On Episode 579, I welcome Dr. Jennifer Baumgartner, Professor of Early Childhood Education at Louisiana State University, to Teaching in Higher Ed. She explores the enduring legacy of Fred Rogers and the profound lessons his educational philosophies offer for higher education today. Jennifer shares personal memories of Mr. Rogers' comforting presence during her childhood and reflects on how his values (especially love, curiosity, and...

2 months ago • 4 min read