Transform Your Teaching

What does it mean to “think critically?” What role does developing critical thinking play in developing AI literacy? Why is it so important to train students to apply critical thinking to AI outputs? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss the importance of critical thinking. 

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What kind of work environment are recent graduates stepping into? How is Generative AI impacting their everyday work? What can instructors do now to help ready future graduates? Join Jared as he chats with Logan Davis, a recent MBA graduate, about how Generative AI is changing the way that he works.

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How is AI changing the way that people work? What kind of skills are employers looking for in their future employees? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Donnie Woodyard (Executive Director for the Interstate Commission for EMS Personnel Practice) about how Generative AI is supporting, assisting, and training clinicians. 

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How is AI changing the way that people work? What kind of skills are employers looking for in their future employees? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Mark Tanner (Environmental Manager of Healthcare, Retail, and Grocery Logistics at Amazon) about how AI is changing the work landscape at Amazon.

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How essential is AI Literacy in educational institutions? To what degree should institutions provide access to AI tools for their faculty and students? Can training students to be more AI literate equip them to use AI more effectively? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Jodie Penrod (Chief Information Officer at Marshall University) about the importance of AI literacy and access at higher education institutions.

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What is AI Literacy? How important is it for students to be “AI literate”? How can teachers help students develop the necessary skills to enter a workforce where the need for AI Literacy is growing? Join Rob and Jared as they start our new series on AI Literacy.

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In this episode, Rob and Jared review Great Learners by Design: Principles and Practices to Supercharge Learners. They discuss the key principles of the book and some of the major takeaways.

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How are current college students using AI in their academics? Where are they finding it useful? How are they attempting to approach using it ethically? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss AI usage with two more current students, Caroline and Caleb.

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How has AI changed nursing practices and patient care? What can educators do to leverage AI to train nursing students for their future careers? In this episode, Rob and Jared chat with Dr. Michele Dodds about how she is “moving the needle” through using AI to train future healthcare professionals.

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It's been a while, but it's time for another Coffee Drop—shorter episodes outside the normal release schedule that could be random, scholarly, weird, on-topic, or off-topic. In this episode, Jared and Rob introduce and define a new segment of the podcast, "Needle Movers."

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How important is it to balance autonomy and provide guardrails? Why is it so important for instructors to build relationships with their students? Join Rob and Jared as they reflect on our series and consider the major takeaways from our series “Stirring Motivation.” 

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How does Dr. Aelterman’s Teaching Compass apply to the higher education context? How do students respond to choice within boundaries? Could a hyflex approach be used to stir student motivation? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Chantal Levesque-Bristol (Professor of Education Psychology & Executive Director of the Center for Instructional Excellence at Purdue University).

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What are the greatest challenges for students to stay motivated in class? How do personal habits and social influences shape their drive? How are the core ideas of Self-Determination Theory reflected in real student experiences? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with two students about their lives outside of class, which affects their motivation.

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What are some stressors that could influence a student’s motivation to be active in a course? How can instructors help students acclimate to higher education? How can an instructor connecting on a personal level influence student motivation? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Michele Worley (Assistant Professor of Education at Liberty University).

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What information about their success can motivate a student’s learning? What shouldn’t be shared? What roles can learning mastery and Generative AI play in motivation? How much feedback is too much for students, and what type works best? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Stephen Aguilar (Associate Professor of Education at USC) to answer these questions and more.

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What is the “Teaching Compass?” How can it be used as a tool to adjust our teaching to meet the needs of our students? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Nathalie Aelterman (Co-founder of Impetus Academy, a spin-off from Ghent University) about how to provide pathways that motivate students to learn.

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How can the feedback we give to students increase their motivation? How can understanding how they receive it help teachers give better feedback? Join Rob as he chats with Dr. John Hattie (Honorary Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne) about effective types of feedback and why one of them is not the feedback sandwich.

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Is Bloom’s Taxonomy the best standard for creating learning objectives? What other taxonomies like Bloom’s exist, and where are they useful? Join Rob and Jared as they revisit the conversation on objectives with Jason Frieling (Instructional Designer with the Center for Teaching and Learning at Cedarville University).

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How can sleeping habits influence a student’s motivation? How does it affect cognitive abilities? What can instructors do to help? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Chao Liu (Associate Professor of Psychology at Cedarville University) about the effects of sleep on motivation.

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What is self-determination theory? What role do autonomy, competence, and relatedness have in driving motivation? How can giving students the right choices increase their motivation? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Erika Patall (Professor of Education and Psychology at the University of Southern California).

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What are the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation? Can extrinsic motivation be enough for students to succeed in a class? How can an educator move students to be intrinsically motivated? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss the benefits of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

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What factors are at play in motivation? Can showing the value of our content increase a student’s motivation? How important is it that students know their instructor is invested in them and their learning? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Professor Betsy Linnell (a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Assistant Professor of Psychology at Cedarville University).

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Can an educator increase a student's motivation towards academic goals? What motivational theories can serve as tools to understand how to motivate students? Join Rob and Jared as they start our series on student motivation.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our 2025 wrap-up survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes and your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Even if you enter the drawing, your survey response will remain anonymous.

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How are current college students using AI in their academics? Where are they finding it useful? What limitations do they see? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss how students are using AI with current students Kaiya and Jude.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our 2025 wrap-up survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes and your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Even if you enter the drawing, your survey response will...

What do students think about flexible deadlines, technology integration, and real-world applications in the classroom? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Lauren and Daniel.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our 2025 wrap-up survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes and your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Even if you enter the drawing, your survey response will remain anonymous.

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In this episode, Rob McDole and Jared Pyles chat with Eric Stroud (Instructor of Communication at Cedarville University). They discuss his professional experiences prior to stepping into higher education and the adjustments he had to make during his first semester of teaching.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our 2025 wrap-up survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes and your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Even if you enter the drawing, your...

What are we doing in 2026? In this episode, Rob and Jared discuss the topics that they are looking forward to covering this year.

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In this episode, Rob and Jared reflect on this year's podcast. Thank you to our listeners and followers who have joined us this year! On to year 4!

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How do Christian educators approach Generative AI with caution? How can educators find the balance between using GAI as a tool and having it take over their teaching? In this episode, Rob and Jared chat with Dr. Dave Mulder about his new book Teach Like a Human.

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In this episode, Rob and Jared reflect on the OLC Accelerate 2025 conference in Orlando, FL. They are joined by Dr. Bob Lutz, the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Cedarville University.
 
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What did Rob and Jared take away from our series, “Have You Tried...”? What innovative strategies made their way into their classes? Join Rob and Jared as they reflect on the series and how they tried to put these ideas into practice.

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We've discussed how mind mapping can impact teaching and learning, but what other applications exist? How can mind mapping help solve problems or organize thinking? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Larry Cox II (Senior Instructional Designer at Virginia Tech) about his presentation on using mind mapping techniques in systems thinking while at the 2025 OLC Accelerate Conference.

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What is mind mapping? How can it be an effective tool for making connections between concepts? How can it help us process knowledge more effectively? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss how mind mapping can help students and teachers work through ideas.

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What impact can familiar and unfamiliar music have on students in teaching? Do beats per minute correlate to cognition? Join Rob and Jared as they reflect on their interview with Dr. Deforia Lane and discuss the usage of music in education.

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What happens in the brain when music is played? How can music be used for teaching and learning? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Deforia Lane (PhD in Music Education & Music Therapy from Case Western Reserve University) about how educators can use music to influence their students’ success.

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What are the benefits of personal storytelling in the classroom? How can an anecdote enhance or support direct instruction? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss their own views on storytelling and reflect on their conversation with Dr. Q.

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What are Dr. Q’s essentials for good storytelling? How can storytelling be used as an effective tool for teaching and learning? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Quentin Schultze (PhD in Communication from the University of Illinois - Urbana) about how he uses storytelling to connect with his students and make content more memorable.
 
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What are some studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness of gamification? How can the work that others have done to gamify their classes help you? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss examples from five different gamification studies.

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If you gamify your class, how do you ensure that students remember content, not just the game that they played? What would it look like if you wanted to integrate learning into a game? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Daniel Singletary (EdD in Educational Technology, Boise State University) about how gamification can be used to motivate students.

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What are the differences between gamification and game-based learning? How can one small “gamifying” step increase student engagement and make content stick? Join Rob and Jared as they define gamification, consider the underlying frameworks associated with gamification, and share some easy applications.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes, and your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Even if you enter the drawing, your surv...