Podcast
Higher Ed Heroes
Hosted by Seb Kaempf and Al Stark · EN
In ‘HigherEd Heroes’, we talk to some of the best teachers about ‘what works’ in their university classrooms in a down-to-earth, jargon-free, and non-technical manner. Our objective is to communicate practical advice from the bottom-up to a broad range of teachers about new ideas they may want to integrate into their classrooms and to stimulate open conversations about their everyday practice. Each episode explores what excites students to learn, what keeps them coming back for lectures, and what makes teaching fun for both teachers and students. We hope that you engage in these conversations and (like us) find something in them which inspires you to make small changes that may reward you and your students in big ways.‘ Higher Ed Heroes’ is convened by The University of Queensland's Dr Seb Kaempf and Dr Al Stark and produced by Anthony Frangi. If you want to listen to the podcast, get more information, or get in touch, please visit: https://itali.uq.edu.au/about/projects/highered-heroes-podcast
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Interactive oral examinations
Apr 2700:30:03Tap to summarizeTogether with our guests, Dr Clara Sitbon and Dr Benjamin Miller (both from the University of Sydney), we talk about assessing students through interactive oral examinations. Teaching class sizes from 20 to 900 students, Clara and Benjamin share how they are using oral examinations as a means to understand, see, and assess the learning that sits behind the students’ work.
Transcribe →Mindfulness and how we can use it for student learning
Mar 2000:27:42Tap to summarizeMindfulness enjoys a lot of popularity these days. In this episode, we talk to Professor Karen Brounéus (Uppsala University) about how we can integrate mindfulness exercises into our classrooms and how mindfulness can assist student learning. Not only has Karen been using mindfulness in her own peace and conflict studies courses, but she also offers mindfulness training to Swedish members of parliament. Karen shows how a lay person can make of these techniques and even offers an example of how this can be done.
Transcribe →Encouraging students to take risks and experiment
Feb 1900:34:59Tap to summarizeThis episode is all about taking risks, not just as teachers, but also as something we can encourage in our students. To take risks and experiment can be liberating and extremely beneficial for learning. Our guest, Associate Professor Helen Marshall (School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland), shares with us how she fosters risk taking and a spirit of experimentation in her creative writing courses.
Transcribe →Integrating AI into our lectures, tutorials, and overall learning activities
Feb 200:35:38Tap to summarizeWith most of us having had to already adjust our assessments to the age of AI, the next step on the agenda by universities is to find ways of integrating AI into our lectures, tutorials and overall learning activities. This is new territory for all of us, so we invited Dr Luke Zaphir, a former teacher in philosophy, who now is part of our faculty’s AI learning design team. Luke points to a number of helpful ways in which we can take first steps in this regard, from easy examples to more elaborate ones.
Transcribe →Supporting Neurodivergence in the Classroom (Part II)
Jan 1200:26:22Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we focus on the values that should guide our approach to supporting neurodivergent students. Our guests are Dr Toby Boyson (University of New South Wales) and Ms Eliza Barry (University of Queensland). Hosted by Al Stark and Seb Kaempf.
Transcribe →Supporting neurodiversity in the classroom
Nov 1700:37:16Tap to summarizeWhat learning challenges do neurodiverse students face? What simple, but extremely helpful, adjustments can we as teachers make to support them in their learning? Al and Seb talk about these and other questions with researcher and advocate Brooke Szucs and student Eliza Barry (both from The University of Queensland).
Transcribe →Breaking down journalistic stereotypes of the courtroom
May 15, 202500:15:10Tap to summarizeAl Stark and special co-host Kate Lee Koo talk to Dr Richard Murray (UQ’s School of Communication and Arts). Richard teaches social justice storytelling by taking his students to the court rooms. This enables them to encounter different voices, to transform their own views, and to better grasp how news media report on social issues, stereotypes, and crime.
Transcribe →‘Using storytelling and classical literature to help problem solving’
Apr 19, 202500:18:23Tap to summarizeAl and Lynda talk to Prof Kate O’Brien (Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland) about how she draws on classical literature and storytelling as a central avenues for understanding and problem solving, even in the context of large engineering classes.
Transcribe →Improving student engagement, satisfaction and learning via an AI based educational tool called RiPPLE
Mar 27, 202500:18:05Tap to summarizeAl Stark and special co-host Katrina Lee Koo talk to Hassan Khosravi, an Associate Professor in Data Science and Learning Analytics at UQ. In response to ever bigger class sizes and the need for students to have learning tailored for their individual needs, Hassan decided to build RiPPLE, an app for in-class teaching. They also talk about other useful apps and tech that helps student learning in big or small classes.
Transcribe →The benefits of seeking in-class feedback from students
Mar 1, 202500:15:16Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Al and Lynda talk to Associate Professor Morgan Brigg (from the School of Political Science and International Studies at The University of Queensland) about inviting feedback from students in class. Not at the end of a course, but while the course is running. Morgan talks about how it took courage to make himself vulnerable, but also how this practice enabled him to make changes to student learning, and how it positively changed the dynamic in his classroom. Listeners might also be interested in our 2021 recording with John Hattie, the guru on feedback (season 3, episode 3). You can also follow us on Bluesky now: https://bsky.app/profile/higheredheroes.bsky.social
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