Higher Ed Instructional Design

The rapid evolution of generative AI tools has introduced an expanding set of educational applications. In this episode, Dan Levy and Angela Perez Albertos join us to discuss how these changes are affecting faculty and classrooms. Dan is an economist and a senior lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University where he teaches courses in quantitative methods, policy analysis, and program evaluation. Angela is a graduate of the MPA program in International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, and is the U.S. Head of Strategy at Innovamat. Dan and Angela are the authors of the first, and now the second, editions of Teaching Effectively with ChatGPT. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Students have varied levels of preparation for traditional types of classes and assessments used in colleges. In this episode, David Gooblar joins us to discuss a variety of instructional strategies that we can adopt to help all students succeed. David is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Iowa, a regular contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the creator of Pedagogy Unbound, and the author of The Missing Course: Everything They Never Taught You About College Teaching. His most recent book, One Classroom at a Time: How Better Teaching Can Make College More Equitable, was released in August 2025 by Harvard University Press. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

The U.S. higher education system has been a primary source of research that fuels innovation in science and industry, provides students from low-income communities opportunity to escape from poverty, and enriches the lives of graduates. In this episode, Rebecca Winthrop joins us to discuss how changes in federal policy are affecting the U.S. educational system and, ultimately, our society.  Rebecca is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, where her research focuses on education globally. Rebecca leads the Brookings Global Task Force on AI in Education and co-leads the Family Engagement in Education Network. In addition to her work with many other global education initiatives, Rebecca has served as the U.N. Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative’s Technical Advisory Group and served as co-lead for the Learning Metrics Task Force with the UNESCO Institute of Statistics. Rebecca is also a lecturer at Georgetown University and, with Jenny Anderson, the co-author of The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Faculty adoption and use of AI in higher education varies widely. In this episode, three colleagues from the University of Mississippi: Josh Eyler, Emily Pitts Donahoe, and Marc Watkins, provide their perspectives on AI use in higher education. Josh is the Senior Director of Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, Emily is the Associate Director of Instructional Support in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Lecturer of Writing and Rhetoric, and Marc is a Lecturer in Composition and Rhetoric and Assistant Director of Academic Innovation. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Instructional designers have played an increasingly important role in supporting instruction in all modalities. In this episode, Safary Wa-Mbaleka and Gianina-Estera Petre join us to discuss a new resource describing effective instructional design practices in a global context. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Tenure is an employment protection threatened by changes in the labor market as well as declining public attitudes toward higher education and expertise. In this episode, Deepa Das Acevedo joins us to discuss the history of tenure, the value proposition of tenure, and what the cost to society and higher education would be if it were eliminated. Deepa is a legal anthropologist at Emory Law, the Editor of PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, a past Trustee of the Law & Society Association, and has held leadership positions in the Association of American Law Schools, the American Anthropological Association, and the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology. Deepa has published extensively in scholarly journals. She is the author of The War on Tenure, which will be released in September 2025 by Cambridge University Press. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Imagine exploring alternative teaching methods in a classroom focused on learning and not grades. In this episode, Russell Marcus joins us to discuss how this occurs in a two-week philosophy summer program. He is the Christian A. Johnson Excellence in Teaching Professor of Philosophy at Hamilton College. Russell specializes in the philosophy of mathematics and the pedagogy of philosophy. He is a Past-President of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers. Since 2018, Russell has been running a philosophy summer camp at Hamilton College designed to help faculty develop more effective teaching practices while also benefiting students. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Imagine having the ability to create personalized web applications that address your individualized needs. In this episode, Dave Ghidiu joins us to describe how you and your students can create such tools using a vibe coding process using free generative AI platforms. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Colleges and universities have survived many challenges. In this episode, Ian McNeely joins us to discuss how public higher ed institutions continued to thrive despite the challenges of the Great Recession, low-quality online diploma mills, and the COVID pandemic. Ian is a Professor of History and Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, He specializes in German history and the history of knowledge. Ian is the author of The University Unfettered: Public Higher Education in an Age of Disruption, which examines how modern research universities responded to the disruptions in higher education between the Great Recession and COVID-19 and the lessons learned from these experiences. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

New faculty often begin their teaching careers by emulating the teaching methods that they have observed, but these practices are often not consistent with evidence on how students learn. In this episode, Chris Hakala joins us to discuss the role that educational developers can play in shifting faculty focus from presenting to teaching. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.