What We're Learning About Learning: A CNDLS Podcast
“What We're Learning About Learning” is a podcast about teaching and learning in higher education. Through this resource, we hope to expand and share more broadly the conversations we’re having with students, faculty, and staff, and throw light on some of the most important issues and developments in higher education today.
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Listen to Our Latest Episode
S2 Episode 7: Religious and Spiritual Diversity in the Classroom
Call to mind an occasion when you felt out of your depth or unsure what to do in an encounter or engagement with religious or spiritual diversity inside or outside the classroom. What did you do in that situation? What do you wish you had done in that situation? We asked these same questions of three clergy from Georgetown University’s Campus Ministry. In this episode of What We're Learning About Learning, Rabbi Rachel Gartner, Imam Yahya Hendi, and Brahmachari Sharan talk about the good and bad experiences students regularly share with them, and how faculty can listen, reflect, and grow to better serve students.
Links to Faculty/Staff Bios
- Rabbi Rachel Gartner, most recent Director for Jewish Life
- Imam Yahya Hendi, the Director for Muslim Life
- Brahmachari Sharan, the Director for Dharmic Life and Hindu Spiritual Advisor for Campus Ministry
- David Ebenbach, Professor of the Practice at CNDLS and the Center for Jewish Civilization
We want to hear from you!
What are you learning about learning? What are you wondering about learning? We’d love to hear your thoughts, questions, stories, and ideas for future episodes.
To send us a voice memo:
- Open a voice recording app on your phone (e.g., the built in Voice Memos app on the iPhone, or a third-party app if you have an android).
- Hold the phone about four inches from your mouth and press the red button to start recording.
- Share your thoughts, questions, stories, and/or ideas—and be sure to tell us your name!
- Click the red button again to stop the recording.
- Save and name the audio file and click “share,” choosing email as the way you want to share the recording. You can reach us at cndls@georgetown.edu.
Previous Episodes
S2 Episode 6: Supporting Student Well-being and Learning
Students everywhere have experienced the brunt of the pandemic not only through learning loss but also through extended, well-documented mental health issues. Research has found that students struggle to cope with coursework and the pressure to excel in school, especially as their priorities have shifted to maintaining personal relationships and mental health. In CNDLS’ latest podcast episode of What We Are Learning about Learning, hear how staff and faculty at Georgetown have fostered trust and belonging and motivated students by opening up to those students and creating a shared space of vulnerability and whole-person learning in the classroom.
S2 Episode 5: In the Room and on Zoom—Concurrent Hybrid Teaching
During this pandemic, faculty and students alike have had to continually pivot between virtual and in-person learning. This has caused much stress — for students who have to miss class due to contraction or exposure and for faculty, who are struggling to find ways to teach students who cannot physically be there. One solution is for faculty to teach to students in person and over Zoom simultaneously. This can be daunting, but it really is doable! In this episode you’ll hear from three faculty and one of their TAs who will share their insights about how to prepare, deliver, and problem-solve in the hybrid classroom.
S2 Episode 4: Making the Most of the Spring Semester
This two-part episode features conversations among faculty at Georgetown University about some of the most pressing challenges they faced while teaching during the Fall 2021 semester. Part I features three faculty who discuss ways in which they fostered inclusivity and equity in their classes by leveraging technology and other strategies. In Part II, five faculty share assessment strategies that they used for reducing student stress and anxiety among their students.
S2 Episode 3: Teaching Georgetown's Slaveholding History
In this episode, GU History professor Adam Rothman talks with us about his work with the history of slavery at Georgetown while drawing on his teaching and research on U.S. history from the Revolution to the Civil War as well as the history of slavery and abolition in the Atlantic world. As the principal curator of the Georgetown Slavery Archive — a repository of materials relating to the Maryland Jesuits, Georgetown University, and slavery, Rothman also shares why it’s important for faculty and students to know and grapple with the history of their own institutions.
S2 Episode 2: From Accommodations to Accessibility
Featuring faculty and staff who build awareness of best practices and advocate for students with disabilities, this episode focuses on accessibility and practices that meet the needs of all learners. While we learn that there are more students with learning disabilities or differences, or other forms of ‘neurodivergence,’ than many faculty assume, these ideas also provide ways to meet the new normal where we all need some flexibility! Tune in for helpful info and strategies on how to design your courses and policies to support all the learners in your course.
S2 Episode 1: What Students Need Right Now
In this episode we focus on what we’re learning about learning from the pandemic and racial reckoning, and, more specifically, on what students need as they transition back to in person learning in the fall. While a lot is unknown, we do know that we can’t return to business as usual. As award-winning author and activist Sonya Renee Taylor put it, “We will not go back to normal. […] We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.”
S1 Episode 5: Teaching and Learning as a Graduate Student
The focus of this episode is on learning from graduate students, who are in a unique position in higher education, both teachers and students, mentors and mentees. Their dual role of student and teacher comes with challenges, tensions, and competing demands, which leads to important revelations, insights, and personal growth. They highlight what students want and need from their professors, as well as how professors can approach their teaching in order to promote greater learning. They also offer a compelling reminder about why teaching is so important.
S1 Episode 4: Anti-Racist Pedagogy in Practice
This episode features faculty who engage active strategies to create inclusive, anti-racist classrooms. We grounded this episode in the events of the past year on the Georgetown campus and across the country, as well as the results of our Campus Climate Survey. The goal is to learn from colleagues how to foster a sense of belonging for all students, even when the conversations get tough.
S1 Episode 3: Beyond the Screen with Experiential Assignments
In this episode, we share the stories of several faculty and students who have engaged with experiential assignments. We focused particularly on learning activities that required students to get away from their screens and interact with the physical world around them—wherever that may be.
S1 Episode 2: Faculty Perspectives on Pandemic Learning
This episode features a conversation among faculty at Georgetown University who share what worked well in virtual teaching during the pandemic to keep students engaged, motivated and connected.
S1 Episode 1: Student Perspectives on Pandemic Learning
In this episode, we interviewed a diverse group of Georgetown undergraduate and graduate students, who shared their gratitude for faculty efforts, candidly discussed both the good and the bad of attending online classes during the pandemic, and offered suggestions for improving the student experience going forward.
