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Artwork for Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning

Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning

Columbia University Center for Teaching and Learning
Higher Education
Teaching Evaluations
Adjunct Faculty
Graduate Education
Teaching In Doctoral Programs
Artificial Intelligence
STEM Education
Teaching and Learning
Pluralism
Columbia University
Generative AI
Teaching Strategies
Teaching Quality
Active Learning
ADHD
Pedagogy
Faculty Development
Student Engagement
Student Success
Gender Bias

Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning is a podcast from the Columbia University Center for Teaching and Learning. Our mission is to encourage instructors, students, and leaders in higher education to reflect on what they believe about teaching and learning.

PublishesTwice monthlyEpisodes72Founded6 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
How ToEducationSelf-Improvement

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Artwork for Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning

Latest Episodes

Chris Hakala, director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship (CETLS) at Springfield College, joins us this week to dismantle a persistent myth about centers for teaching and learning. With over 30 years in faculty develo... more

YouTube

Dr. Tommy Lee, a behavioral neuroscientist in Barnard College at Columbia University’s Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, joins Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning to challenge one of higher ed’s most persistent assumptions: that memorization i... more

YouTube

Thomas Tobin, one of the foremost voices on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), joins us to preview his forthcoming book, UDL at Scale: Whole-Campus Universal Design for Learning. Where his earlier work made UDL manageable for individual instructors... more

For five years, Chris Gallagher, Kristi Girdharry, and Kevin Smith sat down each semester with the same set of twenty Northeastern University students. What began as an analysis of these students’ writing skills evolved into a book on how students of... more

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Recent Guests

Chris Hakala
Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship at Springfield College
Springfield College
Episode: The Myth of the One-Size Fits All CTL with Chris Hakala
Tommy Lee
Faculty member, Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College of Columbia University
Barnard College, Columbia University
Episode: You Must Remember This: Memorization is Just a Scaffold… as the Semester Goes By with Tommy Lee
Thomas Tobin
internationally recognized scholar, author, and speaker on technology-mediated education
thomasjtobin.com (individual)
Episode: UDL at Scale: Designing Learning at the Institutional Level with Thomas Tobin
Chris Gallagher
Professor of English, Northeastern University
Northeastern University
Episode: What Five Years of Listening to Students Taught Us About Learning. A Conversation with Chris Gallagher, Kristi Girdharry, and Kevin Smith
Kristi Girdharry
Associate Teaching Professor of English and Director of the Writing Center
Babson College
Episode: What Five Years of Listening to Students Taught Us About Learning. A Conversation with Chris Gallagher, Kristi Girdharry, and Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith
Associate Professor of English and Director of Writing Across the Curriculum
University of Virginia
Episode: What Five Years of Listening to Students Taught Us About Learning. A Conversation with Chris Gallagher, Kristi Girdharry, and Kevin Smith
Pranithi Sathu
Master's student studying quantitative methods and data science at Columbia
Columbia University
Episode: Bonus Episode: Reimagining Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI. A Conversation with Columbia University Students.
Stephanie Andrade
Teachers College student in Teaching of English program
Teachers College, Columbia University
Episode: Bonus Episode: Reimagining Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI. A Conversation with Columbia University Students.
Tony DeRamos
Third-year student majoring in psychology
Columbia University
Episode: Bonus Episode: Reimagining Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI. A Conversation with Columbia University Students.

Host

Amanda Urban
Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Columbia University, CTL collaborator across multiple episodes.

Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars from 31 ratings
  • Inspiring and Thoughtful

    As a regular listener, I find the topics that are covered and the speakers who are invited reflect up-to-the-moment concerns in the state of teaching and learning in higher education. The guests—especially students—always elicit new thoughts and stimulate new ideas to eclipse those pernicious “dead” ones. This is definitely worth a regular listen if you are a faculty member, administrator, or graduate student who is involved in teaching and learning in a higher education context.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Tinymenace
    United States3 years ago
  • Well-curated content on teaching and learning

    As someone who is a life long learner and who aspires to be the best teacher I can be, these podcasts are inspiring.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    nyc jloo
    United States4 years ago
  • Phenomenal

    As a curriculum and pedagogy grad student, this podcast is everything I could hope for.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    McNuggets88
    Canada4 years ago
  • Great theme

    Wonderful theme for an education podcast. It’s great to see CTL director go out and share her expertise and find great guests.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    mindofmoser
    United States6 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

The show is seen as a well-curated mix of student and faculty perspectives.
Listeners praise the timely topics and thoughtful guests that challenge conventional teaching wisdom.
Guests and topics are described as inspiring and highly relevant for higher-ed professionals.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#71
Canada/Education/How To
Apple Podcasts
#215
Australia/Education/How To
Apple Podcasts
#72
Hong Kong/Education/How To
Apple Podcasts
#79
Mexico/Education/How To
Apple Podcasts
#151
Singapore/Education/How To
Apple Podcasts
#159
Sweden/Education/How To

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

The Myth of the One-Size Fits All CTL with Chris Hakala
Q: How do you think the role of a CTL also has to evolve? What do you imagine, if you had to pick one, is one dead idea about the future of higher ed that you think CTLs are best equipped to challenge?
Hakala says education must move beyond content transmission toward helping students think creatively about their disciplines and use information. CTLs can help faculty rethink teaching, assessment, and student success in response to changing conditions.
The Myth of the One-Size Fits All CTL with Chris Hakala
Q: Could you unpack that a little bit for us? And what does this long view look like? And why are CTLs uniquely situated to see higher education from this vantage point?
CTL staff encounter faculty, students, and administrators across departments and contexts. This broad perspective helps them understand institutional policies, disciplinary differences, student motivations, and opportunities for change through relationship-building.
You Must Remember This: Memorization is Just a Scaffold… as the Semester Goes By with Tommy Lee
Q: What does this look like for instructors wanting to design memory-building practices that also support confidence and reduce anxiety?
Use low-stakes retrieval practices, spread practice across sessions, provide time for private recall before feedback, and gradually increase difficulty while making progress visible to students.
You Must Remember This: Memorization is Just a Scaffold… as the Semester Goes By with Tommy Lee
Q: Could you walk us through what's happening in working memory when students have built-in knowledge versus when they have to look things up on the spot?
Having foundational knowledge reduces cognitive load, acting as a scaffold or workbench that allows students to juggle fewer items at once and to apply reasoning more effectively, whereas lacking that base makes tasks harder and more reliant on lookup.
You Must Remember This: Memorization is Just a Scaffold… as the Semester Goes By with Tommy Lee
Q: How did memorizing get such a bad reputation in college pedagogy, do you think?
Memorization earned part of its bad reputation and we drew too broad of a lesson from it; cramming is not ideal, but memory is foundational for higher-order thinking and can support it when integrated with analysis and application.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning

What is Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This show centers on rethinking teaching and learning in higher education, with frequent explorations of AI's role in classrooms, governance, and assessment. Episodes mix student perspectives, faculty development, and scholarly critique to challenge “dead ideas” in pedagogy, emphasizing equity, transparency, and practical classroom strategies. A notable strength is inviting a blend of student voices, educators, and researchers to debate futures of learning, often through STS lenses or pluralist and inclusive approaches. The show is likely valuable for faculty, administrators, and others involved in higher education policy and classroom design who want actionable ideas and diverse viewpoints about teaching in the AI era.

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Which podcasts are similar to Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning:

1. Teaching in Higher Ed
2. 99% Invisible
3. Hidden Brain
4. This American Life
5. Consider This from NPR

How many episodes of Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning are there?

Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning launched 6 years ago and published 72 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning?

Recent guests on Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning include:

1. Chris Hakala
2. Tommy Lee
3. Thomas Tobin
4. Chris Gallagher
5. Kristi Girdharry
6. Kevin Smith
7. Pranithi Sathu
8. Stephanie Andrade

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