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The Transform your Teaching podcast is a service of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio. Join Dr. Rob McDole and Dr. Jared Pyles as they seek to inspire higher education faculty to adopt innovative teaching and learning practices.
This is the Transform Your Teaching podcast. The Transform Your Teaching podcast is a service of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio.
Ryan:Hello, and welcome to this episode of Transform Your Teaching. In today's episode, Dr. Rob McDole and Dr. Jared Pyles put a bow on our series on serving the new college student. Thanks for listening.
Jared:I tell you what. I'm gonna be honest with you, Rob. I felt like this series took six years to get through, and I
Rob:don't know why. I think it felt that way,
Jared:but it actually went by pretty quickly. In my mind, it didn't. Yeah. Why? Maybe because it required a lot of more thought than I'm used to because it was just brand new territory for me.
Rob:Yeah. And I think a lot of the things we went in thinking, things we were gonna hear, like, instance, the math shark
Jared:Yes.
Rob:Didn't exist. Gap? Yes. Mathshark.
Jared:Yeah.
Rob:What I'm what I'm hearing from folks is it's not I mean, even some said, like, what what's that? Right.
Jared:Yeah. Right?
Rob:Yeah. But there was a real positivity towards math in terms of catching up with the gap for those who had it from COVID, you know? And then there's also this yeah. There was just nothing but optimism, really.
Jared:Yeah. So we did two two episodes on the Math Shark with Lynne Allen and Terry Bucci to end the series. The beginning of the series, talked with our friend over at Anthology, Amy Lomolini, talking about accessible learning environment. And then we talked with Doctor. Tom Hutchison and Doctor.
Jared:Chris Miller to talk about what they're seeing as far as serving students for growth here at Cedarville. And then we also spent three episodes talking with different educators from different, what do call it, modalities or Public, private, homeschool. Public, private, and homeschool. It was nine well, this will be their ninth episode. Yep.
Jared:But for some reason, it feels so much longer. I don't know why. Because it was hard, I think. Or it could be also the fact that we spent we had a part one to this series that I think maybe that's why it feels longer because we spent nine or 10 episodes on that as well. So maybe that's why I'm feeling like it's taken forever.
Rob:But here we are.
Jared:Here are.
Rob:Semester, and we're
Jared:We're never gonna talk about this stuff ever again.
Rob:I don't think that's true, but
Jared:So typically what we do at the end of these series is we do a lessons learned where Rob and I drum up some lessons that we learned individually. We don't share them with each other. And if you've listened to the podcast for a while, you know that sometimes they cross paths, sometimes they are exactly the same, or sometimes they're the complete opposite. It's always fun to hear what Rob's thinking. And I'm not sure if he thinks it's fun to hear how I'm thinking.
Jared:He hears it all the time anyway, but he'll get more now. Do you? I do. Okay. You go first this Okay.
Rob:So when I was thinking about what I've learned so far, the one thing that kept popping back up into my mind was this idea of continuous improvement, and that what I was seeing through all these interviews that we've done is just something that doctor Terry Powell, back when I was in seminary, gave to us as students in his class. It was supposed to be on Christian education, but ultimately what it ended up being was what he would would call the planning cycle, what I would call a cycle that helps you improve. So essentially, it goes through recognizing need, determining a goal off of that need, defining a process to meet the goal. Right? And then implementing and evaluating it and coming back around to see, did I actually close the gap between my goal and what I wanted to see happen.
Rob:So I could see this process going over and over again in the conversations that we had, even with with Amy about, you know, accessibility and this idea that we just keep looking for ways to make it better for everyone. Right? Yep. So thinking about those needs. Very, very student centered learning, especially when we talk to our educators, public, private and homeschool.
Rob:I heard that a lot. You know, I heard them talking about who are these students, how can we help them, Identification of need. I could sense that there were going to be some goals as well. But it just reiterated that fact to me. We have to keep moving forward.
Rob:And we definitely saw that with our interviews with the math professor and the math teacher. Yep. They really believed we're going to move forward in this. I'm seeing good things. And they both had this mission mindset, a vision for teaching students, you know, K through 12 and higher ed to be mathematical thinkers.
Rob:And so that kind of gave me the sense of hope and also just a renewed a renewed sense of sticking with something that has always worked, and that is this process of improvement.
Jared:So, yeah, I have a question about that. The idea of continuous improvement isn't necessarily new. No. So why does it stick out to you now with something that needs to be emphasized as a result of this series?
Rob:Because it's the implicit piece. And, you know, you've heard me say this over and over again. I like to make the implicit explicit. Yes. Just to remind myself and others that there is a process.
Rob:Many of your great coaches in sports or in any area of life will tell you the basics are important
Jared:Mhmm.
Rob:And you need to master the basics, and you need to practice those. And I think this is one of those basics, not just in teaching, but in life in general. Going from where you're at, understanding there's a standard, creating goals, and then making effort towards those, and then, you know, exploring the gap when you don't meet them.
Jared:Right.
Rob:And then just getting up and trying again. It's it's the process of fail, try, repeat. And and I I just saw that. Why I saw it in this particular
Jared:Mhmm.
Rob:Series more than others, There could be a whole host of reasons. Yeah. Probably because it's something that as we've been looking at AI and other things and hearing these problems, nothing is new under the sun. Right. And so I just kept going back to something I could hold onto in terms of understanding everything that I was hearing.
Rob:Sure. And this was the thing that popped into my head.
Jared:So yeah. And this kind of fits with my first one. I'm not gonna do it yet because I still wanna comment on that. One of the louder arguments as a result of COVID and this generation is that they're so much different than other generations that have come before. Mhmm.
Jared:Like this generation of students is x, y, z in this way in comparison to the previous generation. Mr. L. And I were talking about this at lunch earlier. We kind of, you know, even within the dynamic of our office that whenever Ryan and Jacob and I have communication in person, it's usually pretty easy, but for some reason, and I don't understand it, when the two of us, Ryan and I communicate with each other over Teams via text, there's always a misunderstanding between us, even though the both of us think that we are being incredibly clear with our communication.
Jared:Mhmm. So I think it's a generational difference person. I'm I'm not sure why, but so we end up having to have a Teams call and be like, what are you saying? What do you mean? Jacob too.
Jared:I'm like, Jacob, what are you saying? What do you mean? And they had the same frustration with me.
Rob:Yeah.
Jared:But is this generation really that much different or is it just a generational difference again that we come across where I'm sure when when Gen X was in college, the instructors at that time are thinking, oh, this Gen X, I can't believe it. They can't do this and they can't do that. Mhmm. Is it really just that this is such a dynamically different generation or is it just because they are a different generation?
Rob:I think it's just they're different. They're different in the things that they have to deal with on a daily basis are much more than what you and I growing up had to deal with. Sure. I mean, the level of technology is through the roof.
Jared:Sure. Yeah.
Rob:It's it's on a it's on a whole another scale that you and I didn't have to deal with. I mean, I didn't have the Internet growing up. I didn't have the Internet until I got to college. Right. Really.
Rob:And even then, it was AOL, dial up. Cederville was the only place that I can recall ever experiencing the Internet over a high speed line. What they used to call t one lines. I don't even know if they still call them that.
Jared:Oh, it's t two judgment day now.
Rob:But my my point is my point is, like, I didn't have a cell phone. You know, I think you probably did. Not until I came to college. So yours was but you had the advent of cell phones and then and then having these smartphones Yeah. Which just to give some perspective, the computers that they use to put people on the moon took up at least a couple of floors.
Jared:Right. Yeah.
Rob:And I've heard it said many times now that that my iPhone that I have in my pocket is more than capable of doing all the calculations needed to send someone to the moon. Yes. And fractions of the time that would have taken this massive Right. You know, computer. So that was that was just a few I mean, that was just a couple of decades I know.
Rob:But, like, I It's not that long in time.
Jared:I know. But, again, I think that's just a generational difference.
Rob:But that's my point is that the difference gap between what I had growing up and what you had growing up and what students have now I agree. Is far and away different. So AI, these kids growing up with AI, it's gonna be completely different. I just but
Jared:I think, again, it's we can't to me, I can't quantify that as because technology has grown so much. That's the equivalent. That's the reason why this generation is different. I just can't do that. I'm not at that point.
Rob:I don't think it's the sole reason, but I think it's definitely part of it. Culture as general rule is what drives how we understand things. So technology is most certainly a part of the cultural shift and change. I mean Yeah. It most certainly is.
Rob:And we've talked about some of those things, but I definitely see more in terms of technical revolutions. You know, the gap in terms of years between major technical revolutions
Jared:has shrunk. I see it as a factor. I don't see it as the biggest factor, though. Here's my number one. K.
Jared:Regardless of modality, regardless of homeschool, private, public, And this this was kind of a bigger shock to me. Universally, same issues with the current generation of students. Yep. Just because they're in a different environment did not change the results of the my quantitative survey that I didn't do. You still got the same results.
Jared:Still issues with anxiety, resiliency, screen usage. And so my biggest takeaway was, okay, well then if it's not necessarily the environment that they're in, then how do you approach and how do you fix? You you can't take a kid out of one environment and put them in another one and expect a different result because it's more, either it's generation, it's personality, it's how they're raised, maybe it is technology, maybe it's something else. I prefer to say something else. But here's what's really cool about this though.
Jared:This anxiety of resiliency, and this is just a little story I wanna share. Abby, my oldest, who is part of the Mathshark generation that we've been talking about that may or may not actually exist, they've started to self regulate with their level of resiliency and screen usage, they're using this has just happened the last week or so. They're using time lapse on their phones Mhmm. To record themselves doing homework. It's like a weird Pomodoro thing because they put their phone camera up, they hit time lapse, they don't touch their phone, and they record themselves doing homework.
Jared:And she's like, dad, I do this and I work for an hour straight and I don't stop and I finish everything I need to do. I don't pick up my phone because I wanna keep the time lapse going. It's more of like a motivation. How long can I make this time lapse of me doing my homework? And it's literally in the last week and a half, it's something they're doing at their school.
Jared:Like a couple students are like, let's start a time lapse and see what we can do. And they'll they'll work for an hour straight. They won't again, it keeps their phones busy. They can't touch their phones.
Rob:Right. Because it's time lapse.
Jared:And then they don't want to interrupt that, so they keep going. So I feel like there's a bit of hope there, even if we as educators can't figure it out, that they're going to figure it out themselves.
Rob:Most certainly, I think, especially for those of our children who are following Jesus and following Christ because the Holy Spirit's going to be working on them, you know, and softening them towards things that are going to make them more like him. And so finding ways to break the control of the screen on them, I think, will will come forward. So it's very interesting to me that your daughter's already found something to do that. Does your school does Grove City have they public, have they canceled cell phones in the classroom?
Jared:Yes. They have a hashtag be present, they call it.
Rob:So they're kind of providing that for them.
Jared:Yes. Which makes me wonder how are the kids time lapsing in class that they're not out there. Anyway, I don't I don't I don't ask questions.
Rob:So very interesting if they're doing it in class. But, yeah, we that was if I can skip now to my second takeaway. Removal of the screen. When the screen's removed, namely the cell phones, out of the classroom, the folks that we were talking to, the educators we're talking to, said that they were seeing decrease in anxiety and a clear effort on the part of students to connect more with each other and with them. And I thought that was interesting.
Rob:I think I heard that most from the Christian school educators
Jared:Yeah.
Rob:The private. Mhmm. Whether or not that's the case in public and homeschool, not quite as sure, but I did get the sense that those things would probably be happening. I've heard from my wife and she's also seen some of that as well. But at the same time, there's this tension between how do we use things like AI, use technology and stuff that's really important, like, for learning
Jared:Mhmm.
Rob:But at the same time, keep them from just, you know, zombieing on these screens.
Jared:I understand that. Like, see that, but you know that what's the causation does not mean correlation? Correct. Because if they're not on their phones at school, they're still on their phones at home. It's not be present twenty four hours a day.
Jared:It's only eight hours out of
Rob:the school day. Yeah, but eight hours is a lot.
Jared:It's true. It's a third. I understand that, but I'm Believe me, I think it's good that students aren't on there for other reasons besides anxiety, for the focus that and the attention they have in class, but also the lack of bullying and
Rob:Mhmm.
Jared:And the other issues that come up as a result of having phones in school. Yep. But again, I'm not sold yet on that. I think it's too early to tell.
Rob:Well, I think of Uncommon Sense Teaching, and if you remember that octopus in the brain. Yes. You know, between
Jared:My favorite analogy.
Rob:Working memory and long term memory. Yes. And that focus is tied to short term memory, long term memory passing these ideas around in the brain. Yes. And that's focus.
Rob:And this idea of juggling those ideas in the brain, When you're on a screen, it doesn't do that. You're focused on all these other things. And so that's lighting up your brain for all the most negative, more than likely negative things, which we're prone to anyway. We know that. We're more prone to negative information than we are positive information.
Rob:That's been proven. Kahneman and Tversky, if you wanna do a deep dive in that,
Jared:you can
Rob:go you can go do that. All that to say, removal of that opportunity and focus on things inside of class and relationships inside of class probably helps with the brain lighting up on more positive things and bringing those bringing those in a structured way. And the more those are repeated, the stronger those neurons get. Yep. So that's why I think, you know, just that eight hours is very positive when you talk about what you sleep.
Rob:You sleep eight hours, and you're what? You're working for sixteen. Is that about Yeah. Yeah.
Jared:Or
Rob:take. So if you're sleeping for eight, you're not on your phone for eight, and then the rest of the time, you're entertaining yourself, we at least have got ourselves a balance of $50.50 in terms of time.
Jared:Yeah. Alright. I'll buy it. My number two is kind of generic, and I I want to apologize upfront because it seems like it's a given. But I think it's, again, something that surprised me.
Jared:Maybe I'm surprised by simple things. Maybe that's my number two, is that I'm surprised by simple things. But no, the desire of the students to have connection with their instructors. This surfaced way back when we did student interviews, before we did with Lauren and Daniel, which we're doing again,
Rob:by the This
Jared:came out way before that, and it was a foreign concept to me, but that was emphasized then by the conversations we had in this series. And I think the difference is some are going to need more of that than others. Because an interesting dynamic showed up where, you know, and when Stephanie and Kathy were on talking about homeschool, it was like, oh, it made perfect sense that their educator for the most part, besides them going to co op and everything else, is their parent. So, and they're used to that connection, and now they're going to be going to higher ed, and they're not going to have that same relationship, there's so they're gonna crave some sort of connection there. Now there's gonna be an issue of, like, balance and all that stuff that, luckily, I don't have to worry about that.
Rob:I am not your mother.
Jared:Yeah. So but it's like you have to you gotta figure that out. And it's interesting because I came from a, public school when I came here, and I didn't expect to have that educator relationship. But when we talked with Garrett and Hank, who are the public school educators, they and I saw this too when I taught. There are still students in public school that want to that crave that connection Yeah.
Jared:Even to a fault where you're like, ugh, this dude again. I mean, like, we we can be straight up honest. Like, we're okay. This student's like, okay. I get it.
Jared:We can put boundaries up. But but they they do crave that that connection, whatever it is. Like, I connected with students over at mobile games, and we talked forever about games you could play on your phone back in 02/2010, '2 thousand '11, stuff like that. So they still do crave that connection. So when they come into higher ed, on our campus, we have our faculty who love to meet with students and advise with students and build that rapport and relationship with students.
Jared:But there may be a more dynamic between students as they come in from this generation of craving that connection more. So something to keep in mind. That's what I came from this series with.
Rob:So it sounds like to sum up that we are talking at at this whole series is student centered, ethical use or stewarding technological use for the benefit of the students, focus on those things that are important. And there is an innate desire for improvement as well as not only for the students, but the teachers, right? I think they want to get better and a desire for a relationship. And I think that's driving and will continue to drive these kinds of teaching and learning. So, you know, as you said earlier, it seems simple, but yet it still matters, the human touch in teaching.
Jared:Yeah. They need to see you as a human being and not just an authority figure in the classroom. Yeah.
Ryan:Thanks for joining this episode of Transform Your Teaching. Don't forget to like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Also, if you have any questions about our series on serving the new college student, feel free to connect with us on LinkedIn or shoot us an email, CTLpodcast@cedarville.edu. And finally, don't forget to check out our blog at cedarville.edu/focusblog. Thanks for listening.