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November 4, 2018

Higher Ed: Taking Skills Learned In The Classroom To The Voting Booth

Higher Ed

By: Jennifer Stayton

One reason often cited by non-voters for their lack of participation goes something like this: “my vote doesn’t really count” or “how can my one vote make any difference?” Voter turnout among college-aged students is traditionally low in midterm election years. But this year is shaping up to be different. In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton discuss how to sustain that interest even when national politics are not so charged.

Ed believes that getting voting-aged students to the polls is half the battle. The other half? Making sure they are informed voters.

“You just don’t want to have voters going in there and taking out a die and rolling it and then whatever it lands on that’s how you feel on the issue or who you decide to vote for,” says Ed. He hopes that voters will not make their voting decisions only influenced by “sound bites or 160 characters or generic Facebook posts where we don’t even know exactly where they’re actually emanating from.”

Ed believes that student can and should take the “best practices” of learning they have acquired in classrooms over the years and apply that to the act of voting.

“Articulate what are the issues that matter to you, that are important to you,” says Ed. “And then for each one of them, try to explain why. Is it an emotional response? Is it a logical response? Am I responding because I don’t like the other side, or because I like this side?”

Ed believes that student can making voting a practice – part of the way they live their lives – by getting interested and engaged early.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about using skills honed in the classroom to make decisions in the voting booth. The puzzler is taking a break for a little while to make way for some lighter riddles. These first two are pretty easy; see if you can get them right away.

This episode was recorded on Oct. 30, 2018.

October 28, 2018

Higher Ed: Better Problem Solving Through Puzzles

Higher Ed

By: Jennifer Stayton

Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger calls his “Effective Thinking and Creative Puzzle-Solving” class at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, the “Seinfeld” of classes. Why? Burger claims the class is about nothing. In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton discuss why that kind of class is actually about something pretty profound.

Ed has a new book out called “Making Up Your Own Mind: Thinking Effectively through Creative Puzzle Solving.” The book is based on that class that Ed teaches at Southwestern University. And yeah, he says the class is about nothing.

Ed calls the class “the Seinfeld of the curriculum because it’s about nothing and tries to teach everything. There’s no short term content,” Ed says. “It is all based on long-term practices of thinking and living. The puzzles themselves are irrelevant. They’re not important; they’re just a playground to practice these ways of thinking.”

Ed maintains that working through puzzlers and riddles practices our brains for handling bigger-ticket questions in the real world.

“There are puzzles in our everyday lives. There are puzzles in our professional lives, in our personal lives,” says Ed. “A lot of times, people cast them in a negative light and call them problems. But the truth is, life is just one puzzle after another, and the more we practice puzzle-solving on these whimsical ones, the more we can apply those exact same practices to the more serious and important ones.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more about Ed’s journey in writing the book, and to get the solution to the puzzler about time pieces and moving parts. Did you figure it out? If not, you are in good company; Ed and Jennifer did not get it, either!

This episode was recorded on Sept. 28, 2018.

October 21, 2018

Higher Ed: Speaking Up And Speaking Out In The Classroom (And Elsewhere)

Higher Ed

By: Jennifer Stayton

Remember the character on the 1970’s tv sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter” – Arnold Horshack – who enthusiastically waved his hand in the air and bounced up and down in his seat because he always wanted to answer questions in class? For many students, speaking up in school is actually something they try to avoid. In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton discuss the dynamics of classroom dialogue.

Believe it or not, Ed says that he did not enjoy answering questions in class, especially when he got to graduate school. He says he felt self-conscious, intimidated and insecure in a classroom full of math scholars. Ed says one strategy that can work for some instructors to bring students out of their shells is “cold calling” on students to answer, whether they have raised their hands or not.

“I know how I want [students] to feel” in the classroom, Ed says. “Some instructors might want people to feel very comfortable and very safe and so forth. I want them to be on their toes and never to know what is going to come next so they have to be ready.”

What about the opposite situation: students who answer constantly in class at the expense of others?

Ed says that can be a disruption so he developed a strategy for handling it. Ed says he would praise those students for their participation but tell them they no longer needed to raise their hands, since Ed knew that the students knew the answer. He promised those students that he would still call on them from time to time, but was letting them in on the “inside” of how the classroom works. Ed says the students felt appreciated and included, and the strategy allowed other students in the class to find their voices.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about what can be a delicate balance of classroom dialogue, and to hear a new puzzler. This one is really more of a riddle, and you will need to take your time on it.

This episode was recorded on Sept. 28, 2018.

October 14, 2018

Higher Ed: Why The College Major May Matter Less Than We’ve Always Thought

Higher Ed

By: Jennifer Stayton

Choosing a major. It is a rite of passage for higher education students, and it can feel like a … dare we say it … major decision with lifelong implications. In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton discuss what could – and sometimes should – go into choosing a major plan of study.

Sometime in a student’s higher education career, a decision has to be made about a major – that set of courses that a student chooses in order to study a subject more deeply. For students, the decision can feel like a significant, irrevocable one that can impact the rest of their lives. But Ed suggests dialing back the stress to make that one, perfect decision.

“The major itself is not as important as the experience and the growth opportunities that come from that major,” says Ed. “That’s why you hear so many people, especially in the liberal arts and science, talk about how it doesn’t even matter what your major is. As long as you’re involved and interested and engaged, you will have that growth experience that will allow you to become better and to figure out the next thing you do, and that leads you to the next thing…. because you’re constantly going toward your passion.”

Ed also believes timelines that require students to declare a major at a specific point in time during their college career can discourage academic exploration and excitement about discovering new fields of interest.

“I’d like to see people declaring majors when they really are intellectually fired up about the thing, rather than it’s time to do it.”

Listen to the full episode for more about the process of academic discovery that can lead to declaring a major. It is also time for the solution to the puzzler about escaping a room while avoiding scorching heat and a fire-breathing dragon. Think it can’t be done? Wait til you hear the oh so simple solution!

This episode was recorded on Sept. 28, 2018.

September 30, 2018

Higher Ed: Effective Correction

Higher Ed

By: Jennifer Stayton

Most people do not necessarily enjoy being told when they are wrong. The formal education experience can at times seem like it is full of those moments – between corrections, grades, comments and evaluations. In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton discuss ways to correct without rejecting.

Those big, red X’s splashed all over a Math test, or those comments scribbled in the margins of papers, can lead students to focus on the fact that they got an answer wrong, instead of the fact that they have a learning opportunity to master some material. And nasty comments from a student on a teacher or course evaluation may not motivate teachers to do better.

“If someone just says too much work, or, you know, Burger was so mean I can’t stand him, that’s not particularly helpful” says Ed referring to student evaluations of teachers. ” And even if that’s followed by an actual interesting idea, I might dismiss it a little bit because I see the context.”

So how can students and teachers – and anybody, really – effectively convey ideas for improvements?

Ed has some ideas:

Keep it about the question, paper, assignment, or class at hand. Don’t elevate the criticism into something of broader scope.
Keep the situation focused on thoughtful – rather than purely emotion – inputs and responses.
Focus on what can be learned from the situation.

Listen to the full episode for more thoughts about both giving and receiving constructive corrections and to hear the solution to the puzzler about the digits of our left hand. Still trying to multiply the number of left hand digits of everyone on the planet? Turns out there is a quick and easy way to figure it out.

This episode was recorded on Aug. 9, 2018.

September 23, 2018

Higher Ed: How Much Is Too Much On A College Application?

Higher Ed

By: Jennifer Stayton

High school seniors have something extra added to their workload in the fall semester. Those who are going on to college have to navigate the college application process. In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton dissect that annual dash to compile transcripts, test scores, essays and teacher recommendations.

In an effort to set themselves apart from other applicants, students may be tempted to show breadth and depth in everything they have tackled in high school.

“I think if you’re just vomiting out a long list of activities and successes and awards and things, I think that then gets blurred over,” says Ed. ” I think the thing that an individual should be doing here is telling a story. They should be telling a story about their recent history – the highs and the lows and how they see themselves as having changed through their education up to that point.”

Ed says he believes that story should also include students’ assertions about why they think they are a good fit for the schools where they apply. He encourages specificity about what has attracted a student to a particular institution ( think “the soft serve ice cream in the dining hall”!) rather than generic platitudes about a school.

Listen to the full episode for more suggestions about navigating the college application process (are interviews still recommended or not?) as well as the new puzzler. Lefties unite! This puzzler is all about the digits on our left hand.

This episode was recorded on Aug. 9, 2018.

September 16, 2018

Higher Ed: Confronting Gender-Based Academic Bias

Higher Ed

By: Jennifer Stayton

The author of a summer op-ed in the New York Times (no, not that op-ed!) believes girls would benefit from more drilling on math to “break the cycle of dislike-avoidance-further dislike” and help them build confidence in their math skills (which research has shown are pretty similar to boys’ math skills). In this episode of KUT’s podcast “Higher Ed,” Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger and KUT’s Jennifer Stayton discuss the op-ed’s call for gender-based additional academic practice and how to undo lingering biases about gender and academic performance.

We hope the days are long gone in which girls were considered less skilled at math and the sciences, and boys were considered under-achievers in reading and language arts. The data don’t bear those differences out, but lingerings biases may still lead some students to be treated as if they are true – or to act as if they are true. In this episode, Ed discusses social science research that shows any effort that amplifies the bias – even by calling it out – can actually reinforce it. He also believes students should always be encouraged to improve their understanding and performance, regardless of their gender or the academic subject.

Listen on for our discussion as well as for the solution to last episode’s puzzler about the mysterious stamp switch.

This episode was recorded on Aug. 9, 2018.