Responsible Pedagogy with Eric Detweiler

02/28/23 • 44 min

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Eric Detweiler is an associate professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University and the director of the public writing and rhetoric program at MTSU. When I saw that Eric had a new book out called Responsible Pedagogy: Moving Beyond Authority and Mastery in Higher Education, I knew I wanted to talk with him here on the podcast.
In the interview, Eric shares the motivation for the book, the problems he sees with the notions of authority and mastery in higher education, and how not to teach about thesis statements. Oh, and we talk about ChatGPT, the AI text generator, because it’s unavoidable.
Episode Resources:

Eric Detweiler’s website, https://rheteric.org/
Responsible Pedagogy: Moving Beyond Authority and Mastery in Higher Education, https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-09343-7.html
Rhetoricity, Eric’s podcast, https://rhetoricity.libsyn.com/
@EricSDet on Twitter, https://twitter.com/EricSDet

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Podcast Links:

Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.
Subscribe to the Intentional Teaching newsletter: https://derekbruff.ck.page/subscribe

Support Intentional Teaching on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/intentionalteaching
Find me on LinkedIn and Bluesky.
See my website for my "Agile Learning" blog and information about having me speak at your campus or conference.

Questions or comments about this episode? Send us a text massage.

Eric Detweiler’s website, https://rheteric.org/
Responsible Pedagogy: Moving Beyond Authority and Mastery in Higher Education, https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-09343-7.html
Rhetoricity, Eric’s podcast, https://rhetoricity.libsyn.com/
@EricSDet on Twitter, https://twitter.com/EricSDet

Support the show

Podcast Links:

Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.
Subscribe to the Intentional Teaching newsletter: https://derekbruff.ck.page/subscribe

Previous Episode

The Hidden Curriculum with Anthony Jack and Missy Foy

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Thanks to another great podcast, Future U by Jeff Selingo and Michael Horn, I learned about a course at Georgetown University called Mastering the Hidden Curriculum. Part of the Georgetown Scholars Program, the course teaches students things about college that many students, especially first-generation students, don’t know, like what office are and how to interact with faculty. The course also dives into topics like imposter syndrome and how to fight it as a new college student.

I wanted to know more about the course and the Georgetown Scholars Program, which provides programmatic support for high-achieving low-income and first-generation students at Georgetown. I reached out to Missy Foy, executive director of the GSP, to ask her on the podcast. She, in turn, connected me with Anthony Abraham Jack, assistant professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and author of The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students. The two of them are a wealth of information about the experiences of low-income and first-gen college students, and they had a lot to share for faculty and administrators about how colleges and universities can better support these students.
Episode Resources:

Anthony Jack’s faculty page, https://www.gse.harvard.edu/faculty/anthony-jack

Georgetown Scholars Program, https://gsp.georgetown.edu/

“What Students Think of Their College Experience,” Future U podcast, November 23, 2022, https://futureupodcast.com/episodes/what-students-think-of-their-college-experience/
Music:
"The Weekend" by chillmore, via Pixabay

Support the show

Podcast Links:

Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.
Subscribe to the Intentional Teaching newsletter: https://derekbruff.ck.page/subscribe

Next Episode

Studio Biology with Scott Chirhart, Robbie Bear, and Justin Shaffer

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On today’s podcast, I’m happy to share a roundtable discussion with three faculty who teach introductory biology courses using a non-traditional model. All three teach what is called studio-style biology, where the lecture and lab portions are not just coordinated, but actually integrated into the same time and space. The course might meet two hours at a shot three times a week, which each class session featuring a mix of mini-lectures and wet lab activities.

My guests are Scott Chirhart, professor and chair of biology at Centenary College; Robbie Bear, senior instructor in biology at Kansas State University; and Justin Shaffer, teaching associate professor in chemical and biological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Their approaches to studio-style biology are all a little different, and I was glad I could get all three of them on together to compare and contrast their courses.
My three guests have lots to share with anyone interested in how a department can put together an introductory course with lots of moving pieces and a strong emphasis on active learning.
Episode Resources:

Scott Chirhart’s faculty page, https://www.centenary.edu/academics/departments-schools/biology/biology-department-faculty/

Robbie Bear’s faculty page, https://www.k-state.edu/biology/about/people/faculty/bear/

Justin Shaffer’s faculty page, https://chemeng.mines.edu/project/shaffer-justin/

Studio biology at Kansas State, https://www.k-state.edu/biology/pob/index.html

Assessment of the effectiveness of the studio format in introductory undergraduate biology [at Kansas State] by Montelone, Rintoul, & Williams (2017), https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.06-09-0193

Improving exam performance in introductory biology through the use of preclass reading guides [at Colorado School of Mines] by Lieu, Wong, Asefirad, & Shaffer (2017), https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.16-11-0320

Support the show

Podcast Links:

Intentional Teaching is sponsored by UPCEA, the online and professional education association.
Subscribe to the Intentional Teaching newsletter: https://derekbruff.ck.page/subscribe

Intentional Teaching - Responsible Pedagogy with Eric Detweiler

Transcript

Derek Bruff 0:06
Welcome to Intentional Teaching, a podcast aimed at educators to help them develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas and teaching. I'm your host, Derek Bruff. I hope this podcast helps you be more intentional in how you teach and and how you develop as a teacher over time.
Derek Bruff 0:24
I'm excited to bring to you today a conversation with Eric Detweiler. Eric is an associate professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University, and the dire