In Episode 148, Justin Shaffer joins host Kevin Patton to discuss high structure course design. Justin shares his success in building a scaffold for learning by using a variety of course structures to improve student engagement and success, such as pre-class and post-class activities, micro-case studies and clicker questions, brief active learning practices, and much more.

00:00 | Introduction
00:46 | Introducing Justin Shaffer
02:49 | High Structure and Low Structure
20:47 | Badge Break
21:43 | Transparency, Expectations, & Flexibility
34:06 | Secret Code: TAA Conference in Nashville
36:04 | Baby Steps or Go All In?
50:16 | Staying Connected

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To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time. (Leonard Bernstein)

 

Introducing Justin Shaffer

2 minutes

Host Kevin Patton briefly introduced our guest, Dr. Justin Shaffer. Justin is an experienced educator who provides professional development and advice on pedagogy for educators in anatomy and physiology and other disciplines. He is particularly well known for his advice on how to implement high structure course design.

★ Recombinant Education (Justin's website) recombinanteducation.com/

★ Justin Shaffer (Justin's LinkedIn profile) linkedin.com/in/justin-shaffer

★ How to Use High Structure Course Design to Heighten Learning (Justin's conversation with host Bonni Stachowiak on the Teaching in Higher Education podcast) AandP.info/xlo

★ High Structure STEM Classes (Justin's interview on the podcast, Tea for Teaching) AandP.info/75a

 

High Structure and Low Structure

18 minutes

Kevin Patton discusses with Justin Shaffer the concept of high-structure course design, which revolutionizes traditional teaching by providing a scaffolded learning process involving pre-class content acquisition, active in-class engagement, and post-class assessments. This method, inspired by the educational research of Scott Freeman and Mary Pat Wenderoth, has been successfully applied across multiple disciplines, demonstrating its versatility and effectiveness in improving student learning outcomes and engagement.

★ Increased structure and active learning reduce the achievement gap in introductory biology (report in Science mentioned in this segment) AandP.info/vqb

★ Getting Under the Hood: How and for Whom Does Increasing Course Structure Work? (paper in CBE-Life Sciences Education by Kelly Hogan and Sarah Eddy mentioned in this segment) AandP.info/ktl

★ Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom (book by Kelley Hogan and Viji Sathy mentioned in this segment) geni.us/kkB4Fn

★ True Grit: Passion and persistence make an innovative course design work (paper in PLOS Biology by Casper, Eddy, and Freeman mentioned in this segment) AandP.info/h27

★ Student performance in and perceptions of a high structure undergraduate human anatomy course (Justin's paper on high structure anatomy in ASE) AandP.info/lv1

★ High Structure Course Design for Chemical Engineering (Justin's paper on high structure chemical engineering in CEE) AandP.info/djc

★ Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? (source of the quote used in this segment, "My wish for you is that each year you look back at your career and laugh with embarrassment about the way used to teach. If you do this, you will continue to learn and grow.") geni.us/J9jdp

 

Badge Break

1 minute

Kevin reminds listeners that listening to this episode and reviewing the notes at this episode page can be documented with a professional development credential that can be shared in the form of a digital badge or certificate. It helps you keep track of your independent professional development activities and it provides evidence for your records or reports. Scroll down to the the link below to claim your digital credential. Or go to one of the links listed:

★  Education | Professional Development (all about TAPP digital credentials)

★ TAPP Education | Credentials | P Group (list of all the credentials related to this podcast)

 

Transparency, Expectations, & Flexibility

12.5 minutes

In this insightful exchange, Kevin Patton and Justin Shaffer explore the transformation of teaching strategies from low to high structure. Patton discusses the shift in student expectations due to more structured courses, and Shaffer explains how transparency and flexibility within this framework can significantly enhance student engagement and success. They discuss the importance of being adaptable while maintaining rigorous academic standards to mirror real-world responsibilities.

★ Some related resources from The A&P Professor

★ ★ The Case for Transparency | Episode 51

★ ★ Student Evaluations of Teaching II: Proactive, Active, and Reactive Strategies | TAPP 85 (discusses course debriefing sessions with feedback)

★ ★ Should We Extend Deadlines? | Models & Color Codes | TAPP 112

★ ★ The Inclusive Anatomy & Physiology Course | Part 2 | 8 More Tips to Include All | TAPP 109

★ ★ More Quizzing About Kevin's Wacky Testing Scheme | Book Club | TAPP 100

★ ★ 49 Tricks for Retention & Success in Online Courses | Episode 21

★ ★ 49 MORE Tricks for Retention & Success in Online Courses | Episode 22

★ ★ EVEN MORE Tricks for Retention & Success in Online Courses | Episode 23

★ ★ Ungrading With Standards-Based Grading | A Chat With Staci Johnson | TAPP 106

★ ★ Taking Bold Steps in Teaching | Notetaking | Science Updates | TAPP 90

★  State of Student Success and Engagement in Higher Education (recent report from Instructure) AandP.info/ir9

 

Secret Code: TAA Conference in Nashville

2 minutes

We take a brief pause to talk about the Textbook & Academic Authors Associa