Josh Luckens interviews Dr. Thomas J. Tobin, who discusses the power of “the big five: voice, choice, agency, safety, and belonging” in teaching and learning. Dr. Tobin is a specialist in Teaching, Learning, and Academic Technology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is a celebrated scholar and speaker on technology-mediated education and is the co-author of Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education.

Dr. Tobin shares his belief that all learners are capable of transforming themselves with the right tools, time, and the space to imagine new possibilities in their lives. He offers strategies for meeting both students and faculty where they are and implementing evidence-based practices to support success in the classroom.

Paraphrasing Dr. Tobin:

• The real joy of teaching is seeing your learners engage with problems, ideas, and concepts in ways that you might never have thought to do.

• People, groups, institutions, systems—they don't change unless they themselves perceive a need to do so. I’ve had far more success when I ask questions to allow people to identify their own challenges than just coming in with suggestions.

• It all goes back to motivation; unless you have a reason why you want to learn something, you don't learn it. And if you have a genuine reason to stick with a learning process, you'll stick with it way beyond what other people tell you to do. That's the kind of inspiration and engagement that we aspire to as learning designers.

Additional resources:

• Dr. Tobin’s website, thomasjtobin.com, featuring links to all of his publications and photographs of his fabulous handlebar mustache

• Chickering & Gamson’s Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education: Resource guide from the University of Florida

• CoLab Podcast Episode 7- Universal Design for Learning

Editors: Megan Hamilton Giebert, Lorrie Weldon, and LaToya Hinton (March, 2023)