Robert Talbert, Ph.D.

Higher Education

Grand questions about grand challenges

Answering questions from a talk on Grand Challenges for STEM Teaching.

Academia

Unsolicited advice about academic job interviews

In this throwback from 2011, I give six pieces of advice to academic job-seekers and some updated thoughts for 2022.

Active learning

How do you measure active learning? And should you?

If you could measure how much active learning really takes place at your university, would you? How would you do it? And what would you do with the results?

Alternative grading

The heart of the loop: Reattempts without penalty

It's hard to have a feedback loop without the ability to revise and resubmit. A reprint from GradingForGrowth.com.

Higher Education

Radical simplification redux

A podcast episode with my thoughts on "radical simplification", and two additional related thoughts.

Productivity

Why I don't write much about productivity any more

There used to be a lot of productivity and GTD related posts at this blog, but not any more. What's the deal?

Alternative grading

Giving marks that indicate progress

Marks are how students interface with feedback loops. How can we make them work for us? (Repost from Grading for Growth)

Alternative grading

Ungrading after 11 weeks

I've been using ungrading in my Modern Algebra class this semester. At week 11, here's how it's been going.

Teaching

Three things I learned about teaching by taking a short course

Reflections from flipping the script on being a learner. Originally posted in 2012.

Learning spaces

What it's like to teach in an active learning classroom

After years of doing research and training on active learning classrooms, I've finally been able to teach in one. Here's what I've learned.

The care and feeding of helpful feedback

This article originally appeared [https://gradingforgrowth.com/p/the-care-and-feeding-of-helpful-feedback] earlier this week at Grading for Growth [http://rtalbert.org/grading-for-growth/], a blog about alternative grading practices that I co-author with my colleague David Clark. I post there every other Monday (David does the other Mondays). Check the end of this

Flipped learning

Flipped learning: Extinct or endemic?

Has flipped learning gone away, or is it everywhere in the background? I explore that question in this keynote address from the IFLIP symposium from February.

Higher Education

Losing our nerve

I am worried not so much that we are losing students, funding, or our currency with the general public. My worry is that we're losing our nerve.

Alternative grading

Grading in my Discrete Mathematics class: a 3x3x3 reflection

A postmortem of my Fall semester discrete math course and the specifications grading system it used.

Alternative grading

How specifications grading changed my view of academic dishonesty

What happens to your views about academic dishonesty when you move from a scarcity model to an abundance model. (Reposted from Grading For Growth)

Active learning

A new framework for active learning

A new paper proposes an updated definition of active learning and an "ecosystem" framework to go along with it.

Active learning

Why we should embrace active learning

Three good and three bad reasons to embrace active learning, with reflections on a changing world.

Teaching

A real world approach to deadlines

A "real world" approach to deadlines on college work means something different than you might think.

Grading

Into the ungrading-verse

This semester, I'm making the leap to an ungrading setup in my Modern Algebra class.

Higher Education

A case for radical simplification in higher education

What I am starting, stopping, and continuing in 2022 as a result of my pandemic experiences. (Reprinted from EdSurge)

Higher Education

Four wishes for higher education in 2022

In 2022, higher education needs less of a few things and more of their opposite.

Grading

Three steps for getting started with alternative grading

You've decided to switch grading systems, awesome! Now what? (Repost from Grading for Growth)

Higher Education

Maintaining humanity in higher education in a high-tech world

Education has to take place in the context of human relationships, and through technology not in spite of it.

Mastery Grading

A word about words

Why David Clark and I are dropping the term "mastery grading" in our upcoming book on that subject.

Academia

Three ground rules for academic work

It's time for faculty and administrators who can do something about the creeping time demands of academic work, to step up.