Recombinant Teaching: STEM Education Office Hours with Dr. Justin Shaffer

You've had students prepare before class, had a great lesson during class, but now what to do after class? In this episode of the STEM Course Design Series, Justin breaks down after-class homework, practice quizzes and exams, draft project assignments, and more.

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Check out Justin's book on High Structure Course Design to learn more about after-class homework and other assignments.

Check out Justin's card decks to help with course design and student learning.

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com

How do you plan timing for a lesson, balance active learning with lecture, and get students engaged and excited to be in class? Listen to this episode of the STEM Course Design Series to get answers to these questions and more!

Check out the lesson plan template here on Justin’s website.

Here is a link to the DART decibel-analysis tool. And a link to the active learning meta-analysis paper by Scott Freeman.

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Check out Justin's book on High Structure Course Design to learn more about active learning and in-class engagement.

Check out Justin's card decks to help with course design and student learning.

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com

What do you do when students don’t want to read before class? On this episode of the STEM Course Design Series, Justin breaks down the critical importance of pre-class reading and assignments and how to develop them do that your students actually do read before class.

Check out the reading guide template and samples here. And check out Justin’s paper on the efficacy of reading guides.

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Check out Justin's book on High Structure Course Design to learn more about pre-class reading, watching, and assignments.

Check out Justin's card decks to help with course design and student learning.

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com

On today's episode in the STEM Course Design Series, Justin tackles the importance of the syllabus and the course schedule by looking at how to put them together, what to add to them, and how to handle them when things go awry (snow day!).

Here is a link to the student-centered syllabus rubric tool developed by Michael Palmer and a link to the study on STEM syllabi from Brian Sato.

Check out the syllabus template and course schedule excel sheet here.

Justin's AI syllabus poilicy: You are permitted to use AI whenever you want to help you with your learning and I will model how to use AI effectively in this manner in class. However, mindset and karma are important to consider here. Please try to have a positive and productive mindset when using AI and do not fall into the trap of having it do some (or even all) of your work for you (including writing) as this takes away from your humanity and the pride that you should have in your own learning. Karma is also real – if you do fall into this trap, you will find yourself in trouble when it comes time to take the quizzes and exams as you will not have AI available to help you then. Treat AI as another tool in your toolbox and use it carefully, responsibly, and wisely!

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Check out Justin's book on High Structure Course Design to learn more about syllabus design and course schedules.

Check out Justin's card decks to help with course design and student learning.

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com

How do you pick course materials that are worth it for you and your students? In this episode of the STEM Course Design Series, Justin gives his advice and thoughts on this question through discussing the pros and cons of paid vs OER materials, how to use rubrics to choose a textbook and courseware, and what to think about with adopting AI tools for your courses.

Check out the textbook and courseware adoption rubrics here.

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Check out Justin's book on High Structure Course Design to learn more about choosing course materials.

Check out Justin's card decks to help with course design and student learning.

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com

In this episode of the STEM Course Design Series, Justin goes over the big picture of summative assessment design and how to make sure they are aligned to your learning objectives. Justin also discusses a few types of assessments including traditional quizzes and exams, group quizzes, and how to make your assessments authentic and gives examples of how he uses them in his STEM courses.

Here is a resource for more info on assessment from the UVA Teaching Hub.

Here is a resource on authentic assessment from the University of Indiana.

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Check out Justin's book on High Structure Course Design to learn more about summative assessments of all types.

Check out Justin's card decks to help with course design and student learning.

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com

As we continue on in the STEM Course Design Series, in this episode Justin gives an overview of the critical importance of starting your course design experience with learning objectives and backward design. Justin also discusses how to write SMART learning objectives, how to scale them up and down Bloom's taxonomy, the importance of both content- and skills-based LOs, and how to unpack LOs.

Here is a resource on writing SMART LOs.

Here is resource for different verbs to use for writing LOs based on Bloom's Taxonomy.

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Check out Justin's book on High Structure Course Design to learn more about backward design and LOs.

Check out Justin's card decks to help with course design and student learning.

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com

In this episode Justin walks you through the basics of high structure course design, what it is, where it came from, and how to start thinking about designing or re-designing your own courses. This episode will serve as a foundation for future episodes in the series.

Check out Justin's book on High Structure Course Design

Check out Justin's card decks to help with course design and student learning

Here is a link to some free resources on high structure at the UVA Teaching Hub

Here is the "original" structure paper by Scott Freeman and Mary Pat Wenderoth

And another great one by Scott and Mary Pat

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com

This is an introduction to the forthcoming summer STEM course design podcast series! Listen in over the next two months to learn all about STEM course design and how to give your courses a strong foundation so that your students can have an outstanding experience.

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com

Taylor Darwin joins the show to talk with Justin about how to engage your students in the classroom – not necessarily about what to do in a typical 50 minute class, but rather how to engage them in the subject matter writ large (especially if it is a mandatory class that they have little interest in).

Want to be a part of the show? Submit a question!

Learn more about expectancy value theory here.

Check out this paper on how utility value can improve student outcomes in introductory biology.

Dr. Taylor Darwin is a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics at Tarleton State University and an experienced mathematics educator whose work spans secondary, two-year, and four-year institutional contexts. Her professional background integrates teaching, research, and large-scale institutional change aimed at improving student access and success in mathematics.

Dr. Darwin’s research centers on improving mathematics learning experiences for rural and underserved populations, designing and evaluating corequisite models, and supporting systemic reform in developmental education.

She also explores emerging areas in mathematics education, including the use of artificial intelligence to support personalized learning and faculty professional development, as well as collaborative university–school partnerships that elevate teacher leadership and context-responsive instructional design. Her research agenda is informed in part by her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Southern California, where she deepened her expertise in learning sciences and technology-enhanced education.

Across her previous roles and in her teaching experience, Dr. Darwin has focused on designing active learning environments and supporting faculty in shifting from traditional lecture-based instruction toward more student-centered, interactive approaches. Her work has contributed to multiple grant-funded initiatives focused on STEM access, equity, and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

Learn how you, your department, or your institution can work with Justin to improve STEM education together.

www.recombinanteducation.com