Physics professor C.D. Hoyle joins Claire to talk about sabbaticals. Sabbaticals are dedicated time to focus on a particular project and bring the benefits back to the university. C.D. and Claire chat about their sabbaticals and plans for future ones. C.D. has done two sabbaticals (though the most recent was cut short with the pandemic!), and Claire is excited to take her first sabbatical next year! They talk about planning collaborations, finding housing, and navigating funding.

C.D. mentioned sabbaticalhomes.com.

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Claire checks in to find out what Ruth has been up to on her leave of absence. Ruth is still very sentimental about Ireland! Ruth fills us in on her big move to Ireland, her struggles and successes.

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University of Wisconsin Instrumentation Scientist Blaise Thompson joins Claire to talk about research collaboration. Blaise likes collaborations with people with different areas of expertise. Claire describes the benefits of collaborations between R1 and PUI universities, including the benefits to the students involved with the collaboration. Blaise is working on how to finish projects when everyone has it as a non-priority item on their to do list. Claire is working on collaborations where one member of the team is the only contributor for a significant portion of the project - how to keep the collaboration balanced and benefiting everyone?

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Ralph joins Claire to talk about having a happy and productive workflow. Ralph can focus better on the main thing he wants to work on when he also has scheduled time for doing other things that day. They talk about the difference between getting tasks done and spending time being creative, and they also talk about intentionality and to do lists. Claire has found it helpful to remind herself that she has chosen to do the thing she is doing, and to be confident in the decision to focus on it. She is working on getting back on track quickly when she loses her happy and productive workflow: she has an inspiring book on her desk that she dips into when feeling overwhelmed. Ralph is working on patience: it’s ok that everything wasn’t done yesterday.

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Bori joins Claire to talk about being a good department member. Bori has special experience having been chair of her department up until recently. She thinks her department is doing very well with collegiality and respecting each other professionally. She wonders about encouraging social connection and community as well. Would that help the department maintain cohesion across their curriculum? Claire finds that informal interactions within her department add up to folks generally getting along and feeling comfortable speaking up. She is working on promoting a positive tone in the department discourse. While everyone is working on improvements to the department, we must be proud of the things we do well.

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Claire mentioned The Lives of Christopher Chant, by Diana Wynne Jones: https://time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/5898463/the-lives-of-christopher-chant/

Blaise joins Claire as a special guest host to talk about deep work. Deep work is when we focus on one thing and get immersed in it. Blaise has been having success blocking out time for deep work, putting that on his calendar, and not being afraid to postpone little tasks in favor of working on larger ones. Claire likes doing things to finish them and being explicit and intentional about what she is working on. Blaise is working on not having a scarcity mindset about the time available to work on projects. Claire is working on being able to settle into deep work within a scheduled day.

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Blaise mentioned Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport: https://www.calnewport.com/books/deep-work/

Today chemistry postdoc and Professor Podcast listener Darien Morrow continues to interview Claire about the broad topic of the intersection between teaching and research. In the first half of the interview last week, Darien asked Claire about the transition from a research focused position in graduate school to a teaching focused position as a faculty member, and we hear about what aspects of that transition were striking for Claire. This week, Darien asks Claire about how her teaching and research influence each other, and they talk about conducting research with only undergraduate student researchers. They finish the interview talking about teaching philosophies.

We have Professor Podcast mugs!!! Drink tea with us :) https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast, https://www.zazzle.com/the_professor_podcast_with_ruth_and_claire_mug-168972842051617931

Today chemistry postdoc and Professor Podcast listener Darien Morrow interviews Claire about the broad topic of the intersection between teaching and research. In the first half of the interview, Darien asks Claire about the transition from a research focused position in graduate school to a teaching focused position as a faculty member, and we hear about what aspects of that transition were striking for Claire. In the second half of the interview (next week’s episode!), Darien asks Claire about how her teaching and research influence each other, and they talk about conducting research with undergraduate student researchers. They finish the interview talking about teaching philosophies.

We have Professor Podcast mugs!!! Drink tea with us :) https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast, https://www.zazzle.com/the_professor_podcast_with_ruth_and_claire_mug-168972842051617931

Will joins Claire as a special guest host to talk about homework. Will has well vetted homework assignments that he uses year after year. Claire likes giving her students a choice in which problems they do for their homework assignment, and grades on attempting problems rather than on accuracy of final answer. Will is figuring out whether to assign questions only after all the content has been given or simultaneously, and also is considering how much collaboration is too much collaboration. Claire is wondering whether to provide worked out solutions to her homework problems after they are due.

We have Professor Podcast mugs!!! Drink tea with us :) https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast, https://www.zazzle.com/the_professor_podcast_with_ruth_and_claire_mug-168972842051617931

Bori joins Claire as a special guest host to talk about hyflex classes: classes that have both virtual and face-to-face students in the same class period. Bori just finished her first week of hyflex classes and got the technology working! Claire’s hyflex laboratory class worked when groups had at least one member that was face-to-face and could show their virtual groupmates the equipment. Bori is working on how to have a more interactive, active learning style class within a hyflex setting. Claire is working on helping the virtual students feel like full participants.

We have Professor Podcast mugs!!! Drink tea with us :) https://rctaudio.com/profpodcast, https://www.zazzle.com/the_professor_podcast_with_ruth_and_claire_mug-168972842051617931