In this episode, Rob and Jared reflect on the OLC Accelerate 2025 conference in Orlando, FL. They are joined by Dr. Bob Lutz, the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Cedarville University.
 
Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous.

View a transcript of this week's episode.

Resources

• FOCUS Blog - Cedarville University CTL

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What did Rob and Jared take away from our series, “Have You Tried...”? What innovative strategies made their way into their classes? Join Rob and Jared as they reflect on the series and how they tried to put these ideas into practice.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous. 

View a transcript of this week's episode.

Resources

• FOCUS Blog - Cedarville University CTL

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We've discussed how mind mapping can impact teaching and learning, but what other applications exist? How can mind mapping help solve problems or organize thinking? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Larry Cox II (Senior Instructional Designer at Virginia Tech) about his presentation on using mind mapping techniques in systems thinking while at the 2025 OLC Accelerate Conference.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous.

View a transcript of this week's episode.

Resources

• Organise Ideas: Thinking by Hand, Extending the Mind – Caviglioli and Goodwin
• FOCUS Blog - Cedarville University CTL

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What is mind mapping? How can it be an effective tool for making connections between concepts? How can it help us process knowledge more effectively? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss how mind mapping can help students and teachers work through ideas.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous.

View a transcript of this week's episode.

Resources

• The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps - Tony Buzan
• Learning with concept and knowledge maps: A meta-analysis - Nesbit, J. C., & Adesope, O. O.
• FOCUS Blog - Cedarville University CTL

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What impact can familiar and unfamiliar music have on students in teaching? Do beats per minute correlate to cognition? Join Rob and Jared as they reflect on their interview with Dr. Deforia Lane and discuss the usage of music in education.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous.

View a transcript of this week's episode.

Resources

• FOCUS Blog - Cedarville University CTL

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What happens in the brain when music is played? How can music be used for teaching and learning? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Deforia Lane (PhD in Music Education & Music Therapy from Case Western Reserve University) about how educators can use music to influence their students’ success.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous.

View a transcript of this week's episode.

Resources

• FOCUS Blog - Cedarville University CTL

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What are the benefits of personal storytelling in the classroom? How can an anecdote enhance or support direct instruction? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss their own views on storytelling and reflect on their conversation with Dr. Q.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous.

View a transcript of this week's episode.

Resources

• FOCUS Blog - Cedarville University CTL

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What are Dr. Q’s essentials for good storytelling? How can storytelling be used as an effective tool for teaching and learning? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Quentin Schultze (PhD in Communication from the University of Illinois - Urbana) about how he uses storytelling to connect with his students and make content more memorable.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous.

View a transcript of this week's episode. 

Resources 

• You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!: Life Lessons from the Movie A Christmas Story – Quentin Schultze 
• FOCUS Blog - Cedarville University CTL 

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What are some studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness of gamification? How can the work that others have done to gamify their classes help you? Join Rob and Jared as they discuss examples from five different gamification studies.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous.

View a transcript of this week's episode.

Resources

• Impact of Gamification on Students’ Learning Outcomes and Academic Performance: A Longitudinal Study Comparing Online, Traditional, and Gamified Learning - Lampropoulos & Sidiropoulos
• How Gamification Boosts Learning in STEM Higher Education: A Mixed Methods Study - Ortiz‑Rojas; Chiluiza; Valcke & Bolanos‑Mendoza
• Gamification during Covid-19: Promoting active learning and motivation in higher education - Rincon-Flores & Santos-Guevera
• Higher Education Students’ Assessments towards Gamification and Sustainability: A Case Study - Santos-Villalba; Olivencia; Navas-Parejo & Benitez-Marquez
• Stats Kwon Do: a Case Study in Instructional Design, Multimedia and Gamification of Instruction - Coffland & Huff
• Mayer’s 12 Principles of Multimedia Learning

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If you gamify your class, how do you ensure that students remember content, not just the game that they played? What would it look like if you wanted to integrate learning into a game? Join Rob and Jared as they chat with Dr. Daniel Singletary (EdD in Educational Technology, Boise State University) about how gamification can be used to motivate students.

Please take this opportunity to fill out our end-of-the-year survey. This survey should take 5-10 minutes. Your responses are anonymous. If you would like to be entered for the Uncommon Sense Teaching drawing, you can share your name and email address at the end of the survey. Your response will remain anonymous.

View a transcript of this week's episode.

Resources

• FOCUS Blog - Cedarville University CTL

Chat with us!

• Connect with us via LinkedIn
• Contact us at [email protected] with any questions