Social Learning Amplified

This podcast hosted by Eric Mazur, an internationally recognized educational innovator in Social Learning and Peer Instruction, brings candid conversations with educators who are finding new ways to engage and motivate their students inside and outside the classroom. Each episode of Social Learning Amplified will give you real-life examples and practical strategies you can put into practice in your own courses.

New season coming spring 2025!

Episodes

A Look at Empowering Active Learning

Host Eric Mazur chats with Tristan Cui and Jeff Wang from Monash University about their recent published article, Empowering active learning: A social annotation tool for improving student engagement.  They discuss how they implemented Perusall in their courses to enhance student engagement and learning.  They dive into student feedback, practical implications, and overcoming challenges in the classroom and within Perusall.  They also offer insights into integrating Perusall into assessments.

Read their article: British Journal of Educational Technology

A Look at Ludic Pedagogy

This episode is part of the Social Learning Amplified's Active Learning Series. Host Eric Mazur chats with guests Dr. Sharon Lauricella and Dr. T. Keith Edmunds about their book, Ludic Pedagogy: A Seriously Fun Way to Teach and Learn. The book advocates for incorporating fun and positive experiences into the college classroom, challenging the notion that learning and fun are mutually exclusive.

Ludic Pedagogy: A Seriously Fun Way to Teach and Learn is available in the Perusall Catalog! You can also purchase it at: ⁠https://rowman.com/⁠.

A Look at Memory in the Age of Technology

In this episode of the Social Learning Amplified podcast, host Eric Mazur interviews Dr. Michelle D. Miller (Northern Arizona University) about her book, Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology. They discuss the relationship between memory and knowledge, the impact of technology on memory, and the importance of finding a balance between teaching content knowledge and skills.

Exciting news! Michelle Miller is hosting a Perusall Engage Book Event starting February 26th, 2024. Join the author and like-minded educators in an asynchronous communal reading group of her book on Perusall. Join now: ⁠perusall.com/engage⁠.

Read the transcript.

A Look at Design for Learning

In this episode of the Social Learning Amplified podcast, host Eric Mazur interviews Dr. Jenae Cohn about her new book, Design for Learning: User Experience in Online Teaching and Learning. Dr. Cohn discusses the importance of user experience principles in designing online courses and how they can be applied to both online and onsite learning environments.

Join Jenae Cohn's Perusall Engage Community Book Event starting January 15th, 2024 on Perusall! Learn more: perusall.com/engage.

A Look at Grading for Growth

In this episode of the Social Learning Amplified podcast, Eric Mazur and guests David Clark (Grand Valley State University) and Robert Talbert (Grand Valley State University) discuss their new book, Grading for Growth: A Guide to Alternative Grading Practice That Promote Authentic Learning and Student Engagement in Higher Education.

The guests discuss the interplay between grading and assessment, the need for rethinking traditional grading practices, and the four pillars of alternative grading. They also emphasize the importance of intrinsic motivation in learning and share their experiences with student reactions to alternative grading.

Read and engage with them from January 15th, 2024 to February 9th, 2024 at their Perusall Engage Community Book Event. Learn more: perusall.com/engage.

Read the transcript.

A Look at Students' Perceptions of Social Annotation

Join Eric Mazur as he chats with Dr. Virginia Clinton-Lisell (University of North Dakota) on her recent published research study on social annotation and Perusall. In her article, Social annotation: what are students’ perceptions and how does social annotation relate to grades?, Dr. Clinton-Lisell discovers that social annotation promotes active reading, which encourages better understanding of course content. Read her article: ⁠here⁠.

A Look at Improving Learning and Mental Health in the College Classroom

In this special LIVE episode, Eric Mazur chats with authors, Robert Eaton (Brigham Young University - Idaho) and Bonnie Moon (Brigham Young University - Idaho) to discuss their groundbreaking book, Improving Learning and Mental Health in the College Classroom. This episode was live at Perusall Exchange® 2023, Perusall's annual community conference on trending topics in education. Improving Learning and Mental Health in the College Classroom by Robert Eaton, Bonnie Moon, and Steven V. Hunsaker is available at West Virginia Press.

Read the transcript.

A Look at Equity-minded Teaching

In this special LIVE episode, Eric Mazur sits down with authors, Flower Darby (University of Missouri), Isis Artze-Vega (Valencia College), and Mays Imad (Connecticut College) to discuss their new book, The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching. Episode 12 was live at Perusall Exchange® 2023, Perusall's annual community conference on trending topics in education. The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching by Isis Artze-Vega, Flower Darby, Bryan Dewsbury, and Mays Imad is available now. Read the transcript.

A Look at Perusall and Critical Teaching Behaviors

In episode 11 of the Social Learning Amplified podcast, Eric Mazur invites Dr. Lauren Barbeau and Dr. Claudia Cornejo Happel to talk about their new book, Critical Teaching Behaviors: Defining, Documenting, and Discussing Good Teaching. They discuss what good teaching looks like and how Perusall advances social learning for instructors.

Join Perusall's reading community for Critical Teaching Behaviors: Defining, Documenting, and Discussing Good Teaching starting May 1st. Register here: perusall.com/events.

Read the transcript.

A Look at Perusall and Open Pedagogy

In episode 10 of Social Learning Amplified, host Eric Mazur talks with Dr. Sharon Lauricella (Ontario Tech University, Canada) about Perusall, non-disposable assignments, and how to make learning fun for their students. Read the transcript.

A Look at the Future of Learning

In episode 9 of Social Learning Amplified, Eric Mazur chats with Julie Jungalwala. Jungalwala is the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for the Future of Learning, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping transform the ‘one size does not fit all’ model of education. They discuss what needs to change in K-12 education and what works when leading that change. Read the transcript.

A Look at Learning Environments

In episode 8 of Social Learning Amplified, Eric Mazur invites Cassandra Volpe Horii and Martin Springborg to talk about their newest book, What Teaching Looks Like: Higher Education through Photographs. Eric, Cassandra, and Martin discuss what photographs of different learning environments can teach us. Read the transcript

A Look at How Perusall is Beyond a Discussion Board

Episode 7 of the Social Learning Amplified podcast brings you a conversation on how Perusall is more than a discussion board. Eric Mazur sits down with Dr. Staci Saner and Dr. Laura Weingartner from the University of Louisville to chat about how they use Perusall in their healthcare education courses.

Read the transcript. 

A Look at Active Learning

In episode 6 of Social Learning Amplified, Eric Mazur invites Professor Cathy N. Davidson and Christina Katopodis, PhD from The City University of New York (CUNY) to talk about their new book, The New College Classroom. They discuss active learning, changing their classrooms, and creating an environment that is truly conducive to learning. 

Read the transcript

A Look at Perusall for the Community College Population

In episode 5 of Social Learning Amplified, Eric Mazur talks with T. Adam Baldry and Brad Butler from Pima Community College about the innovative teaching tools they use at a community college level. They dive into their use of Perusall in their courses and the benefits students and instructors have with the platform.

Read the transcript.

A look at Perusall and Mastery Learning

In this episode of Social Learning Amplified, Eric Mazur catches up with Jon Bergmann, one of the pioneers of the flipped classroom movement. Jon uses Perusall in his classes to facilitate student discussion. During the discussion, Jon introduces the concept of Mastery Learning, which is covered in his  new book,  The Mastery Learning Handbook.

A Look at Ungrading Part 2

In part 2 of "A Look at Ungrading" on the Social Learning Amplified podcast, Matthew and Travis continue the conversation with Eric to explore how Perusall aids in their ungraded approach, additional best practices they find useful within Perusall, and other rich ideas on changing the way they teach. 

Read the transcript.

A look at Ungrading Part 1

This episode of Social Learning Amplified focuses on the growing "ungraded" movement in higher education. Dr. Matthew Winslow and Dr. Travis Martin, both from Eastern Kentucky University, speak with host Eric Mazur on what the Ungrading movement is, why it is effective for teaching, and how Perusall assists in making it possible. Read the transcript.

A Look at Peer Instruction

Our debut episode brings you a conversation on Peer Instruction with Eric Mazur and Julie Schell,  Assistant Vice Provost of Academic Technology at the University of Texas at Austin. Schell explains what Peer Instruction is, what makes this method work, and why she continues to use it with her students.