T5: Talking Through Teaching Tensions Together
Teaching is hard work. As educators, we feel a tension between what we feel like we should be doing and what we are doing in the classroom. We interview professors from across academia to discuss how they navigate these challenges at the post-secondary level. Welcome to T5 - Talking Through Teaching Tensions Together.
Listen on:
Episodes
Oct 31, 2025
Oct 31, 2025
22 min
Guest: Zajj Daugherty | Professor | Department of Mathematics and Statistics | Reed College
Cell phones, tablets, laptops - these technologies are integral to most of our daily routines, and they can also be huge distractions in the classroom. In this series, we explore various approaches faculty have taken to addressing student use of personal technology in the classroom.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.
Nov 7, 2025
Nov 7, 2025
28 min
In this episode, the T5 team comes together to recap the episodes in this series. We discuss what we learned in speaking with our guests, the questions that still remain, and what we look forward to trying in our classes as we wrestle with personal technology in the classroom.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.
Dec 5, 2025
Dec 5, 2025
23 min
Guest: Lauren Hecht | Professor | Department of Psychological Science | Gustavus Adophus College
Textbooks, journal articles, news pieces…these are a few examples of resources we give students to supplement course lectures and activities. As faculty, we appreciate both the wisdom in these resources and the work it takes to produce them. We take great care in curating the right assignments to benefit our students. And we know the frustration of leading a discussion with a class that did not complete the assigned reading! In this series, we explore strategies faculty have used to encourage students to engage with course reading assignments, making them an integral part of the learning experience.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.
Dec 12, 2025
Dec 12, 2025
20 min
Guest: Melissa Stucky | Lecturer | Bayh College of Education, Teaching, and Learning | Indiana State University
Textbooks, journal articles, news pieces…these are a few examples of resources we give students to supplement course lectures and activities. As faculty, we appreciate both the wisdom in these resources and the work it takes to produce them. We take great care in curating the right assignments to benefit our students. And we know the frustration of leading a discussion with a class that did not complete the assigned reading! In this series, we explore strategies faculty have used to encourage students to engage with course reading assignments, making them an integral part of the learning experience.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.
Dec 19, 2025
Dec 19, 2025
18 min
Guest: Shannon Talbott | Associate Professor | Department of Mathematics | Moravian University
Resource: Link to article describing the guided inquiry that is used in Dr. Talbott's upper level algebra course.
Textbooks, journal articles, news pieces…these are a few examples of resources we give students to supplement course lectures and activities. As faculty, we appreciate both the wisdom in these resources and the work it takes to produce them. We take great care in curating the right assignments to benefit our students. And we know the frustration of leading a discussion with a class that did not complete the assigned reading! In this series, we explore strategies faculty have used to encourage students to engage with course reading assignments, making them an integral part of the learning experience.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.
Dec 26, 2025
Dec 26, 2025
24 min
Guest: Laura Le | Senior Lecturer | Division of Biostatistics & Health Data Science | University of Minnesota
Additional Resources:
SQ3R Tool: A brief resource on a technique for reading to promote understanding.
Textbooks, journal articles, news pieces…these are a few examples of resources we give students to supplement course lectures and activities. As faculty, we appreciate both the wisdom in these resources and the work it takes to produce them. We take great care in curating the right assignments to benefit our students. And we know the frustration of leading a discussion with a class that did not complete the assigned reading! In this series, we explore strategies faculty have used to encourage students to engage with course reading assignments, making them an integral part of the learning experience.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.
Jan 2, 2026
Jan 2, 2026
20 min
Guest: Yung-Hsing Wu | Professor | Department of English | University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Textbooks, journal articles, news pieces…these are a few examples of resources we give students to supplement course lectures and activities. As faculty, we appreciate both the wisdom in these resources and the work it takes to produce them. We take great care in curating the right assignments to benefit our students. And we know the frustration of leading a discussion with a class that did not complete the assigned reading! In this series, we explore strategies faculty have used to encourage students to engage with course reading assignments, making them an integral part of the learning experience.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.
Jan 9, 2026
Jan 9, 2026
24 min
In this episode, the T5 team comes together to recap the episodes in this series. We discuss what we learned in speaking with our guests, the questions that still remain, and what we look forward to trying in our classes as consider assigned readings in our courses.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.
Feb 6, 2026
Feb 6, 2026
31 min
Guest: Robert Talbert | Professor | Department of Mathematics | Grand Valley State UniversityBlog: Finding Common Ground with GradingWebsite: https://www.rtalbert.org/
For most of us, the grading policy in school was fairly typical: you earn points on assignments, and your course grade is a weighted average of those points. The team behind this podcast was actually born out of a shared interest in "Alternative Grading," which we can think of as anything outside of "weighted average of points." We have become convinced on the benefits of alternative grading, but we continue to struggle with how to cultivate buy in from students. We speak with a variety of individuals who have been experimenting with alternative grading in the classroom to learn how they communicate the idea to their students.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.
Feb 13, 2026
Feb 13, 2026
25 min
Guest: June Pilcher | Professor | College of Behavioral, Social, and Health Science | Clemson University
For most of us, the grading policy in school was fairly typical: you earn points on assignments, and your course grade is a weighted average of those points. The team behind this podcast was actually born out of a shared interest in "Alternative Grading," which we can think of as anything outside of "weighted average of points." We have become convinced on the benefits of alternative grading, but we continue to struggle with how to cultivate buy in from students. We speak with a variety of individuals who have been experimenting with alternative grading in the classroom to learn how they communicate the idea to their students.
As always, if you have ideas for topics you would like us to discuss, or if you would like to be a guest on T5, email us as t5podteam@gmail.com.


