11: Multimodal Learning, (Re)Educating Faculty, Breaking the "Perfect Professor” Stereotype

On this episode of Square Pegs, we are joined by Dr. Nadia Kellam, Associate Professor of Engineering Education at Arizona State University’s Fulton School of Engineering. Her research explores the unique strengths faculty with ADHD bring to the research environment. Today’s conversation reflects on the strides that have been made in recent years in (re)educating faculty to think and teach in a more neuroinclusive way, and the progress that we still need to make. Working through professional journals and societies, Nadia has spearheaded work on building reflexivity and a common, inclusive language, to ensure we continue to leverage the strengths-based approach and bring more neurodiverse minds into the STEM ecosystem.

Square Pegs is a series of intimate conversations about navigating life and learning within the neurodiverse community, hosted by Dr. Arash Zaghi, Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Engineering. In each episode, we talk to neurodiverse students and experts in the field of neurodiversity. 

Send feedback about Square Pegs to [e-mail] or find us at squarepegspodcast.com.

00:45 Guest intro: Nadia Kellam, Associate Professor at the Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University

04:48 Breaking the image of faculty as perfect and showing they’re human and they too can be neurodiverse

09:45 Pivoting success metrics in academia to “scholarly products” outside grant funding and impact factors to make research results generally accessible

13:15 “The Disease of Academia” in failing to learn how to communicate to other stakeholders

22:47 Multimodality in education as a way to bring in neurodiverse learners

36:38 Past traumas with education and overcoming the internalized feelings of failure

43:48 Modern university teaching requires mentorship and compassion, not just lesson planning

52:30 Promoting positionality statements and thinking about how our backgrounds influence research design and teaching

1:00:25 “Neurodiverse” v “neurodivergent;” the impact of semantic language on real people

1:03:32 Concluding thoughts