Meet Sam

Inspired by the premise of Ken Bain’s What the Best College Teachers Do, I wanted to talk to students about their best college teachers. The goal is to reflect on their experiences in a variety of college classrooms to find key actions that a college teacher displayed toward them or for them, so that we can learn how students believe they are best supported for learning. 

In this format, I sit down with a college student to ask a few simple questions about what they think makes for an effective college instructor. I’m curious if we can learn just one thing from each student, that might help us try something new, or double down on an activity or approach that students like or know helps them to learn. 

In this episode, we meet Sam who shares how impromptu presentations, facilitated comfortably, were really helpful in getting him to read and study the materials as well as feel like he was learning by sharing and teaching. Also, he describes how much a simple check-in from his teachers made him feel like he mattered.