GIFTS: Three Methods to use Podcasts as Effective Learning Tools

Haritha Malladi

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Conference: 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE)
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Publication Date: July 28, 2024
Start Date: July 28, 2024
End Date: July 30, 2024
Page Count: 3
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--48624
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48624
Download Count: 23

Paper Authors

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Haritha Malladi University of Delaware orcid.org/0000-0002-8723-8964

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Haritha Malladi is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Director of First-Year Engineering at the University of Delaware. She received her Bachelor of Technology degree in Civil Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India, and her MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from North Carolina State University. She is a teacher-scholar working in the intersection of undergraduate engineering education, sustainable infrastructure, and community engagement. She teaches the introductory engineering course for all first-year undergraduate students in the College of Engineering at UD. Her undergraduate teaching experience includes foundational engineering mechanics courses like statics and strength of materials as well as courses related to sustainability and infrastructure. Her research interests are in foundational engineering education, sustainability in engineering curriculum, and green technologies in infrastructure.

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Abstract

A podcast is a program—typically in audio medium—that is available for download to personal devices from the Internet. They are like radio programs that can be played on demand. Podcasts are distributed using RSS feeds and are available to stream on popular streaming services like Spotify. Listen Notes, a podcast search engine and database, reports that there are over 3,000,000 podcasts in the world. There are a multitude of podcast episodes relevant to engineering that can be used as high-quality free educational resources. This Great Ideas for Teaching, or Talking with, Students (GIFTS) paper describes three ways to incorporate podcasts in an engineering classroom and ways to scaffold their use to enhance learning.

The first method involves assigning students to listen to a podcast episode accompanied by a written reflection response. The second method is an instructor-created regular podcast series or a weekly talk show for the course. This method is an effective alternative to bringing guest speakers to the classroom. The third method involves assigning students to create their own podcast as a summative assessment for a course.

Many podcasts provide access to full transcripts for each episode, which can be provided to the students. Enabling student choice in listening to podcasts, reading the transcripts, and/or creating podcasts or podcast scripts is in line with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines of creating multiple means of engagement, representation, action and expression. The author has successfully implemented all three types of podcast assignments to positive student feedback. Associated assignment descriptions and other resources will be detailed in the draft paper.

Citation
Format

Malladi, H. (2024, July), GIFTS: Three Methods to use Podcasts as Effective Learning Tools Paper presented at 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE), Boston, Massachusetts. 10.18260/1-2--48624