Show notes
Josh Eyler, and Bonni Stachowiak talk about lessons in teaching from Pixar.
PODCAST NOTES
#065: Teaching lessons from Pixar
Guest:
Dr. Joshua Eyler, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Rice University
Josh’s Pixar course
- The hero’s journey
- Loss in children’s media
- WallE – environmental messages, religious messages/themes
Student-taught teaching, supported by Rice’s Center for Teaching Excellence
Heard on Twitter: Pixar favorites
Brian Croxall – Toy Story 2
https://twitter.com/briancroxall/status/641298742843441152
Shyama – Finding Nemo and The Incredibles
https://twitter.com/MedievalPhDemon/status/641254627082641408
Edna Mode
https://twitter.com/MedievalPhDemon/status/641258572383428608
Sandie Morgan
Monsters Inc.
https://twitter.com/sandiemorgan/status/641327082807672833
Cautionary note
Funny episode of Very Bad Wizards where they discuss the criticisms of the Inside Out movie, when it should have been clear to everyone that the movie wasn’t intended to actually represent how the brain works…
Opportunities to learn from our students are abundant
Finding Nemo
“If we only focus on [our role of imparting wisdom], we miss out on those moments when students can share something with us that opens our eyes to the material in a way we have never seen it before.” – Josh Eyler
Bonni shared about making assumptions on episode 63
Great teaching begins with a boundless passion for our subject
Ratatouille
Great teaching begins with a boundless passion for our subject
“Passion is sometimes an underrated part of what we do as teachers that can be really effective in reaching our students.” – Josh Eyler
Gradually reducing coaching helps students learn
Finding Nemo
David Merrill’s advice on instructional design: Instructional guidance should be gradually reduced
“In order to learn anything, we need to confront the failure of faulty knowledge, of faulty mental models. Students aren’t given enough opportunity to do that and when they are, the stakes are way too high for them.” – Josh Eyler
Mindset matters and so does proximal development
Toy Story
“Understanding our intellectual development in more complex terms can help students wrap their minds around the learning process.” – Josh Eyler
The pursuit of knowledge can be heightened through curiosity
Constructivism
“Curiosity is one of our most deeply rooted mechanisms by which human beings learn.” – Josh Eyler
“It’s that curiosity – that desire to know – that we need to be cultivating in our classrooms.” Josh Eyler
The knife that solves the butter problem
Learning happens everywhere
Up
“The reality is that learning is a very big idea and it happens everywhere.” – Josh Eyler
“My wife has been very sick for the last year and I’ve learned quite a bit about courage from her. I learn so much from my three year-old daughter about how to tackle life with a toddler’s zeal.” – Josh Eyler
RECOMMENDATIONS
Bonni recommends:
Josh’s essays:
Josh recommends:
Closing notes
- Rate/review the show. Please consider rating or leaving a review for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast on whatever service you use to listen to it on (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.). It is the best way to help others discover the show.
- Give feedback. As always, I welcome suggestions for future topics or guests.
- Subscribe. If you have yet to subscribe to the weekly update, you can receive a single email each week with the show notes (including all the links we talk about on the episode), as well as an article on either teaching or productivity.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
