Summary

Academic anxiety is real—but the good news? Confidence can be built. In this episode of The What and Who of Edu, we’re diving into battle-tested strategies from real educators who have helped students push past their fears and develop the kind of self-assurance that transforms their learning experience.

From building a classroom squad to normalizing mistakes (yes, even the professors!) we explore the most effective ways to foster confidence in students—whether they’re navigating online courses, struggling with writing anxiety, or dreading their first big exam.

By the end of this episode, you’ll have 10 powerful, practical strategies to help students go from fearful to fearless in the classroom. This podcast is brought to you by Macmillan Learning

Today's Syllabus:

💡 Build a Squad (Adriana Bryant – Creating Community Groups to Foster Confidence) [1:44] 💡 Make the Professor the Common Enemy (Dr. Mike May – Using Playful Pressure to Encourage Group Work & Engagement) [3:51] 💡 More Like a Team Effort (Jennifer Duncan – Making Peer Review Less Intimidating Through Connection) [5:28] 💡 Small Wins First (Betsy Langness – Helping Online Students Gain Confidence with Low-Stakes Tasks) [6:56] 💡Own Your Mistakes (Dr. Christin Monroe – Using Personal Failure to Build Trust and Resilience) [8:29] 💡 Start Small—Like, Really Small (Julie Moore – Using Low-Stakes Writing to Ease Student Anxiety) [9:49] 💡 Writing Confidence: Even Professors Struggled Once (Dr. Margaret Holloway – Showing Students That Writing Evolves Over Time) [11:57] 💡 Mistakes Are the Point (Dr. Jennifer Ripley Stueckle – Using Intentional Mistakes to Encourage Critical Thinking) [13:58] 💡Exams Are Like a First Date (Dr. Jennifer Ripley Stueckle – Preparing Students for Tests by Lowering Anxiety and Building Trust) [15:39] 💡 Confidence is a Process, Not a Trait (Dr. Charlotte de Araujo – Helping Students Rethink Their Approach to Learning and Success) [17:55]

Instructors (in order of appearance):

Adriana Bryant is an English and Developmental English Instructor at Lone Star College- Kingwood in Texas. She teaches courses of different modalities, and strives to create an engaging environment that helps foster her students' growth and overall desire to learn. She also contributes to professional development within her department and college community.

Dr. Mike May is the lower division coordinator in the department of mathematics and statistics at Saint Louis University, where he has taught for more than 30 years. During that time he has looked at how to effectively incorporate numerous technologies into effectively teaching mathematics. He is currently looking at using spreadsheets in teaching mathematics to business students.

Jennifer Duncan is Associate Professor of English at Georgia State University's Perimeter College. Jennifer has been teaching English literature and composition for twenty-five years and specializing in online teaching for fifteen.

Betsy Langness has been with Jefferson Community and Technical College since 2002. Prior to becoming a full-time faculty member in 2015, she was a Counselor at the college and taught as an adjunct for 9 years. Before coming to Jefferson, she was a Senior Academic Advisor for the Honors Program at the University of Louisville. She is currently teaching general and developmental psychology courses in a virtual, asynchronous environment.

Dr. Christin Monroe is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Landmark College, where she has been teaching for five years. She teaches in Principles of Chemistry, Introduction to Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biochemistry, with a focus on supporting neurodivergent learners through inclusive and innovative teaching practices.

Julie Moore has been teaching writing, literature, and writing center pedagogy in Higher Education for 35 years; presently, she works as a Senior Online Academic Advisor and First-Year Composition Instructor for Eastern University's LifeFlex program. The author of four collections of poems, Moore has recently won the Donald Murray Prize from Writing on the Edge and several notable prizes for her poetry. You can read her many publications at https://julielmoore.com/

Dr. Margaret Holloway is an Assistant Professor of English and the Composition Coordinator in the English & Modern Languages Department at Clark Atlanta University. Her research is rooted in the rhetoric and composition discipline, and she has nine years of college-level teaching experience.

Dr. Jennifer Ripley Stueckle has spent the past 17 years as a Teaching Professor and Non-Majors Biology Program Director at West Virginia University. While Dr. Ripley Stueckle expertise centers around toxicology and fish physiology, she has taught introductory biology, introductory biology labs, immunology, and human physiology, in addition to creating and directing the introductory biology courses offered through dual enrollment at West Virginia high schools.

Dr. Charlotte de Araujo is an Assistant Professor, York University with 16+ years of post-secondary undergraduate and graduate teaching experience geared towards biology and biomedical science students. She was recently recognized with a 2023 Faculty of Science Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. Charlotte has coordinated large-scale biology/biochemistry programs at multiple Ontario based universities and is also a consultant. Extra Credit:

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