Michael Gray, a professor emeritus in Greenville, SC (USA) who has over 45 years of experience in higher education. Mike has created a number of ground-breaking university courses over his career including in-person Socratic Discussion courses, case-based hybrid courses, and investigative lab courses.

In addition to teaching biology, Mike is the founder and director of the Summer Institute in Teaching Science, and the Excellence in Teaching Initiative. Both are faculty and curriculum development programs which have trained over 100 university faculty from a wide range of academic disciplines.

Small children are invariably curious. If their curiosity is cultivated by their parents and teachers,  it erupts in a Vesuvius of “Why?” questions. One question leads inexorably to the next until the teacher maxes out (for now).

Curiosity and passion for learning become less than universal in elementary school. Children who have behavior problems in school are often children who are bored with being bathed in facts of dubious relevance to their lives. Other children are frustrated with the pace of learning which assumes the cohort in the classroom is mostly homogeneous in their interests and attainment.

Middle school and high school further winnow the pool of engaged students. Most are tired of academic gamesmanship. The questions they care about aren’t being addressed in the classroom. Supportive homes, parents who are still learning,  and career aspirations carry a group of survivors through to college entry, but with little expectation that learning will look different.

University should be transformative—but it isn't for most students. Transformative in that it changes immature thinking into adult thinking about issues of significance. Universities really have their work cut out for them when students are only there for a credential. Burned-out students who have been hosed down from K-12 with “information” are not in the best condition for ignition to occur.

But—speaking from experience—”combustion” is entirely possible! Learning is possible for anyone, regardless of their previous academic track record. It is never too late! As someone who has ignited a passion for learning that lasts in hundreds of my students and in my fellow faculty, I felt it was time to move my ideas to a broader audience.

My podcast represents my shot at awakening wonder and enabling adults to pursue joy through learning.

I use Alitu to merge the intro and outro with theme music and to embed the podcast itself between these two bookends. I use Alitu to enhance the sound quality of my raw audio file recorded in Garage Band. I plan to use Alitu in the future for interviews. I also use Alitu to produce a video file to upload to YouTube.

Deep and Durable Learning is the biweekly podcast that refuses to settle for superficiality! It seeks to operationalize principles of transformative learning that cooperate with the way the brain was designed to function. This podcast puts deep learning within the reach of any inquisitive adult. It enables listeners to trade “learning about” for “learning to be!”