Resources

Davis argues that post-secondary instructors have to improve their performance in the classroom not only by better understanding how teachers teach, but also how learners learn. He translates recent research on learning into a form useful for college teachers, and then integrates it with current thinking on teaching to construct a framework for effective classroom communication. (From the Publisher)

Teaching and Learning in Higher Education is a ground-breaking contribution to the theory and research in this field. A tribute to the renowned work of John Biggs, the book includes chapters by leading researchers and academics including Ference Martonall of whom have been influenced by his work on teaching and learning. This book is structured around the framework of Biggs 3P model of learning: Presage, Process, and Product. (From the Publisher)

Jack Mezirow's theory of transformative learning has developed over nearly two decades into a comprehensive and complex description of how learners construe, validate, and reformulate the meaning of their experiences. But what exactly is transformative learning? How does it differ from other concepts of adult learning? How can educators actively foster transformative learning with adult learners? In this book, Patricia Cranton describes the theory and process of transformative learning in terms of experiences with which we are all familiar: from the learner who is struck by a new concept or a different way of thinking about something to the learner who changes her personal life on the basis of new insights. Drawing on numerous examples from nearly twenty years of experience as an adult educator and researcher, Cranton relates transformative learning to current adult education perspectives. She describes how learners undergo transformative learning. She examines individual differences among learners, and she presents practical strategies for fostering and supporting transformative learning - including questioning techniques, journal writing, consciousness-raising exercises, and experiential activities. Cranton also describes approaches the educator can use - such as fostering group interaction and encouraging learner networks - to provide support for the transformative learning process and help learners to support each other. (From the Publisher)

There is growing pressure both within and outside higher education to recognize and reward faculty excellence in teaching, as well as in the areas of research and service. In this book, John A. Centra provides faculty members, administrators, and faculty development specialists with the up-to-date approaches they need to evaluate and improve teaching. Greatly expanding his earlier bestseller, Determining Faculty Effectiveness (Jossey-Bass, 1979), Centra underscores the importance of active methods of teaching and the need to evaluate those methods in less traditional ways. He discusses the value and proper use of self-reports and portfolios. And he examines better ways to involve colleagues and students in evaluating and improving teaching. He includes guidelines, time-tested principles, new research insights, and many suggestions that can be adapted by both beginning and experienced teachers, and by those involved in evaluating and enhancing their performance. From the Publisher

This book is meant for faculty searching for new ways to teach, for alternatives to the traditional lecture method we all learned in graduate school. We include chapters on a variety of ways teachers can connect with their students and help them learn: cooperative learning, writing-across-the-curriculum, active learning, learning communities, and so on. Each of these methodologies is described exhaustively elsewhere, in books and journals and at conferences. This book brings brief discussions of them together in one accessible volume, with references to sources where readers can learn more. (From the Publisher)

Geography, borders, time zones - all are rapidly becoming irrelevant to the way we conduct our business and personal lives, courtesy of the communications revolution. According to renowned Economist journalist Frances Cairncross, this "death of distance" will be the single most important economic force shaping all of society over the next half century. In her new book, Cairncross provides a trend-spotter's guide to thriving in the new millennium. Friends, colleagues, and customers could easily be anywhere - around the corner or around the world - and the new ways of communicating will effectively wipe out distance as a cost factor, indeed as a perceptible concept from our lives. Cairncross helps us to recognize the patterns and seize the opportunities in these early days of the death of distance. She describes the ways, now only dimly imaginable, that telecommunications and our altered perception of distance will transform relationships between countries and citizens, companies and employees, parents and children. (From the Publisher)

Today's faculty members, like other professionals, find themselves caught between the pursuit of individual gain and the common good. Society is increasingly demanding that faculty demonstrate social responsibility toward both the institution and the larger community. This book is a practical resource for fostering and assessing faculty achievements in all aspects of their work: teaching, research, practice, and citizenship. Larry A. Braskamp and John C. Ory show that the assessment process can and must be tied to faculty development, and they explain how collegial activity and continuous improvement are important to strong performance. They identify three major elements of faculty assessment - setting expectations, collecting and organizing evidence, and using evidence - and suggest several key goals for the assessment process. The authors also show how multiple perspectives enhance the credibility of assessment, and they describe sources of evidence, including faculty members themselves, faculty colleagues, students, and experts. Specific techniques used to collect evidence are provided, as well as summaries of research on the effectiveness of each procedure. (From the Publisher)

This book discusses the first order principles (FOPs) of college teaching and their role as the easiest route to working happily and successfully in the classroom. Part 1 lists the 10 principles: (1) moderate classroom incivilities with pro-social immediacies; (2) wait actively for the fruits of one's teaching efforts; (3) begin before feeling ready; (4) work and teach in brief, regular sessions; (5) stop a lesson in a timely fashion; (6) moderate over-attachment to content and overreaction to criticism; (7) moderate negative thinking and strong emotions; (8) let others do some of the work, (9) welcome learning and change; and (10) build resilience by limiting wasted efforts. Part 1 also summarizes research showing that FOPs work. Part 2 discusses metacognitions about FOPs for teaching. This section focuses on recognizing society's real objections to efficient teaching; the key elements of efficiency; and mastering efficiency. Some sections contain references. Contains 59 references. (From the Publisher)

Classroom research has evolved considerably in the past few years. This sourcebook explores how classroom assessment techniques (CATs) are now being used to build student learning skills, and examines current research on how classroom assessment has changed both teaching and learning. It also introduces new uses for CATs—to promote effective student teamwork, help institutions answer the call for more accountability, and guide new teachers in developing their teaching philosophies. This is the 75th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Teaching and Learning. For more information on the series, please see the New Directions for Teaching and Learning page. (From the Publisher)