Resources

This book describes a seven-year project—Quality in Undergraduate Education (QUE)—that produced important changes in departments and in the teaching of individual faculty in 21 two- and four-year institutions across four states. Rather than a blow-by-blow report of the project, it focuses on the problems that led to the development of QUE: concern about low levels of student learning in postsecondary institutions and demands by state legislatures that funds for postsecondary institutions be tied to assessment of student learning. The story is told first from the organizational perspective in national and local campus meetings, and then from the point of view of faculty in five chapters, one for each discipline of biology, chemistry, English, history, and mathematics. This description of QUE is intended as a model for administrators and faculty seeking to meet the challenges of increasingly diverse students as well as the increasingly divergent ways to earn a degree. (From the Publisher)

In A New Agenda for Higher Education, the authors endorse higher education's utility for enhancing the practical as well as intellectual dimensions of life by developing a third, different conception of educational purpose. Based on The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching seminar that brought together educators from six professional fields with faculty from the liberal arts and sciences, A New Agenda for Higher Education proposes an educational aim of "practical reason," focusing on the interdependence of liberal education and professional training. The book includes case studies of instructors from a wide array of disciplines including those who educate their students for practical responsibility. The authors document the process by which they learned to collaborate with one another across fields and, in the end, produced a new discourse of practical reason. (From the Publisher)

Chapters included in Part One, Education, Relationality, and Diversity, examine the growing intellectual awareness of a pervasive interdependence amid diversity in all aspects of the human experience brought on by the unrelenting processes of globalization. One of the most distinguished voices in the philosophy of emotions offers a sustained reflection in the opening chapter to Part Two, Educating Emotions: The Phenomenology of Feelings. In Part Three, East Asian traditions of thought that have never committed to the familiar mind-body dualism are appealed to as a resource for rethinking the body in education. The tension between personal authenticity and indoctrination in the role that education plays in preparing a person for a successful life is the subject of Part Four, Creativity and Habilitation, followed by chapters on the mutual accommodation of different approaches to education. The final essays discuss the role of aesthetic sensibilities in moral development with the theme of education and the aesthetics of moral cultivation. (From the Publisher)

Contemporary universities are very much an integral part of communities. However, while much has been written about teaching and research in universities, the "service" role of universities has been neglected. In an attempt to address this imbalance, The Academic Citizen looks at how these three roles interrelate and explores the idea of a compact between universities and society. This book argues that in order to achieve a compact, we need to re-evaluate the poorly rewarded aspects of service and leading academics need to set a new standard. Based on in-depth interviews with an international group of academics, it sets out to: · outline the interconnecting communities served by university lecturers · explore what the notion of "service" means for academic staff · develop a moral basis for the "service" role in academic life as both a collegial and civic duty · show how service supports teaching and research in a more competitive environment ·examine the ideal character required to fulfill the functions academic citizenship Drawing on a range of university and service traditions, The Academic Citizen has a strong historical and comparative perspective that should prove stimulating for those interested in the role of the academic in modern society. It has international relevance and will appeal to staff and educational developers in universities and colleges, as well as students of higher education. (From the Publisher)

The Red Cross is studied and criticized. The Royal Family is studied and criticized. Churches and hospitals are studied and criticized. Canadian universities are seldom studied and criticized and are worse off for this neglect. This book seeks to repair this damage by casting a critical eye on how Canadian universities work - or fail to work. Arguing that too much emphasis is placed on absurdly specialized research and too little on teaching, No Place to Learn contends that students seeking higher education in Canada are drastically short-changed. In clear, non-technical language, the book explains the current structure of the Canadian university and outlines several practical reforms that, if implemented, would greatly improve it. If you've never known what deans do, what tenure is, and what professors do when they're not teaching, No Place to Learn is a must-read: an eye-opening introduction that raises serious questions about the state of higher education in this country. No Place to Learn adds thought-provoking fuel to the incendiary debate about the role of the Canadian university today and in the future. (From the Publisher)

This book describes policies, programs, and practices that a diverse set of schools have used to promote student success, and shows how other schools can use them to improve student success in their context. Based on the Project DEEP (Documenting Effective Educational Practices) study, this book will provide concrete examples of what different types of institutions can do to help different types of students succeed in college at higher rates. The broad spectrum of schools make the book applicable across institutional type, showing readers how to encourage a variety of desired outcomes including student satisfaction, persistence, learning and personal development. Coordinated by the NSSE Institute for Effective Educational Practice a the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, the project was co-sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Pew Forum on Undergraduate Learning, and supported by grants from the Lumina Foundation and the Center for Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College. (From the Publisher)