Resources

Since Descartes famously proclaimed, “I think, therefore I am,” science has often overlooked emotions as the source of a person's true being. Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes' Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—“one of the world's leading neurologists” (The New York Times)—challenged traditional ideas about the connection between emotions and rationality. In this wondrously engaging book, Damasio takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behavior. (From the Publisher)

A key study for understanding the transformation of meaning in young adults. (From the Publisher)

Adult education occurs whenever individuals engage in sustained, systematic learning in order to affect changes in their attitudes, knowledge, skills, or belief systems. Learning, instruction, and developmental processes are the primary foci of educational psychology research and theorizing, but educational psychologists' work in these domains has centered primarily on the childhood and adolescent school years. More recently, however, a number of educational psychologists have studied learning and development in adulthood. The results of these efforts have resulted in what is now called adult educational psychology. The purpose of this volume is to introduce this new subfield within educational psychology. Section 1 focuses on the interplay between learning and development in adulthood, how various forms of instruction lead to different learning outcomes for adults, description of the diverse social contexts in which adult learning takes place, and the development of metacognitive knowledge across the life span. Section 2 describes both research and theory pertaining to adult intellectual functioning, thinking, and problem-solving skills within various contexts. Section 3 describes research in a variety of adult learning domains; discusses the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of reading in adulthood and the applications of reading in real-life circumstances; examines an educational intervention developed to promote forgiveness; and relates the outcomes of an intervention designed to educate parents about their children's mathematics learning. Section 4 summarizes the themes and issues running throughout this, the first book that has sought to span the gulf betweenadult education, adult development, and educational psychology. (From the Publisher)

This volume of New Directions for Teaching and Learning increases our knowledge and understanding of the causes and consequences of disciplinary differences in the patterns of teaching and learning, in the instructional strategies to increase teaching effectiveness, in the culture and environment in which teaching takes place, and in faculty and students' attitudes, goals, beliefs, values, philosophies, and orientations toward instruction. Despite their practical and pervasive influence, disciplinary differences have been subjected to relatively little systematic study, especially in their effect on the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. This volume both provides new summaries of important studies on disciplinary differences and points out promising directions for further research. This is the 64th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Teaching and Learning. For more information on the series, please see the Journals and Periodicals page. (From the Publisher)

Since its original publication in 1970, this landmark book by William Perry has remained the cornerstone of much of the student development research that followed. Using research conducted with Harvard undergraduates over a fifteen-year period, Perry derived an enduring framework for characterizing student development - a scheme so accurate that it still informs and advances investigations into student development across genders and cultures. Drawing from firsthand accounts, Perry traces a path from students' adolescence into adulthood. His nine-stage model describes the steps that move students from a simplistic, categorical view of knowledge to a more complex, contextual view of the world and of themselves. Throughout this journey of cognitive development, Perry reveals, the most significant changes occur in forms in which people perceive their world rather than in the particulars of their attitudes and concerns. He shows ultimately that the nature of intellectual development is such that we should pay as much attention to the processes we use as to the content. In a new introduction to this classic work, Lee Knefelkamp - a close colleague of Perry's and a leading expert on college student development - evaluates the book's place in the literature of higher education. Knefelkamp explains how the Perry scheme has shaped current thinking about student development and discusses the most significant research that has since evolved from Perry's groundbreaking effort. Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years is a work that every current and future student services professional must have in their library. (From the Publisher)

Here is a compelling read for every teacher in higher education who wants to refresh or reexamine his or her classroom practice. Building on the insights offered by recent discoveries about the biological basis of learning, and on his own thought-provoking definitions of teaching, learning and education, the author proceeds to the practical details of instruction that teachers are most interested in — the things that make or break teaching. Practical and thoughtful, and based on forty years of teaching, wide reading and much reflection, Robert Leamnson provides teachers with a map to develop their own teaching philosophy, and effective nuts-and-bolts advice. His approach is particularly useful for those facing a cohort of first year students less prepared for college and university. He is concerned to develop in his students habits and skills that will equip them for a lifetime of learning. He is especially alert to the psychology of students. He also understands, and has experienced, the typical frustration and exasperation teachers feel when students ingeniously elude their teachers' loftiest goals and strategies. Most important, he has good advice about how to cope with the challenge. This guide will appeal to college teachers in all disciplines. (From the Publisher)

Despite the progress of the women's movement, many women still feel silenced in their families and schools. Based on in-depth interviews with 135 women, this moving and important book explains why. (From the Publisher)