Resources
Aimed primarily at higher education professionals, this book is a comprehensive guide to assessment issues, particularly for those professionals who are coming to terms with the range of new pressures on their traditional teaching practices. Agents of change such as increased use of IT, flexible assessment methods and quality assurance all converge on the area of assessment, making new demands of assessors. Outlining how traditional assessment practices can be updated and diversified to suit these contemporary teaching and learning methods, this book is a practical resource, with reflection boxes and diagnostic tools that encourage the reader to apply the principles to their own practice. Other areas covered include: Assessing large groups, Authentication of student work, Maintaining assessment standards, Assessing generic skills and Quality assurance. (From the Publisher)
As higher education enters the 21st century, the focus on adult learning programs and initiatives will be greater than ever. This book is designed to assist faculty members or administrators who want to understand how the impact of adult learning programs has already helped transform the academy and how newer initiatives are likely to change their own campuses in the coming decades. Drawing on his extensive expertise, Bash engagingly depicts each facet of adult learners and the requirements higher education must fulfill to meet their needs. By blending some of the theoretical aspects of adult learning with many of the practical and personal components that characterize higher learning, this book is a helpful guide to all interested in implementing and sustaining adult learning programs. (From the Publisher)
Journal Issue.
This guide offers practical recommendations for individuals involved with the assessment of general education programs and outcomes on campus. It includes a step-by-step assessment checklist, tips for better assessment, and examples of assessment tools, methods, and rubrics for assessing a variety of key outcomes of a quality general education. (From the Publisher)
The authors discuss recent empirical evidence, gathered on behalf of the University of Michigan Supreme Court defense, demonstrating the educational benefits of diverse learning environments. These are environments that must be intentionally planned and nurtured, where diversity is conceived of as a process toward better learning and not merely an outcome that one can check off a list. Included are numerous suggestions for how to engage diversity in the service of learning, ranging from recruiting a compositionally diverse student body, faculty, and staff to transforming curriculum, co-curriculum, and pedagogy to reflect and support goals for inclusion and excellence. (From the Publisher)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory and the Induced-Compliance Paradigm pose some interesting questions for those teaching religious studies in publicly funded colleges and universities. Given that religious beliefs can be challenged by the historical-critical study of scriptures, for example, and that the cognitive dissonance generated when this occurs can result in unconscious alteration of beliefs and attitudes, it is vital to make explicit the potential for manipulation of student beliefs. The author asks what, if any, responsibilities are implied for the instructor.
American colleges and universities have invested millions of dollars in equipment and "smart classrooms," but the jury is still out on whether computers have led to a revolutionary improvement in the quality of teaching. Professors are finding new ways to lecture, to run lab sessions, and to interact with students, however. The Chronicle dispatched reporters to classrooms across the country to find some of the most promising or unusual methods of teaching with technology. Some of the courses involve teams of professors and designers, as well as serious investments of time and money, while others are techniques that individual professors have developed using tools that are common on most campuses. No matter how much support they have, the professors have hit their share of roadblocks. But these wired teachers say students are responding positively as class sessions become more interactive. (From the Publisher)
Leading scholars explore the role of faith in the university setting. (From the Publisher)
Journal Issue.
The central conflicts of the world today are closely related to cultural, traditional and religious differences between nations. As we move to a globalized world, these differences often become magnified, entrenched and the cause of bloody conflict. Growing out of a conference of distinguished scholars from the MiddleEast, Europe and the United States, this volume is a singular contribution to mutual understanding and cooperative efforts on behalf of peace. The term paideia, drawn from Greek philosophy, has to do with responsible education for citizenship as a necessary precondition for effective democracy. (From the Publisher)