Learner-Centered Teaching

Praise for Maryellen Weimer's Inspired College Teaching «The thoughtfulness, personalization, and consideration Maryellen Weimer demonstrates in discussing the experience of faculty members, her ability to identify issues that are shared and solvable, and her suggestions and solutions to commonly experienced stressors and difficulties in college teaching are major strengths of this volume. . . . In a way, it is a 'workshop between book covers'—or perhaps several workshops!» —Laura L. B. Border, director, Graduate Teacher Program and Collaborative Preparing Future Faculty Network, University of Colorado at Boulder «A book by Maryellen Weimer always displays her wonderful grasp of the literature on college teaching and learning, her ability to tell good stories, and her wit and wisdom. This one is no exception.» —Nancy Van Note Chism, professor, Indiana University School of Education, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Praise for Enhancing Scholarly Work on Teaching and Learning «In her characteristically research-based, direct, and practical style, Maryellen Weimer provides a much-needed guide, critique, and road map of the scholarship of teaching and learning. Weimer's new book will be of use to teachers, researchers, and administrators alike and nicely complements her Learner-Centered Teaching and Classroom Research, by Cross and Steadman.» —Thomas A. Angelo, director, University Teaching Development Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand «Yet again, Maryellen Weimer has made a perfectly timed contribution to the pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning. Enhancing Scholarly Work on Teaching and Learning does indeed shed clarifying light on the exciting new emphasis on scholarly approaches to teaching. In her distinctively conversational and clear style, Dr. Weimer maps out the nature of pedagogical literature—how to read it and how to contribute to it. . . . This book is the perfect next step in the journey to understand the benefits of scholarly teaching.» —Gary Poole, director, Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth; founding director, Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, University of British Columbia

Praise for The Learner-Centered Curriculum «Cullen, Harris, and Hill provide a clear and practical framework for addressing the root of the problems of today's universities. The authors provide a lucid, actionable, and evidence-based prescription for building an integrated learning system to replace the hodgepodge of miscellany that we have inherited. They illustrate the kind of conversations and transformations that could raise the value of and change the prospects for higher education.»—John Tagg, author, The Learning Paradigm College «This book offers a powerful, realistic, and much-needed plan for changing how learning happens in higher education. Anyone concerned about improving teaching and students' learning needs to read this book!»—Terry Doyle, author, Helping Students Learn in a Learner-Centered Environment «To help achieve the imperative to make our universities more learner-centered, the authors focus on curriculum redesign and offer a solid theoretical approach combined with applied skills that institutional leaders and faculty can use to attain their goals. Shared governance, autonomous learning, assessment, technology, and physical space are among the elements discussed in this excellent book that universities will need to consider when developing a new curriculum that is more learner-centered.»—Jolene Koester, president, California State University, Northridge «Cullen, Harris, and Hill provide a thought-provoking resource with the compelling advantages and frameworks to create twenty-first-century student-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community-centered curriculum. This is a must-read for faculty and administrators committed to transforming their curriculum in order to educate better prepared graduates.»—Deborah L. Ford, chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Parkside «This is the book that I have been looking for. Written by three leaders who have done the heavy lifting of leading real change, it's a book for every academic leader who understands that innovation is essential to the future of higher education.»—Earl H. Potter, III, president, St. Cloud State University

Student-Centered Leadership offers a timely and thoughtful resource for school leaders who want to turn their ideals into action. Written by educational leadership expert Viviane Robinson, the book shows leaders how they can make a bigger difference to the quality of teaching and learning in their school and ultimately improve their students' performance. This book is based not on fad or fashion but on the best available evidence about the impact of different types of leadership on student outcomes. The book includes examples of five types of leadership practice as well as rich accounts of the knowledge and skills that leaders need to employ them with confidence. Filled with practical lessons, clear information, and much inspiration, Robinson encourages leaders to experiment with changing how they lead so they can transform their schools for the better. Student-Centered Leadership is part of the Jossey-Bass Leadership Library in Education series. Praise for Student-Centered Leadership «Student-Centered Leadership shines with clarity and practical, powerful ideas. Add this book to your leadership library.»—Michael Fullan, author, The Six Secrets of Change and Leading in a Culture of Change «Viviane Robinson's compelling book is both evidence based and profoundly practical.»—Steve Munby, chief executive, National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services, England «This book will be an equally important resource for individual school leaders, professional developers, and administrator-preparation programs. There will be two copies on my shelf—one to loan and one for my own reference.»—Karen Seashore Louis, Regents Professor, University of Minnesota

Engaging the Online Learner This updated edition includes an innovative framework—the Phases of Engagement—that helps learners become more involved as knowledge generators and cofacilitators of a course. The book also provides specific ideas for tested activities (collected from experienced online instructors across the nation) that can go a long way to improving online learning. Engaging the Online Learner offers the tools and information needed to: Convert classroom activities to an online environment Assess the learning that occurs as a result of collaborative activities Phase in activities that promote engagement among online learners Build peer interaction through peer partnerships and team activities Create authentic activities and implement games and simulations Praise for Engaging the Online Learner «The Phases of Engagement framework provides a road map for creating community at each phase of an online course. This book is an invaluable guide to innovative practices for online learning.»–Judith V. Boettcher, coauthor of The Online Teaching Survival Guide «Engagement is the heart of online learning. The authors have developed an encyclopedia of tried-and-true learner engagement activities that are authentic and ready to use.»–Donald P. Ely, professor emeritus, instructional design, development and evaluation in the School of Education, Syracuse University

Take an in depth look at discipline-centered learning communities. Using psychology as an example, this issue provides prescriptive advice for those interested in developing a learning community in any academic discipline or program. Learning communities are a powerful vehicle for creating and sustaining connections among students, faculty, and the curriculum, but creating one can be a challenge. By providing resources, practical case studies, and theoretical grounding, this volume can both inspire and guide faculty, staff, and administrators in meeting their pedagogical and curricular goals. Learn how the five types of learning communities—based curricularly, residentially, in the classroom, on the students themselves, and even virtually—can be used to enhance student engagement and learning. Illustrating the versatility of the practice across a wide range of settings, student populations, and institutional types, this issue also contains an extensive listing of resources that go beyond disciplinary boundaries and open possibilities for all in higher education. This is the 132nd volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education series. New Directions for Teaching and Learning offers a comprehensive range of ideas and techniques for improving college teaching based on the experience of seasoned instructors and the latest findings of educational and psychological researchers.

Unleash powerful teaching and the science of learning in your classroom Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning empowers educators to harness rigorous research on how students learn and unleash it in their classrooms. In this book, cognitive scientist Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph. D. , and veteran K–12 teacher Patrice M. Bain, Ed. S. , decipher cognitive science research and illustrate ways to successfully apply the science of learning in classrooms settings. This practical resource is filled with evidence-based strategies that are easily implemented in less than a minute—without additional prepping, grading, or funding! Research demonstrates that these powerful strategies raise student achievement by a letter grade or more; boost learning for diverse students, grade levels, and subject areas; and enhance students’ higher order learning and transfer of knowledge beyond the classroom. Drawing on a fifteen-year scientist-teacher collaboration, more than 100 years of research on learning, and rich experiences from educators in K–12 and higher education, the authors present highly accessible step-by-step guidance on how to transform teaching with four essential strategies: Retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and feedback-driven metacognition. With Powerful Teaching , you will: Develop a deep understanding of powerful teaching strategies based on the science of learning Gain insight from real-world examples of how evidence-based strategies are being implemented in a variety of academic settings Think critically about your current teaching practices from a research-based perspective Develop tools to share the science of learning with students and parents, ensuring success inside and outside the classroom Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning is an indispensable resource for educators who want to take their instruction to the next level. Equipped with scientific knowledge and evidence-based tools, turn your teaching into powerful teaching and unleash student learning in your classroom.

Put Teaching Naked to work in your classroom with clear examples and step-by-step guidance Teaching Naked Techniques (TNT) is a practical guide of proven quick ideas for improving classes and essential information for designing anything from one lesson or a group of lessons to an entire course. TNT is both a design guide and a 'sourcebook' of ideas: a great companion to the award-winning Teaching Naked book. Teaching Naked Techniques helps higher education faculty design more effective and engaging classrooms. The book focuses on each step of class preparation from the entry point and first encounter with content to the classroom 'surprise.' There is a chapter on each step in the cycle with an abundance of discipline-specific examples, plus the latest research on cognition and technology, quick lists of ideas, and additional resources. By rethinking the how, when, and why of technology, faculty are able to create exponentially more opportunities for practical student engagement. Student-centered, activity-driven, and proven again and again, these techniques can revolutionize your classroom. Create more effective, engaging lessons for higher education Utilize technology outside of the classroom to better engage during class time Examine discipline-specific examples of Teaching Naked Techniques Prepare for each class step by step from the student's perspective Teaching Naked flips the classroom by placing the student's first contact with the material outside of class. This places the burden of learning on the learner, ensures student preparation, and frees up class time for active engagement with the material for more effective learning and retention. Teaching Naked Techniques is the practical guide for bringing better learning to your classroom.

A freshly updated edition featuring research-based teaching techniques that faculty in any discipline can easily implement  Research into how we learn can help facilitate better student learning—if we know how to apply it.  Small Teaching  fills the gap in higher education literature between the primary research in cognitive theory and the classroom environment. In this book, James Lang presents a strategy for improving student learning with a series of small but powerful changes that make a big difference―many of which can be put into practice in a single class period. These are simple interventions that can be integrated into pre-existing techniques, along with clear descriptions of how to do so. Inside, you’ll find brief classroom or online learning activities, one-time interventions, and small modifications in course design or student communication. These small tweaks will bring your classroom into alignment with the latest evidence in cognitive research.  Each chapter introduces a basic concept in cognitive research that has implications for classroom teaching, explains the rationale for offering it within a specific time period in a typical class, and then provides concrete examples of how this intervention has been used or could be used by faculty in a variety of disciplines. The second edition features revised and updated content including a newly authored preface, new examples and techniques, updated research, and updated resources.  How can you make small tweaks to your teaching to bring the latest cognitive science into the classroom? How can you help students become good at retrieving knowledge from memory? How does making predictions now help us learn in the future? How can you build community in the classroom? Higher education faculty and administrators, as well as K-12 teachers and teacher trainers, will love the easy-to-implement, evidence-based techniques in  Small Teaching .

Rethink traditional teaching methods to improve student learning and retention in STEM Educational research has repeatedly shown that compared to traditional teacher-centered instruction, certain learner-centered methods lead to improved learning outcomes, greater development of critical high-level skills, and increased retention in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Teaching and Learning STEM presents a trove of practical research-based strategies for designing and teaching courses and assessing students' learning. The book draws on the authors' extensive backgrounds and decades of experience in STEM education and faculty development. Its engaging and well-illustrated descriptions will equip you to implement the strategies in your courses and to deal effectively with problems (including student resistance) that might occur in the implementation. The book will help you: Plan and conduct class sessions in which students are actively engaged, no matter how large the class is Make good use of technology in face-to-face, online, and hybrid courses and flipped classrooms Assess how well students are acquiring the knowledge, skills, and conceptual understanding the course is designed to teach Help students develop expert problem-solving skills and skills in communication, creative thinking, critical thinking, high-performance teamwork, and self-directed learning Meet the learning needs of STEM students with a broad diversity of attributes and backgrounds The strategies presented in Teaching and Learning STEM don't require revolutionary time-intensive changes in your teaching, but rather a gradual integration of traditional and new methods. The result will be continual improvement in your teaching and your students' learning.

Create a more effective system for evaluating online faculty Evaluating Online Teaching is the first comprehensive book to outline strategies for effectively measuring the quality of online teaching, providing the tools and guidance that faculty members and administrators need. The authors address challenges that colleges and universities face in creating effective online teacher evaluations, including organizational structure, institutional governance, faculty and administrator attitudes, and possible budget constraints. Through the integration of case studies and theory, the text provides practical solutions geared to address challenges and foster effective, efficient evaluations of online teaching. Readers gain access to rubrics, forms, and worksheets that they can customize to fit the needs of their unique institutions. Evaluation methods designed for face-to-face classrooms, from student surveys to administrative observations, are often applied to the online teaching environment, leaving reviewers and instructors with an ill-fitted and incomplete analysis. Evaluating Online Teaching shows how strategies for evaluating online teaching differ from those used in traditional classrooms and vary as a function of the nature, purpose, and focus of the evaluation. This book guides faculty members and administrators in crafting an evaluation process specifically suited to online teaching and learning, for more accurate feedback and better results. Readers will: Learn how to evaluate online teaching performance Examine best practices for student ratings of online teaching Discover methods and tools for gathering informal feedback Understand the online teaching evaluation life cycle The book concludes with an examination of strategies for fostering change across campus, as well as structures for creating a climate of assessment that includes online teaching as a component. Evaluating Online Teaching helps institutions rethink the evaluation process for online teaching, with the end goal of improving teaching and learning, student success, and institutional results.