Description
Book SynopsisThis book hopes to change the nature of the conversation about higher education from critiques to focusing on efforts of systematic improvement in undergraduate education. Changing the Conversation about Higher Education establishes a culture of experimentation and evidence for undergraduate education through undertaking teaching and learning experiments at 13 universities. This book discusses the contributions and findings from these experiments and is intended for academic administrators, faculty, and graduate students who are interested in improving undergraduate teaching and learning. The experiments are directed at two core aims of a liberal education: critical thinking and writing. The book is structured to address the issues of vision, structure, and cultural transformation that are of specific interest to academic administrators and the promising practices and issues of identity and support that are concerns of faculty and graduate students.
Trade ReviewWith all the swirling controversy about who gets into college, how it gets paid for, and how well it pays off, we risk forgetting that the fundamental work of colleges is teaching and learning and that at root a college becomes better when its faculty teach more effectively and its students learn more. Readers who want to understand how colleges and universities can get better at their most important work will find invaluable guidance in this book. -- Mike McPherson, president, The Spencer Foundation
This impressive collection uniquely crosses boundaries that usually remain separate. The contributors effectively and persuasively show ways to integrate theories of learning with methods of teaching, the scholarship on teaching and learning with assessment, and the professional identities of faculty as both teachers and scholars. -- Richard L. Morrill, Chancellor, University of Richmond, Virginia, president, the Teagle Foundation
Changing the Conversation about Higher Education is a needed addition to the on-going transformation in higher education focused on strengthening students' liberal education. The manuscript not only recounts the evidence on what is needed to enhance student achievement, but through examples from thirteen prestigious research universities, demonstrates how teaching innovations can be intentionally implemented; then assessed in ways that inform faculty to act; and result in information that can be used to further improve faculty and curricular reform for student success. The combination of focus on needed change in institutions' cultures for assessment and learning, coupled with practical strategies and actions is a welcome contribution for all of higher education. -- Terrel Rhodes, vice president for the Office of Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment, Association of American Colleges and Universities
There's plenty of room for improvement in the quality of American higher education. To do that we have to be systematic and this book, more than any other, shows what 'systematic' means. -- W. Robert Connor, senior adviser, The Teagle Foundation
Table of ContentsTable of Contents Forward: Derek Bok, President Emeritus, Harvard University Preface: Content Overview: Acknowledgements: Contributors: Introduction: Robert J. Thompson, Jr., Duke University Part One: Effective Teaching and Learning Practices Chapter 1. From Bottlenecks to Epistemology in History: Changing the Conversation about the Teaching of History in Colleges and Universities Leah Shopkow with Arlene Diaz, Joan Middendorf, and David Pace Indiana University Chapter 2. Using Scaffolding and Metacognitive Processes to Improve Critical Thinking in the Disciplines Andrea Follmer Greenhoot, University of Kansas Chapter 3. Think like/write like: Metacognitive Strategies to Foster Students’ Development as Disciplinary Thinkers and Writers Deborah Meizlish, Danielle LaVaque-Manty, Naomi Silver, and Matthew Kaplan University of Michigan Chapter 4. How Writing-to-Learn Practices Improve Student Learning: Connecting Research and Practice through a Consideration of Mechanisms of Effect Christopher Thaiss, University of California-Davis Julie Reynolds, Duke University Part Two: Approaches to Assessment Chapter 5. Assessment Approaches and Perspectives: Engaging Faculty and Improving Student Learning Jessica L. Jonson, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln Robert J. Thompson, Jr., Ph.D., Duke University Chapter 6. Developing a Process for Assessing General Education Learning Outcomes Across a Multi-College University Erin Blankenship, Shari J. Stenberg, and David E. Wilson University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chapter 7. Disciplinary-Specific Thesis Assessment Protocol: A Validated Rubric that Promotes Student Learning and Faculty Development Julie Reynolds, Duke University Part Three: The Role of University Centers: Professional Learning Communities Chapter 8. Teaching and Learning Centers as Professional Learning Communities Daniel Bernstein, University of Kansas Chapter 9. Amplifying the Impact of Pedagogical Research: The Role of Teaching Centers and Writing Centers Matthew Kaplan, Deborah Meizlish, Naomi Silver, and Danielle LaVaque-Manty, University of Michigan Part Four: Next Steps in the Continuing Efforts to Transform the Culture of Undergraduate Education Chapter 10. Systematic to Systemic: A Heuristic Framework to Improve Educational Practices and Student Learning Robert J. Thompson, Jr., Duke University Chapter 11. Changing the Conversation, Changing the Culture: The Place of Foundations in the Learning Commons Annie W. Bezbatchenko, The Teagle Foundation Andrea Conklin Bueschel, The Spencer Foundation Donna Heiland, The Teagle Foundation References:
