This book had its origins in 1948 when I realized just how profoundly unprepared I was to teach the underachieving students for whom I was responsible. I knew I was only going through the motions. Consequently I developed an interest in pedagogy,* and particularly in testing the effectiveness of its precepts in the classroom. My Putting Minds to Work, Brown (1972), was an attempt to describe the components of a pedagogy that would help teachers be better prepared. Its underlying theme was the need for greater teacher sophistication in communication. However, a comment by Resnik (1987) on the hiatus in pedagogy between motivation and cognition, led me to realize the potential of communication to bridge that gap. More recently I realized that the New Taxonomy of Marzano and Kendall (2007) enabled me to resolve a problem I had with the Bloom (1956) definition of intellectual ability that appeared so incompatible with current understanding of information processing.
Explication of the interrelationships of communication, motivation, and cognition uncovered principles and practices of special significance for the teaching of students who are on the path of underachievement. I realized the insights gained from that perspective had general application, i.e., to all students.
