Catherine M. Wehlburg - Böcker

Faculty are often motivated to change the activities and design of their courses for reasons not based on data. In Meaningful Course Revision, the author seeks instead to illustrate how the appropriate use of multiple, direct measures of student-learning outcomes can lead to enhanced course development and revision. While providing an outline of methods for creating significant learning experiences, the book also includes practical suggestions for shaping the design of a course to meet student needs. Meaningful Course Revision urges a rethinking of teaching and learning. By making student advancement its focal point, it offers guidance through Data-based decision makingDesigning course-based assessment activitiesUsing data to enhance innovation in course redesignRethinking teaching and learningEmbedding assessment activities in meaningful waysPlanning the courseClosing the feedback loopMoving from course-level decision making to departmental curriculum planningCreating a culture of student-learning outcomes assessmentWritten for faculty seeking advice on how to keep their teaching interesting and effective, Meaningful Course Revision is a practical guide for collecting information about how well students are reaching course goals, learning what impact course changes are having on student learning, and putting courses into a cycle of continual revision and improvement.

It takes courage to engage in the kind of deep, transformational learning that so many people need in their lives, and this book is designed to help find and nurture that courage in learners, including those that are engaged in facilitating the courageous learning of others. Inspired by Parker Palmer’s classic book, The Courage to Teach, the authors have carefully examined the learning side of the teaching and learning relationship, and this book shares the resulting wealth of knowledge and experience with readers.This book is informed by Palmer’s observation that the conversations in teaching can be organized around four questions: what, how, why and who. In this book, the authors center learning instead of teaching as they ask: What is the content of learning? How do we learn? Why is it necessary, what motivates us? And, who is the self that learns?The authors have engaged in conversation with adult learners across the lifespan, representing different ages, social/economic levels, and approaches to learning. Drawing on these discussions, their own experiences, and the scholarly literature, they weave a tapestry with threads of learning and teaching, story, and analysis that serve as warp and weft. The authors pay tribute to the learner’s journey in the fullness of the process and name the distinct forms of courage that learning takes. In the concluding chapter, the authors explore the implications for educational practice, and offer guidance for any educator wishing to bring a Courage to Learn conversation to their community.

It takes courage to engage in the kind of deep, transformational learning that so many people need in their lives, and this book is designed to help find and nurture that courage in learners, including those that are engaged in facilitating the courageous learning of others. Inspired by Parker Palmer’s classic book, The Courage to Teach, the authors have carefully examined the learning side of the teaching and learning relationship, and this book shares the resulting wealth of knowledge and experience with readers.This book is informed by Palmer’s observation that the conversations in teaching can be organized around four questions: what, how, why and who. In this book, the authors center learning instead of teaching as they ask: What is the content of learning? How do we learn? Why is it necessary, what motivates us? And, who is the self that learns?The authors have engaged in conversation with adult learners across the lifespan, representing different ages, social/economic levels, and approaches to learning. Drawing on these discussions, their own experiences, and the scholarly literature, they weave a tapestry with threads of learning and teaching, story, and analysis that serve as warp and weft. The authors pay tribute to the learner’s journey in the fullness of the process and name the distinct forms of courage that learning takes. In the concluding chapter, the authors explore the implications for educational practice, and offer guidance for any educator wishing to bring a Courage to Learn conversation to their community.

An annual publication of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, volume 22 of To Improve the Academy is a collection of articles that focus on the role of faculty, instructional, and organizational development in ensuring excellence in education. Recognizing the urgency caused by a recent rash of budget and staff cuts and falling course enrollment, the authors provide new perspectives on how to address the growing need for providing quality, effective higher education.The book is divided into six sections: Section I, Past, Present, and Future of SoTL: provides an overview of the scholarship of teaching and learningSection II, Assessment and Faculty Development: presents tested methods for assessing both student learning and the impact of faculty developmentSection III, Curriculum Design and Evaluation: describes different tools for redesigning curriculum and improving student learningSection IV, Faculty Development Tools: presents models for enhancing current methods of faculty developmentSection V, Student Learning and Faculty Development: focuses on helping faculty work with students to enhance and improve their learningSection VI, Faculty Development with Part-Time Instructors: includes ideas for integrating adjunct faculty and graduate students into the life of an institutionThis book makes sense of how the changing climate in higher education is affecting how, when, and in what circumstances American students are learning. It offers an essential resource for improvement in higher education to faculty and instructional development staff, department chairs, deans, student services staff, chief academic officers, and educational consultants.