Everett Community College

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Great Books on Teaching & Interesting Web Links and Videos-
Peg Balachowski, Marie Rustemeyer, and Lolly Smith give their recommendations on must reads regarding teaching and learning

November, 2012

Peg recommends:

How Learning Works, by Ambrose et al.
Distilling the research literature and translating the scientific approach into language relevant to a college or university teacher, this book introduces seven general principles of how students learn.  The authors have drawn on research from a breadth of perspectives (cognitive, developmental, and social psychology; educational research; anthropology; demographics; organizational behavior) to identify a set of key principles underlying learning, from how effective organization enhances retrieval and use of information to what impacts motivation.  Integrating theory with real-classroom examples in practice, this book helps faculty to apply cognitive science advances to improve their own teaching. 

www.theIDEACenter.org 
The IDEA Center is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to serve colleges and universities committed to improving learning, teaching, and leadership and performance. 

Marie recommends:

Effective Online Teaching: Foundations and Strategies for Student Success, by Tina Stavredes
The audience for this book is primarily online instructors; however, the concepts and ideas are also applicable for instructors teaching face-to-face or hybrid classes.  This book focuses on an understanding of who online learners are, how they learn, and challenges to thinking and learning in a computer-mediated environment.  The book is organized in five parts.  Part 1 develops a profile of online learners and how they prefer to learn.  Part 2 presents the foundations of cognition and learning.  Part 3 describes scaffolding strategies that can be used to support learning.  Part 4 discusses the development of a community of inquiry in the online class.  Part 5 addresses strategies to help you manage your online course.

EDUCAUSE seeks to further the mission of transforming higher education through the use of information technology.  It offers programs and resources including professional development activities, print and electronic publications, teaching and learning initiatives, data, research, and extensive online information services.  Educause provides information on emerging technologies and practices that have significant potential for teaching and learning, describing what they are, how they work, where they are going, and why it matters.  It also supports the teaching and learning community in developing ways to gather evidence of the impact of technological innovations and current practices on learning.

Lolly recommends:

Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas, by Seymour Papert
In terms of books that changed the way I not only taught but also how I saw myself as an educator, this 1980 book blew me away.  As I was trained in the humanities, the concepts of math and science were alien: Papert, who developed a program called LOGO (which I subsequently taught to 2nd graders), focuses his disucssion on the premise that the world of technology and the world of ideas work synergistically.  He links to Piaget's idea that "the understanding of learning must be genetic" and argues that computer programming gives a "sense of mastery over a piece of the most modern and powerful technology and establishes an intimate contact with some of the deepest ideas from sicence, from mathematics, and from the art of intellectual model building".  When he said that "some children's difficulties in learning formal subjects such as grammar or mathematics derive from their inability to see the point of such a style", I began to see that learning could be enhanced by focusing on context and Bloom's top level - creating.  He says that educators must be anthropologists - to "understand the cultural materials...relevant to intellectual development".  Old ideas?  Maybe.  But as I look through my copy and reread my underlinings and annotations, I am re-energized about what it means to be a teacher.

http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm 
The Costco or outlet mall of educational materials.  A searchable compendium of free stuff (228 open course or open textbooks), quizzes, activities, periodicals, discipline-specific case studies ---a wonderful place to play on a rainy afternoon or shop for ideas and possibilities.

Upcoming Workshops/Retreats

Assessment, Teaching and Learning Conference (ATL) 
Hosted by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, this annual conference showcases effective methods, practices, and strategies.