Optimizing Teaching and Learning: Practicing Pedagogical Research

ISBN-13: 9781405161794 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 256 str.

Regan A. R. Gurung

Opis

Optimizing Teaching and Learning will serve as a practical guide for anyone, anywhere, who is interested in improving their teaching, the learning of their students, and correspondingly, contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning.

• Bridges the gap between the research and practice of SoTL
• Provides explicit instructions on how to design, conduct, analyze, and write-up SoTL work
• Includes samples of actual questionnaires and other materials (e.g., focus group questions) that will jumpstart investigations into teaching and learning
• Explores the advantages and disadvantages of various pedagogical practices and present applications of SoTL using case studies from a variety of disciplines

Recenzje

"There were several pieces of information that were valuable,even to someone with a different education background. No doubtthere is even more valuable information for readers who are not insuch a specific specialty as nursing, but instead are educationgeneralists." ( Metapsychology , March 2010)

Spis treści

Preface.
Acknowledgments.

1. What Is Pedagogical Research?.

Multidisciplinary Roots of Pedagogical Research.

Examining Definitions of Scholarship.

The Other SoTL: Action Research and Teacher Research.

Beginnings.

Why Is Pedagogical Research Important?.

A Teaching Hierarchy.

A Caveat.

How Can Pedagogical Research Be Useful to You?.

2. Pedagogical Research: Focussing on the Teaching.

Assessing Our Teaching Effectiveness.

What Can We Learn from the "Best" CollegeTeachers?.

Creating your Teaching Philosophy Statement.

How Do I teach?.

Using Teaching Inventories.

Determining Your Teaching Goals.

Assessment Tools.

Alternative Classroom Assessment Techniques.

Teaching Portfolios.

Learning to Conduct Pedagogical Research: How to Get Started:Designing Your Pedagogical Research Program.

Developing Your Research Ideas and Questions.

Focus on Student Learning: Connecting Your Learning Goals,Assessment Choice, and Teaching Technique.

Applying the Findings of Your Pedagogical Research: UsingGeneral Principles of Learning to Making Changes to Your TeachingStrategies.

Sharing Your Findings and Connecting with Others in theField.

Conclusion.

Appendix: Examples of Discipline-Specific SoTL Journals.

3. Pedagogical Research: Focussing on Learning.

What Do You Want to Find Out?.

What Do We Know about How Students Learn?.

Student Engagement: If You Engage Them, They Will Learn.

How Can You Investigate Your Students' Learning?.

How Do Students Study?.

Metacognition.

Measuring Study Behaviors.

Can You Improve Study Skills?.

Key Psychological Factors Influencing Learning.

Designing Your Research: How Do You Study Your Students'Learning?.

Measuring How Performance on Your Assessments Vary.

Guidelines for Human Research Participants in SoTL.

A Further Note on Ethics.

Conclusions.

Appendix: Questions on How to Make Cognitive Research Availableto Educators.

4. Is It Significant? Basic Statistics.

Why Do We Need to Analyze Our Classroom Data?.

Qualitative or Quantitative? That Is the Question.

Setting the Stage: Important Background for Measurement andAnalyses.

Two Main Forms of Statistical Analyses: DescriptiveAnalyses.

Watching Your Curves.

Inferential Statistics.

Software Options.

Calculating Descriptive Statistics.

Calculating Inferential Statistics.

Kicking It Up a Notch: Testing Multiple Factors.

Conclusions.

5. Pedagogical Research as Scholarship: Resources forSuccess.

Developing a Center with a Focus on SoTL.

Determining Needs on Your Campus.

Determining Your Goals: What Is the Purpose of the Center?.

Guiding Principles when Creating a New Center.

Creating Programming Initiatives to Achieve Your Goals.

Mentoring Programs.

SoTL and Tenure and Promotion.

The Role of Assessment.

Sources for SoTL Support or Funding.

What Else Is Available through Faculty Development Centers?.

Potential Challenges Identified by Those Who Have Come BeforeYou.

Appendix: Useful References.

References.

Index

O autorze

Regan A. R. Gurung is Chair of Human Development at theUniversity of Wisconsin, Green Bay. He has served for many years onthe campus Faculty Development Committee and has also been Chair ofthe same. He is currently campus representative for a CASTLLeadership Site, and is a member of a national taskforce for thescholarship of teaching and learning. He is author of HealthPsychology: A Cultural Approach (2006).

Beth M. Schwartz is Professor of Psychology at RandolphCollege. She is founding director of the Faculty Development Centeron her campus. In February 2006, she received the APLS (AmericanPsychology and Law Society) Outstanding Teaching and MentoringAward.