Books
Astin, A. W. (1985). Achieving educational excellence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
This book examines and rejects four traditional views of academic excellence: reputation of the institution, financial resources and human resources, measurable outcomes (e.g., retention rates, lifetime earnings of graduates, exit surveys), and the content of the curriculum. The author claims that facilitating the maximum growth of student and faculty talent is a much better measure of excellence and is the best means to meet the three criteria of educational excellence: consistency with the institution’s primary purpose, enhancing the overall quality of the educational system in the U.S., and increasing equity, or equal opportunities for all in higher education. The book advocates a theory of student involvement, which refers to the quantity and quality of the physical and psychological energy that the student invests in the college experience (i.e., absorption in academic work, participation in extra-curricular activities, and interaction with faculty members and student development professionals). Because this data is from the late 1960s and 1970s, the trends the author observes may not be as applicable to today’s students, but the recommendations for achieving educational excellence are certainly still valid.
Astin, A. W. (2001). What matters in college? Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
The purpose of this book is to answer questions that have been raised by students, parents, public officials, and educators about the effects of a college education. The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), initiated at the American Council on Education in 1966, is the largest ongoing study of the American higher educational system with longitudinal data covering 500,000 full-time, traditional-aged students in 1,300 four-year institutions. The results of this study highlight the need for structured interconnection between students and faculty. The author attempts to isolate the changes in students over four years, 1985-89, which would not have occurred if the students were not in college. The narrative is mostly descriptive, although the analysis underpinning the book relies on significant statistical work. The most interesting results appear in the last three chapters in which the author describes outcomes associated with particular environmental or student involvement variables. The major findings of interest to effective educators are that the level of student-centeredness by faculty produces more substantial direct positive effects on student outcomes than any other variable.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1998). Active learning: Cooperation in the college classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction.
Johnson, Johnson, and Smith have been pioneers for over 35 years in building and presenting both theory and applications of cooperative learning in the classroom. The philosophy behind this book is to create a more productive and effective learning experience. This book contains a conceptual framework and a set of practical strategies for structuring cooperative learning, which has been gleaned from observation of faculty members from all over the world. The authors discuss the shift from passive to active learning, including the pros and cons of lecturing. They also make the case for cooperative learning throughout the institution, using both formal and informal strategies, and they describe in detail how to create, organize, and work with cooperative groups to enhance learning. The book contains many examples illustrating both lesson planning and sample student activities.
Millis, B. J., & Cottell, P. G. (1998). Cooperative learning for higher education faculty. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
While the authors summarize the research establishing the efficacy of cooperative learning, the real strength of the text is the inclusion of many concrete suggestions for introducing, managing, and assessing cooperative learning in the classroom. These techniques help create a structure for improving student process skills in the classroom. The authors discuss dozens of “structures” which quality educators call activity types or formats, such as brainstorming and think-pair-share. These structures are content-free building blocks to which instructors add their own content-specific information to create classroom activities. The book’s in-depth coverage of team formation and the importance of team roles to advance individual accountability and positive interdependence is very helpful. One drawback is the implication that faculty should begin using cooperative learning techniques without necessarily committing themselves to the philosophy that their primary task is to help students grow as learners.
Walvoord, B. E., Anderson, T. A., & Anderson, V. J. (1998). Effective grading: A tool for learning and assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
The authors present the case that grading can be used to organize a course to maximize student learning by identifying the primary learning outcomes for the course, aligning the grading system to measure these outcomes through several large projects and/or tests, and constructing the curriculum to ensure that students are well prepared to succeed with these projects. The essence is to use motivation as an important aspect of the learning environment. The authors also challenge the assumption that “you can’t use grades for assessment,” by outlining a rich assessment system using grades to motivate student learning. They emphasize the importance of setting clear criteria and standards for grading and of communicating these to students. The book suggests ways to make grading time-efficient, how to use grading to improve student learning, and how grading can be part of assessment that meets regional accreditation standards.
Journals
Active Learning in Higher Education. (From the UK offices of Sage Publications Online; published for the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education; available by subscription.)
This journal publishes analyses and research by educators interested in improving learning facilitation and assessment practices. The articles often take a “systems” approach in that learning results are viewed in terms of how all parts of the educational system must be integrated.
Journal on Excellence in College Teaching. <http://celt.muohio.edu/ject/>
This peer-reviewed journal from Miami University is available by subscription, print or online. The editors offer this publication as “an answer to Boyer’s call for a forum to present the scholarship of teaching and learning.”
Web Sites
Deliberations on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. <http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberations/>
This international website on issues of learning and teaching for the higher education community is designed to be a resource and interactive forum. Content includes extracts of published articles, case studies, articles contributed by readers, comments and discussion between participants, and relevant links.
Educational Technology. <http://www.aace.org/pubs/etr/issue3/index.cfm>
An online publication of the American Association of Computing in Education, Educational Technology Review features articles about practical applications of technology in education at all levels.
Professional and Organizational Development Network. <http://www.podnetwork.org>
This network of 1200 members sponsors conferences and an active listserv. Its peer-reviewed journal is To Improve the Academy.