University Teaching In Focus

Annotation 'University Teaching in Focus' provides a foundational springboard for early career academics preparing to teach in universities. Focusing on teaching, curriculum, students, and quality/leadership, this resource offers university teachers a straightforward approach to facilitating effective student learning.

The second edition of University Teaching in Focus distils the knowledge and insights of internationally acclaimed experts in university teaching. It empowers university teachers and contributes to their career success by developing their teaching skills, strategies and knowledge. Written in a clear and accessible style, it provides a sharp focus on student learning through the lens of four sections: Focus on subject and curriculum design Focus on subject teaching and learning Focus on students Focus on your career Each of the 15 chapters targets a key teaching and learning issue referencing seminal works, current resources and practical applications using real-world cases. The ‘Your thoughts’ sections encourage reflection and offer opportunities to adapt international evidence about best practice to local contexts and disciplines. This edition will be a key resource for foundational teaching development programs in higher education institutions or as a self-help manual by early career and experienced teachers who wish to enhance their students’ learning.

University Teaching in Focus provides a foundational springboard for early career academics preparing to teach in universities. Focusing on four critical areas - Teaching, Curriculum, Students, and Quality and Leadership, this succinct resource offers university teachers a straightforward approach to facilitating effective student learning. It aims to empower university teachers and contribute to their career success by developing teaching skills, strategies and knowledge, and linking theory to practice. Written by internationally acclaimed experts, topics include learning theories, assessment, discipline - based teaching, curriculum design, problem - based and work - integrated learning, effective classroom teaching and flexible modes of delivery. The needs of diverse student groups are explored and the scholarship of teaching and learning is addressed within a quality and leadership framework. The clear and accessible style makes reference to seminal works and current resources. Real - world cases illuminate the theoretical content and 'Your thoughts' sections encourage reflection and adaptation to local contexts.

"This resource is a well constructed introduction to learner-centered assessment, complete with practical, ready-to-implement assessment techniques. Designed to bring you up to speed quickly, the book is grounded in the principles of constructivist learning theory and continuous improvement. It helps you to connect with what you already know about assessment, integrate that knowledge with new information, and try new approaches to enhance your students' learning. You see clearly what it means to shift from a teacher-centered paradigm of instruction to a learner-centered paradigm."--BOOK JACKET.

What makes a good college teacher? This book provides an evidence- based answer to that question by presenting a set of "model teaching characteristics" that define what makes a good college teacher. Based on six fundamental areas of teaching competency known as Model Teaching Characteristics outlined by The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP), this book describes how college faculty from all disciplines and at all levels of experience can use these characteristics to evaluate, guide, and improve their teaching. Evidence based research supports the inclusion of each characteristic, each of which is illustrated through example, to help readers master the skills. Readers learn to evaluate their teaching abilities by providing guidance on what to document and how to accumulate and organize the evidence. Two introductory chapters outline the model teaching characteristics followed by six chapters, each devoted to one of the characteristics: training, instructional methods, course content, assessment, syllabus construction, and student evaluations. The book: -Features in each chapter self-evaluation surveys that help readers identify gaps between the model characteristics and their own teaching, case studies that illustrate common teaching problems, discussion questions that encourage critical thinking, and additional readings for further exploration. -Discusses the need to master teaching skills such as collaborative learning, listening, and using technology as well as discipline-specific knowledge. -Advocates for the use of student-learning outcomes to help teachers better evaluate student performance based on their achievement of specific learning goals. -Argues for the development of learning objectives that reflect the core of the discipline‘s theories and applications, strengthen basic liberal arts skills, and infuse ethical and diversity issues. -Discusses how to solicit student feedback and utilize these evaluations to improve teaching. Intended for professional development or teacher training courses offered in masters and doctoral programs in colleges and universities, this book is also an invaluable resource for faculty development centers, college and university administrators, and college teachers of all levels and disciplines, from novice to the most experienced, interested in becoming more effective teachers.

This book focuses on university teachers’ experience of teaching and learning. Following on from the 1999 volume Understanding Learning and Teaching, which focused on student experiences of teaching and learning, this book provides guidance on how teachers’ experiences can be understood in ways which can support the continued enhancement of student learning experiences and learning outcomes. Drawing on the outcomes of a 30-year research project, this comprehensive volume discusses the qualitative variation in approaches to university teaching, the factors associated with that variation, and how different ways of teaching are related to differences in student experiences of teaching and learning. The authors extend the discussions of teaching into new areas, including emotions in teaching, leadership of teaching, growth as a university teacher and the contentious field of relations between teaching and research. “This important book offers an accessible, research-informed guide to understanding student learning and university teaching. Written by two world-leading experts in the field, it provides rich insights and practical responses to the challenges faced by those who care deeply about teaching and learning in higher education.” —Professor Paul Ashwin, Lancaster University, UK "Enhancing discipline-specific evidence-based development of the quality of teaching and learning in higher education has been my strategy during my whole career. Therefore and with great pleasure I read the book by Trigwell and Prosser which distills their teaching and learning research into a guide for those seeking to better understand their teaching environment. Building on their discovery of relations between the ways of teaching and the ways of learning, they expand on what is known about variation in teaching and how it links to course design, to research and to academic development. This book will be a valuable resource for many academics."​ —Professor​ Sari Lindblom, University of Helsinki, Finland “In an international higher education context going through much change and uncertainty, Trigwell and Prosser have produced a scholarly, timely, evidence-based, view of teaching and learning suitable for universities world-wide. The experience, quality and satisfaction of university leaders, researchers, teachers and students will benefit enormously from the ideas in this addition to their first book.” —Professor Robert A. Ellis, Griffith University, Australia

“Video will completely change the way we do professional learning.” —Jim Knight Video recordings of teachers in action offer a uniquely powerful basis for improvement. Best-selling professional development expert Jim Knight delivers a surefire method for harnessing the potential of video to reach new levels of excellence in schools. Focus on Teaching details: Strategies that teachers, instructional coaches, teams, and administrators can use to get the most out of using video Tips for ensuring that video recordings are used in accordance with ethical standards and teacher/student comfort levels Protocols, data gathering forms, and many other tools to get the most out of watching video

Whilst much has been written about the doors that technology can open for students, less has been said about its impact on teachers and professors. Although technology undoubtedly brings with it huge opportunities within higher education, there is also the fear that it will have a negative effect both on faculty and on teaching standards. Education Is Not an App offers a bold and provocative analysis of the economic context within which educational technology is being implemented, not least the financial problems currently facing higher education institutions around the world. The book emphasizes the issue of control as being a key factor in whether educational technology is used for good purposes or bad purposes, arguing that technology has great potential if placed in caring hands. Whilst it is a guide to the newest developments in education technology, it is also a book for those faculty, technology professionals, and higher education policy-makers who want to understand the economic and pedagogical impact of technology on professors and students. It advocates a path into the future based on faculty autonomy, shared governance, and concentration on the university’s traditional role of promoting the common good. Offering the first critical, in-depth assessment of the political economy of education technology, this book will serve as an invaluable guide to concerned faculty, as well as to anyone with an interest in the future of higher education.