A Concise Guide to Improving Student Learning

This concise guidebook is intended for faculty who are interested in engaging their students and developing deep and lasting learning, but do not have the time to immerse themselves in the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Acknowledging the growing body of peer-reviewed literature on practices that can dramatically impact teaching, this intentionally brief book:

• Summarizes recent research on six of the most compelling principles in learning and teaching
• Describes their application to the college classroom
• Presents teaching strategies that are based on pragmatic practices
• Provides annotated bibliographies and important citations for faculty who want to explore these topics further

This guidebook begins with an overview of how we learn, covering such topics such as the distinction between expert and novice learners, memory, prior learning, and metacognition. The body of the book is divided into three main sections each of which includes teaching principles, applications, and related strategies - most of which can be implemented without extensive preparation.

The applications sections present examples of practice across a diverse range of disciplines including the sciences, humanities, arts, and pre-professional programs.

This book provides a foundation for the reader explore these approaches and methods in his or her teaching.

Diane Cummings Persellin is Professor and Coordinator of Music Education at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, USA. An author of over 100 articles and book chapters, her research interests focus on teacher preparation, professional development in higher education, and applications of research on learning. Currently, she is Director of the Trinity University Summer Program for Music Educators, a staff member of the Associated Colleges of the South Teaching and Learning Workshop, and on editorial boards of College Teaching and Texas Music Education Research. Most recently she helped develop Trinity's new Collaborative for Learning and Teaching as its interim co-director. Dr. Persellin has served as Editor of General Music Today and as President of Texas Music Educators Conference and has presented numerous workshops and papers at national and international conferences including POD and Lilly. An award-winning teacher and advisor, she was inducted into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame for her work in education.

Mary Blythe Daniels is Professor of Spanish at Centre College, USA. Dr. Daniels was named Centre College's National Endowment for the Humanities Distinguished Professor and has also received the Kirk Award for Excellent Teaching. She has a strong background in literature, language instruction, and pedagogy in higher education. Her diverse research interests have led her to publish articles about seventeenth-century Spanish theatre and about community-based learning. Daniels' work in experiential and community-based learning has been presented on college campuses, at national conferences and has received significant external funding. Daniels is a staff member of the Associated Colleges of the South's Teaching and Learning Workshop, and has presented at national and international conferences including POD and Lilly.

"This book achieves several important goals. First, it is indeed concise. This is a major service to teachers. The literature is large and continually growing, but the authors succeed in bringing it all together in a highly practical and accessible way. There are three chapters which not only provide theory, but also a wide range of approaches and examples for achieving deeper learning, using action centered pedagogy, and assessing the outcomes. It will be of great use to experts in the disciplines who are asked to teach, but have little or no knowledge of learning theory and teaching methods (which is most of us.)"