Now that the year is coming to a close, it’s time to pick up where my previous recommendations for books for college teachers left off. In alphabetical order, we have:
- The Spark of Learning by Sarah Rose Cavanagh: I’ve written about this book five times because I keep returning to it while updating many of my long-held assumptions about the role of emotion in teaching and learning.
Cavanagh, Sarah Rose. The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion. West Virginia University Press, 2016.
2. How Human Learn: The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching. by Joshua R. Eyler: I love multi-disciplinary research that results in startling ideas, such as this one: there are five conditions that foster or impede learning: curiosity, sociality, emotion, authenticity, and failure.
Eyler, Joshua R. How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching. West Virginia University Press, 2018.
3. The Missing Course: Everything They Never Taught You about College Teaching by David Gooblar. If a new faculty member asked me to recommend only one book, this would be it because it covers so many important ideas in an accessible, useful way.
Gooblar, David. The Missing Course: Everything They Never Taught You about College Teaching. Harvard University Press, 2019.
4. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. This book had a profound influence on me and many of my colleagues, who read the book in preparation for his visit, which was suddenly shifted to a virtual format when the pandemic interrupted our lives; it was really unforgetable.
Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. One World, 2019.
5. Teaching About Race and Racism in the College Classroom by Cyndi Kernahan: This book picks up where Kendi leaves off by helping us understand how to respond compassionately and effectively to racist ideas or statements in the classroom.
Kernahan, Cyndi. Teaching About Race and Racism in the College Classroom. West Virginia University Press, 2019.
6. Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It by James M. Lang: I love this book, which argues that, “We will not succeed in teaching today’s students unless we make a fundamental shift in our thinking: away from preventing distraction and toward cultivating attention.”
Lang, James M. Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It. Basic Books, 2020, p. 15.
7. Geeky Pedagogy by Jessamyn Neuhaus: Described as “a guide for intellectuals, introverts, and nerds who want to be effective teachers,” — especially, in my opinion, for those who loved the book Quiet by Susan Cain.
Neuhaus, Jessamyn. Geeky Pedagogy. West Virginia University Press, 2019.
8. Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time by Linda Nilson. This book shows how to apply Carol Dweck’s research on “mindset” in our assessment practices, backed by empirical research.
Nilson, Linda B. Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time. Stylus, 2015, p. 10.
9. Life of the Mind Interrupted: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education by Katie Rose Guest Pryal. As an advocate for students with mental health concerns, I learned a lot from this book on what it is like to be a person in academia who believed it was not to her advantage to tell anyone about her condition.
Pryal, Katie Rose Guest. Life of the Mind Interrupted: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education. Snowraven Books, 2017, p. 54.
10. Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education by Thomas J. Tobin and Kirsten T. Behling: This book makes the challenge of increasing the accessibility of our classes much more achievable by providing examples and a perspective that changed my approach.
Tobin, Thomas J. and Kirsten T. Behling. Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education. West Virginia University Press, 2018
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