A Helping Hand

Colleagues: Many of you know that we typically run 1-2 Learning Circles every semester. These are wonderful opportunities to share ideas with colleagues, to think evaluatively about our own teaching, and to learn things from other that help our students to learn. In fact, there is such a large and useful literature out there, that it is hard to narrow the list down for what to read. However, we have done our best! We have put up a poll on the left side of the blog and ask you for your input. Even if you are outside of UVU, feel free to tell us what you, as professionals and colleagues, would consider most useful. The other benefit of this process is that when you attend a Learning Circle regularly, you get to keep the book that is being discussed. It is a useful way to build your pedagogical library and lets you go back and use the book for references and to refresh your learning. Please give us your input! Here are some thumbnail sketches of the books we are looking at:

• Terry Doyle: a book about understanding student resistance to active learning and how to work with students
  
• Weimer: the classic book that lays out a coherent and integrated model of "Learner Centered Teaching" in a way that helps faculty to make practical use of it
• Tagg: a book that discusses the elements of the traditional Instructional Paradigm and the changes that need to occur if we are to move to a more effective Learning Paradigm
• Bransford et al: One of the best recent summaries of the science of the brain and how it relates to adult learning
• Brookfield: a book about the messiness of teaching and the core issues of the professor's relationship to students