Thinking About Teaching and Learning: Developing Habits of Learning with First Year College and University Students » (1st Edition)

Robert Leamnson was Professor of Biology and Director of Multidisciplinary Studies at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

Here is a compelling read for every teacher in higher education who wants to refresh or reexamine his or her classroom practice.Building on the insights offered by recent discoveries about the biological basis of learning, and on his own thought-provoking definitions of teaching, learning and education, the author proceeds to the practical details of instruction that teachers are most interested in the things that make or break teaching. Practical and thoughtful, and based on forty years of teaching, wide reading and much reflection, Robert Leamnson provides teachers with a map to develop their own teaching philosophy, and effective nuts-and-bolts advice. His approach is particularly useful for those facing a cohort of first year students less prepared for college and university. He is concerned to develop in his students habits and skills that will equip them for a lifetime of learning. He is especially alert to the psychology of students. He also understands, and has experienced, the typical frustration and exasperation teachers feel when students ingeniously elude their teachers loftiest goals and strategies. Most important, he has good advice about how to cope with the challenge. This guide will appeal to college teachers in all disciplines.

AAHE Bulletin

This well-written and easy-to-read book offers practical suggestions and insights into teaching first-year college students. Some academicians may disagree with the author's stance that part of teaching is getting students ready to learn. Teaching would be much easier if students arrived on the college campus with the learning skills necessary to cope with academic rigor, but that is not the reality experienced by many of us who have taught first-year students. While the author places the responsibility on the professor for providing activities that have the potential for facilitating learning i.e., teaching, he places the burden for making mental changes i.e., learning on the student.