Distilling the research literature and translating the scientific approach into language relevant to a college or university teacher, this book introduces seven general principles of how students learn. The authors have drawn on research from a breadth of perspectives (cognitive, developmental, and social psychology; educational research; anthropology; demographics; organizational behavior) to identify a set of key principles underlying learning, from how effective organization enhances retrieval and use of information to what impacts motivation. Integrating theory with real-classroom examples in practice, this book helps faculty to apply cognitive science advances to improve their own teaching.
A quick path to better learning in your classroom There are plenty of great books out there on how to teach a college class, and now there’s a great one on how college students learn. “How Learning Works” tackles topics that most books on teaching ignore, such as how students’ prior knowledge helps or hinders what they learn in your class. We’ve all had the experience of trying to remind students of material we know they’ve had before, only to be met with blank stares, or worse yet, comments that reveal a deeply flawed understanding. This…
This book will inform teachers across all disciplines This book is full of citations from the learning sciences, which may suggest a bias toward instruction in math and the sciences. Nothing could be further from the truth. As an English teacher, I found every chapter both reader-friendly and essential reading for teachers of the humanities. After reading each enjoyable chapter, I could form a mental checklist of what I was doing to support student learning in my classrooms and where I could improve. I have read many good academic books about…
Excellent Tool for helping university faculty and administrators to really understand student learning As a Dean of a school within a University, I am always on the lookout for well researched, practical and effective ways to educate our own faculty about student learning, especially for the various levels of university students (Bachelors, Masters, PhD). Any faculty member or university administrator seriously concerned with education desires to find a trustworthy and research-informed body of content, that has been carefully crafted to be usable and practical, that can serve as a tool or…