Changing College Classrooms: New Teaching and Learning Strategies for an Increasingly Complex World (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series) [Hardcover]

Diane F. Halpern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1994 | ISBN-10: 1555426433 | ISBN-13: 978-1555426439 | Edition: 1st

Changing College Classrooms provides useful ideas on the four hottest issues in higher education today: active learning, diversity, technology, and assessment. Every faculty member will find at least one chapter well worth reading.

:?Wilbert J. McKeachie, emeritus research scientist, The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Changing College Classrooms provides useful ideas on the four hottest issues in higher education today: active learning, diversity, technology, and assessment. Every faculty member will find at least one chapter well worth reading." --Wilbert J. McKeachie, Emeritus Research Scientist, The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching

"Halpern's book is a great source of wisdom about the newest approaches to teaching and learning. It is an essential resource for anyone searching for ways to make classrooms engaging and challenging. It should be in every department office and used to stimulate discussions by faculty members." --Jerry G. Gaff, vice president, Association of American Colleges

From the Back Cover

"Changing College Classrooms provides useful ideas on the four hottest issues in higher education today: active learning, diversity, technology, and assessment. Every faculty member will find at least one chapter well worth reading." —Wilbert J. McKeachie, Emeritus Research Scientist, The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching"Halpern's book is a great source of wisdom about the newest approaches to teaching and learning. It is an essential resource for anyone searching for ways to make classrooms engaging and challenging. It should be in every department office and used to stimulate discussions by faculty members." —Jerry G. Gaff, vice president, Association of American Colleges

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555426433
• ISBN-13: 978-1555426439
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,131,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Provides information and suggestions for improving teaching, June 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Changing College Classrooms: New Teaching and Learning Strategies for an Increasingly Complex World (Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series) (Hardcover)

This is a lengthy book (351 pages) full of excellent reading, particularly for one who may be thinking about launching a career in higher education. The subtitle of the book, "New teaching and Learning Strategies for an Increasingly Complex World" leads the reader into a well prepared edition of numerous articles exploring the theme that it is permissible to "care about " teaching. Perhaps the only draw back about the book (if you consider it a draw back) is that the diversity of the contributors is regional. Most of the contributors to the edition are either teaching, researching or have graduated from higher education institutions in the West coast (California). Some may view the contributions as a Californization of higher education thinking.

The edition is organized into four sections. Part one, is structured with articles that fit into the theme "Instructional Strategies that Promote Active Leaning". Part two concentrates on "Developing Multicultural Understanding" in the classroom. The focus of part three promotes "Teaching with and about New Technologies". Lastly, part four concludes with "Assessing Teaching Effectiveness and Learning Outcomes. Each section is plethoric and leaves the readers many areas to think about on the art of teaching.

Although I found most of the chapters in the book valuable, there were a few chapters that were slow and basic. However, this did not deter me from making a final decision to purchase a copy of the book to add to my personal library. One less than enthusiastic chapter, "Using the Internet for teaching, learning and research" seemed to be very basic and complex at the same time. Many of us already know about E-mail, but anonymous file transfer protocols, I think this is something of different story. Part two of the edition, "Developing Multicultural Understanding" was my favorite part of the book. In this part I read Unmasking the Myths of Racism by G. Auletta and T. Jones. They concluded some disturbing themes. According to both of these Ph. D. authors, "racism is real and alive in the United States, and it is flourishing on our college campuses" and added that "we cannot afford the luxury of sitting in our ivory towers ignoring or refusing to discuss issues of racism while the towers' bases are being threatened by racial fires". In their final comments they "strongly encourage that those responsible for higher education provide leadership in charting a course for more intelligently discussing and working on issues of racism".

Part two also included a very helpful chapter that helped me to provide comments on the diversity issue presented in a course I took in the summer of 1999. Strategies for Teaching in a Multicultural Environment by E. Barkan left me thinking about my high school days and early community colleges days. The history that I was exposed to a student then was one sided and void. Barkan, in my opinion is profound and is absolutely correct in saying that history must be presented in a way that it illustrates both the travesties and the treasures of various societies. As stated by Barkan, teachers must "clearly and consistently address the facts that the settlement of America was not vacant land, that Native Americans were crudely and unrelentingly displaced, that Africans were brutally enslaved and degraded, that we engaged in imperialistic behavior toward the Mexicans, that we unfairly singled out the Chinese for exclusion, and that we unconscionably interned American Citizens of Japanese descent in concentrations camps. In other words, numerous peoples of color have quite repeatedly been harshly, and sometimes almost genocidally, treated and have had to cope with numerous assaults on their cultures, societies and self-esteem.

An assessment of this book would not be complete if some comments about part one and four were not included. Both these parts are essential to the book because without either one of them, the book would be incomplete. Part one concentrated on teaching strategies and part four concentrates on assessing teaching. I don't think you can have one without the other.

The book concluded with comments from the editor. Diane Halpern titled her thoughts "Creating a New Scholarship on College Teaching". I believe she uses the term scholarship to describe a new beginning or paradigm that is needed in higher education. She profoundly concludes "It is the job of college professors to prepare the future leaders and the most educated of the citizenry for a future about which we know very little. The theme of change and preparing our students for change runs throughout all the chapters in this volume. It is the thread that ties higher education together, it is the reason why we need colleges where teaching and learning is valued.