Synopses & Reviews
Today's college teacher is caught between paradigms: to lecture or not to lecture. Lecturing is now described as ineffective and passe in today's world of higher education. In practice, however, most professors still lecture because they were taught by the lecture method; they were conditioned to become auditory learners, and they have had no formal training in alternative teaching methods. Faculty are biologists, art historians, or mathematicians, and they think of teaching in terms of quantifiable content. But if lecturing is "out," what is "in"? How does one move from "empty vessel" to active learning? How can we truly engage today's student? Trends in higher education have begun to shift the teacher's role from soloist or center-stage performer to conductor, orchestrating and synthesizing a dynamic, multifaceted learning experience. Yet the question lingers: How do we leave our lecterns? How can teachers engage students? Staley's book offers you a proven way to stimulate thinking, discussion, and group interaction. Each exercise in 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LECTERN will ask you to identify your ABC Goals for the activity at the outset based on Bloom's Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive goals. Professors may be accustomed to concentrating primarily on cognitive goals; however, all three types of goals are important. Unlike upper division courses with more specialized knowledge; affective, behavioral, and cognitive goals should be more equally balanced in first-year courses.
About the Author
Constance Staley is a Professor of Communication at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where she has directed the Freshman Seminar Program for 20 years. An award-winning teacher, Dr. Staley is the author of a multimedia training package for first-year seminar instructors, as well as the ground-breaking resource manual 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LECTERN. A well-known name in FYE circles, Staley is a leader in instructor workshop training nation-wide. During a three-year leave from the University of Colorado, Dr. Staley joined an East Coast Fortune 500 company to design and deliver its management and supervisory training. She also represented the university as a Fulbright Fellow, teaching in the former Soviet Union in 1996. Dr. Staley received a B.A. in education from Ball State University, and an M.A. in linguistics and Ph.D. in communication from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is the author of FOCUS ON COLLEGE SUCCESS, FOCUS ON COMMUNITY COLLEGE SUCCESS, and FOCUS ON COLLEGE SUCCESS CONCISE for Cengage Learning, and the co-author of FOCUS ON COLLEGE AND CAREER SUCCESS with Steve Staley.
Table of Contents
1. Defining Active Learning. 2. Summarizing Active Learning Research. 3. Using Active Learning in First-Year Classrooms. 4. Introductory Exercises: Icebreakers. 5. First-Year Seminar Exercises: Motivation, College Success, Diversity, Service Learning, etc. 6. Lecture-Based Exercises for Large or Small Classes. 7. Content-Integrating Exercises: Self-Directed Learning and Collaborative Learning. 8. Communication Skills Exercises Including Critical and Creative Thinking. 9. Technology-Based Exercises: Designing Internet Activities. 10. Discipline-Specific Sample Exercises. 11. Closing Exercises: Wrap-Up Activities. 12. Processing Active Learning Experiences: Reflection, Application, Integration. 13. Designing Active Learning Experiences. 14. Assessing Active Learning Experiences.