“College teaching is not rocket science – it’s much, much harder.” Diana Laurillard, University of LondonCollege faculty, both adjunct and full-time, stand with their students at the coalface of learning, wishing for more to succeed and disappointed at how illusory academic success is for so many. Among the array of investments colleges are making to improve student outcomes, from predictive data analysis to enhanced advising, too little attention is paid to supporting faculty. Yet the impact of teacher and teaching on student learning is incontrovertible. Taking College Teaching Seriously: Pedagogy Matters! stands against the tide – celebrating the incredible work faculty members do each day and challenging them to expand their capacity to present their content expertise effectively. This book presents a model of embedded professional development, which capitalizes on the affordances of technology to enable groups of faculty to examine their practice in a non-evaluative context, but with a clear focus on improvement. The core of the work involves individual reflection and the design provides for an accessible way to “see” into the classrooms of discipline peers. Most importantly, the Taking College Teaching Seriously experience is not an intense one-shot, but rather a structured opportunity for a faculty member to examine and adapt practice over time and to assess the impact of changes on student learning. Faculty who have participated in the Taking College Teaching Seriously experience found it to be transformative:• English Professor, Kentucky: Participating in (the work) this year has helped me to be more reflective in every single action. I constantly analyze how each session went... (it) gave me the tools to think about every minute detail of a classroom.• Adjunct Math Professor, Mississippi: Speaking as an adjunct, I have valued the chance to share my teaching and get ideas from others. I can honestly say that this experience has been a lifeline of sorts this year. In a “magic wand” instructional setting, I’d wish for the kind of honest, respectful and professionally challenging discussions we have in Classroom Notebook* at weekly staff meetings.*Classroom Notebook is the Taking College Teaching Seriously online platform• Math Professor, NJ: I think the continual self-evaluation and reflection allowed us to work together to brainstorm improvements and positive tweaks to be more purposeful in our classrooms as opposed to just randomly reaching in the dark for ideas and techniques in HOPE of success.Taking College Teaching Seriously: Pedagogy Matters! breaks new ground in professional development. Each faculty member is at the center of the learning experience, stimulated and supported by peers working in similar contexts. They share a desire to see more students learn deeply and find that honing their skill at adapting to the learning needs of specific classes and students allows them to realize this goal. Uniquely, Taking College Teaching Seriously illuminates the link between faculty teaching expertise and improving student outcomes.The introduction to the book examines the challenges facing faculty in higher education today and reviews the literature on teaching and learning. Chapter 1 looks at the analytical foundations for all of the model’s elements, from adult learning theory to communities of practice, and Chapter 2 presents the model’s theory of change. Chapter 3 describes the model in detail and Chapters 4 and 5 concern the infrastructure of the faculty collaborative community, focusing on both its interpersonal and technological dimensions. The book concludes in Chapter 6 with an assessment of the value of this approach to professional development and a call to action for faculty member engagement in this important work, so essential to both professional passion and mandate.

“College teaching is not rocket science – it’s much, much harder.” Diana Laurillard, University of LondonCollege faculty, both adjunct and full-time, stand with their students at the coalface of learning, wishing for more to succeed and disappointed at how illusory academic success is for so many. Among the array of investments colleges are making to improve student outcomes, from predictive data analysis to enhanced advising, too little attention is paid to supporting faculty. Yet the impact of teacher and teaching on student learning is incontrovertible. Taking College Teaching Seriously: Pedagogy Matters! stands against the tide – celebrating the incredible work faculty members do each day and challenging them to expand their capacity to present their content expertise effectively. This book presents a model of embedded professional development, which capitalizes on the affordances of technology to enable groups of faculty to examine their practice in a non-evaluative context, but with a clear focus on improvement. The core of the work involves individual reflection and the design provides for an accessible way to “see” into the classrooms of discipline peers. Most importantly, the Taking College Teaching Seriously experience is not an intense one-shot, but rather a structured opportunity for a faculty member to examine and adapt practice over time and to assess the impact of changes on student learning. Faculty who have participated in the Taking College Teaching Seriously experience found it to be transformative:• English Professor, Kentucky: Participating in (the work) this year has helped me to be more reflective in every single action. I constantly analyze how each session went... (it) gave me the tools to think about every minute detail of a classroom.• Adjunct Math Professor, Mississippi: Speaking as an adjunct, I have valued the chance to share my teaching and get ideas from others. I can honestly say that this experience has been a lifeline of sorts this year. In a “magic wand” instructional setting, I’d wish for the kind of honest, respectful and professionally challenging discussions we have in Classroom Notebook* at weekly staff meetings.*Classroom Notebook is the Taking College Teaching Seriously online platform• Math Professor, NJ: I think the continual self-evaluation and reflection allowed us to work together to brainstorm improvements and positive tweaks to be more purposeful in our classrooms as opposed to just randomly reaching in the dark for ideas and techniques in HOPE of success.Taking College Teaching Seriously: Pedagogy Matters! breaks new ground in professional development. Each faculty member is at the center of the learning experience, stimulated and supported by peers working in similar contexts. They share a desire to see more students learn deeply and find that honing their skill at adapting to the learning needs of specific classes and students allows them to realize this goal. Uniquely, Taking College Teaching Seriously illuminates the link between faculty teaching expertise and improving student outcomes.The introduction to the book examines the challenges facing faculty in higher education today and reviews the literature on teaching and learning. Chapter 1 looks at the analytical foundations for all of the model’s elements, from adult learning theory to communities of practice, and Chapter 2 presents the model’s theory of change. Chapter 3 describes the model in detail and Chapters 4 and 5 concern the infrastructure of the faculty collaborative community, focusing on both its interpersonal and technological dimensions. The book concludes in Chapter 6 with an assessment of the value of this approach to professional development and a call to action for faculty member engagement in this important work, so essential to both professional passion and mandate.

This book is one English professor's assessment of university life in the early 21st century. From rising mental health concerns and trigger warnings to learning management systems and the COVID pandemic, Christopher Schaberg reflects on the rapidly evolving landscape of higher education. Adopting an interdisciplinary public humanities approach, Schaberg considers the frequently exhausting and depressing realities of college today. Yet in these meditations he also finds hope: collaboration, mentoring, less grading, surface reading, and other pedagogical strategies open up opportunities to reinvigorate teaching and learning in the current turbulent decade.

The Russian Federation, commonly known as Russia, is the largest country in the world in terms of land area. It is located in northern Eurasia, spanning across two continents, Asia and Europe. The country is bordered by Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, North Korea, Norway, Poland, and Ukraine. The capital of Russia is Moscow, and the official language is Russian. The country has a population of over 145 million people, and its economy is the 11th largest in the world. Russia is a federal semi-presidential republic, with a constitution that was adopted in 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then, Russia has undergone significant political, social, and economic changes. In 2000, Vladimir Putin became the president of Russia and has remained in power for over two decades. The current president, as of 2021, is Dmitry Medvedev. Russia is known for its rich history, unique culture, and natural resources, including oil, gas, and minerals. However, the country has also faced international criticism for issues related to human rights, corruption, and political repression.

This book argues that critical race theory (CRT)—which originated within Legal Studies during the 1970s—has permeated multiple academic disciplines and informs the ethical commitments of scholars in diverse fields of study. Critical Race Studies Across Disciplines includes essays by scholars of African American studies from various disciplines, who directly and indirectly incorporate CRT through signaling a commitment to scholar-activism or scholactivism. Scholactivists hope to understand the roots of anti-Black racism and to actively oppose all forms of oppression. Drawing on CRT, the volume counters the colorblind rhetoric of those who dismiss the notion of systemic racism, discount racial inequities, and disregard racial justice advocates as malcontents fanning the flames of racial dissension. The contributors of this collection challenge racism centering the stories, perspectives, and counter-narratives of African American soldiers, teachers, students, writers, psychologists, and theologians who continually defy and resist oppression in myriad ways.

"Many innovative approaches to teaching are being used around the country, and there is an exciting energy about the scholarship of teaching and learning. But what is happening in the most effective music theory and aural skills classrooms? Based on three years of field study spanning seventeen states, coupled with reflections from the author on her own teaching strategies, Teaching Music Theory: New Voices and Approaches highlights teaching approaches with substantial real-life examples from instructors across the country. The main premise of the text focuses on the question of why. Why do we assess in a particular way? Why are our curriculums designed in a certain manner? Why should students master aural skills for their career as a performer, music educator, or music therapist? It is through the experiences shared in the text that many of these questions of "why" are answered. Along with answering some of the important questions of "why," topics such as classroom environment, undergraduate research and mentoring, assessment, and approaches to curriculum development are emphasized. Teaching Music Theory: New Voices and Approaches is written in a conversational tone in order to provide a starting point of dialogue for students, new faculty members, and seasoned educators on any level. It is through the pedagogical trends presented and the continued conversation encouraged by the author that one can begin to have a greater appreciation of outstanding teaching and thus an understanding of our own approaches in the classroom"--

"This volume is an inquiry into community college first-year pedagogy and policy at a time when change has not only been called for but also mandated by state lawmakers who financially control public education. It also acknowledges new policies that are eliminating developmental and remedial writing courses while keeping mind that, for most community college students, first-year composition serves as the last course they will take in the English department toward their associate's degree. This volume also serves as a call to action to change the way community colleges attend to faculty concerns. Only by listening to teachers can the concerns discussed in the volume be addressed; it is the teachers who see how societal changes intersect with campus policies and students' lives on a daily basis."--Adapted from back cover