UNC-Asheville
This very appealing volume, which sells for $35, is the best I have seen of a series of books published in the UK by Kogan Page and then distributed in this country by Stylus. Some of them have been so specific to British conditions&emdash;particularly the peculiar licensing and accrediting systems of that country&emdash;that I cannot imagine much audience for them here, except as data in a cross-cultural study of comparative systems of higher education.
But the Handbook for Teaching & Learning is a different proposition altogether.
It is designed primarily for new faculty in higher education and contains chapters on many aspects of the instructional duties which await them. Several features make it an appealing book. One is that it is, mostly, well written. From time to time the appeal to jargon, or to unhelpful diagrams, makes its appearance, but for the most part the language is clear and helpful. There are many examples, drawn from current practice in institutions of higher education. It is meant to appeal across a wide spectrum of institutional settings (as the handsome cover, which positions a photograph of Oxford's spires alongside a high-rise, inner-city modern campus proclaims).
Enough cultural differences remain&emdash;the discussion of external examiners is one example&emdash;to remind an American that the authors are British. But the common beliefs and practices are many and important. I was impressed with the assertion, early on, that "effective teachers are a scarce and valuable resource and should be treated as a national asset; and effective teaching (the process) forms the bedrock of a dynamic culture and society."
The chapters address such topics as Understanding Student Learning, Principles of Assessment, Encouraging Student Motivation, Lecturing for Learning, Teaching and Learning in Small Groups, Supervising Projects and Dissertations, Using Information Technology, and more. The second part is about instructional development, and includes Reflective Practice, Observation of Teaching (apparently a more radical idea in the UK than here), Teaching Portfolios, and Continuing Professional Development. And there is a third section with discipline-specific ideas. One of the chapters, strikingly, is Key Aspects of Teaching and Learning in Medicine and Dentistry, an area much too often neglected in American texts of this sort.
In line with recent emphases on learning for employability, one chapter attempts to define the key skills for employability and names communication; application of number; information technology; improving own learning and performance; working with others; and problem solving. It continues with a useful discussion of how instructors may enhance student learning of these skills.
Another chapter on Quality and Standards proposes the following questions for a "quality audit" which, though hardly revolutionary, struck me as maximally lucid and sensible.
I will resist the temptation to quote any more from this book but will simply state again that it is a rich resource for beginning (or for that matter, for mid-career, aging, re-entering, post-tenure, or any other) college and university faculty.
Merritt Moseley
UNC-Asheville