Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty

Elizabeth F. Barkley, K. Patricia Cross, Claire Howell Major

ISBN: 978-0-7879-5518-2

Engaging students in active learning is a predominant theme in today's classrooms. To promote

active learning, teachers across the disciplines and in all kinds of colleges are incorporating
collaborative learning into their teaching. Collaborative Learning Techniques is a scholarly and
well-written handbook that guides teachers through all aspects of group work, providing solid
information on what to do, how to do it, and why it is important to student learning. Synthesizing
the relevant research and good practice literature, the authors present detailed procedures for
thirty collaborative learning techniques (CoLTs) and offer practical suggestions on a wide range
of topics, including how to form groups, assign roles, build team spirit, solve problems, and
evaluate and grade student participation.
Teaching Strategies for the College Classroom: A Collection of
Faculty Articles
by Maryellen Weimer, Robert Kelly

Teaching Strategies for the College Classroom: A Collection of Faculty Articles is

a practical, classroom-tested "tool kit" for faculty members who would like to develop
their teaching practice. The 35 articles are drawn from the pages of The Teaching
Professor newsletter and are written by college faculty for college faculty. They contain
concrete pedagogical strategies that have been tested in the authors' classrooms and
together form a handbook of classroom strategies. There are articles on:

 Honoring (and challenging) students' beliefs

 Improving student focus
 Introducing a syllabus
 Balancing control of the classroom with freedom of inquiry and expression
 Establishing the relevance of course material
 Creating an environment in which students can feel safe
 Conducting the final day of class

Edited by Maryellen Weimer, Ph.D.--editor of The Teaching Professor, author of

numerous books and articles, and award-winning professor emeritus of teaching and
learning at Penn State Berks--this collection is an important resource for faculty at all
career stages.
Teaching At Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College
Instruction, Third Edition, April 2010
by Linda B. Nelson

This expanded and updated edition of the best-selling handbook is an essential toolbox, full of
hundreds of practical teaching techniques, classroom activities and exercises, for the new or
experienced college instructor. This new edition includes updated information on the Millennial
student, more research from cognitive psychology, a focus on outcomes maps, the latest legal
options on copyright issues, and more. It will also include entirely new chapters on matching
teaching methods with learning outcomes, inquiry-guide learning, and using visuals to teach, as
well as section on the Socratic method, SCALE-UP classrooms, and more.
Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing
College Courses (Josse Bass Higher and Adult Education) by Dee Fink, 2003.

Dee Fink poses a fundamental question for all teachers: "How can I create courses that
will provide significant learning experiences for my students?" In the process of
addressing this question, he urges teachers to shift from a content-centered approach
to a learning-centered approach that asks "What kinds of learning will be significant for
students, and how can I create a course that will result in that kind of learning?"

Fink provides several conceptual and procedural tools that will be invaluable for all
teachers when designing instruction. He takes important existing ideas in the literature
on college teaching (active learning, educative assessment), adds some new ideas (a
taxonomy of significant learning, the concept of a teaching strategy), and shows how to
systematically combine these in a way that results in powerful learning experiences for
students. Acquiring a deeper understanding of the design process will empower
teachers to creatively design courses for significant learning in a variety of situations.
Brilliance by Design
by Vicki Halsey

Many subject matter experts are just that, subject matter experts--not experts in the art of
teaching, facilitating, or designing. Thousands of authors, trainers, and speakers have great
content, but they lack the skills required to convey their content in a way that inspires learners to
unleash their brilliance and move the learning to practice.. They often spend 70% of their time
on WHAT they are going to teach, and 30% of their time on HOW, when they should be
spending 30% on WHAT, and 70% on HOW. Their instructional techniques often are at odds
with their message of inclusivity, eagerness for people to learn, and hopes that their content will
change lives and organizations.

“Brilliance by Design” outlines how to design learning interactions (such as meetings and
workshops) that enable people to do their best thinking. Using the tested, signature ENGAGE
model, it helps anyone who brings people together for the purpose of learning, problem-solving,
or innovating to develop a clear, high-impact training design that unleashes brilliance. It
presents a model that enables teachers to analyze learner and teacher needs, create objectives
that meet those needs, and incorporate interactive tools that “fire ‘em up,” ensuring all key
outcomes are met.

To help readers unleash the brilliance in others, this book provides the structure, tools,
language, and models needed to create optimal learning experiences from their ideas,
practices, models and books. In learning these techniques, readers will achieve powerful
outcomes, building communities of learners who share best practices and communicate at a
deep and profound level while doing real work.
Assessing the Online Learner: Resources and Strategies for Faculty (Jossey-
Bass Guides to Online Teaching and Learning)

Written by Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt, experts in the field of online teaching and learning,
this hands-on resource helps higher education professionals understand the fundamentals of
effective online assessment. It offers guidance for designing and implementing creative
assessment practices tied directly to course activities to measure student learning. The book is
filled with illustrative case studies, authentic assessments based in real-life application of
concepts, and collaborative activities that assess the quality of student learning rather than
relying on the traditional methods of measuring the amount of information retained.
What the Best College Teachers Do
by Kevin Bain, 2004

What makes a great teacher great? Who are the professors students remember long
after graduation? This book, the conclusion of a fifteen-year study of nearly one
hundred college teachers in a wide variety of fields and universities, offers valuable
answers for all educators.

The short answer is--it's not what teachers do, it's what they understand. Lesson plans
and lecture notes matter less than the special way teachers comprehend the subject
and value human learning. Whether historians or physicists, in El Paso or St. Paul, the
best teachers know their subjects inside and out--but they also know how to engage
and challenge students and to provoke impassioned responses. Most of all, they believe
two things fervently: that teaching matters and that students can learn.

In stories both humorous and touching, Bain describes examples of ingenuity and
compassion, of students' discoveries of new ideas and the depth of their own potential.
What the Best College Teachers Do is a treasure trove of insight and inspiration for first-
year teachers and seasoned educators.