The Advancement of Learning - Building the Teaching Commons

"The scholarship of teaching and learning is not a magic bullet that will shoot through higher education and suddenly solve the many challenges to successful student learning today. But it is a tool, an attitude, and an evolving set of habits that faculty and institutions can use to strengthen the educational enterprise."
--from the Preface

"This clear and elegant volume offers specific suggestions and examples of how the scholarship of teaching and learning can revitalize faculty, enhance student learning, contribute to assessment, and shape campus climate. The Advancement of Learning is rich with the stories and experiences of faculty who have used the scholarship of teaching and learning between experiences to understand and change their own classrooms, and it offers practical suggestions for campuses to create a 'commons' in which such knowledge can be shared for mutual benefit."
--Barbara E. Walvoord, coordinator, Self-Study for North Central Accreditation; fellow, Institute for Educational Initiatives; concurrent professor of English, University of Notre Dame

"I believe that the scholarship of teaching and learning is the most promising development in higher education today, and that this book is the best thing that could happen to it. Rather than engage in cheerleading, the authors calmly describe and characterize what is happening; and they do so with an honesty, empathy, and eye for detail that allows the movement to speak for itself. They introduce us to what real faculty are doing and take the view that all these varied activities belong in the 'commons.' More than just a book, this is an invitation to participate."
--Russ Edgerton, director, Pew Forum onUndergraduate Teaching; president emeritus, AAHE