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Promoting the Success of Individual Learners Teachers Applying Their Craft at the Undergraduate Level Edited by: Jeffrey E. Porter |
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2006.
In the words of K. Patricia Cross, how do undergraduate programs simultaneously serve all students, as well as each and every student? Responding to the challenge of realizing this educational ideal, this book explores guiding assumptions and instructional strategies for individualizing instruction to support and extend the learning of diverse students. Assumptions and strategies are provided by experienced teachers from undergraduate institutions throughout the country, representing eight discipline areas. Discipline areas include literature, composition, mathematics, chemistry, physics, educational psychology, accounting, and an interdisciplinary freshman year course. Chapters by contributing teachers are framed by four introductory chapters that establish the meaning of individualizing instruction, the nature of classroom learning, and provide a framework and set of general guidelines for individualizing instruction. Individualizing instruction is positioned at the intersection of two main premises: Talent Development as the most appropriate model of excellence for undergraduate education; and the reality of individual differences among undergraduate students, beyond demographic categories and learning-style taxonomies. Accepting these two premises, efforts by undergraduate teachers to work with students to create effective alternative learning/teaching paths leading to common curricular outcomes and standards becomes a critical factor in moving towards educational excellence.
CONTENTS: Preface. Introduction. Developing Talent Through Individualizing Instruction by Jeffrey E. Porter. Learning and Individualizing Instruction by Jeffrey E. Porter. Individualizing Instruction: A Framework by Jeffrey E. Porter. Individualizing Instruction: Guidelines by Jeffrey E. Porter. English Curricula. Whitman Among the Engineers: Teaching Poetry at a Technological Insitution by Anne C. Coon. The Vocation of a Writing Coach: Teaching Composition and Creative Writing to Individual Learners by Bunny Paine-Clemes. Math and Science Curricula. The Role of Technology in Individualizing Instruction in Linear Algebra by Ananda Gunawardena. Helping Students Find Their Chemistry Voices by Keith Kester. Second Teaching: Small Groups as Mentors for Individuals in Physics Learning by Lisa Novemsky and Ronald Gautreau. Professional Preparation Curricula. Developing Individual Talent in Future Teachers Through Self-Regulated Learning by Randall Isaacson. The Use of Collaborative Learning to Individualize Instruction in Accounting by Carol Venable. Interdisciplinary Curricula. Einstein's Universe: Focusing on Student Learning in Interdisciplinary General Education by Judith Patton. Summary. Individualizing Instruction: Insights and Implications by Jeffrey E. Porter. Index. REVIEWS: "Overall, I find the book to be current, well-informed, and a useful bridge between the theory of individualized teaching and its practice. Informative for any teacher, I would especially recommend this book as a practitioner's resource for faculty members new to undergraduate teaching. It provides an informed overview of the national undergraduate population, some major challengs in higher education, some guiding assumptions about learning, the role and responsibilities of students, and the aims and responsibilities of teachers as they give rise to and frame instructional strategies. The classroom examples provide concrete ideas for readers who are considering adding to or reflecting on their instructional strategies. Instead of prescriptive guidelines, the book poses teaching, in general, and individualized instruction, in particular, as creative problem solving in collaboration with individual students." ~ Jennifer Meta Robinson Director, Campus Instructional Consulting, Indiana University | ||
