- The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Contributions of Research Universities
Professors Becker and Andrews have put together a highly readable volume that will be of great interest and use to many people in higher education. The editors explicitly argue that faculty members in research universities are especially capable of enhancing undergraduate student learning because of their discipline-based inquiry and up-to-date research agendas. To counter the complaint that research university faculty are not providing excellent undergraduate instruction, they present 11 chapters by faculty members who use their research knowledge to promote excellence in education. The editors ask readers to conclude from these examples of the "scholarship of teaching and learning" (SoTL) that their claim is correct.
An opening chapter by Lee Shulman of the Carnegie Foundation offers four models for including SoTL in the structure and primary agenda of research universities. All of the models are viable and useful, although unfortunately there is no direct connection with the other work presented. All of the chapters share some common themes: Everyone asserts the superiority of active over passive learning, and there is a general preference for preparing lifelong learners in preference to covering every possible topic related to a course title. The prevailing meta-model is that of learner-centered education with a focus on learning and not just on teaching.
Readers looking for good ideas and rich examples of teaching practices will find excellent chapters. Claude Cookman's account of how he teaches the history of photography will make you wish you could be in the class, and his articulation of the intellectual goals of his course is an extraordinary analysis of what it means to think like an expert in his field. William Becker and William Greene offer excellent examples of learning activities made possible through technology, and Daniel Maki and colleagues describe several fascinating courses developed through their work on mathematics throughout the curriculum, including the arts. None of these chapters provides evidence of student learning, although the authors mention student acceptance and appreciation.
Three chapters do, however, report evidence about the impact of courses on students, only two of which relate to learning. Andrews provides a detailed evaluation of the performances of master's degree students in a clinical course on voice therapy, with a very sophisticated analysis of how the students were judged. Jeanne Sept describes the evolution of students' use of simulation technology in learning about the methods of archeology; students gradually perceived themselves as more comfortable with concepts and methods in archeology as the technological tools were refined. Bernice Pescosolido and colleagues evaluated the impact of a three-course summer program on the grades and retention of incoming first year students. Even though they determined that the program was ineffective, the authors note the value that the project had for the sociology graduate students who conducted the evaluation and discuss the role of problem-based research in a graduate curriculum.
Several chapters take great advantage of the disciplinary background of the authors to make a point about teaching in higher education. George Kuh's chapter on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a remarkable document, reflecting his rich background in instrument design and great sensitivity to the many problems inherent in using surveys to guide policy. Reading this chapter would be an excellent introduction to this very widely used survey, and the presentation of the data helps readers avoid many typical errors of interpretation. Kuh acknowledges that NSSE is only a proxy for learning and further recognizes that smaller, non-research institutions directly capture student learning. Janice McCabe and Brian Powell's sociological interviewing techniques provide a thoughtful discussion of faculty members' perceptions of grade inflation, and Craig Nelson offers an insightful essay about the evolution of his teaching of biology. Becker writes with rich knowledge about the many pitfalls in drawing conclusions from non-experimental data, including dire warnings about the multitude of statistical sins...