Summer 2008 Reading Groups - Sign up Now!

For this program, small informal groups of people join together, read a book on teaching or higher education, and then meet two to four times to discuss the book. Organize your own group or let us help you form one. Meeting times and book choice are arranged by the group. The Kaneb Center will purchase a copy of the book for each member of the group. Reading groups are open to all faculty and graduate teaching assistants.

We are recommending four books this summer, although groups are welcome to propose other titles. Read the summaries below, click a title to view the publisher's description, and see a page with all four books at Amazon. If you would like to join a group, submit the online signup sheet.

The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life
by Parker J. Palmer. 1997.

A classic book on college teaching! To more fully understand the inner landscape of the teaching self, three important paths must be taken: intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. "Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one's inwardness, for better or worse."

Teaching in Eden: Lessons from Cedar Point
by John Janovy. 2003.

Resulting from experience in a field biology program that students and teachers dubbed Camelot in recognition of its isolated beauty, special instructional qualities, and vulnerability. Janovy is a biologist at the University of Nebraska. Review at http://edrev.asu.edu/reviews/rev277.htm

Peer Review of Teaching: A Sourcebook, 2nd ed.
by Nancy Van Note Chism. 2007.

Practical guidance on the use of peer review in the evaluation of college teaching. Provides sample forms and checklists. The focus is on student learning as the ultimate goal. Features a section on special contexts, such as laboratories, studios, and online.

Good Video Games and Good Learning: Collected Essays …
by James Paul Gee. 2007.

The aim is not to tell teachers how to teach or to tell game creators how to make better games, but to bridge the gap. He presents essential ideas about game design and game experience, cognition and pleasure, and learning both in and out of the classroom –with playful rigor and clear thinking.

Ready? Sign up for a reading group now.