Evidence-Based Teaching for Higher Education (PDF)

Over the past two decades, a growing body of scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) has emerged. This empirical study of teaching methods, course design, and students' study practices has yielded invaluable information about how teachers teach and learners learn. Yet, university faculty members remain largely unaware of the findings of SoTL research. As a result, they tend to choose their teaching techniques and tools based on intuition and previous experience rather than on scientific evidence of effectiveness. This book synthesizes SoTL findings to help teachers choose techniques and tools that maximize student learning. Evidence-based recommendations are provided regarding teacher student rapport, online teaching, use of technology in the classroom (such as audience response systems, podcasting, blogs, and wikis), experiential learning (such as internships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and in-class research projects), students' study habits, and more. In order to stimulate future SoTL research, the book also recommends numerous areas for future investigation. It concludes with advice for documenting teaching effectiveness for tenure review committees. Both novice and experienced university teachers will find this book useful, as well as professionals who work in faculty development centers.