Faculty Services

Even on good days, teaching is a challenging profession. One way to make the job of college instructors easier, however, is to know more about the ways students learn. How Humans Learn aims to do just that by peering behind the curtain and surveying research in fields as diverse as developmental psychology, anthropology, and cognitive neuroscience for insight into the science behind learning.

How do you tailor education to the learning needs of adults? Do they learn differently from children? How does their life experience inform their learning processes? These were the questions at the heart of Malcolm Knowles' pioneering theory of andragogy which transformed education theory in the 1970s. The resulting principles of a self-directed, experiential, problem-centred approach to learning have been hugely influential and are still the basis of the learning practices we use today. Understanding these principles is the cornerstone of increasing motivation and enabling adult learners to achieve. The 9th edition of The Adult Learner has been revised to include: Updates to the book to reflect the very latest advancements in the field. The addition of two new chapters on diversity and inclusion in adult learning, and andragogy and the online adult learner. An updated supporting website. This website for the 9th edition of The Adult Learner will provide basic instructor aids including a PowerPoint presentation for each chapter. Revisions throughout to make it more readable and relevant to your practices.

Self-Directed Learning and the Academic Evolution From Pedagogy to Andragogy is an essential reference book that supports a student shift from passive pedagogical learning to active andragogical exploration and specifically shift from seeking mastery of basic skills to recognizing and reassessing the structure of personal assumptions, expectations, feelings, and actions. It fills the gap between theory-laden academic books designed to help academic faculty incorporate self-directed learning activities into their courses and the self-help books designed to help motivate individuals to learn new skills.

Taking College Teaching Seriously: Pedagogy Matters! stands against the tide - celebrating the incredible work faculty members do each day and challenging them to expand their capacity to present their content expertise effectively. This book presents a model of embedded professional development, which capitalizes on the affordances of technology to enable groups of faculty to examine their practice in a non-evaluative context, but with a clear focus on improvement. The core of the work involves individual reflection and the design provides for an accessible way to "see" into the classrooms of discipline peers. Most importantly, the Taking College Teaching Seriously experience is not an intense one-shot, but rather a structured opportunity for a faculty member to examine and adapt practice over time and to assess the impact of changes on student learning.

A companion work to 1993's popular An Update on Adult Learning Theory, this issue provides the adult learning educator with the latest developments, significant research, and continuing scholarship in andragogy and self-directed learning. Exploring a variety of frameworks, including context-based learning, informal and incidental learning, somatic learning, and narrative learning; the authors analyze recent additions to well-established theories and discuss the potential impact of today's cutting-edge approaches.

Today's emphasis on metrics and personalization make evidence-based instruction an imperative. In this practice-based handbook, the authors draw on the research of the humanistic psychologist and educator Carl Rogers to present an empathetic approach to information literacy sessions, reference service, and outreach.

This practical guide shows how to encourage learning and development while helping adult learners to become more aware of their personal growth and change. It not only offers a rationale for focusing on the experience and development of adult learners, but also presents a theoretical and conceptual framework of the intentions that guide educators.

Sharan Merriam and Rosemary Caffarella reveal how sociocultural influences can create specific developmental needs and interests, and how such social factors as race, class, and gender can shape learning. From this background, they construct a more inclusive perspective on adult learning, guiding readers toward new ways of thinking about teaching, learning, and the broader social implications of adult education.

Increasingly, youths and young adults are enrolling in adult education programs and in doing so are changing the meaning of adulthood. Given the significant demographic, technological, and cultural shifts during the past 30 years, there is an increasing need for practitioners and program planners to reconsider what constitutes "adult" and "adult education."

Adult students demand a wider variety of instructional strategies that encompass real-world, interactive, cooperative, and discovery learning experiences.Designing Instruction for the Traditional, Adult, and Distance Learner: A New Engine for Technology-Based Teaching explores how technology impacts the process of devising instructional plans as well as learning itself in adult students.

Sharan Merriam and Laura Bierema have infused each chapter with practical applications for instruction which will help readers personally relate to the material. The contents covers: Adult Learning in Today's World Traditional Learning Theories Andragogy Self-Directed Learning Transformative Learning Experience and Learning Body and Spirit in Learning Motivation and Learning The Brain and Cognitive Functioning Adult Learning in the Digital Age Critical Thinking and Critical Perspectives Culture and Context Discussion questions and activities for reflection are included at the end of each chapter.

"This is an excellent book that is useful for understanding educating adults. A range of themes is considered within a lively set of sections that are thought provoking and engaging. Readers will find the sections accessible and invaluable if they need to demonstrate awareness of current thought about educating adults." -- in: Teachers College Record, May 2014