Creative Teaching Models for the Innovative Faint of Heart

REVIEWS Volume 15, Number 1 62 how learning works is becoming more and more important because of how this understanding can help them achieve greater concept resonance. The New Science of Learning is a great place for that conversation to begin. As a biology professor surrounded by colleagues who believe in lecture as the most effective teaching method, I continue to search for literature that might convince my reluctant colleagues to explore more creative, learner-centered teaching models. Hard evidence of enhanced student learning and straightforward models, that complement existing approaches to their sub-discipline, might encourage them to change their methodology. A recognized expert in the constructivist theory of learning , Robert E. Yager, has recently published a monograph, Exemplary College Science Teaching, designed to encourage and support changes in college science teaching. This book outlines a novel approach to incorporating a learner-centered model and offers preliminary evidence of enhanced student learning. skillfully uses the preface to introduce the tenets of constructivist learning in the context of teaching practices, highlighting the parallels between this model of teaching and scientific inquiry. As Yager notes, science begins with questions. Therefore, why not encourage students to start with problems or questions? He goes on to urge faculty to consider the effectiveness of lectures for promoting deep learning, the role of technology in the classroom, and promoting 'real' change in teaching practices. This overview motivates the reader to learn more about how to implement inquiry methods in the classroom. I enjoyed reading about Dr. Katherine B. Follette's journey to become an effective science communicator, described in Chapter 1. Follette notes the challenges of incorporating interactive learning into a course, including student resistance. She explains how she successfully used educational research data to convince her dean that inquiry-based methods (e.g. lecture tutorials) would promote more learning than lecture alone. The remaining chapters could be read in any order depending upon one's interest. Among the innovative and inquiry-based methods for engaging students, the essays The New Science of Learning is very much needed by today's college students. With an undergraduate audience in mind, the authors systematically describe how particular patterns of behavior, when implemented correctly, can improve cognitive processes. What is especially noteworthy about this work is the constant reference to the literature to support the behavioral suggestions. This book fills two voids in the current popular literature on the science of learning. First, it connects well-known …