Effective Instruction for STEM Disciplines: From Learning Theory to College Teaching

Praise for Effective Instruction for STEM Disciplines "The world of today's learners is a multimode, information-intensive universe of interactive bursts and virtual exchanges, yet our teaching methods retain the outdated characteristics of last generation's study-and-drill approach. New pedagogical methods, detailed and justified in this groundbreaking work, are essential to prepare students to confront the concerns of the future. The book challenges our traditional assumptions and informs the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) community of the latest research on how the brain learns and retains information, how enhanced student engagement with subject material and its context is essential to deep learning, and how to use this knowledge to structure STEM education approaches that work." —DAVID V. KERNS, JR., Franklin and Mary Olin Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and founding provost, Olin College "Every STEM faculty member should have this book. It provides a handy introduction to the 'why and how' of engaging students in the learning process." —DAVID VOLTMER, professor emeritus, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and American Society for Engineering Education Fellow "The poor quality of math and science education and the shortage of well-qualified graduates are acknowledged almost daily in the U.S. press. Here the authors provide much-needed insights for educators seeking to improve the quality of STEM education as well as to better prepare students to solve the problems they will confront in our increasingly technology-driven world." —KEITH BUFFINTON, interim dean of engineering, Bucknell University

Table of Contents:
Foreword xi Preface xv Acknowledgments xxv About the Authors xxvii 1. Is There a Problem?: Or Is the Problem That We Don’t Think There Is a Problem? 1 2. Learning and Memory: How Does Learning Happen? 11 3. Perception: When All Else Fails, Start at the Beginning 45 4. Processing and Active Learning: How Does It Happen? 57 5. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Its Relationship to Course Outcomes 71 6. Interactive Engagement and Active Learning: Retrieval Events 83 7. Some Active Learning Techniques: Studying, Retrieval, and Schemata Construction 101 8. Problem-Based Learning: Where Am I Ever Going to Use This Stuff? 123 9. Transfer: What Are Your Course Outcomes? 153 10. Teaching for Transfer: Applying What Is Known 171 11. Applications 191 Appendix: Bloom’s Taxonomy and Educational Outcomes: The McBeath Action Verbs 221 Glossary 233 References 237 Index 249