Learning and Motivation in the Postsecondary Classroom

by Svinicki, Marilla D.

• ISBN13: 9781882982592
• ISBN10: 1882982592
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-03-15
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

While the annals of educational psychology and scholarship of learning theory are vast, this book distills the most important material that the higher education faculty need, translating it into clear language, and rendering from it examples that can be readily applied in the college classroom. Understanding theory can enrich one's own teaching by increasing efficiency and effectiveness of both the instructor and the student, promoting creativity, encouraging self-reflection and professional development, and advancing classroom research. Finally, a good grounding in theory can help faculty navigate when a student is having difficulty. This clearly written book outlines the learning theories: cognitive, concept learning, social learning, and constructivist, as well as the motivation theories: expectancy value, attribution, achievement goal orientation, and self-determination. It then delves deeper into each one, showing how to develop rich, meaningful instruction so that students master basic information and move into deeper levels of learning.

Author Biography

Marilla D. Svinicki has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is director of the Center for Teaching Effectiveness and associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also the editor in chief of the series New Directions for Teaching and Learning. She has published two edited books and many chapters on the topic of learning in postsecondary classrooms. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of learning and motivation as translated into teaching practice.

Table of Contents

Dedication

About the Author

Preface

My Attempt to Motivate You to Learn About Learning

Helping Students Learn the Content

Helping Students Understand

Helping Students Develop Skills, Including Intellectual Skills

Helping Students Retain and Use What They've Learned in Other Settings

Helping Students Help Themselves

Motivating Students to Learn

What to Do About Individual Differences in Learning

Ptting It All Together

Appendix: The Theories in a Nutshell

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.