Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning

From the bestselling author of What the Best College Teachers Do, the story of a new breed of amazingly innovative courses that inspire students and improve learning

Decades of research have produced profound insights into how student learning and motivation can be unleashed—and it’s not through technology or even the best of lectures. In Super Courses, education expert and bestselling author Ken Bain tells the fascinating story of enterprising college, graduate school, and high school teachers who are using evidence-based approaches to spark deeper levels of learning, critical thinking, and creativity—whether teaching online, in class, or in the field.

Visiting schools across the United States as well as in China and Singapore, Bain, working with his longtime collaborator, Marsha Marshall Bain, uncovers super courses throughout the humanities and sciences. At the University of Virginia, undergrads contemplate the big questions that drove Tolstoy—by working with juveniles at a maximum-security correctional facility. Harvard physics students learn about the universe not through lectures but from their peers in a class where even reading is a social event. And students at a Dallas high school use dance to develop growth mindsets—and many of them go on to top colleges, including Juilliard. Bain defines these as super courses because they all use powerful researched-based elements to build a “natural critical learning environment” that fosters intrinsic motivation, self-directed learning, and self-reflective reasoning. Complete with sample syllabi, the book shows teachers how they can build their own super courses.

The story of a hugely important breakthrough in education, Super Courses reveals how these classes can help students reach their full potential, equip them to lead happy and productive lives, and meet the world’s complex challenges.

1137615425
Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning

From the bestselling author of What the Best College Teachers Do, the story of a new breed of amazingly innovative courses that inspire students and improve learning

Decades of research have produced profound insights into how student learning and motivation can be unleashed—and it’s not through technology or even the best of lectures. In Super Courses, education expert and bestselling author Ken Bain tells the fascinating story of enterprising college, graduate school, and high school teachers who are using evidence-based approaches to spark deeper levels of learning, critical thinking, and creativity—whether teaching online, in class, or in the field.

Visiting schools across the United States as well as in China and Singapore, Bain, working with his longtime collaborator, Marsha Marshall Bain, uncovers super courses throughout the humanities and sciences. At the University of Virginia, undergrads contemplate the big questions that drove Tolstoy—by working with juveniles at a maximum-security correctional facility. Harvard physics students learn about the universe not through lectures but from their peers in a class where even reading is a social event. And students at a Dallas high school use dance to develop growth mindsets—and many of them go on to top colleges, including Juilliard. Bain defines these as super courses because they all use powerful researched-based elements to build a “natural critical learning environment” that fosters intrinsic motivation, self-directed learning, and self-reflective reasoning. Complete with sample syllabi, the book shows teachers how they can build their own super courses.

The story of a hugely important breakthrough in education, Super Courses reveals how these classes can help students reach their full potential, equip them to lead happy and productive lives, and meet the world’s complex challenges.

23.95 In Stock
Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning

Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning

by Ken Bain
Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning

Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning

by Ken Bain

eBook

$23.95 

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Overview

From the bestselling author of What the Best College Teachers Do, the story of a new breed of amazingly innovative courses that inspire students and improve learning

Decades of research have produced profound insights into how student learning and motivation can be unleashed—and it’s not through technology or even the best of lectures. In Super Courses, education expert and bestselling author Ken Bain tells the fascinating story of enterprising college, graduate school, and high school teachers who are using evidence-based approaches to spark deeper levels of learning, critical thinking, and creativity—whether teaching online, in class, or in the field.

Visiting schools across the United States as well as in China and Singapore, Bain, working with his longtime collaborator, Marsha Marshall Bain, uncovers super courses throughout the humanities and sciences. At the University of Virginia, undergrads contemplate the big questions that drove Tolstoy—by working with juveniles at a maximum-security correctional facility. Harvard physics students learn about the universe not through lectures but from their peers in a class where even reading is a social event. And students at a Dallas high school use dance to develop growth mindsets—and many of them go on to top colleges, including Juilliard. Bain defines these as super courses because they all use powerful researched-based elements to build a “natural critical learning environment” that fosters intrinsic motivation, self-directed learning, and self-reflective reasoning. Complete with sample syllabi, the book shows teachers how they can build their own super courses.

The story of a hugely important breakthrough in education, Super Courses reveals how these classes can help students reach their full potential, equip them to lead happy and productive lives, and meet the world’s complex challenges.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780691216591
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Publication date: 03/09/2021
Series: Skills for Scholars , #15
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 304
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Ken Bain is an award-winning teacher and the bestselling author of What the Best College Teachers Do and What the Best College Students Do. He taught as a history professor for many years, founded teaching centers at Northwestern, New York, and Vanderbilt universities, and is the president of the Best Teachers Institute. He lives in South Orange, New Jersey. Twitter @KenBain1

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Part I The Idea 1

Prologue 3

Chapter 2 Pinning Our Hopes on Our Machines 7

Chapter 2 How We Learn 17

Part II The Courses 29

Prologue 31

Chapter 3 A New Kind of University 35

Chapter 4 Books Behind Bars 49

Chapter 5 Diverse Classes 57

Chapter 6 From Charlottesville to Singapore and Beyond: Searching for Super Courses 71

Chapter 7 Self-Directed Learning and Big Questions: From the DIY Girls to Hurricane Katrina 81

Chapter 8 Peer Instruction and Then Some 86

Chapter 9 Remaking a Super Course 95

Chapter 10 Soup of Interdisciplinary Learning 105

Chapter 11 Integration of Abilities 116

Chapter 12 Fostering Growth Mindsets 129

Chapter 13 A Super Course Department 138

Chapter 14 A Personal Journey toward a Super Course 156

Chapter 15 All Knowledge Is Related 174

Chapter 16 The Pedagogy of Getting Out 190

Chapter 17 Grades 204

Epilogue 219

Appendix 225

Notes 255

Index 279

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“In Super Courses, Ken Bain draws us in with the promise of superlatives, but make no mistake—his examples offer wisdom that can readily transform a wide variety of courses into more heroic versions of themselves. Through compelling stories and research, Bain asks readers to imagine how we might build on these courses to make even more meaningful experiences for students. I plan to do just that with dozens of ideas gleaned from this enjoyable and inspiring volume.”—Cassandra Volpe Horii, Founding Director, Caltech Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach, and former President, POD Network

“Yet another outstanding book by Ken Bain.”Daniel K. Bubb, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

“Ken Bain’s provocative book, like the courses it describes, invites readers to think deeply about teaching, learning, and perhaps even the role education can play in society. Grounded in learning sciences and pedagogy research, Super Courses explores an array of case studies of fascinating approaches to teaching, challenging us to consider how to build student passion, curiosity, and autonomy into our teaching and learning. Super Courses will leave many teachers eager to find ways to reimagine their own classes.”—Bruce Lenthall, Executive Director, Center for Teaching & Learning, University of Pennsylvania

Super Courses will be of great use for all teachers.”Jennifer Snodgrass, Appalachian State University

“Super Courses offers specific and useful examples for promoting deep and meaningful learning. But I am most moved by the way Ken Bain’s book promotes the development of the student as a human being. These courses work not only because of a set of research-based strategies, but because of the powerful assumption that students are curious, altruistic, social, and aspirational human beings. The super courses profiled here are built on that understanding and thus promote human flourishing as well as learning.”—Pamela E. Barnett, Dean, School of Arts & Sciences, La Salle University

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