Cases on Quality Teaching Practices in Higher Education

This compilation will be a valuable addition to the library in any learning and teaching centre as well as an academic source for teaching a graduate course in practices and principles of university teaching. It will also serve as an effective ‘go-to’ resource for university instructors at all levels who wish to adopt a more student-focused approach to teaching with the goal of facilitating deeper learning in their students. This I would argue is a most important objective for educators and education in these changing times in the twenty-first century.

For undergraduate and graduate education students, professors, and faculty developers, Salter (teaching and learning, Kwantlen Polytechnic U., Canada) collects 20 case studies showing examples of quality teaching practices in universities, the pedagogical use of technology, and implications for the association between research and teaching. She draws on her research project of faculty and leaders from universities in North America, Hong Kong, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, who share examples of teaching in the social sciences, medical education, and neuroscience, as well as topics like problem solving, procedural learning, mindfulness, research-inspired teaching and teaching-inspired research, and inquiry, followed by a section of institutional case studies related to peer review, learning communities, national awards, leadership capacity development, professional development, action research, assessment, online resources, and the global university, interdisciplinarity, and innovative pedagogies. Her research project and a student-centered framework for quality teaching are discussed in two introductory chapters.

Recommended-The book covers issues related to teaching excellence, changes and paradigm shifts in teaching culture of higher education institutions, leadership capability building initiatives, enhancement of teaching and learning, and teaching awards and recognition programs at national level and at universities of different sizes and scope around the world.[...] I would recommend this book for faculty interested in improving their teaching strategies and those organizing or leading university offices/programs of faculty rewards and recognition.

Edited by the Vice Provost of Teaching and Learning at Kwantlen Polytechnic-University in British Columbia, Canada, these 22 chapters authored by 33 scholars and practitioners in the field of higher education provide concrete examples of best practices in teaching and learning at individual and institutional levels. The authors provide materials that can inspire, and also that can be recreated, adapted, and excerpted for one’s own classroom, department, or institution.