We have long offered titles designed for new faculty and graduate teaching assistants in their efforts to excel in the classroom. Our titles are divided into the following categories to assist in browsing. You may also use the search feature to find not only titles related to your interests, but ongoing blog postings. Authors are encouraged to review the submissions guidelines under the “Authors” tab for information about publishing your work on these topics.
General Methods / Excellence in teaching is not easily measured; a lot of intangibles come into play. It’s much more than the amount of materials distributed or the type of quizzes given. It has much to do with the fundamental trust and respect engendered between the professor and the student. It’s all about what happens in the heart and mind of the student. Faculty who wish to excel at teaching, in the development of innovative curriculum, and in the dissemination of research and knowledge, must naturally seek self-improvement. New Forums Press emphasizes the importance of teaching and provides support for promoting faculty excellence in the classroom through this collection of proven works. View the titles.
Cooperative Learning / Cooperative learning is an umbrella term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint effort by learners. Cooperative learning activities vary widely, but most center on the learner’s exploration or application of the curriculum, not simply on the teacher’s presentation of it. The teacher’s role is to create an environment where students are willing and able to work collaboratively, where there are plenty of opportunities and stimulating contexts for learners to work with others, and where they feel safe to share their emerging ideas and understandings. View the titles.
Applied Creative Thinking / This New Forums key forum is devoted to teaching applied creative thinking in the new millennium. Many talk about creativity and provide the justification for adding creative thinking as a student learning outcome. We wish to focus on applying creativity to the teaching and learning process. We might ask, “does anyone truly believe the world’s problems are going to be solved by students with only a high proficiency in common core competencies?” With student learning outcomes as a goal, we strive to rethink teaching and learning to include creativity. For this effort, New Forums Press has partnered with Eastern Kentucky University’s Noel Studio for Academic Creativity. View the titles.
It Works for Me Series / The titles in this series are not treatises on pedagogical theory, nor are they designed to dictate a set of rules for success in the classroom. Their purpose is not to provide you with a complete program for better teaching. Each title in the series simply contains a collection of practical tips drawn from the real-life experiences of some outstanding college teachers across the disciplines. Each is meant as an aid for any instructor who feels the need for a little something extra from time to time to raise the classroom experience from merely passable to one from which students will eagerly learn and one they will remember. Use each book as a ready reference tool, pulling from it tips, techniques, and assignments and tailoring them to fit your unique style and situation. Perhaps some of the suggestions will even whet your appetite, leading to the creation of new, exciting material of you own. View the titles.
Adult Education / Adult education is concerned not with preparing people for life, but rather with helping people to live more successfully. Thus if there is to be an overarching function of the adult education enterprise, it is to assist adults to increase competence, or negotiate transitions, in their social roles (worker, parent, retiree etc.), to help them gain greater fulfilment in their personal lives, and to assist them in solving personal and community problems (Darkenwald and Merriam 1982: 9). We encourage authors of works related to adult education to submit your manuscripts and help us enlarge our offerings in this important arena. View the titles.