Buzz-words and reference material

David mentioned he was interested in learning as well some of the current buzzwords. Apart from providing me with some buzzwords, the following three books served me well when doing practical work in the classroom and are probably standard issue in many programs. It is handy to own them since they are useful, rather cheap and updaded periodically:

Clasroom Assessment Techniques by Thomas Angelo and Pat Cross

Collaborative Learning Techniques by Liz Barley, Pat Cross and Claire Major

and Designing & Assessing Courses and Curricula by Rober Diamond.

They are all from Jossey-Bass(Wiley), they publish most of the cool hands-on reference books. Non-reference books can be a bit lightweight at times, but let me know if you find something interesting.

Another book...

The book I mentioned when we met last time is G. Polya's "How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method". Said Polya was Professor of Mathematics at... three guesses? Stanford University.
Part I of the book is called "In the classroom". You may wanna check it out.
Cheers

Possible Inspiration and Calendar

The University of Washington also has a Pedagogy Reading Group for grad. students and I found their webpage. We can definitely take some inspiration from them. Their reading list looks really cool and diverse.

Also, I just looked at the calendar and we can set our future meeting dates as follows:

Monday, February 12, 5-6:30pm
Monday, March 12, 5-6:30pm
Monday, April 9, 5-6:30pm
Monday, May 7, 5-6:30pm

We can always reschedule if a lot of people can't make it, but this will give us a guide to follow.

Next Meeting!

Our next meeting will be on Monday, February 12 from 5-6:30pm in the same location (couch room of A3C). Please spread the word to your friends, and send me any snack requests!!
***Update***: The author of Conceptual Blockbusting, Professor James Adams, has agreed to come to our next meeting!

Our first book is 'Conceptual Blockbusting' by James Adams

So it seems we will be reading 'Conceptual Blockbusting: a guide to better ideas' by James Adams, an emeritus professor here at Stanford University. Amazon says: "... James Adams's unique approach to generating ideas and solving problems has captivated, inspired, and guided thousands of people from all walks of life. Now, twenty-five years after its original publication, Conceptual Blockbusting has never been more relevant, powerful, or fresh. Integrating insights from the worlds of psychology, engineering, management, art, and philosophy, Adams identifies the key blocks (perceptual, emotional, cultural, environmental, intellectual, and expressive) that prevent us from realizing the full potential of our fertile minds. Employing unconventional exercises and other interactive elements, Adams shows individuals, teams, and organizations how to overcome these blocks, embrace alternative ways of thinking about complex problems, and celebrate the joy of creativity..."

Resistance and Persuasion

So, this is one book I have been meaning to look into for a while. Teaching might be, to some extent, about exploring and leveraging the resistance students present to new knowledge. I have never read nothing on the theme of resistance and maybe 'Resistance and Persuasion' by Eric Knowles and Jay Linn is something we can look into: "...This book explores persuasion by considering its antithesis: resistance. Resistance hounds persuasion the way friction frustrates motion. To accomplish the latter, you have to expect and, preferably, manage the former. It makes sense that those who desire to understand persuasion should also seek to understand the nature and operation of resistance to persuasion..."

We are meeting today!

Please join us for the first kick-off meeting on Wednesday, January 17 (today!) from 3:30-5pm in the lounge of the Asian American Activities Center (543 Lomita Dr., trailer on the corner of Santa Teresa Ave. and Lomita Dr.).