International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Volume 2, Number 2, July 2008
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to current issues pageBook Review
Excerpt
The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness
in the Classroom (2nd Edition)
Stephen D. Brookfield
(Jossey-Bass, 2006)
This second edition of Brookfield’s book covers a wide variety
of topics relevant to the issue of effective teaching. A key addition
is a chapter on online teaching, and material in other chapters has
been updated as well. Brookfield presents numerous anecdotally- and
research-based strategies for creating an effective classroom learning
environment, including practical suggestions for facilitating classroom
discussion, conducting formative evaluations of student learning, and
grading class participation and essays. Many of Brookfield’s suggestions
are also aimed at making the classroom environment rewarding for teachers;
the aforementioned suggestions for grading class participation and essays
are...
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Full ArticleBio
Review by
Ellen Cotter
Georgia Southwestern State University
Americus, Georgia, USA
emc@canes.gsw.edu
I did my undergraduate work at the University of Virginia and my graduate work at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and am now an Associate Professor of Psychology at Georgia Southwestern State University. My area of specialty is developmental psychology, and my teaching and research interests include critical thinking, lifespan development, caregiving, and popular culture (particularly urban legends). Currently I am finishing up several research projects related to the scholarship of teaching and the evaluation of strategies to improve students’ critical thinking skills and participation in health-related behaviors.