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According to the authors, much of what is widely claimed about learning styles - primarily that learners learn best when they learn in their preferred mode, be it visually, auditorily, or kinesthetically - is simply not backed up with research. They believe that the widespread belief in learning styles has real costs to teachers and students. Faculty neglect other, well-established learning theories and students neglect other modes of learning out of a misplaced belief that they can't learn well in those modes.

Another interesting wrinkle in the learning preferences literature. Feeling that learning something was easy is not the same as learning it well.

A brief discussion of the "double-loop" theory of learning, with references and the suggestion that this theory addresses cultural change as much as individualized learning.

Active learning in the classroom can increase student engagement and improve learning outcomes but how can instructors be sure to include introverts in an environment that tends to favor extroverts? The article outlines a framework for thinking about engaging all learners without leaving introverts behind and details some simple techniques for doing so.

Even in this bookmark list, we use the term "flipped classroom". This article describes an attempt at a definition of "flipped learning", where the emphasis is on the student's learning process and not the logistics of the classroom. I think it provides a set of metrics which may be useful in examining anyone's pedagogy.

The author addresses some of the criticisms of flipped learning, including student resistance and how to overcome it. The key is thinking about how face-to-face time is used to reach higher-level learning goals than otherwise possible.

A terrific summary of the existing research from cognitive science related to how students learn, and connecting this research to its practical implications for teaching and learning. Hat tip to Katie Corker for the link.

This paper serves as a guide to starting a portfolio project. It focuses on the "learning portfolio" as a tool which encourages the student to reflect on their own learning, with special attention to their own progress. I was particularly taken with the point that a portfolio can be an appropriate tool at any level of the curriculum - an individual course or set of courses, the program or department level, or the whole institution - though of course, that choice will change the purpose of the portfolio, and therefore its design.

People learn best when they are forced to retrieve the information and concepts repeatedly over time but most people haven't learned to study in ways that do this. Consequently, it may be more effective to move from the common practice of giving a few, high-stakes tests to giving numerous low stakes quizzes to assess and improve learning.

I'm not entirely sure that a single grand unified theory of learning will be as useful as the author thinks it is, but certainly more familiarity with existing theories of learning and the connections between them can be a powerful tool as we refine courses and curriculum.

"This edited book represents a sliver, albeit a substantial one, of the scholarship on the science of learning and its application in educational settings. Most of the work described in this book is based on theory and research in cognitive psychology." This is a free e-book, published by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association.

"This edited book represents a sliver, albeit a substantial one, of the scholarship on the science of learning and its application in educational settings. Most of the work described in this book is based on theory and research in cognitive psychology." This is a free e-book, published by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, a division of the American Psychological Association.

Interview with James Lang, the author of "Cheating Lessons." The soundbyte from the interview might be this: "The fascinating discovery I made in my own research was that the features of a course that do tend to induce cheating were also ones that tend to reduce learning."

This course redesign "formula" may not work for all courses, but perhaps it can work for you. The article describes what amounts to a course redesign that results in a blended classroom, using the technology available through the text publisher as the source of outside data. The six guidelines they propose can be boiled down to: (1) guide students in active learning; (2) enforce deadlines to keep students on task; (3) reward students for real effort, which translates into real learning; (4) provide regular assessment (immediate feedback via technology, if possible); (5) accommodate varied learning styles; and (6) keep on students to do their work (again, technology can help with this).

Patrick Jackson uses a "flipped classroom" model to force himself to not lecture, and instead focus intro-level students on the core skills of historical analysis. From the GLCA Center for Teaching and Learning.

A bibliography on service learning in the mathematics curriculum from the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. One of the resources from this summer's institute on service learning.

Do you allow rewrites or makeup exams? David Gooblar argues that these can be important opportunities for students to learn from their errors. (Also some good examples, alternatives, and disagreements in the comments.)

A Faculty Learning Community is a cros-disciplinary group of faculty who meet to investigate a common topic of interest in teaching and learning (or the conduct of scholarship more broadly). This article discusses the involvement of a librarian as facilitator to an FLC on scholarly writing.

A 16-question online questionnaire to help students identify their preference for a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learning style. Also includes some information about the styles.

A 44-question online questionnaire which can help students understand their own learning preferences. The site also includes supporting research on the instrument. Interesting for measuring learning preferences along 4 separate dimensions, instead of looking for a single dominant preference.

The authors describe a simple two-stage exam method used in the physics department at the University of British Columbia. Two-stage exams provide an engaging collaborative learning opportunity which very effectively increases student mastery of the material.