New and Noteworthy Titles on our Bookshelf

Super Courses

The Future of Teaching and Learning

By Ken Bain. Princeton University Press, 2021, 304 pp.

Courtesy of Princeton University Press.

The concern in some classrooms seems to be that students are rarely motivated to learn. Sure, they may be motivated to earn a good grade to keep their GPA up to be eligible for a good job in [insert desirable career field here]. The classic carrot-and-stick approach to learning and grades has been, well, the bread and butter of education. Food clichés aside, Super Courses examines deeper questions behind student motivation; it asks, “What can we do with classrooms of disengaged students? How can we motivate students to learn?”

A “super course,” as Ken Bain explains, does not rely solely on innovative grading structures, active learning techniques, or long lists of course objectives. Rather, it fosters natural critical learning, which is an environment that promotes collaboration, productive failure, and an investment in a goal larger than the course itself, among other traits. Only one hypothetical super course in mathematics is described; it is one where an instructor poses advanced questions and asks students to create their own solutions. The other super courses in the book are from a variety of disciplines. Honestly, forming or teaching a super course seems daunting, and yet, I’m certain there are mathematicians with the drive to create such a course.

This book issues a challenge to those excellent teachers among us: how can we create the most effective learning environment for our students and give them skills that will be the most useful to them in their future careers? Yes, they may need to know practical mathematics as well as mathematics that will be used in other STEM courses. In addition to that, how can our math courses promote the type of critical thinking and problem solving that will be necessary in a future society we can hardly imagine? If you’re intrigued, let me know what you think of this book. And I’d love to hear your ideas for a super course as well.

The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching

By Isis Artze-Vega, Flower Darby, Bryan Dewsbury, and Mays Imad. W. W. Norton & Company, 2023, 312 pp.

The generation of students we see in our classrooms in 2024 is notably different from 5 or 10 years ago. Societies are constantly changing and evolving, and with a changing student body comes a need to shift higher education. Students today seek connection, not only with the material in their courses but also with their peers and instructors. To be an effective teacher of today’s students, it is vital to nurture connection, be transparent about the purpose of activities or assignments, and welcome all students to your class. If you want help achieving these goals, look no further than this guide. Each unit in The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching starts with what the research says about a pedagogical topic. Then, the authors offer suggestions for how you can put the research to work. Many of the suggestions are small, doable ideas. One that I have incorporated into a course is to have students assist in creating a rubric for one of their project-based assignments.

The guide includes tips for in-person, hybrid, and fully online courses. If you are seeking larger changes to your course, there are examples to help you change your assessment strategies, write a welcoming syllabus, and add structure to existing activities. Even if you feel confined within a coordinated course with very little freedom, this guide has suggestions for you. In short, this book has four powerhouse authors, three sections, and countless ideas to improve your classroom. I read this guide as part of an interdisciplinary faculty book club, and I enjoyed engaging with educational issues both within and outside of mathematics. This book is for any faculty member or administrator in higher education. I hope it inspires you to try something new in your classes, as it did for me.