Taking Learning to Task: Creative Strategies for Teaching Adults - Hardcover

Vella, Jane Kathryn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0787952273 ISBN 13: 9780787952273

Publisher: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub, 2000

Synopsis

"Reading this wonderful book is like having Jane Vella at your side. She gives us the courage to risk changing our established habits of teaching."
--Clifford Baden, director of programs for professional education, Harvard University

"By marrying theory and practice, Vella has shown how to design learning that takes hold of the learner--mind, heart, and muscles."
--Jack McCall, professor, Principals' Executive Program, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

"You'll feel as though you've found the keys to creating profound and powerfully effective learning experiences. Anyone responsible for engaging a group of adults in learning will find this book invaluable!"
--Rod Brooks, vice president for administration, EXPLORIS

Known for her work in popular education and her worldwide teaching experience, Jane Vella has significantly changed the way we view adult learning. In her three bestselling books--Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach, Training Through Dialogue, and How Do They Know They Know?--she writes with one basic assumption: that learning is most effective when teachers involve their students in the learning process.

In Taking Learning to Task, Vella shifts the spotlight from teaching tasks to learning tasks. Unlike traditional teaching methods, learning tasks are open questions leading to open dialogue between teacher and learner. To illustrate this unique approach, Vella provides seven steps to planning learning-centered courses, four types of learning tasks, a checklist of principles and practices, critical questions for instructional design, key components for evaluation, and other tools. She also shares real-world examples of successful learning programs, including online and distance-learning courses. Taking Learning to Task is a hands-on, practical guide to designing effective learning tasks for diverse learners and diverse content. Teachers, trainers, and all types of instructors will find a wealth of advice for refining their day-to-day practice.

About this title

About the Author

JANE VELLA is adjunct professor at the School of Public Health of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also CEO of Global Learning Partners, a consulting and training company that has grown out of JUBILEE Popular Education Center.

From the Back Cover

"Reading this wonderful book is like having Jane Vella at your side. She encourages, she coaches, she inquires, she models--and ultimately she gives us the courage to risk changing our established habits of teaching. An important book, to be read and reread."--Clifford Baden, director of programs in professional education, Harvard University

"As an octogenarian who has taught for many years, I celebrate what Vella has done in these pages. By marrying theory and practice, she has shown how to design learning that takes hold of the learner--mind, heart, and muscles. I'm going to use learning tasks in my own work and prove that it is never too late to learn."--Jack McCall, professor, Principals' Executive Program, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Is Jane Vella's brilliant and challenging approach something we can truly master? In Taking Learning to Task, the master herself reveals the mechanics of creating learning tasks. You'll feel as though you've found the keys to creating profound and powerfully effective learning experiences. Anyone responsible for engaging a group of adults in learning will find this book invaluable!--Rod Brooks, vice president for administration, EXPLORIS

"Vella has inspired me to rethink my teaching and move in a new direction. Instead of merely giving a lecture, I now weave theoretical information into creative learning tasks. It's a dynamic new teaching-learning approach, and your students will thank you for it."--Monica Rector, professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

From the Inside Flap

Known for her work in popular education and her worldwide teaching experience, Jane Vella has significantly changed the way we view adult learning. In Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach, she introduced twelve principles of learning-centered education; in Training Through Dialogue, she presented a step-by-step approach to training the trainer; and in How Do They Know They Know? Vella and her colleagues showed how to evaluate and improve adult learning programs. These books rest on one basic assumption: that learning is most effective when teachers involve their students in the learning process.In Taking Learning to Task, Vella builds on her earlier books and shifts the spotlight from teaching tasks to learning tasks. Unlike traditional teaching methods, learning tasks are open questions that lead to open dialogue between teacher and learner. Vella draws from current theory and practice to explore the meaning and power of learning tasks. To illustrate this unique approach, she provides seven steps to planning learning-centered courses, four types of learning tasks, a checklist of principles and practices, critical questions for instructional design, key components for evaluation, and other invaluable tools.Vella also shares real-world examples of successful learning programs, including online and distance-learning courses. Taking Learning to Task is a hands-on, practical guide to designing effective learning tasks for diverse learners and diverse content. Teachers, trainers, and all types of instructors will find a wealth of advice for refining their day-to-day practice.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0787952273
• ISBN 13: 9780787952273
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176