Optimizing Teaching and Learning: Practicing Pedagogical Research

Optimizing Teaching and Learning will serve as a practical guide for anyone, anywhere, who is interested in improving their teaching, the learning of their students, and correspondingly, contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning.

• Bridges the gap between the research and practice of SoTL
• Provides explicit instructions on how to design, conduct, analyze, and write-up SoTL work
• Includes samples of actual questionnaires and other materials (e.g., focus group questions) that will jumpstart investigations into teaching and learning
• Explores the advantages and disadvantages of various pedagogical practices and present applications of SoTL using case studies from a variety of disciplines

Regan A. R. Gurung is Chair of Human Development at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay. He has served for many years on the campus Faculty Development Committee and has also been Chair of the same. He is currently campus representative for a CASTL Leadership Site, and is a member of a national taskforce for the scholarship of teaching and learning. He is author of Health Psychology: A Cultural Approach (2006).

Beth M. Schwartz is Professor of Psychology at Randolph College. She is founding director of the Faculty Development Center on her campus. In February 2006, she received the APLS (American Psychology and Law Society) Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award.