Engaging Ideas: The Professor's Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom

by John C. Bean and Daniel Melzer

Book Overview

A practical nuts and bolts guide for teachers from any discipline who want to design interest-provoking writing and critical thinking activities. Engaging Ideas : Shows how teachers can encourage inquiry, exploration, discussion, and debate in their courses. Presents a wide variety of strategies for stimulating active learning and for coaching writing and critical thinking. Offers teachers concrete advice on how to design courses, structure assignment,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0787902039
• ISBN13: 9780787902032
• Release Date: March 1996
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.4" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

The Best Book Available on Creating Writing Assingments

As a college composition instructor, I am always looking for new material on how to create interesting, challenging assignments that use that way the students learn best as a means of helping them to improve their writing. Engaging Ideas, a book geared toward teachers from other disciplines, has the clearest explanations of the research and soundest advice for designing coursework I have seen. It is filled with useful suggestions, alternatives to writing assignments, information on how best to evaluate such work, etc. I borrowed the book from a colleague and was so impressed that I bought a copy. A great resource!

The Best

This book has revolutionized my teaching procedures. Bean shows us how to be more effective teachers without adding to the time we spend prepping and grading. The students are more engaged and writing better essays, and I am spending the same or less time preparing and grading. There are tips on everything from in-class exercises to constructing formal writing assignments. I recommend it to anyone teaching composition or any class with a critical thinking/writing component.

Excellent practical advice for the college teacher

Professor Bean provides the theory behind his recommendations but, as any teacher who has delved into this literature knows, theories about effective teaching aren't in themselves necessarily very helpful. What one needs is practical advice, and this book has it---lots of it. Bean identifies different writing activities for students; shows how to design tasks for active thinking and learning in the classroom; suggests effective ways to make use of small group discussion in the classroom; explains ways to increase active learning in a lecture course; discusses the mechanics of grading papers; and shows how to enhance learning in essay exams. Even for the experienced teacher, there's a good deal of worthwhile material here, and it's cogently presented. A highly recommended book for the professor who wants to increase active learning in the classroom and get more out of a lecture course.

Epic Resource

John C. Bean presents a thorough, logical discussion covering issues that (may seem basic) but that I for one, still struggle with - successfully integrating critical thinking writing assignments into my courses. Bean blends relevant research and studies to explain and justify what works and what fizzles. His text offers strategies and assignments - from short, informal writings to involved research projects. His work considers learning styles - (students and instructors). The author models rich critical thinking and writing - the discourse allows learners to make their own connections and discoveries (while absorbing the valuable resources and information provided) Readers, like students engage in the journey of sense-making.In sum, this is not just a book of potential exercies - it is a rich resource for instructors grappling with issues of assessment, critiquing, and the fear of grading overload. These topics and more provided me with some wonderful "aha" moments. It's the "aha"s that spark my spirit of inquiry - and this is what I strive to share with students.

insightful, thoughtful, and full of useful classroom tools

Bean's text is a thoughtful and useful pedagogical "storehouse" of ideas that teachers can use in their classrooms. Not only does the text provide the theory _behind_ collaborative/cooperative approaches to teaching, but it provides such ideas for a wide array of subjects. Anyone who values the teaching of writing--whatever the subject area--will find good value in Bean's text.