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About the NOVA Online Reading Room
Location: Pender 4, room 148
Configuration: Four arm chairs for reading & two round tables for collaboration or individual study
Collections: Books and periodicals to support all aspects of NOVA Online, including
- Student affairs & advising
- Instructional Design
- Supporting underserved student populations
- Community college administration
Borrowing the books: Yes, you may borrow the books! Please "check out" by emailing Helen the title of any book you're borrowing. Loan period is 3 weeks.
How to borrow an ELI Reading Room Book
Find a book you want to check out? Email Helen with the book's title. Your book will be due 3 weeks after your email.
Need more time? Email to request a renewal.
New books
Here are some new arrivals at the reading room (room 148 in Pender 4).
Crossing the Finish Line by
College student retention continues to be a vexing issue for colleges and universities. There are some very simple steps that a college or university can take to help students persist until they reach academic and/or personal goal attainment. This book is intended to give the reader the necessary tools, for all types of educational institutions and delivery systems, to implement a retention formula and success model that will actually help students meet their academic and personal goals and thus increase college retention and graduation rates. Regardless of the academic ability, socioeconomic status, gender, first generation, ethnicity of students, the retention formula and model presented will help each and every college type increase student retention and graduation rates.
Publication Date: 2018
Creating the Path to Success in the Classroom by
This is a book for all faculty who are concerned with promoting the persistence of all students whom they teach. Most recognize that faculty play a major role in student retention and success because they typically have more direct contact with students than others on campus. However, little attention has been paid to role of the faculty in this specific mission or to the corresponding characteristics of teaching, teacher-student interactions, and connection to student affairs activities that lead to students' long-term engagement, to their academic success, and ultimately to graduation. At a time when the numbers of underrepresented students - working adults, minority, first-generation, low-income, and international students - is increasing, this book, a companion to her earlier Teaching Underprepared Students, addresses that lack of specific guidance by providing faculty with additional evidence-based instructional practices geared toward reaching all the students in their classrooms, including those from groups that traditionally have been the least successful, while maintaining high standards and expectations. Recognizing that there are no easy answers, Kathleen Gabriel offers faculty ideas that can be incorporated in, or modified to align with, faculty's existing teaching methods. She covers topics such as creating a positive and inclusive course climate, fostering a community of learners, increasing engagement and students' interactions, activating connections with culturally relevant material, reinforcing self-efficacy with growth mindset and mental toughness techniques, improving lectures by building in meaningful educational activities, designing reading and writing assignments for stimulating deep learning and critical thinking, and making grade and assessment choices that can promote learning.
Publication Date: 2018
Engaging African American Males in Community College by Publication Date: 2018
Reclaiming Opportunities for Effective Teaching by
This book examines the increased standardization and management of community college course outlines in Ontario and the associated decline in the ability of college professors to effectively educate their students. Dunn tracks the changes of increased pressure from corporations to privatize public services and make them for-profit friendly. Interviews of program faculty who have recently been forced to use course outlines for the first time, along with critical analyses of a sample course outline and a series of union-related texts illuminate the issue. Dunn attributes the shift of power in community colleges to various factors which include: the ideological work college employees do to support global finance capital, the managerial labor which establishes a course outline, the textual duties that faculty members facilitate to set up their own ruling, and the performance work that faculty members do to execute the textual rules of their prescriptive course outline work. In order to rectify the harmful effects of the new standardized and supervised curriculum, Dunn identifies areas where effective teaching and learning can be reclaimed.
Publication Date: 2016
Student Evaluation in Higher Education by
This book provides a comprehensive and engaging analysis of the purpose and function of student evaluation in higher education. It explores its foundations and the emerging functions, as well as its future potential to improve the quality of university teaching and student learning. The book systematically assesses the core assumptions underpinning the design of student evaluation models as a tool to improve the quality of teaching. It also analyses the emerging influence of student opinion as a key metric and a powerful proxy for assuring the quality of teachers, teaching and courses in universities. Using the voices of teachers in the day-to-day practices of higher education, the book also explores the actual perceptions held by academics about student evaluation. It offers the first real attempt to critically analyse the developing influence of student evaluation on contemporary approaches to academic teaching. Using a practice-based perspective and the powerful explanatory potential of cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), the implications of the changing focus in the use of the student voice - from development to measurement - are systematically explored and assessed. Importantly, using the evidence provided by a unique series of practice-based case studies, the book also offers powerful new insights into how the student voice can be reconceptualised to more effectively improve the quality of teaching, curriculum and assessment. Based on this empirical analysis, a series of practical strategies are proposed to enhance the work of student evaluation in the future university to drive pedagogical innovation. This unique volume provides those interested in student evaluation with a more complex understanding of the development, contemporary function and future potential of the student voice. It also demonstrates how the student voice - in combination with professional dialogue - can be used to encourage more powerful and substantial forms of pedagogical improvement and academic development in higher education environments.
ISBN: 9783319418926Publication Date: 2016
The College Classroom Assessment Compendium by
The College Classroom Assessment Compendium provides new and seasoned instructors with comprehensive strategies, perspectives, and solutions for the daily challenges and issues involved in student assessment. Composed of cross-referenced, research-based entries organized for effective and immediate access, this book provides systematic explanations of assessment policies and practices, including guidelines for classroom implementation. Situated beyond the techniques covered in most instructor training and preparation, these practical entries draw from a variety of disciplines and offer an invaluable reference for college instructors interested in developing coherent, reliable classroom assessment climates.
Publication Date: 2017
The Flipped Classroom by
Teaching and learning within higher education continues to evolve with innovative and new practices such as flipped teaching. This book contributes to the literature by developing a much deeper understanding of the complex phenomenon of flipped classroom approaches within higher education. It also serves as a practical guide to implementing flipped classroom teaching in academic practice across different higher educational institutions and disciplines. Part 1 of this book (Practice) describes the considerations involved in flipped classroom teaching, including the challenges faced in transforming teaching and learning within higher education. Further, it reviews the educational concepts on which the flipped classroom is based, including a selected history of similar innovations in the past. The final sections of Part 1 explore the tools needed for flipping, the design steps, assessment methods and the role of reflective practice within flipped teaching environments.
ISBN: 9789811098673Publication Date: 2018
Creating Engaging Discussions by
If you have ever been apprehensive about initiating classroom discussion, fearing silences, the domination of a couple of speakers, superficial contributions, or off-topic remarks, this book provides strategies for creating a positive learning experience. Jennifer H. Herman and Linda B. Nilson demonstrate how to create the conditions to facilitate deep and meaningful learning as well as to assess the effectiveness of discussions. They identify, analyze, and solve common problems in both classroom and online discussions and in both small and large classes. They take a direct, practice-oriented approach that--in acknowledging common challenges--provides principles, guidance on design, examples of activities and techniques, and eight detailed case studies. These cases demonstrate successful approaches that faculty across disciplines and from a variety of institutions have adopted in their face-to-face, blended, or online courses at the undergraduate or graduate level. The case authors begin by describing the original pedagogical challenge they faced and explain how they addressed it and assessed the results of their innovation. They also offer practical recommendations to readers who may want to try their strategies. Intended for faculty, this book will be equally valuable for educational developers who can use this resource in their programs and private consultations. At the graduate level, this book can serve as a text or workshop resource in college teaching courses and teaching assistant development programs. The final chapter provides a set of resources and activities - including discussion questions on the case studies, writing prompts, and jigsaw formats - that are equally appropriate for individual study or for use in workshop environments. You'll never again have to suffer such a profound silence that, as described by a contributor to the book, she could hear the crickets chirping outside.
ISBN: 9781620365601Publication Date: 2018
The Educator's Guide to Producing New Media and Open Educational Resources by
Digital video, audio, and text have never been more popular, and educators need to know how to make new media work in all types of learning environments. The Educator's Guide to Producing New Media and Open Educational Resources provides practical advice on how to produce and use open access resources to support student learning. This realistic "how-to" guide is written for education professionals in any discipline seeking to transform their instruction with technology.
Publication Date: 2017
The Mindfulness-Informed Educator by
The Mindfulness-Informed Educatormoves a growing body of evidence related to the efficacy of mindfulness- and acceptance-based approaches to the context of higher education, suggesting ways to foster psychological flexibility within and outside of the classroom. In the book, professionals across education and psychotherapy will find best practices for teaching, treating, researching, and serving their communities in ways that are sensitive to context, consistent with their values, and mindful of the diverse array of mental-health and behavioral difficulties experienced by college and university students. Chapters incorporate the most cutting-edge research across disciplines and span educational levels and contexts within higher education, provide strategies for strengthening mindfulness- and acceptance-based pedagogy and program development, and provide user-friendly supplemental materials such as transcripts and sample assignments.
Publication Date: 2016
How to Run a College by
Residential colleges are the foundation on which US higher education is based. These institutions possess storied traditions fondly cherished by students, alumni, and faculty. There is no denying, however, that all colleges today struggle with changing consumer preferences, high sticker prices, and aging infrastructure. Technological and pedagogical alternatives--not to mention growing political pressure--present complex challenges. What can colleges and smaller universities do to stay relevant in today's educational and economic climate? In their concise guide, How to Run a College, Brian C. Mitchell and W. Joseph King analyze how colleges operate. Widely experienced as trustees, administrators, and faculty, they understand that colleges must update their practices, monetize their assets, and focus on core educational strategies in order to build strong institutions. Mitchell and King offer a frank yet optimistic vision for how colleges can change without losing their fundamental strengths. To survive and become sustainable, they must be centers of dynamic learning, as well as economic engines able to power regional, state, and national economies. Rejecting the notion that American colleges are holdovers from a bygone time, How to Run a College shows instead that they are centers of experimentation and innovation that heavily influence higher education not only in the United States but also worldwide.
Publication Date: 2018
Leading Learning and Teaching in Higher Education by
Leading Learning and Teaching in Higher Educationbrings together contemporary ideas on leadership, engagement and student learning into a practical solutions-based resource designed for those undertaking the challenge of leading a university-level teaching module, programme or suite of programmes, particularly through periods of transformation or change. It encourages both first time academic leaders and those who have held teaching leadership roles for some time to review and formalise their development in a systematic, simple way and acts as a framework for navigating the opportunities and challenges involved in inspiring shared purpose, strong commitment and innovation in higher education teaching. With a clear focus on the energy of leadership rather than the practice of management, and with a strong emphasis on collaborative engagement running throughout, this books offers: Insightful guidance which is not bound to subject-specific requirements, making it relevant across the spectrum of course offerings at any one institution. An enabling, people-focussed foundation for leadership. Tools and frameworks which can be readily applied or adapted for the reader. A focus on core elements of teaching leadership, such as design, delivery, assessment and building a programme team. A flexible and pragmatic approach to leadership which avoids a definitive approach, instead encouraging a dynamic method of engaging leadership. Values that assert that leadership and learning go hand-in-hand. A wide-ranging discussion of leadership theories, ideas and values related to the university context. This book puts forward a multifaceted model of programme leadership and links this to a scaffolding of key attributes, skills and qualities that fit the environment of leading learning and teaching in the university. Particularly interested readers will be those beginning to lead teaching in a university setting as well as those who have been leading programme teams and the wider provision of teaching for some time wanting to enhance their skills and perspective. lt;LI>Insightful guidance which is not bound to subject-specific requirements, making it relevant across the spectrum of course offerings at any one institution. An enabling, people-focussed foundation for leadership. Tools and frameworks which can be readily applied or adapted for the reader. A focus on core elements of teaching leadership, such as design, delivery, assessment and building a programme team. A flexible and pragmatic approach to leadership which avoids a definitive approach, instead encouraging a dynamic method of engaging leadership. Values that assert that leadership and learning go hand-in-hand. A wide-ranging discussion of leadership theories, ideas and values related to the university context. This book puts forward a multifaceted model of programme leadership and links this to a scaffolding of key attributes, skills and qualities that fit the environment of leading learning and teaching in the university. Particularly interested readers will be those beginning to lead teaching in a university setting as well as those who have been leading programme teams and the wider provision of teaching for some time wanting to enhance their skills and perspective. iversity context. This book puts forward a multifaceted model of programme leadership and links this to a scaffolding of key attributes, skills and qualities that fit the environment of leading learning and teaching in the university. Particularly interested readers will be those beginning to lead teaching in a university setting as well as those who have been leading programme teams and the wider provision of teaching for some time wanting to enhance their skills and perspective.
Publication Date: 2016
