Students and their parents wonder if college is worth the investment. Employers want graduates with the skills they need. The public wonders if higher education is preparing future generations for an era of dynamic change. In his latest book, William Sullivan offers a model of higher education that answers all these questions in the affirmative, through the power of integrated learning. Drawing on examples from the 25 members of the New American Colleges & Universities (NAC&U) consortium, the book makes the case for an approach that combines the strengths of the liberal arts, professional studies, and civic responsibility in order to give students the combination of skills and experience that will prepare them for success in all aspects of life after graduation.NAC&U campuses place emphasis upon enabling their students to know themselves and their abilities, as well as providing them with opportunities to develop a sophisticated understanding of the world. To achieve these goals, the academic programs focus on developing students’ intellectual and practical skills, such as analytical ability, problem solving, facility in written and spoken communication, and an appreciation for human diversity and creativity. These have traditionally been identified as the goals of a liberal arts education, and are the same ones identified in a national employer survey as giving job-seekers an edge.These institutions also invest a great deal of effort to provide their students with state-of-the-art preparation for professional life and occupational success in diverse fields. These range from the technical – science and technology fields, with disciplines such as engineering and computer science – through business, and across the human service fields, such as education, nursing, pre-medicine, and pre-law, to architecture, and the performing and visual arts. In these courses of study, students begin to shape their future careers.The important third value of a NAC&U education is fostering civic responsibility among students. In programs of study abroad and a range of internship and service opportunities, these colleges support their students in shaping for themselves unique and effective ways to contribute to the larger life of their world.Parents and prospective students may appreciate the chance to learn more about these schools and what they have to offer, while those working in higher education will appreciate the chance to learn more about a model that their own institutions may be motivated to emulate. All readers will take away a picture of a truly vital part of the higher education landscape in this country.

Students’ ability to integrate learning across contexts is a critical outcome for higher education. Often the most powerful learning experiences that students report from their college years are those that prompt integration of learning, yet it remains an outcome that few educators explicitly work towards or specify as a course objective. Given that students will be more successful in college (and in life) if they can integrate their learning, James Barber offers a guide for college educators on how to promote students’ integration of learning, and help them connect knowledge and insights across contexts, whether in-class or out-of-class, in co-curricular activities, or across courses and disciplinary boundaries. The opening chapters lay the foundation for the book, defining what integration of learning is, how to promote it and students’ capacities for reflection; and introduce the author’s research-based Integration of Learning (IOL) model.The second section of the book provides practical, real-world strategies for facilitating integration of learning that college educators can use right away in multiple learning contexts. James Barber describes practices that readers can integrate as appropriate in their classes or activities, under chapters respectively devoted to Mentoring, Writing as Praxis, Juxtaposition, Hands-On Experiences, and Diversity and Identity. The author concludes by outlining how to apply IOL to a multiplicity of settings, such as a major, a single course, programming for a student organization, or other co-curricular experience; as well as offering guidance on assessing and documenting students’ mastery of this outcome.This book is addressed to a wide range of educators engaged with college student learning, from faculty to student affairs administrators, athletic coaches, internship supervisors, or anyone concerned with student development.

This book upholds the idea of learning and education as a means to individual development and social empowerment. It presents a holistic picture, looking at learning as an integral part of one's social and physical life. Strongly differing from existing classroom perspectives, the book analyses integrated learning at its broadest possible imperative-arguing for a spontaneous learning environment within real-life contexts. The book broadly covers: " Creativity in classroom education with a focus on interdisciplinary approach and positive teacher-student interaction " The essence of good education with a deep concern for the impact on the social order " Teachings of Indian and Western educational thinkers-Gandhi, Confucius, Plato, Freire, and Tagore-and their commitment to individual well-being " Application of learning to real-world situations Accessible and reader-friendly, it will be an indispensible resource to students and teachers of educational studies and to the general reader interested in the true spirit of education.

This book is an engaging and accessible collection that celebrates the nuance and depth of student-faculty partnerships in higher education. It aims to break the mold of traditional and power-laden academic writing by showcasing creative genres such as reflection, poetry, dialogue, interview, vignette, and essay. The collection has invited chapters from renowned scholars in the field alongside new student and staff voices, and it reflects and embodies a wide range of student-staff partnership perspectives from different roles, identities, cultures, countries, and institutions.

This volume builds a conceptual basis for assessment promoting learning in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms and proposes practical assessment approaches and activities that CLIL teachers can apply in the classroom. CLIL as an educational context is unique, as language and content learning happen simultaneously. The efficacy of such instruction has been studied extensively, but assessment in CLIL classrooms has drawn much less attention. The present volume aims to fill this gap. Arranged based on different ways that content and language are integrated in CLIL, the chapters in this book together build a solid theoretical basis for assessment promoting learning in CLIL classrooms. The authors discuss how assessment eliciting this integration yields insights into learners' abilities, but more importantly, how these insights are used to promote learning. The contributors to the volume together build the understanding of classroom-based assessment as cyclic, of teaching, learning, and assessment as inter-related, and of content and language in CLIL classrooms as a dialectical unity. This volume will spark interest in and discussion of classroom-based assessment in CLIL among CLIL educators and researchers, enable reflection of classroom assessment practices, and foster collaboration between CLIL teachers and researchers. The assessment approaches and activities discussed in the volume, in turn, will help educators understand the scope of applications of assessment and inspire them to adapt these to their own classrooms.

The quintessential resource on the important topic of curriculum integration! Going well beyond other books on this subject, James Beane details the history of curriculum integration and analyzes current critiques to provide a complete theory of curriculum integration. He defines curriculum integration as a comprehensive approach rather than simply “rearranging subjects.” Using many classroom examples, he explains the relationship between curriculum integration and the disciplines of knowledge. The approach set forth in this groundbreaking volume translates into a democratic vision of general education that transcends the current standards movement. “Offers clear and understandable examples of what curriculum integration means, how it can work, and how it fits a model of democratic education.” —Choice “In this time of conservative attacks on progressive education, it is crucial that we defend and extend democratic policies and practices. James Beane has been one of the most important figures in articulating democratic possibilities in schools. Curriculum Integration shows why he so deserves our respect. It provides a clear and insightful picture of the arguments and realities of democratic curriculum development and teaching.” —Michael W. Apple, University of Wisconsin–Madison “Jim Beane urges us to completely rethink how we pursue intellectual inquiry, as well as who makes the decisions in the classroom and what our ultimate goals are. Taken seriously, as it ought to be, [his] approach could revolutionize American education.” —Alfie Kohn, author of Punished by Rewards and Beyond Discipline “Beane writes directly with a passion that reflects long-in-the-making and deeply rooted convictions about education, youth, and democracy.... This book is a critically important resource . . . and it will remain so for years to come.” —John H. Lounsbury, National Middle School Association

"'Arts integration in education' is an insightful, even inspiring investigation into the enormous possibilities for change that are offered by the application of arts integration in education. Presenting research from a range of settings, from preschool to university, and featuring contributions from scholars and theorists, educational psychologists, teachers, and teaching artists, the book offers a comprehensive exploration and varying perspectives on theory, impact, and practices for arts-based training and arts-integrated instruction across the curriculum."--Page 4 of cover.