Understanding Learning and Teaching: The Experience in Higher Education

How can university teachers improve the quality of student learning? Prosser and Trigwell argue that the answer lies in determining how students perceive their unique learning situations. In doing so they draw upon the considerable body of educational research into student learning in higher education which has been developed and published over the past three decades; and they enable university teachers to research and improve their own teaching.

This book outlines the key principles underlying successful teaching and learning in higher education, and is a key resource for all university teachers.

Michael Prosser is Professor and Director of the Academic Development Unit at La Trobe University in Australia. He has taught and researched in universities in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Australia. He has been professionally engaged in research in teaching and learning in higher education for over 15 years. He taught physics in universities for over 25 years.

Keith Trigwell is Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Learning and Teaching at the University of Technology, Sydney. He taught chemistry to students at the University of Western Australia and the Open University in the UK before shifting to an academic development role with Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia in 1984. His research has focused on student learning, teaching and leadership in universities.

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Teaching and learning in higher education
A model for understanding teaching and learning in higher education
Students' prior experience of learning
Students' perceptions of the learning situation
Students' approaches to learning
Students' learning outcomes
Experiences of teaching in higher education
Understanding learning and teaching
Appendix
approaches to teaching inventory
References
Index.