The Advancement of Learning: Building the Teaching Commons

This important resource builds on the work of Carnegie’s best-selling books, Scholarship Reconsidered and Scholarship Assessed. The Advancement of Learning explores the premise that the scholarship of teaching and learning holds the key to improving the quality of higher education. The Advancement of Learning answers questions readers are likely to have: What are the defining elements of the scholarship of teaching and learning? What traditions does it build on? What are its distinctive claims and possibilities? What are the implications of the scholarship of teaching and learning for academic culture and careers? How does it shape the student experience? In addition, authors Mary Taylor Huber and Pat Hutchings introduce a new concept that expands on the scholarship of teaching and learning—the teaching commons. As the authors explain, the teaching commons is a conceptual space in which communities of educators committed to inquiry and innovation come together to exchange ideas about teaching and learning and use them to meet the challenges of educating students for personal, professional, and civic life. The Advancement of Learning is filled with illustrative examples of the scholarship of teaching and learning from a wide-range of fields and settings. The book explores what it takes for faculty to become engaged in such work, and details the structures and policies that campuses need to develop in order to support faculty engagement with the teaching commons. The authors take stock of developments to date, and clearly show the benefits for those who invest the necessary time and resources.