Higher Ed Resource of the Week: How Humans Learn

This week, I want to highlight a book just released by West Virginia University Press titled How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching, which is included in the series Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, edited by James M. Lang. The author is Joshua R. Eyler, who is the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and adjunct associate professor of humanities at Rice University.

The author draws from research in developmental psychology, anthropology, and cognitive neuroscience for insight into the science behind learning. He also draws from interviews with and observations of college instructors across the country. He organizes the research into five broad themes—curiosity, sociality, emotion, authenticity, and failure—and devotes a chapter to each. For each theme, he provides practical takeaways for busy teachers. The 312-page book is available for $19.47 on Amazon.