Engaging Ideas - 3rd Edition by John C Bean & Dan Melzer (Paperback)

About the Book

"In this book, the author integrates the critical thinking movement with the writing-across-the-curriculum movement to create a practical nuts-and-bolts guide to designing interest-provoking writing and critical thinking activities. He shows how teachers from any discipline can incorporate these activities into their courses in a way that encourages inquiry, exploration, discussion, and debate. The third edition of Engaging Ideas uses recent research and theory to encourage instructors to think beyond exams, to focus less on instructor response to student writing by coaching students to use self-assessment and peer response, and to explore alternatives to traditional grading such as portfolio assessment and contract grading. Throughout, the book also includes expanded coverage of social media, multimodal genres, and uses of digital technology in the classroom. Treating writing assignments as only one of many ways to present critical thinking problems to students, Engaging Ideas also shows how writing can easily be integrated with such other critical thinking activities as inquiry discussions, simulation games, classroom debates, and interactive lectures. Engaging Ideas, Third Edition shows how these and other activities can transform students from passive to active learners, deepening their understanding of the subject matter while helping them learn the thinking processes of the discipline"--

Book Synopsis

Use your course's big ideas to accelerate students' growth as writers and critical thinkers

The newly revised third edition of Engaging Ideas delivers a step-by-step guide for designing writing assignments and critical thinking activities that engage students with important subject-matter questions. This new edition of the celebrated book (now written by the co-author team of Bean and Melzer) uses leading and current research and theory to help you link active learning pedagogy to your courses' subject matter. You'll learn how to:

• Design formal and informal writing assignments that guide students toward thinking like experts in your discipline
• Use time-saving strategies for coaching the writing process and handling the paper load including alternatives to traditional grading such as portfolio assessment and contract grading
• Help students use self-assessment and peer response to improve their work
• Develop better ways than the traditional research paper to teach undergraduate reading and research
• Integrate social media, multimodal genres, and digital technology into the classroom to promote active learning

This book demonstrates how writing can easily be integrated with other critical thinking activities such as inquiry discussions, simulation games, classroom debates, and interactive lectures. The reward of this book is watching students come to class better prepared, more vested in the questions your course investigates, more apt to study purposefully, and more likely to submit high-quality work. Perfect for higher education faculty and curriculum designers across all disciplines, Engaging Ideas will also earn a place in the libraries of graduate students in higher education.

From the Back Cover

Capture the attention of your students and accelerate their growth as writers and critical thinkers

In the newly revised Third Edition of Engaging Ideas, distinguished academics and authors John C. Bean and Dan Melzer deliver a step-by-step guide to designing engaging writing assignments and critical thinking activities that connect with students and illuminate important subjects. The Third Edition of this celebrated book relies on current research and data to help instructors, teachers, and professors link active learning pedagogy to course subject matter.

You'll learn techniques that encourage students to come to class better prepared, invest more effort in your course, study more purposefully, and submit higher-quality work. You'll discover how to use time-saving strategies for coaching the writing process and using alternatives to traditional grading methods, like portfolio assessment and contract grading. Finally, you'll find ways to teach undergraduate reading and research that are superior to the traditional -- and staid -- research paper.

Perfect for higher education faculty, curriculum designers, and graduate students in higher education, Engaging Ideas offers readers an invaluable and insightful reference on bringing a wide variety of class material to life and fully engaging with your classroom.

About the Author

JOHN C. BEAN, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of English at Seattle University. He received his doctorate in Renaissance Literature from the University of Washington. He is Co-author of three composition textbooks -- Writing Arguments, The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, and Reading Rhetorically.

DAN MELZER, PhD, is Professor in the University Writing Program and Director of First-Year Composition at the University of California. He received his doctorate in Rhetoric and Composition from Florida State University. He is a frequent speaker and lecturer at universities across the United States.