Learning and Motivation in the Postsecondary Classroom

by Marilla D. Svinicki

While the annals of educational psychology and scholarship of learning theory are vast, this book distills the most important material that the higher education faculty need, translating it into clear language, and rendering from it examples that can be readily applied in the college classroom. Understanding theory can enrich one’s own teaching by increasing efficiency and effectiveness of both the instructor and the student, promoting creativity, encouraging self-reflection and professional development, and advancing classroom research. Finally, a good grounding in theory can help faculty navigate when a student is having difficulty. This clearly written book outlines the learning cognitive, concept learning, social learning, and constructivist, as well as the motivation expectancy value, attribution, achievement goal orientation, and self-determination. It then delves deeper into each one, showing how to develop rich, meaningful instruction so that students master basic information and move into deeper levels of learning.

Genres: Teaching, Nonfiction, Education

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Marilla D. Svinicki has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is director of the Center for Teaching Effectiveness and associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also the editor in chief of the series New Directions for Teaching and Learning. She has published two edited books and many chapters on the topic of learning in postsecondary classrooms. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of learning and motivation as translated into teaching practice.

Reviews

[Eric Phetteplace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook for LIS458LE Instruction and Assistance Systems
I'm a little surprised at this book's low ratings. I thought it was an excellent and digestible introduction to learning theory. Svinicki is clearly using her own maxims, constantly presenting real world examples and offering a few different viewpoints on nearly everything she brings up. The writing isn't brilliant, but it doesn't need to be and that's not the point. My only problem is with some of the charts and other illustrations: they're all grayed out and really ugly in the book, and a few are so wordy that it would be better to just eschew the chart and write it out in plain ol' paragraphs. A more visually appealing book, which can really tap into different layouts and use more advanced images like charts and graphs, would add another dimension to this already-solid work.

[Matt Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this text. Svinicki has a warm writing style that is very relatable and practical. Great advice.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and up-to-date text on learning theory and learning motivation. I have found this author gives a well-reasoned and open-minded summation of teaching theories and their application in both the classroom setting and beyond. Basic concepts are easily followed and a solid and lasting "scaffold" of pinciples is available to the reader.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

Svinicki distills learning and motivation theory--in particular, cognitive development theory--into a concise and application-oriented read. An excellent resource for those leading teaching centers without a background in education.