Book Clubs

The Fall 2022 Book Club selection:

UNgrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)

Registration for the Fall 2022 Book Club has closed.
Spring 2023 Programming coming soon.

Book Author: Susan D. Blum

Book Description (Excerpted from Amazon): The moment is right for critical reflection on what has been assumed to be a core part of schooling. In Ungrading, fifteen educators write about their diverse experiences going gradeless. Some contributors are new to the practice and some have been engaging in it for decades. Some are in humanities and social sciences, some in STEM fields. Some are in higher education, but some are the K–12 pioneers who led the way. Based on rigorous and replicated research, this is the first book to show why and how faculty who wish to focus on learning, rather than sorting or judging, might proceed. It includes honest reflection on what makes ungrading challenging, and testimonials about what makes it transformative.

Faculty Book Club Meeting Dates

• Wednesday, September 28, 10-11:30 am, virtual via Zoom
• Wednesday, October 19, 10-11:30 a.m., virtual via Zoom
• Wednesday, November 9, 10-11:30 a.m., virtual via Zoom

Books Read in Previous Book Clubs

• How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching (Teaching and Learning in Higher Education) by Joshua R. Eyler (Summer 2022)
• College Students Sense of Belonging – A Key to Educational Success for All Students by Terrell L. Strayhorn (Summer 2022)
• Teach Students How to Learn: Strategies You Can Incorporate Into Any Course to Improve Student Metacognition, Study Skills and Motivation by Saundra Yancy McGuire (Spring 2022)
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, How we can learn to fulfill our potential by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. (Spring 2022)
• Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do by Claude M. Steele (Fall 2021)
• Keeping Us Engaged: Student Perspectives (and Research-Based Strategies) on What Works and Why by Christine Harrington and 50 college students (Fall 2021)
• Becoming a Student-Ready College: A New Culture of Leadership for Student Success by Tia Brown McNair, et al. (Summer 2021)
• Bandwidth Recovery: Helping Students Reclaim Cognitive Resources Lost to Poverty, Racism, and Social Marginalization by Cia Verschelden (Spring 2021)
• Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes by Flower Darby and James M. Lang (Fall 2020, Spring 2021)
• The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom and Justice by Anthony Ray Hinton (Fall 2020)
• Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning by James M. Lang (Spring 2020)
• The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean (Spring 2020)
• What the Best College Teachers Do by Ken Bain (Spring & Summer 2019)
• Generation Z Goes to College by Corey Seemiller and Meghan Grace (Fall 2019)