About This Publication. Since 1980, New Directions for Teaching and Learn- ing (NDTL) has brought a unique blend of theory, research, and practice to leaders in postsecondary education. NDTL sourcebooks strive not only for solid substance but also for timeliness, compactness, and accessibility.
The series has four goals: to inform readers about current and future directions in teaching and learning in postsecondary education, to illuminate the context that shapes these new directions, to illustrate these new directions through examples from real settings, and to propose ways in which these new directions can be incorporated into still other settings.
This publication reflects the view that teaching deserves respect as a high form of scholarship. We believe that significant scholarship is conducted not only by researchers who report results of empirical investigations but also by practitioners who share disciplined reflections about teaching. Contributors to NDTL approach questions of teaching and learning as seriously as they approach substantive questions in their own disciplines, and they deal not only with pedagogical issues but also with the intellectual and social context in which these issues arise. Authors deal on the one hand with theory and research and on the other with practice, and they translate from research and theory to practice and back again.
About This Volume. This issue focuses on an important variable that influences our success as teachers: the development of our students as individuals. The importance of the contribution of students’ worldviews to learning cannot be overstated. The authors in this volume help us to understand that relationship and suggest what we might be able to do in response to it.
MARILLA D. SVINICKI, editor-in-chief, is director of the Center for Teaching Effec- tiveness at the University of Texas, Austin.
R. EUGENE RICE, consulting editor, is director, Forum on Faculty Roles and Rewards, AAHE.
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