SocProf reviewed Intentional Tech by Derek Bruff
Review of 'Intentional Tech' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A tougher read from the usual pedagogy stuff I have posted here. Derek Bruff organizes his book alongside strategies and principles derived from the scholarship of teaching and learning: (1) times for telling, (2) practice and feedback, (3) thin slices of learning, (4) knowledge organizations, (5) multimodal assignments, (6) learning communities, and (7) authentic audiences. For each, he provides a principle and a series of example from a variety of disciplines, although there is an overrepresentation of Vanderbilt, where he works.
I like some of these ideas. Nothing was really knew to anyone familiar with the SOTL. The big drawback was that (1) Vanderbilt students are not just any students, and (2) the ideas were often part of small seminars or advanced classes with lower enrollments (however, there are examples based on large-size classes). I think a lot of CC faculty like me, with 5/5 loads, might find some of …
A tougher read from the usual pedagogy stuff I have posted here. Derek Bruff organizes his book alongside strategies and principles derived from the scholarship of teaching and learning: (1) times for telling, (2) practice and feedback, (3) thin slices of learning, (4) knowledge organizations, (5) multimodal assignments, (6) learning communities, and (7) authentic audiences. For each, he provides a principle and a series of example from a variety of disciplines, although there is an overrepresentation of Vanderbilt, where he works.
I like some of these ideas. Nothing was really knew to anyone familiar with the SOTL. The big drawback was that (1) Vanderbilt students are not just any students, and (2) the ideas were often part of small seminars or advanced classes with lower enrollments (however, there are examples based on large-size classes). I think a lot of CC faculty like me, with 5/5 loads, might find some of these ideas difficult to adapt as they sometimes seem the opposite of small teaching, and do require time, resources, and well, more time.
Nevertheless, I recommend the book because it might be a source of ideas and tech tools for anyone in the field.