POD Reading Packets

The POD reading packets are designed for use in consultations, workshops, seminars, and classes when a focus on a particular topic is desired. The packets are composed of past Essays on Teaching Excellence, a POD Network publication series begun in 1989.

Written by expert scholar-practitioners, these thoughtful and succinct essays consist of two pages each. They will be useful as cohesive readings for your faculty development workshops, seminars, individual consultations, and classes on college teaching.

Purchase allows unlimited reproduction and use within the purchasing institution. Camera-ready master copies are provided, or you may order web-ready html files. However access to the web site must be controlled, i.e., limited to persons from within the subscribing institution.

Packets must be ordered as a whole; we regret we are unable to provide individual essays.

For information about publication orders, or invoices, please send a message to podoffice@podnetwork.org or contact Hoag Holmgren at (303) 258-9521, or fax to: (303) 258-7377.

To print a Reading Packet order form click here.

You can also place your order using a secure online order form. To do so, click here.

Packet #1: Alternatives to Traditional Teaching Methods and Learning Strategies

1. Academic Service-Learning: Myths, Challenges, and Recommendations, Jeffrey Howard

2. Learning Outside the Box: Making Connections Between Co-curricular Activities and the Curriculum, Myra Wilhite and Liz Banset

3. Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning, Deborah Dezure

4. Team Teaching: The Learning Side of the Teaching -Learning Equation, Mary Jean Eisen and Elizabeth Tisdell

5. Creating a Culture of Co-Learners with Problem -based Learning, Kristi Arndt

6. From Passive to Active Learning: Helping Students Make the Shift, Marilla Svinicki

7. Teaching Portfolios for Graduate Students: Process, Content, Product, and Benefits, Laura L. B. Border

8. Active Learning Beyond the Classroom, Ed Neal

9. Engaging the Whole Student:  Interactive Theatre in the Classroom, Suzanne Burgoyne

POD member cost – $90; Non-member cost – $108

Packet #2: Cooperative/Collaborative Learning, Small Groups

1. Cooperative Learning...Here to Stay, Barbara J. Millis

2. Foundations of Collaboration, Gail Goodyear Muir and Sally Blake

3. Problem-based Learning: Preparing Students to Succeed in the 21st Century, Barbara Duch, Deborah Allen, and Hal White

4. Three Keys to Using Learning Groups Effectively, Larry Michaelson

5. Collaborative Learning: Reframing the Classroom, Jean MacGregor

POD member cost – $50; Non-member cost – $60 

Packet #3: Critical Thinking

1. Teaching Bioethics through Participation and Policy-Making, Karey Harwood

2. Higher Level Learning: A Taxonomy for Identifying Different Kinds of Significant Learning, L. Dee Fink

3. Leading the Seminar: Graduate and Undergraduate, Edward Neal

4. But how do we get them to think?, Carol A. Weiss

5. Building Confidence and Community in the Classroom, J. Dennis Houston

6. Critical Thinking by Design, Joanne Kurfiss

POD member cost – $60; Non-member cost – $72

Packet #4: Defining and Characterizing Teaching

1. Why Knowing About Disciplinary Differences Can Mean More Effective Teaching, Michele Marincovich, and Jack Prostko

2. The Nature of Expertise: Implications for Teachers and Teaching, Ronald A. Smith and Richard G. Tiberius

3. Developing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement,  Nancy Van Note Chism

4. Competence is What You Do When You Make a Mistake, Ronald A. Smith

5. Teaching with Style: The Integration of Teaching and Learning Styles in the Classroom, Anthony Grasha

6. The Teaching Portfolio, Peter Seldin

7. Good Teaching: A Matter of Living the Mystery, Parker J. Palmer

8. Forward to Aristotle: Teaching as the Highest Form of Understanding, Russell Edgerton

9. Teaching: Beliefs and Behaviors, Robert Menges

POD member cost – $90; Non-member cost – $108

Packet #5: Diversity Issues

1. Teaching for Diversity and Inclusiveness in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, Lois Reddick, Wayne Jacobson, and Angela Linse

2. The Multicultural Teaching Portfolio, Matthew Kaplan

3. Diversity Begins at Home: One Gateway to Multiculturalism, Barbara Lounsberry

4. Class in the Classroom, Lee Warren

5. Teaching in Action: Multicultural Education as the Highest Form of Understanding, Christine Stanley

6. Deconstructing Bias and Reconstructing Equitable Classrooms, Laura L. B. Border

7. Leading Culturally Sensative Classroom Discussions Post September 11, Devorah Lieberman

8. Tales Told Out of School: Women's Reflections on Their Undergraduate Experience, Blythe Clinchy

POD member cost – $80; Non-member cost – $96

Packet #6: Evaluation and Grading Issues

1. Helping Students Help Each Other: Making Peer Feedback More Valuable, Linda Nielson

2. Leveling the Field: Using Rubrics to Achieve Greater Equity in Teaching and Grading , Danelle Stevens and Antonia Levi

3. I'd like to use essay tests, but . . . , Marilla Svinicki

4. In the Name of the Student. . .,Rita Rodabaugh

5. Course Tests: Integral Features of Instruction, Ohmer Milton

6. Student Plagiarism: Are Teachers Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?, Chris Anson

7. Practice Tests as Innovative Teaching Method, Margaret Snooks

8. Student Plagiarism: How to Maintain Academic Integrity, Ludy Goodson

POD member cost – $80; Non-member cost - $96

Packet #7: Improvement of Teaching and Assessment

1. Incorporating Course-Level Evidence of Student Learning into Program Assessment, Nancy Simpson and Laurel Willingham-McLain

2. Achieving Teaching and Learning Excellence through Faculty Learning Communities, Milton Cox

3. Teaching Goals, Assessment, Academic Freedom, and Higher Learning, Tom Angelo

4. Making Sense (and Use) of Written Student Comments, Karron G. Lewis

5. Classroom Assessment: Guidelines for Success, Tom Angelo

6. Countering Common Misbeliefs about Student Evaluation of Teaching, Robert Boice

7. Using Student Centered Assessment Techniques to Facilitate Greater Student Learning, Mick La Lopa 

8. Motivating Generation Y in the Classroom, Jim Westerman

9. Microteaching to Maximize Feedback, Peer Engagement, and Teaching Enhancement, Barbara Millis, Lesley Sheppard,  and Gosia Samajlowicz

10. When Disability Enters a Teachers’ Life, Must the Teacher Stop Teaching?, Laura L. B. Border

POD member cost – $100; Non-member cost - $120

Packet #8: Introductory Courses / General Education

1. The Phenomenon of Large Classes and Practical Suggestions for Teaching Them, Frank Gillespie

2. What did I do right in one freshman seminar?  What did I do wrong in another?  What will I do next time?, Richard Schoenwald

3. Disciplinary Cultures and General Education: What Can We Learn from Our Learners?, Sheila Tobias

4. The Challenge of Teaching the Introductory Level Course, Delivee Wright

5. Helping First-Year Students Study, Part I, Bette LeSere Erickson

6. Helping First-Year Students Study, Part II, Bette LeSere Erickson

7. Promoting Civility and Responding When It Fails in Large Classes, Mary Deane Sorcinelli

POD member cost – $70; Non-member cost – $84

Packet #9: Motivating Students

1. From Cognitive Dissonance to Self-Motivated Learning, Edmund Hansen

2. Living up to Expectations, Steven M. Richardson

3. The Emotional Classroom, Eddie Vela

4. Exploring Student Expectations, Janet Gail Donald and James Wilkinson

5. Relating Student Experience to Courses and the Curriculum, Virginia S. Lee

6. Mistakes and Other Classroom Techniques, Harriet C. Edwards

7. Learning a Lot vs. Looking Good: A Source of Anxiety for Students, Anastasia Hagen

8. Laughterpiece Theatre: Humor as a Systematic Teaching Tool, Ron Berk

POD member cost – $80; Non-member cost – $96

Packet #10: The Student/Teacher Relationship

1. Teaching as an Educational Helping Relationship, Douglas Reimondo Robertson

2. Teaching with Hospitality, John Bennett

3. Academic Civility Begins in the Classroom, Roger G. Baldwin

4. The Why of Teacher/Student Relationships, Richard G. Tiberius

5. Power in College Teaching, Linc. Fisch

6. Never in a Class by Themselves: An Examination of Behaviors Affecting the Student-Professor Relationship, David J. Walsh and Mary Jo Maffei

POD member cost – $60; Non-member cost – $72

Packet #11: Change, Renewal, and the Professoriate

1. Transitions: What's Love Got to Do With It?, Kate Brinko

2. Teachers are Diverse, too: Understanding Beliefs about Teaching and Learning, Richard Tiberius

3. Reflections on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Pat Hutchings

4. Rethinking What it Means to Be a Scholar, Gene Rice

5. Ten Qualities of Self-Renewing Faculty, Fred Hudson

6. Why Professors Don't Change, Loren Eckroth

7. Engaging Faculty in New Forms of Teaching and Learning, Paul R. Hagner

8. Opening the Door: Creating Institutions that Support Teachers and Learners Richard Holmgren

POD member cost – $80; Non-member cost – $96

Packet #12: Thoughts on the Future

1. The American Professoriate in Transition, Ronald D. Simpson and Thomas G. Dyer

2. Teaching and Values: What Values Will We Take into the 21st Century, Kathleen McGrory

3. Emerging Trends in College Teaching for the 21st Century, Milton D. Cox

POD member cost – $30; Non-member cost – $36

Packet #13: Technology and Related Issues

1. PowerPoint: What is the Point, Eugene Gallagher & Michael Reder

2. Helping Students (Better) Evaluate and Validate WWW Resources, David L. Graf

3. Student Teams, Teaching, and Technology, Ruth Federman Stein and Sandra Hurd

4. Challenges in Using Technology for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education, G. Roger Sell

5. Great Expectations and Challenges for Learning Objects, Anne Moore

6. Assessing Students' Online Learning: Strategies and Resources, Patricia Comeaux

7. Information Literacy: Imperatives for Faculty, Leora Baron

POD member cost – $70; Non-member cost – $84

Packet #14: The Learning Process

1. The Power of Student Stories: Connections that Enhance Learning, Peter Frederick

2. Unlearning: A Critical Element in the Learning Process, Virginia S. Lee

3. Teachers and Scholars as Designers, Charles M. Spuches

4. Integrating “Learning How to Learn” Strategies into Your Content Teaching,  Terry Doyle

5. The Uses of Uncertainty in the College Classroom, Virginia S. Lee

6. What They Don’t Know Can Hurt Them: The Role of Prior Knowledge in Learning, Marilla Svinicki

7. Promoting Learning through Inquiry, Virginia S. Lee

8. Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Writing (but Were Afraid to Ask), Michael Reder

POD member cost – $80; Non-member cost – $96

For information about publication orders, or invoices, please send a message to podoffice@podnetwork.org or contact Hoag Holmgren at (303) 258-9521.