Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning
My coauthors and I discuss what five years of listening to students taught us about learning, and what their experiences suggest for higher education.
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MIT Press · 2026
Getting Learning Right
The Promise of Higher Education
What would it mean for colleges and universities to put learning at the center of their decisions?
Our book argues that higher education can meet its present challenges by paying closer attention to students and to how learning happens. We connect students’ accounts with examples of institutional practice to show what that commitment can look like.
We examine listening to students, creating environments that support learning, collaborative and project-based work, networks of support, flexible pathways, and designing with students. Questions at the end of each chapter invite readers to connect these ideas to their own institutions.
Praise for the book
“By centering student experiences, Getting Learning Right offers powerful guidance for reprioritizing learning to prepare all students to tackle society’s evolving grand challenges.”
Jessie L. Moore
Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Elon University; author of Key Practices for Fostering Engaged Learning
“Getting Learning Right is both a call to action for higher education and a playbook for recentering learning as the most crucial part of our mission.”
Amanda L. Irvin
Executive Director, Columbia University Center for Teaching and Learning
Conversations about the book
Future Trends Forum
My coauthors and I join Bryan Alexander on the Future Trends Forum.
The Value and the Values of College
Inside Higher Ed
The Real Mission of Higher Education Is Hiding in Plain Sight
Guest post for John Warner’s Just Visiting column in Inside Higher Ed.