McKeachie’s volume
is a classic on teaching (see his credentials on page xxiii of the book). Google
Scholar acknowledges that the work is cited at least 3713 times by other academics!
It is clear that a lot of people respect this man’s contributions to higher
education. During his career McKeachie studied both psychology and the
philosophy of teaching. As both a psychologist and a university professor he brought
both strengths to the subject matter of his book. He models for us the value of
not only acquiring the practical skills to impart knowledge but to understand
the psychological processes of those we hope to teach. McKeachie highlights the
importance of the teaching enterprise as both an investigation of chosen subject
matter and how our students best learn. It seems both concepts carry equal weight
in our journey to become better teachers.
Richard, I appreciate the use of the word "investigate" here because I think that there can be great overlap between investigating content and evaluating how best students learn for example. There is an excellent undergraduate research textbook entitled, "The Psychologist as Detective" (Smith & Davis, 2012)and highlights the investigative process as a method of learning in and of itself. This time of year I hear people discuss dressing up in costume and attending Halloween events such as Murder Mystery parties and I think about how some people enjoy and look for opportunities to investigate. Although, that textbook is written for undergrad psychology students I often recommend it for counselor educators seeking to enhance the appeal of research to students struggling with a fixed mindset.
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Smith, R. A. & Davis, S. F. (2012). The Psychologist as Detective: An Introduction to Conducting Research in Psychology.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
I wasn't aware of the book you are recommending, but I now have it on my reading list!
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