Abstract:

This book is a collection of work from a group of faculty members at a single university. City University of Seattle is a small, private, not-for-profit university primarily serving working adults in the Pacific Northwest portion of the United States, with satellite campuses in eleven countries on four continents. Through in-class, online, and hybrid delivery, CityU offers programs in education, management, technology, psychology, and general studies to students worldwide, many of whom would otherwise be denied access to education.

CityU is primarily a teaching institution. It focuses on delivering real-world skills, in an applied manner, that help students achieve professional goals. The vast majority of the university’s faculty members are working professionals who are selected to teach what they do for a living. Over the years one of the hallmarks of a CityU education has been the link to real-world applicability that comes from the connections that the university’s seven hundred practitioner faculty members bring to their classes.

While the university provides its faculty members with orientations and periodic training, much of what makes these faculty members successful in their classes has come from their own experience, their own proven practices for educating adults. Over the years it has become evident that the university has accumulated a rich collection of valuable educational strategies that can and should be shared with teaching faculty from similar institutions worldwide. This is the driving idea behind this book.

Most of the chapters in this book cover proven practices that have been successful at helping adult students achieve their learning and professional goals. Rather than reporting on educational research and theory, these chapters cover teaching methodologies that CityU faculty members are sharing so that other university instructors can learn from their experiences.

As this book was coming together, a few general themes emerged. The first centered on methods of authentic instruction, or the various ways in which learning can be tied to real-world applicability. These appear in part one. The second theme that emerged was online delivery. As a pioneer in online instruction, CityU faculty members draw upon years of experience as they share proven practices and look toward the future as technology continues to impact the way online education is designed and delivered. These online practices are included in part two. A final part addresses emerging themes in educational assessment and program revision.

If we are to believe that experience is the best teacher, then proven practices, developed through instructor experience, have much to offer both novice and veteran educators. The insights included in this volume are offered with this goal in mind.

Keywords:

Authentic Instruction, On-line Delivery, Adult Education, Higher Education.