Harry Shipman

Annie J. Cannon Professor

Astronomy

Department of Physics and Astronomy

University of Delaware

Sharp Lab
Newark, DE 19716-2570

Phone:

302 831 2986

FAX:

302 831 1637

What are, to you, the key issues in creating learning resources that support your teaching style and your student's learning styles?

Eliminating the "tyranny of the textbook" is a next step in moving from teacher centered learning to student centered learning. Students often find our textbooks opaque and hard to understand. Authors and publishers sell textbooks to the "customers" (i.e. the professors who make adoption decisions) and pay little attention to the folks who actually read, or don't read, the books themselves.

What is your vision for the "textbook" of the future and what impediments do you see to realizing that vision?

My "textbook of the present" already includes lots of websites and, depending on the course and the availability of trade (i.e. often more readable) books, we may get away from the textbook entirely.

Describe briefly any research you have undertaken on teaching or learning.

I have a fair number of publications on teaching that are out which focus on a number of main areas:

- critical thinking and the nature of science

- the pedagogies of engagement and the special challenge of large classes

- the development of new curricula, with special focus recently on college and on middle school levels

- the inclusion of multicultural perspectives in science teaching

- science and religion

Have you created publicly accessible learning resources?

How would you like to contribute to the workshop?

I believe that I come in with ideas. When I first started teaching many years ago, I confounded college textbook sales reps by using trade books rather than text books in a course, which still takes that approach. I also did a survey of 60 future elementary teachers this spring on their willingness to accept a course without a "textbook", and found that while many would like to have a book available, the majority would be comfortable with a list of web pages.

What would you like to take away from the workshop?

As with all workshops and conferences, I expect to leave more energized, with more ideas, and hopefully with more plans for future projects.