Recommended Reading

Initial Publication Date: February 9, 2007

These key readings provide an introduction to studio teaching; they are a selected subset of this more comprehensive reference list.

Journal Articles

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Handelsman, et al., 2004
Scientific Teaching, Science, v. 304, p. 521-522.
A one page promotion that gives some justification for studio teaching.

Laws, P., 1991
Workshop Physics: Learning Introductory Physics by Doing It. Change Magazine, v. 23, p. 20-27.
Describes a studio approach to teaching physics at Dickinson College (Pennsylvania).

Perkins, D., 2005
The Case for a Cooperative Studio Classroom: Teaching Petrology in a Different Way. Journal of Geoscience Education, 53:1, 101-109.
A comprehensive report on studio teaching. It summarizes what others have done, describes the rationale behind the approach, and describes success in one classroom.

Walter, B. and Hendler, J., 1996
The Studio, in L. M. Lambert, Tice, S.L, and Featherstone, P.H., eds., University Teaching - A Guide for Graduate Students, Syracuse University Press, p. 37-43.
This book chapter is a short, and basic "how to" for teachers who opt for studio teaching.

Wilson, J.M., 1994
The CUPLE Physics Studio, Physics Teacher, v. 32, p. 518-523.
This short paper describes some of the first uses of studio teaching (in physics classes at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute).


Websites and Online Articles

Beichner, R.J., and Saul, J.M., 2003
Introduction to the SCALE-UP (student-centered activities for large enrollment undergraduate programs) project. Proceedings of the International School of Physics, Varenna, Italy, July 2003. (Accessed 20 June, 2005)
The authors of this paper describe their "studio style" classroom and how it impacts learning. The paper describes the physical and mechanical aspects of their classroom, the kinds of activities their students do, and the pedagogical rationale for studio teaching.

Belcher, J.W., 2004
Lessons learned from TEAL, USC Learning Edge (Accessed 20 June, 2005)
This article describes the way physics is taught in a studio classroom at MIT.

Ross, S., 2002
TEAL: Technology Enhanced Active Learning (Accessed 20 June, 2005)
A very brief summary of physics teaching at MIT.

Wilson, J.M., 1997
Studio Teaching: When the Future Becomes the Present, UniServe Science News, V. 7. (Accessed 20 June, 2005)
This article discusses how studio teaching has been introduced in classes (especially math and physics, but later other disciplines) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. It gives information about how and why the studio approach is used.