Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College

Authors:  Peter Felten and Leo Lambert
Description: Relationship-Rich Education by Peter Felten and Leo Lambert argues that human relationships are the most important factor in creating effective, lasting college learning experiences.  The authors draw on decades of research and nearly 400 interviews to provide practical advice on how to develop and sustain powerful relationship-based learning.  They emphasize the centrality of the classroom experience in fostering quality relationships and stress the importance of relationship-rich education for first-generation college students.   

Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes

Authors:  Flower Darby & James Lang
Description: Small Teaching Online emphasizes the power of small and strategic changes to significantly improve student learning in online courses.  The book offers practical strategies and theoretical principles to help online instructors support their students and achieve success in online learning environments.  It discusses best practices around educational technologies, strategies for building community and collaboration, and minor changes that can be made to teaching practices that can result in success for both instructors and students.  The book also addresses specific challenges that online instructors face in higher education and presents research-based teaching techniques from an online instructional design expert and successful college professor. 

How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching

Author:  Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, Norman
Description: How Learning Works is a book that bridges the gap between technical research on learning and practical classroom strategies for effective teaching.  The authors introduce seven principles of learning, drawn from research across various fields, to help instructors understand student learning and refine teaching approaches that foster it.

Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom

Authors: Kelly A. Hogan and Viji Sathy
Description: Two accomplished college professors offer practical advice and teaching tips on how to make all students feel welcomed and valued.  These strategies can encourage more voices in the classroom by engaging all students, regardless of race, socio-economic background, language, or neurodiversity.

Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

Author:  James Clear 
Description: Trying to figure out how you can be more productive, stay focused, or establish and keep positive habits?  The author of Atomic Habits presents a framework and practical strategies for making small (atomic) changes that accumulate and result in significant, lasting change. 

The Last Lecture

Author:  Randy Pausch 
Description:  If you were asked to give your “last lecture,” what words of wisdom would you pass on to the world?  What legacy would you hope to leave?  Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to prepare what could be his last lecture, and it took on exigent meaning, as he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  Combining humor and inspiration, Pausch encouraged his audience to focus on living and making the most of the time we each have.