Institute for Faculty Development
Advancing teaching excellence at Vanguard University through culturally-responsive teaching
Join us in celebrating Pam Crenshaw’s retirement, after 39 years of faithful service to Vanguard University. We are looking forward to a time to reflect on all of her many contributions over the years and get to hear from some people whose lives have been impacted by her.
If you have any photos or special memories you would like to share of Pam, contact ifd@vanguard.edu for the various ways to commemorate Pam’s time at Vanguard.
Why is it so hard to get students to pay attention? Conventional wisdom blames iPhones, insisting that access to technology has ruined students’ ability to focus. The logical response is to ban electronics in class.
But acclaimed educator James M. Lang argues that this solution obscures a deeper problem: how we teach is often at odds with how students learn. Classrooms are designed to force students into long periods of intense focus, but emerging science reveals that the brain is wired for distraction. We learn best when able to actively seek and synthesize new information.
In Distracted, Lang rethinks the practice of teaching, revealing how educators can structure their classrooms less as distraction-free zones and more as environments where they can actively cultivate their students’ attention.
Brimming with ideas and grounded in new research, Distracted offers an innovative plan for the most important lesson of all: how to learn.
Our Spring 2021 book discussion group on Distracted will be led by Dr. Laurie Hatch. Dates and times will be determined as we get closer to 2021.