Learning That Lasts: Integrating Learning, Development, and Performance in College and Beyond

The authors begin by defining "learning that lasts" as the successful integration of learning, development, and performance. Drawing on two decades of longitudinal studies of student learning in the highly acclaimed curriculum at Alverno College and on leading educational theories, Marcia Mentkowski and her associates set forth a theory of deep and durable learning that includes practical strategies for enabling a wide range of students to cultivate integrative and expansive capabilities across a lifetime. They present concrete suggestions on the ways that faculty and academic staff can work together to forge effective curricula, design innovative programs, implement key institutional goals, and renegotiate the college culture. They analyze compelling research results, collaborative inquiry by consortia of institutions, and twenty-five years of experience to illuminate what educators and administrators must achieve so that increasingly varied learners can realize their goals and potential.

Learning That Lasts intertwines educational theory, practice, and research by demonstrating how learning frameworks can shape curricula, teaching strategy, and assessment. It presents core curriculum principles for practice and it also systematically tests assumptions about student learning, development, and performance. This landmark volume provides a detailed blueprint for understanding and promoting purposeful, responsible contribution to work, personal, and civic life.

This book offers a new conception of college education designed to replace today's incoherent curriculum with thoughtfully structured programs that connect learning with the broader objectives of personal, social and intellectual growth. Academic administrators and faculty leaders in all types of post-secondary institutions under pressure to produce competent graduates with the skills for lifelong learning will turn to Learning That Lasts as a blueprint for reform.

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Sets forth a theory of deep and durable college learning that includes practical strategies for enabling a wide range of students to cultivate integrative capabilities across a lifetime. Presents suggestions on ways faculty and academic staff can work together to forge effective curricula, design innovative programs, implement institutional goals, and renegotiate college culture. Gives core curriculum principles for practice and questions assumptions on student learning and performance. Mentkowski is professor of psychology and director of the Office of Educational Research and Evaluation at Alverno College. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

MARCIA MENTKOWSKI is professor of psychology and director of the Office of Educational Research and Evaluation at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her associates are a team of faculty, administrators, and researchers who span disciplines in the humanities, social and behavioral sciences, and professions.