Table Of ContentSUPER COURSES
S U P E R C O U R S E S
The Future of Teaching and Learning
Ken Bain
with Marsha Marshall Bain
Prince ton University Press
Prince ton and Oxford
Copyright © 2021 Ken Bain
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bain, Ken, author.
Title: Super courses : the future of teaching and learning / Ken Bain with
Marsha Marshall Bain.
Description: Prince ton, New Jersey : Prince ton University Press, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020036521 (print) | LCCN 2020036522 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780691185460 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780691216591 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: College teaching. | Education, Higher— Curricula. |
Curriculum change. | Learning, Psy chol ogy of.
Classification: LCC LB2331 .B343 2021 (print) | LCC LB2331 (ebook) |
DDC 378.1/25— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2020036521
LC ebook rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2020036522
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
Editorial: Peter Dougherty, Alena Chekanov
Production Editorial: Terri O’Prey
Text Design: Karl Spurzem
Jacket/Cover Design: Matt Avery (Monograph LLC)
Production: Erin Suydam
Publicity: Alyssa Sanford, Kathryn Stevens
Copyeditor: Kathleen Kageff
This book has been composed in Arno Pro with DIN Pro display
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to Adam, Nathan, and Junhui
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
PART I. THE IDEA 1
Prologue 3
Chapter One. Pinning Our Hopes on Our Machines 7
Chapter Two. How We Learn 17
PART II. THE COURSES 29
Prologue 31
Chapter Three. A New Kind of University 35
Chapter Four. Books Behind Bars 49
Chapter Five. Diverse Classes 57
Chapter Six. From Charlottesville to Singapore and Beyond:
Searching for Super Courses 71
Chapter Seven. Self- Directed Learning and Big Questions:
From the DIY Girls to Hurricane Katrina 81
Chapter Eight. Peer Instruction and Then Some 86
Chapter Nine. Remaking a Super Course 95
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viii Contents
Chapter Ten. Soup of Interdisciplinary Learning 105
Chapter Eleven. Integration of Abilities 116
Chapter Twelve. Fostering Growth Mindsets 129
Chapter Thirteen. A Super Course Department 138
Chapter Fourteen. A Personal Journey toward a Super Course 156
Chapter Fifteen. All Knowledge Is Related 174
Chapter Sixteen. The Pedagogy of Getting Out 190
Chapter Seventeen. Grades 204
Epilogue 219
Appendix 225
Notes 255
Index 279
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book began with an idea that Marsha had about studying examples
of invitational syllabi. We collected some brilliant examples from
around the world, and we are grateful to every one who offered their
work. But the original notion morphed into something diff er ent, and
better, a fter Peter Dougherty invited us to lunch one day in August 2017.
Peter had just retired as director of Prince ton University Press, and, as he
put it, had taken on a new proj ect: the development of a comprehen-
sive list of books on higher education. He wanted to know if we might have
something to contribute.
That fall, we drove to Prince ton from our home in South Orange,
New Jersey. Over “French, Eu ro pean, vegetarian friendly, and gluten f ree”
options at Cargot Brasserie, located in the former Dinky train station on
the edge of the university campus, we began to explore what we might
offer to that proj ect. We mentioned the syllabus book, to which Peter
quickly added, “ You’re looking for Super Courses.” It was the first of nu-
merous contributions that the editor made to our endeavor, a title that
captured our work brightly and brilliantly and drove our thinking in a
whole new direction. We are deeply grateful for all that Peter gave us,
gently guiding us toward the book you have in your hands.
Other p eople also provided rich resources that made the work better.
We want to thank all of the great educators along the way who spent
valuable time discussing their imaginative pedagogical creations, in-
cluding all of those whose work doesn’t appear here because space
limited the possibilities. From those conversations, and from the rich
materials educators shared with us, we continued to see a pattern in
their work that the natu ral critical learning environment and Peter’s de-
lightful title captured well.
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