Ten Takes on Teaching, 2024

50 Strategies to Boost Cognitive Engagement , photo by Annika Gordon on Unsplash . Teaching Students to Drive their Brains , photo by  Element5 Digital on Unsplash .

50 Strategies to Boost Cognitive Engagement by Rebecca Stobaugh (Solution Tree Press, 2019) Book Basics 50 Strategies to Boost Cognitive Engagement promotes a classroom culture of students who pursue learning actively, rather than attending passively as recipients of a curriculum. The author’s main premise is “As instruction becomes more complex and stimulating, students become more engaged in the learning process.” The fifty strategies, delivered in highly accessible and actionable format, are grouped into four chapters, corresponding to four levels of cognitive sophistication from Bloom’s Taxonomy (understand, analyze, evaluate, create). Three dimensions of active learning are emphasized: movement, collaboration, and media literacy.  Although this book is aimed at K-12 teachers across the disciplines, many of the strategies are appropriate at the college level, and a relevant example from mathematics is often included. Connections and Reflections Several of the st...